Ai+ Nova Flip 5G is here, but it’s hard to call it ORIGINAL

Ai+ just unveiled its first foldable phone, the Ai+ Nova Flip 5G, in India. At first glance, the Nova Flip 5G looks like a fresh device with a fairly affordable price tag of Rs 29,999. But there’s something off about it. Okay, let me rephrase that — there’s “everything” off about it. Also Read: Anthropic AI raises cybersecurity concerns, US summons bank leaders

The brand mocked Chinese players in the past, and now it ended up copying them. The “Nova Flip” branding belongs to Huawei, which also owned Honor — another smartphone company — which was later handed over to Madhav Sheth to be revived in India under the HTech India business. For some context here, Sheth founded Ai+ as an “Authored in India” smartphone brand in May 2025 after he pivoted away from Honor and later Alcatel. Also Read: Ai+ launches FIRST flip phone Nova Flip 5G under Rs 30,000?

Even when Sheth was earlier associated with Realme, there had been many instances where he mocked competitors like Redmi, calling them “insecure”. Also Read: Apple AI lawsuit: 70 million YouTube videos allegedly used without permission

Design and specs look familiar

Now, coming back to what’s wrong with the Ai+ Nova Flip 5G. It’s not only the borrowed (or stolen) moniker, the clamshell foldable also looks strikingly similar to another Chinese device — not just in terms of design but also specifications. Yes, it is a rip-off of last year’s Nubia Flip 2 5G. The phone features the same hardware inside and out. It has the same displays and camera placement, the same red-accented power button, and even the specs sheet remains largely identical from top to bottom.

Ai+ Nova Flip 5G appears heavily inspired by Nubia Flip 2 5G (pictured).

Marketing mistakes are hard to ignore

I also noticed a few marketing blunders with the Ai+ Nova Flip 5G. Sheth, while teasing the launch of the phone, shared a video from his X account that mentioned the Nova Flip 5G has a “12Hz display”.

Ai+ Nova Flip 5G teaser on X.

Yes, not 120Hz but a 12Hz display! That could happen to anyone. It’s clearly a human error — could be an honest mistake or something that missed his eye. Yet there are confusions throughout — the official specs sheet mentions a 6.9-inch inner display, while the marketing materials show a 6.78-inch panel.

And look at the product images below. These are published on Flipkart, by the way. The marketing team forgot to “flip” the front fascia and power and volume buttons placement while orienting the renders. Yes, it can be brushed off as a minor mistake, and only a keen observer would notice these details or patterns. But, who’s to be held responsible here?

Ai+ Nova Flip 5G marketing images as uploaded on Flipkart.

Same-same, but different!

Anyways, the Nubia Flip 2 5G features a 6.9… Ah sorry! The Ai+ Nova Flip 5G features a 6.9-inch 120Hz foldable AMOLED display with 1200 nits peak brightness, while the cover screen is a 3.0-inch AMOLED. Internally, the device runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset (according to official images), paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage.

For photography, there is a dual rear camera setup with a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth lens. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera.

Like the Nubia Flip 2 5G, the Ai+ Nova Flip 5G packs a 4,325mAh battery with 33W charging support.

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Essentially, the Ai+ Nova Flip 5G is a Chinese phone with an Indian label in the Indian market.