Huawei’s mid-rangers are impressive, especially the cheaper ones. Does the Y7 (2019) work as great as its siblings? We’ve answered this below.
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The device is made from plastic. Normally, this would mean that it doesn’t feel that great. However, the plastic on its back is glossy and feels premium. From a distance, you’ll think it was made from glass. The Y7 isn’t the heaviest phone around, but it’s got some alright heft. It comes in at 168 grams.
The glass on its front is not very durable. It is a regular strengthened glass. Several handsets in the Y7’s price range come with gorilla glass, so we would’ve loved it if it was in place.
Its display stretches 6.26 inches across. It’s pretty slim– its dimensions are 158.9 x 76.9 x 8.1 mm.
We like its red variant. It reminds us of a sports car. As its back is so glossy, the red just oozes luxury. If it’s not the colour scheme for you, you can pick the device up in the following options: aurora blue and midnight black.
Huawei did a good job with how ergonomic it is – it fits comfortably in your hands. Its edges are especially curved.
If you want a device with a MicroSD slot, the Y7 2019 is right up your alley. But its microSD slot is also where you’ll be placing its sim. Like most mid-rangers, it comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and USB-C port.
Its screen isn’t the most powerful. There is only an IPS LCD panel in place. If you know anything about it, it’s that it isn’t as bright as Super AMOLEDs.
As its display is on the larger side, we appreciate that you get a large canvas to watch movies on.
Its screen-to-body ratio isn’t bad. However, it’s nothing to write home about – it is only 80%.
Its screen resolution is 720 x 1520 pixels. It’s nothing to complain about, but don’t expect a pin-sharp viewing experience.
In the harsh Sri Lankan sun, the Y7’s screen won’t unfortunately stand a chance. It’s not bright and has a glare. There’s a bluish tint to it too.
As mentioned, its front is regular strengthened glass. Don’t get too rough with it.
There is a 4000 mAh unit inside – the battery size is pretty standard for mid-rangers. The phone can last over a day. This is as its screen isn’t the most powerful and its processor isn’t that taxing. How will you charge it? Through 10 W regular charging. It takes well over 2 hours to go from 0-100%.
Its processor is everything you’d expect from a chipset its price – it is the Snapdragon 450. It can handle everyday tasks, but it’ll lag if you get too extensive with it. It especially struggles with gaming.
The Y7 2019 comes with 1 memory variant. It offers only 32 GB of space and 3 GB of RAM. For us, 32 gigs is not enough. We’re glad that you can expand its storage.
Huawei’s EMUI doesn’t offer an app drawer. To a lot of you, this would be a problem. If it’s any consolation, EMUI 8.2 is quite customizable. We love that it has many themes. It has a bloatware problem, though.
It runs Android 8.1 out of the box. You can’t update it to Android 10.
What can we say about its camera? It’s mediocre. There is a dual set-up on its rear. The primary sensor is a 13 MP lens, while the second one is a 2 MP depth sensor. Low light shots are decent, but you’re not getting anything sharp or colourful. If you zoom-in even slightly, you’ll be hit with major graininess. Try and avoid low-light shots as much as you can – they are atrocious. There is an 8 MP front shooter. It’s just as bad.
Now that you know how well it performs, let’s compare it with a couple of alternatives.
The M20 is a bit larger than the Y7. When we say ‘a bit’, we mean it literally. Like its counterpart, it has a plastic body. The plastic on it is glossy, though. It feels premium. The device is much heavier than the Huawei phone – it is 186 grams.
It doesn’t come with an IPS LCD screen. Instead, it is PLS TFT. It performs similarly to an LCD but provides a sharper viewing experience. It has a better screen-to-body ratio too. It’s 83.6%, so its bezel action is much less. The icing on top is the fact that you’re getting a 1080 x 2340 pixel display.
When it comes to its processor, the Exynos 7904 is available. It’s superior to the Snapdragon 450. Android 8.1 is available out of the box. Thankfully, you can upgrade it to Android 10.
