Huawei Nova lite announced with Kirin 655 chipset, 3GB RAM; it's a P8 lite (2017) in disguise

As expected, Huawei unveiled yet another mid-range Android smartphone, the Nova lite. Initially known as Huawei P8 lite (2017), we reported about two weeks ago that it might be launched under a different name in some countries.

Today, the smartphone was officially introduced in Japan as Huawei Nova lite. Even though the Chinese handset maker did not offer details about the phone's retail price, our previous report mentions the smartphone will be available in Europe for €239 outright.

We'd also like to add the Nova lite will be available in Japan on February 24 in three colors: black, gold and white.

Specs-wise, the Nova lite is a pure mid-range handset powered by Android 7.0 Nougat operating system. At its core, the smartphone packs a decent 2.1GHz octa-core Kirin 655 processor, paired with 3GB RAM and 16GB expandable storage (up to 128GB).

It comes with dual-SIM support, as well as Cat.4 LTE for blazing fast download speeds. Photographers might be a bit disappointed that the Nova lite has single-lens 12-megapixel rear-facing camera, but on the bright side, it's got an 8-megapixel selfie camera. Just like the P8 lite (2017), the smartphone sports a 5.2-inch display with full HD (1080p) resolution.

Huawei Nova lite comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and it's powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. For the time being, the smartphone is available in China, Finland, and soon in Japan, under different names: Huawei P8 lite (2017) and Huawei Nova lite.

We expect its availability to expand to more territories in the coming weeks, but it's hard to predict what name the device will use.