Huawei’s mid-rangers are no-joke. The company has been going all out recently. Their more affordable devices are everywhere. Many believe the Y9 (2019) is one of their best.
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When we say the phone’s a mirror, we aren’t kidding. It has a high-gloss plastic back that’s extremely shiny. Being so glossy, you might’ve guessed that it smudges easily.
If you’re clumsy, the Y9 is not for you. It’s one of the most slippery phones we’ve worked with. You’re going to drop it without a case.
It is massive. It’s 6.5-inches. Its dimensions are 162.4 x 77.1 x 8.1 mm – it’s somewhat chunky.
We love the way it feels in our hands. It comes in at 173 grams, which is enough weight to make it feel well-built. Its body is curved excellently too.
There isn’t an array of colour choices to choose from. You only get three and they are stunning due to their glossy backs. They are:
You’ll see a fingerprint sensor gob-smack on its rear. Its buttons are easy to reach, and you get a microSD card, as well as a headphone jack.
If you’re a Huawei fan, you might’ve noticed that the Y9 (2019) looks familiar. That’s because it resembles the P30 Lite quite a bit.
The phone towers over many devices on the market. It gives you immersive viewing experience. Although large and in-charge, we would’ve loved it if a Super AMOLED display were in place. It has an IPS LCD screen. Colours are vibrant but not as much as in an AMOLED handset.
We have no idea what type of glass is on its display. Huawei hasn’t made this public knowledge. If it’s like other phones its price, it’s regular strengthened glass.
With just a glance it, you’ll notice its large notch. If you’re a notch hater, know that you can disable it through the phone’s settings.
Its screen is sharp. You’re getting a hold of a 1080 x 2340-pixel front. The Y9 has an adequate screen-to-body ratio too. It’s 82.8%, which is pretty good in our books.
Of course, there is a range of temperatures and colour modes to play with. Huawei wants to makes sure you get a very comfortable viewing experience.
Can we talk about how impressive its battery is? It’s a 4000 mAh unit that can last around 2 days. Considering that it has a massive screen, we’re impressed.
We’re not impressed by its charging capabilities, though. You’re getting a regular 10 W charger. The handset takes 3 hours to fully charge. It’s not that cheap, so we don’t get why fast charging wasn’t included.
In case you forgot, it utilizes a micro USB port. This is one of the reasons the device charges so slowly.
Its processor is the mid-range Kirin 710 chip. It’s seen in its counterpart, the Nova 3i too. It performs well but left us wanting more. It’s not super-snappy.
Out of the box, the Y9 comes with EMUI 8.2. It’s heavy-skinned, which is one of the reasons the phone is not the smoothest. But it is very customizable and hosts many themes.
When you first put the phone on, you’ll be using Android 8.1. The Android 10 update is in the works.
What blew us away was the handset’s memory variants. You can choose from 64 and 128 GB of space, along with 3, 4 and 6 gigs of RAM. 128 GB is a lot, which is why you’ll love that you can further expand its storage.
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. Shots aren’t extraordinarily detailed, but they deliver. This is true for everything but objects in the far-back, they just blend in. Something the phone struggles with is colour accuracy.
When it comes to low-light shots, it’s clear that the camera tries. The Y9 over sharpens pictures to compensate. There’s also a lot of noise, which is not attractive.
There’s a dual set-up on its front. It has a 16 MP primary lens along with a 2 MP depth sensor. They’re decent, but their filters and AR stickers are the most fun to play with. There is a simulated bokeh effect too. We found it surprisingly accurate.
By this point, it’s clear how we feel about the phone. Let’s compare it with a couple of alternatives.
The handset is a bit smaller than its counterpart. You’re looking at a 6.4-inch phone. It also has a plastic body, but it comes with a much better display. It’s a Super AMOLED, which is extremely vivid.
Not only does the A30 have a better screen, but it also has less bezel. The device has a screen-to-body ratio that’s almost 85%. Its screen is not more detailed, though. Both handsets come with 1080 x 2340 p resolutions.
You’ll notice that the Samsung device has a tougher display. There’s Gorilla Glass 3 on its front.
Processor-wise, you’re getting an Exynos chipset. The Exynos 7904 is inside and it’s not as good as the Y9’s Kirin 710. The phone comes with Android 9 out of the box. Unlike its counterpart, you don’t have to wait for an update, it already received Android 10.
It, unfortunately, doesn’t come with the most memory options. You can only pick it up in 32 and 64 gigs of space, with 3 or 4 gigs of RAM. Thankfully, it comes with expandable storage.
Both devices have similar batteries. The A30 lasts around a day and a half. Unlike its counterpart, the Samsung phone has fast charging capabilities. You’ll be using a 15 W fast charger that will take it from 0-100% in about 2 hours.
