Last month, India’s new homegrown smartphone brand, Ai+, strengthened its budget portfolio by adding a new ‘Power’ model to its Nova 2 series. The ‘Power’ moniker indicates a massive battery under the hood. However, instead of going the Si/C route, Ai+ has kept things simple by equipping this device with a 7,000mAh Li-Po unit. It also rocks an ultrawide lens in its rear camera setup – something we don’t get to see too often in the sub-Rs 20,000 price bracket in 2026. Needless to say, Ai+ is here to offer ruthless competition to its rivals. We used the Ai+ Nova 2 Power for a week to find out if it delivers a bang for the buck; here is our review of the smartphone.
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In This Article
Ai+ Nova 2 Power 5G Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 33W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Clear plastic cover
- SIM ejector
The Nova 2 Power has an all-plastic build. Its back panel has a sparkling effect, but it doesn’t feel loud or garish. However, the glossy texture attracts fingerprints and smudges very easily. The iPhone-inspired square camera island has rounded edges. It houses 2 camera lenses, an LED flash, and an ambient light. There is a heft to the device, largely due to its massive battery pack. It tips the scales at 222g.
The volume rocker and the side button are positioned on the right edge of the plastic frame. The side button has an orange accent and doubles as the fingerprint sensor. At the bottom lie the primary microphone, USB-C port, and primary speaker grille. The left edge houses the hybrid SIM tray (with accommodation for a microSD card). The noise-cancelling microphone and secondary speaker grille are placed up top. The smartphone is rated IP65 for dust and water resistance. It can handle exposure to light water splashes without any issues.
The 6.75-inch LCD panel has a 120Hz refresh rate. It offers a smooth touch response, making general browsing fun and seamless. It can reach up to 450 nits of brightness, maintaining legibility in most outdoor conditions. The thick bezels surrounding the screen get chunkier around the chin. There’s a punch-hole display up top for the front-facing lens. Since there is no under-display sensor on this device, it relies on the side button to scan your fingerprint for security purposes. Thankfully, this sensor is fast, snappy, and accurate.
During the review period, we used the Ai+ Nova 2 Power to stream content across major OTT apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar. The 1,500 x 720p did a good job of relaying pleasant visuals packed with lush colours. Of course, since this isn’t an AMOLED display, the deep blacks are noticeably absent, but the viewing experience is fun nonetheless. The dual speakers produced a well-rounded audio output.
Ai+ Nova 2 Power 5G Review: Performance and Cameras
The MediaTek Dimensity 7100 SoC lies at the heart of the Nova 2 Power. There is 128GB of internal storage on board. You can add another 1TB of storage using a microSD card. There are 2 RAM options on offer:
- 6GB: Rs 16,999
- 8GB: Rs 17,999
We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the smartphone. Here is how it performed.
- AnTuTu 3D Lite: 859,739
- Geekbench 7: 846 (single-core) | 2,837 (multi-core)
The Dimensity 7100 chipset is powerful enough to handle routine tasks like calling, instant messaging, emailing, social media browsing, and media streaming with ease. Juggling a bunch of apps together can cause the odd stutter, but it is the exception rather than the norm. Being a budget device, it does take a smidge longer to load apps, but that’s not a dealbreaker for us.
The Nova 2 Power can run FPS titles like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile. However, you need to limit yourself to low graphics and frame rate settings for smooth gameplay. We found the gaming experience quite enjoyable, even though it was completely free of frame drops. If you’re a casual gamer, you won’t have a massive problem with this device. It does a decent job of managing the internal temperature as well. We noticed the first signs of warmth along the back panel after crossing the 15-minute mark.
Software duties on the Nova 2 Power are handled by the Android 16-based nxtQ OS out of the box. There are no bloatware apps on this phone, which is rare for a device in the budget price bracket. As a result, the software experience feels quite clean. The interface feels inspired by OriginOS, OxygenOS, and ColorOS – especially the quick settings menu and the main settings page.
There are a couple of features that we feel the need to mention here. First, the NxtPrivacy Dashboard is a nice addition to the homepage. This widget lets you know which app is currently using your location services and other information. It needs a bit more work, as it does not give you any details about the app that’s tracking you, but hopefully Ai+ will sort that out in a future update. Background Playback is another feature that deserves a special shoutout. When it is enabled, it lets you play YouTube videos in the background. You can even use it for YouTube Music and other supported apps.
The 7,000mAh Li-Po battery pack is one of the biggest highlights of this phone. It keeps battery anxiety at bay by lasting an entire day of heavy use without needing a top-up before bedtime. If you’re more conservative with your usage, you can push the battery life to 1.5-2 days. The 33W power adapter provided in the box takes up to 2 hours to fully charge the device.
The rear camera array comprises a 48MP Sony IMX582 main sensor and an 8MP ultrawide lens. The punch-hole cutout on the display houses a 13MP front-facing camera.
The 48MP primary shooter captures good pictures in outdoor daylight conditions. The images have tasteful colours and decent dynamic range. The contrast and sharpness are acceptable, but not segment-defining. In limited lighting conditions, the Night Mode does its best to produce smooth results, but the images are visibly grainy.
Images taken with the 8MP ultrawide lens are softer compared to their primary camera counterparts, but that is something you should expect from most budget and midrange smartphones. In fact, the presence of an ultrawide sensor in the camera array is a big plug in itself, since the global RAM shortage has forced smartphone brands to ditch it altogether from their budget offerings as a cost-cutting measure. In limited lighting, the ultrawide shots are dim and grainy, but that is not a dealbreaker.
Portraits captured by the Nova 2 Power are vivid and well-focused, but the background blur is practically non-existent. On a brighter note, the front-facing 13MP camera captures clear selfies with lots of detail. All three cameras on this device can record 2K videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
The Nova 2 Power is one of the very few smartphones in its price bracket that can serve as a reliable daily driver. The Dimensity 7100 SoC is powerful enough to handle everyday tasks. The bloatware-free interface is a big plus in our books, too. The wide LCD panel isn’t as punchy as its AMOLED counterparts, but it curates an enjoyable viewing experience. The dual-speaker setup is quite impressive, too. The 7,000mAh battery pack seals the deal with its versatile power backup. The ultrawide sensor in the camera array is the icing on the cake.
Pros
- Big display
- No bloatware
- Good battery life
- Ultrawide lens
- Well-rounded audio output
Cons
- Slow charging speed