Samsung’s One UI is on it. It’s much easier to use than EMUI. It thankfully has an app drawer, but it’s not as customizable.
What about its memory variants? They’re pretty good. You can pick the M20 up in 32 and 64 gigs of space. Along with this, 3 and 4 GB of RAM is available. Is its storage expandable? The answer is yes.
Its battery is huge – it is 5000 mAh. You’ll be charging it through 15 W fast charging. The device takes around 2 hours to go from 0-100%. As its battery is so big, it can easily last 2 days.
Like the Y7, there is a dual camera on its rear. Its sensors are 13 and 5 MP. Its 5 MP lens is a depth sensor. In terms of its front camera, an 8 MP wide shooter is present.
With one look at the phone, you’ll be mesmerized by it – it’s extremely shiny. There’s a metallic effect on its plastic back that screams luxury. The device is about the same size as its counterpart. It is heavier, though. It comes in at 188 grams.
Its screen is IPS LCD. We met the screen type in the Y7 (2019), and you already know how we feel about it. The handset has less bezel action going on than its alternative. Its screen-to-body ratio is almost 2% better.
It doesn’t have a very sharp screen and is similar to its counterpart’s at 720 x 1520 pixels. What’s better is that the glass on its front is quite durable – you’re getting Gorilla Glass 5.
The chipset it runs is also Snapdragon. It is the Snapdragon 439. As you can imagine, it doesn’t perform as well as the 450.
Out of the box, it runs Android 9. In terms of the Android 10 update, don’t get your hopes up.
What about its storage variants? Well, 32 and 64 GB of space are available. RAM-wise, 3, and 4 GB are present. You can expand its storage if you want.
Its battery is really good. It is 5000 mAh, like in the Samsung M20. You’ll be using 18 W fast charging on it. The Redmi 8 will take around an hour and a half to go from 0-100%.
There is a dual-camera set-up on its rear. Its primary sensor is 12 MP while its secondary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. The camera on its front is an 8 MP shooter.
The M11 is heavier than the Y7 2019. It comes in at 197 grams. Like its counterpart, there is plastic on its back. Its panel has a metallic look to it. It’s glossy as well.
The handset is huge – it’s 6.4 inches. You can expect a more immersive viewing experience. Its screen is PLS TFT – you already know how we feel about it.
When it comes to its screen resolution, it is 720 x 1560 pixels. It’s as far away from pin-sharp as possible. Its screen-to-body ratio is better than the Y7’s, though. It is 81.6%.
Don’t get too rough with its front, it is regular strengthened glass.
As the phone was released in 2020, it’s not surprising that it comes with Android 10 out of the box. The chipset inside is the Snapdragon 450 – if it sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s the same chip in the Huawei phone.
Once again, you’re met with Samsung’s superior One UI.
The memory variants on it look similar. You can pick the M11 up with 32 and 64 GB of space, along with 3 and 4 GB of RAM. If its storage options are not enough, know that you can expand them.
The M11 is like the other 2 alternatives – it also has a 5000 mAh battery. The handset will last around 2 days. This is as its screen isn’t that powerful and its processor isn’t the most taxing. To charge it, 15 W fast charging will be utilized. It will take around 2 hours to go from 0-100%. As its battery is so huge, we would’ve loved reverse charging, but Samsung decided to disappoint us.
The camera on its back consists of 3 sensors. Its primary sensor is a 13 MP wide lens, while its secondary sensor is a 5 MP ultrawide lens, and its tertiary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. The shooter on its front is an 8 MP wide lens.
The Y7 2019 is a super affordable Huawei phone, and it looks great. The brand is known to produce phones that look good, and they didn’t disappoint with the handset.
Not only would you love carrying it around, but it comes with a snappy processor and battery. We’re not sold on its display, but you can’t forget that it’s not very expensive. We also haven’t met a phone its price with an amazing camera, so we hold nothing against the Y7 2019’s.
How does it fair against alternatives? It holds its own. This is true for all the alternatives except for the M20. It had a better processor and screen.
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