Huawei Y7 (2019)

The Huawei Y7 (2019) features a 6.26-inch IPS LCD screen with a dewdrop notch. The display has a resolution of 720×1520 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. Under the hood, lies an octa-core  Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor.

The phone runs on Huawei’s custom EMUI 8.2 based on Android v8.1 (Oreo). It offers 3GB RAM along with 32GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 512GB via microSD card. A 4000mAh battery powers it. It has dual-SIM support and a dedicated microSD card slot.

Coming to the cameras, the Huawei Y7 (2019) has a dual camera set up on the rear – a 13MP primary camera (f/1.8 aperture) paired with a 2MP secondary depth sensor (f/2.4 aperture). Also, there’s an 8MP selfie camera on the front. Sensors on the phone include Fingerprint Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, and Accelerometer. It also supports Face Unlock.

The Huawei Y7 (2019) is available in three colour variants – Midnight Black, Aurora Blue,  and Coral Red. In India, the phone costs around Rs. 17,200.

When compared to the last year’s version of the Huawei Y7, the Y7 2019 looks very similar. However, there are subtle differences between both. For instance, the new Y7 looks more fine-tuned and modern than the earlier version. Now, you get a drop-notch display, that was missing in the previous version. While the earlier version featured a monolithic design, the Y7 2019 features a split between the back panel and the casing. Also, the new Y7 feels taller and thicker than the previous version. The side bezels are minimal, and there’s a small chin at the bottom with a Huawei logo on it. Frankly, we could do without the brand mention. Overall, the phone parts seem to sit flush on the body.

The phone is made out of high-quality polycarbonate. While the back panel is super glossy with a mirror-like finish, the side casing has a more matte-effect to it. The rear panel features a dual camera module aligned vertically on the top left corner. The LED flash lies just below the module. The fingerprint sensor is placed conveniently in the top middle portion of the back panel. On the right side of the casing, you get the volume rockers and the power button. The left side houses a tray that fits both the nano-SIMs and a microSD card. This is awesome since you don’t have to choose between a second SIM and a memory card.

At the bottom, there’s a micro USB port placed at the centre with two speaker grilles resting on either side. The top part of the frame holds the 3.5-mm audio jack and another mic.

The front display has no oleophobic coating or a Gorilla Glass protection, which is a letdown. The notch houses the selfie camera. Although there’s a flash, it is so weak that you’re better off without it. Located just above the notch is an earpiece along with an LED indicator hidden underneath. At the top, you can also see two tiny sensors – a proximity sensor and a light sensor.

The Huawei Y7 (2019) sports a 6.26-inch IPS LCD screen with a 720×1520 resolution and a pixel density of 269 PPI. The screen has good colour reproduction and decent viewing angles. However, at certain angles, dark shades look slightly washed out. The colours never look too saturated, and the brightness level works fine for indoor settings or overcast day. Outdoors, in bright sunlight conditions, you will face a little problem to view display content. The auto brightness function works well. If the display supported FHD+ resolution, it could have been much better.

While you can hide the drop notch from the settings, it doesn’t do much good. Once the teardrop is hidden, there appears on top a bezel as thick as the bottom chin. So, overall, this has no practical use. In the settings option, you can also tweak the colour temperature and contrast and choose to activate the full-screen mode. Keeping energy-efficiency in mind, you also get an option to switch to low resolution. But, we’re not sure how well it works since the display is already low-res.

In terms of hardware and SoC, the Y7 2019 hasn’t undergone much change. From the earlier Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, it upgraded to Qualcomm Snapdragon 450. Honestly, both these entry-level SoC’s deliver more or less the same performance – mediocre at best. Also, it is a known fact that at present, the Snapdragon 450 is Qualcomm’s weakest SoC. In the new version, you get an Adreno 506 GPU to handle the graphical side of things.

The octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor consists of 8 Cortex-A53 cores with a maximum clock frequency of up to 1.8 GHz. While the phone quickly loads apps and handles routine tasks smoothly for the most part. Since there’s only 3GB RAM, the phone gets sluggish and starts lagging during multitasking. As for gaming, the phone is best used for lightweight and simple games. Given that Adreno 506 is an entry-level GPU, the phone cannot handle graphics-intensive games like Tekken, Asphalt, and PUBG. With such games, the phone performance stutters heavily, thereby spoiling the gaming experience altogether.

Coming to the software, the EMUI 8.2 has nothing new to offer. You get all the standard features and customisations that were present in the earlier version. There are gesture controls, navigation options, and other customisation features that are the signature specs of Huawei’s EMUI. However, it also means that there are some bloatware issues as well.  

As mentioned before, the phone features a dual camera module at the back. So, you get a 13MP primary sensor coupled with a 2MP depth sensor that comes in handy to create bokeh effects. The camera app offers standard shooting modes like HDR, AR, Manual, Panoramas, Pro, to name a few.

In daylight conditions, the rear camera can deliver impressive results. Captured images depict sufficient detail and a decent white balance. The colour reproduction is quite natural, which is a good thing. You can choose to activate the AI feature for the camera. In reality, the AI feature works decently – it enhances the colour and tone of the scenes and objects in them. However, sometimes the effect may look a little too aggressive and end up, resulting in artificial-looking snaps. As for the blur effect, it does just an okay job. The edge detection and blur aren’t the best. Again, low-light photography is another major letdown of the camera. Images captured in low-light settings have a lot of noise and look grainy. Considering that the dynamic range of the camera is low, close-up shots don’t look good.

The 8MP front cam can click pretty good selfies in favourable lighting conditions. It has a Beauty Mode that further enhances your facial features and makes it social media ready. In low-light, the camera fails to perform – images look blurry and out of focus.

You can record videos in Full HD resolution at 30fps. However, the lack of optical image stabilisation results in shaky and blurred videos.

The battery is where the Y7 2019 gets a significant upgrade. While the earlier version had a 3000mAh battery capacity, the new Y7 packs in a 4000 mAh battery. Since the hardware isn’t very demanding and the screen resolution is limited to HD+, the battery can survive for an entire day on a single charge. That is, of course, if you use the phone for routine tasks. Binge-watching and playing games could result in the battery percentage dropping faster.

In conclusion, Huawei has certainly made improvements in the new Y7 2019 in terms of the design, processor, battery, and the camera unit as well. However, the only functional enhancements seem to be the battery performance and the design aspect. The problem is that who would shell out 17K for a mediocre phone when you can get better phones at a lower price? Better alternatives include the Redmi Note 7, the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1), and Samsung Galaxy A30.