There’s a dual-set up on its rear. Its primary sensor is a 16 MP wide lens, while its secondary sensor is a 5 MP ultrawide one. There’s a single shooter on its front – it’s a 16 MP wide camera.
The phone is a bit smaller than its counterpart. It’s built much better, though. It comes with a Gorilla Glass 5 back that makes it very durable. Although it has a great back, it still rocks a plastic frame.
Once again, you’re met with an IPS LCD screen. The Redmi Note 7 has a screen-to-body that isn’t as good as the Y9’s. However, it has a smaller notch. It’s teardrop-shaped and can be hidden through the phone’s settings.
Both of them have 1080 x 2340 P resolutions. But the Xiaomi device has the tougher display. It has a Gorilla Glass 5 front, while we don’t even know what the glass on the Y9 is.
What about its processor? Well, the Snapdragon 660 is inside, but unfortunately, it’s not as good as the Kirin 710.
Out of the box, you’re getting Android 9. If you’re wondering whether the mid-ranger will be getting the Android 10 update or not, the update is rolling in.
It comes with quite a few memory variants. You can choose from 32, 64 and 128 GB of space. RAM-wise, 3, 4 and 6 GB are available. Like any good phone, you can expand its storage.
Similar to the A30, the Redmi Note 7 also has a 4000 mAh battery. It can last a little over a day. It comes with fast charging. You’ll be using its 18 W faster charger, which fully charges about an hour and 45 minutes.
In terms of its camera, there’s a dual set-up on its rear. You get a 48 MP wide primary lens and a 5 MP depth secondary sensor. There’s a variant of the phone that comes with a different camera. Its primary sensor is a 12 MP wide lens while its secondary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. You don’t get a dual set-up on its rear. There’s a single 13 MP shooter for you to play with.
Huawei’s mid-rangers love rocking plastic bodies. The Y7p is no exception. The device is big in general, but it is slightly smaller than its brother. Like the Y9, it doesn’t have the most vivid display. You’re getting an IPS LCD screen.
The two come with pretty similar screen-to-body ratios. However, the Y7p is not as detailed. In the sharpness department, the mid-ranger does quite bad. Its screen resolution is 720 x 1560 pixels.
The glass on its front isn’t specified, and it’s safe to assume that it’s regular strengthened glass.
Although its display isn’t as good, its processor outperforms the Y9’s. It comes with the Kirin 710’s more powerful counterpart, the Kirin 710F.
The handset rocks Android 9 out of the box. It also received the Android 10 update recently. That being said, we have some bad news. Google Play store doesn’t work on it. You’ve probably heard why.
What about its memory variants? You can only pick it up with 64 GB of space and 4 GB of RAM. If that’s not enough for you, know that you can expand its storage.
It has a battery as large as the Y9’s. It can last over a day. It uses regular 10 W charging, but it doesn’t take as long as its counterpart. You can expect it to fully charge in about 2 hours.
There’s an impressive triple camera on its rear. Its primary sensor is a 48 MP wide lens, its secondary sensor is an 8 MP ultrawide lens, and its tertiary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. Front Camera-wise, you’re getting an 8 MP lens.
Unlike the Y9, you’re getting a Gorilla Glass front. The A5 rocks Gorilla Glass 3, making it durable. Unfortunately, it has a plastic back. It’s as big as its counterpart, though.
In terms of its display, the A5 is like most of the phones our list – it has an IPS LCD screen. It has a decent screen to body ratio, that’s near-identical to the Huawei phone. But we’re sad to say that it has a horrible screen resolution. It’s only 720 x 1600 pixels.
You’re not getting a Kirin chip. The more powerfulSnapdragon 665 processor is inside. When it comes to the Android version it runs, you’re met with Android 9. Yes, the Android 10 update is being rolled out.
It doesn’t have a wide selection, but it offers good storage variants. 64 and 128 GB of space is available, as well as 3 and 4 GB of RAM. No surprise, you can expand its storage.
What about its battery? A considerable 5000 mAh unit is inside. It can last well over a day. It’s so huge that you can reverse charge other devices. Hopefully, you know what reverse charging is, but if you don’t, it’s when your handset charges others like a power bank.
The mid-ranger sadly doesn’t come with fast charge. It’s extremely slow, taking around 2 hours to go from 0-50%.
You’ll like its camera. There’s a quadruple set-up on its rear. The primary sensor is a 12 MP wide lens, the secondary sensor is an 8 MP ultrawide lens, the tertiary sensor is a regular 2 MP lens while the fourth sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. And on for its front camera, there’s a single 8 MP camera.
What’s the verdict? We think the Y9 is pretty good. But it didn’t wow us, other than with its appearance. If you’re thinking of purchasing it, know that its alternatives perform better. This is especially true for the A30. Its display beats the Y9’s any day of the week. If we had to give the Y9 props for anything other than its appearance, it’d be for how good its screen resolution is.
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