The race to the top of the smartphone brand list is not a two legged race anymore with Apple and Samsung facing stıff competition, primarily from Chinese smartphone brands like Huawei and Xiaomi, especially Huawei. The Chinese smartphone producer has made incredible progress through its smartphones by mainly tackling the price issue that Samsung and Apple don’t really seem to be concerned with. Enters the Huawei Y7 Prime, now in its updated 2019 version. The specifications would not woo the extremists but those with a light usage of their smartphone would sure be craving the Y7 Prime after reading this review. As always, Huawei didn’t fail to impress with the colors available. Interested consumers would be able to opt between Aurora Blue, Midnight Black and Coral Red.
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Specifications:
SCREEN: 6.26 INCHES 720X1520 PIXELS, 19:9 ASPECT RATIO, WITH A TEARDROP NOTCH
OPERATING SYSTEM: ANDROID 8.1 OREO
MEMORY: 3GB RAM, 32GB INTERNAL STORAGE
CAMERA: DUAL SENSORS 13/2MP, FRONT 16MP
BATTERY: 4000mAh
UNBOXING:
The box has a picture of the device upfront just like majority of Huawei’s mid-tier phones. Upon opening the box, the phone is there front and center, followed by a screen protector and a transparent back cover (these accessories are always welcome since no need to buy them separately). The absence of headphones is always a big miss from any box of the phone. However, the presence of the headphone jack is a good sign considering how companies are completely omitting it from their devices. The rest includes the charger and the microUSB 2.0 cable. This would disappoint a lot of customers who were expecting 2019 to be the year where the microUSB 2.0 would go extinct. But unfortunately, this is the case and people might just adjust with it at the end.
DISPLAY:
The screen is the star of the show, coming in at 6.26 inches with a resolution of 720×1520 pixels and a waterdrop notch, resulting in maximizing screen to body ratio without the need of any fancy popup selfie camera, thus, keeping the price in the affordable range. Its an IPS screen so nothing spectacular is to be expected like the deep blacks of the Amoleds, however, this is a bright display and one that majority would feel comfortable using considering its price point.
The notch has often been a deal breaker for some but companies have been continuously trying to decrease the size of the notch and increase the screen real estate. In the process of providing its customers, with the maximum amount of screen, companies have tried different ways to get rid of the notch, however, at this price point, we weren’t expecting anything spectacular from Huawei, but still, the waterdrop notch is a welcome move.
PROCESSOR:
For around 180 Euros the spec sheet looks well-adjusted with entry-level specifications to get the daily job done. Obviously, no one would be planning on buying the Y7 Prime for gaming purposes or processor intensive tasks. The Snapdragon 430 has proved to be well equipped in handling normal tasks. Coupled with the 3 gigs of RAM, the phone would be efficient in multitasking. Light gaming would be an option plus with the optimizations of Android would further make the whole experience smooth enough for its users to enjoy.
STORAGE:
Considering the amount of time Huawei has spent in the smartphone market, the amount of space on the Y7 Prime is disappointing. 32GB of storage in which the operating system cuts off around 8 GB and any future update would be adding on top of that. The 32GB internal storage might just be a deal-breaker for some, but with the addition of microSD card slot, supporting up to 512 GB SD cards, the mediocre amount of space could be compensated
CAMERA:
Cameras, especially the front ones, have been of prime (no pun intended) focus of all Chinese smartphone brands. The addition of cool software tricks to slightly alter photos just to make them look a little brighter and neat. AI has been of deep integration in Huawei phones, and the Y7 Prime 2019 is no exception. It enables the camera to learn from the lighting conditions to make the auto mode more intelligent. The rear camera is no slouch with f1.8 aperture and dual cameras for depth focus to capture beautiful portraits.
BATTERY
Considering the battery’s capacity at 4000mAH, this would be one of the longer lasting phones in the category. Huawei offers software optimizations of its own to conserve battery with battery saver modes. However, the capacity speaks for itself and would be lasting at least a day without the need to plug it back in.
SOFTWARE:
With Huawei’s heavily customized skin on top of Android Oreo, the Snapdragon processor is going to be well worked since there have been numerous reports of the software causing lag issues and the primary reason behind it being EMUI. Upon digging deep though, the software becomes a user’s paradise with several useful features. With AI power saving features also integrated, you won’t need a frequent recharge anytime soon. Other features include Huawei’s Face Unlock 2.0, promising to be more secure and enabling easier options to unlock your phone. It also has a few neat software features worthy of mentioning like the easy mode making the whole android experience easier than ever for newbies and all those who want a clean and simple look on their phone. The Huawei Y7 Prime targets the affordable category of phones and nails it…almost!
CONCLUSION:
If you are willing to overlook the microUSB 2.0 port, the unintentionally disturbing notch, or of all the added bloatware which comes as part of EMUI, then Huawei Y7 Prime 2019, would be an ideal choice for you in the mid-tier smartphone category.
