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Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 (Nova 2 Lite) review

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When Huawei presented flagship P20 and P20 Pro, they also unveiled the new Huawei Y7 Prime 2018.

It was announced without any pomp, which is logical since it’s not new at all – Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 is, essentially, Huawei Nova 2 Lite, which had been announced two weeks prior to the event. Basically, Huawei Mate 10 Lite story repeats itself here. One model has different names in different countries, which can create confusion. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the device itself.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Technical specifications of Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

  • Display: 5.99″, IPS, 1440×720 pixels, aspect ratio: 18:9
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, 8-core (4 cores with a frequency of 1.4 GHz and 4 cores with 1.1 GHz, Cortex-A53)
  • Graphics Accelerator: Adreno 505
  • RAM: 3 GB
  • Storage: 32 GB
  • Support for microSD memory cards: up to 256 GB
  • Wireless networks: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 (LE)
  • Main camera: dual 13 + 2 Mp, f/2.2, PDAF
  • Selfie camera: 8 megapixels, f/2.0
  • Battery: 3000 mAh
  • Dimensions: 158.3 × 76.7 × 7.8 mm
  • Weight: 155 g
Huawei Y7 Prime 2018
Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Packaging

The phone comes in a white cardboard box with a colorful Y7 logo.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Inside there’s a power adapter (5V/1A), USB/MicroUSB cable and a SIM/SD card eject tool.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Design, materials and build quality

My device is black, but there are also gold and blue models available.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Curiously, the blue model has the same iridescent back panel as Huawei P20 Lite. The latter was made of glass, not plastic, like Y7 Prime 2018. Good to know that the engineers found the way to replicate the effect with different materials.

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Read also: Huawei P20 Lite – A Lighter Flagship

But now onto the overall look. There are no eccentricities here. Both back panel and the frame around the device are made of plastic.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The matte black doesn’t catch the eye, but the frame is glossy, with dark hues. Looks alright.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

On the front is an elongated screen with small bezels on top and bottom, which are asymmetrical – the bottom frame is slightly larger than the top. Bezels to the sides are rather wide for a modern device.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The build quality is excellent, with no creaks and squeaks. There aren’t any gaps. The protective film is already on the display, but there’s no oleophobic coating.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The back panel is a fingerprint magnet.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Elements’ Configuration

Above the screen we can find proximity and light sensors, a selfie camera, an earpiece speaker and an LED flash.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

At first I didn’t even notice the flash and though that the window hides sensors. It is masked surprisingly well.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

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There’s also a Huawei logo below the screen.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

On the right side is the power/unlock button and the volume key.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

On the left is one hybrid slot for two nano SIM cards and a microSD memory card.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Thankfully, you won’t have to sacrifice one SIM in order to find place for a memory card.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

On the lower edge were have 3.5 mm audio jack, microUSB port, microphone and a speaker.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Ports of microUSB and mini Jack are slightly shifted from the centre downwards, just like in Samsung smartphones.

The top edge is empty.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

On the back of the device in the upper left corner is a camera block with the main and auxiliary cameras and an LED flash. The block has a similar frame to the smartphone’s. An additional microphone is placed to the right of the block.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Below is the round pad of the fingerprint scanner.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

At the very bottom is the company logo and service information.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Read also: Huawei P20 Pro review – When China does it right

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 ergonomics

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 is a smartphone with a large display (5.99″), which means it itself is sizable. But the mass of the device and the width are small – 155 grams and 7.8 mm, respectively.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Using the device with one hand is not very convenient.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

But at the same time, the mechanical volume and power buttons, as well as the fingerprint scanner, are located where they are supposed to, and are easy to reach.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Display

The display diagonal is 5.99 inches, with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The resolution is small – 1440×720 pixels (HD+). The matrix is IPS.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Is the resolution noticeable? In general, not. Just don’t look at smaller elements on the screen.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The colors are pleasant, the contrast is not very high; it is rather balanced. Auto brightness adjustment works okay. The brightness level is alright, but the level of minimum brightness could be a little lower.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The one thing that is a definite negative is the reduction/increase in contrast when shifting the device diagonally.

In the settings, you can change the color temperature of the screen and activate the eye protection mode. The manufacturer even equipped the smartphone with the function of automatically reducing the screen resolution to save energy. Although … does it make sense? You can’t make it any lower, can you?

In general, the screen is okay. It is enough for most tasks.

Performance

This is a mid-ranger, and the hardware is what you might expect.

Surprisingly, the smartphone does not have the Kirin processor installed, but the old 28-nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chip. There are eight Cortex-A53 cores. Four operate with a maximum clock frequency of 1.4 GHz, and the remaining four with 1.1 GHz. Graphical accelerator is Adreno 505.

The results of synthetic tests are attached below.

In general, this chip and this phone are more than sufficient for usual tasks even in 2018.

But why install it in a new smartphone in 2018? Yes, it’s inexpensive, but still. It would be more reasonable to use, say, 625-m Dragon. Oh well.

The device can easily cope with typical tasks and simple arcade games, although you can see micro freezes when running apps and very rarely in the interface as well. In heavy games you won’t get far without lowering the graphics intensity.

In general, no surprises – the performance is typical for this segment.

The amount of RAM is 3 GB, and the storage is 32 GB. Of 32 GB of flash drive, the user has 24.79 GB of free space. But I remind you that it can be expanded with a microSD memory card with a capacity of up to 256 GB without having to sacrifice a second SIM card.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 cameras

The main camera in this smartphone is dual. The main module has a resolution of 16 megapixels and f/2.2 aperture, and an additional 2 megapixels.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The photographs are mediocre, with low detail. Autofocusing occurs at an average speed. In addition, the smartphone has problems focusing on objects close to the camera’s eye.

EXAMPLES OF PHOTOS IN FULL RESOLUTION

The auxiliary module is used to create images with a wide aperture effect. Can’t say that it works great, but it’s nice to know that its there.

You can shoot video in FullHD resolution. Quality is, once again, mediocre. No electronic stabilisation, no accelerated video.

The selfie camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels (f/2.0) is okay.

There is nothing new in the camera interface. There’s the minimum set of shooting modes and not much more. Swipe right to change the modes, swipe left for advanced settings of the camera.

Unlocking methods

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 can be unlocked using a familiar fingerprint scanner and trendy face recognition. The scanner, as usual in Huawei smartphones, is incredibly fast and accurate.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

There is a usual set of functions for which you can use a fingerprint sensor; control the camera, answer a call, turn off the alarm, open the notification panel and view photos in the gallery.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The process of unlocking with face recognition is the same as in the Huawei P20 Lite.

The only difference is that you cannot activate the device when you lift it – you have to press the power button.

It’s nice to see this function work so good in a budget device. You won’t fool the phone with a photo because it measures the depth of the image. The phone won’t recognize you in the dark, which is fine – there’s always the fingerprint scanner.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Battery life

What do you think, for how long does a 6-inch smartphone with a 3000 mAh battery work? Yeah, not very long.

The time of active screen use using 4G and Wi-Fi varied from 4.5 to 5 hours. With a constant Wi-Fi connection, it is 5 to 6 hours. In general, the smartphone will work for a whole day with moderate use.

There is no support for fast charging, so be prepared to wait for 2 hours for it to fully charge.

Sound and communications

The earpiece speaker is loud enough, the quality is good.

The multimedia speaker is loud, but medium and high frequencies prevail, while the low ones are practically absent.

The sound in the headphones is unexceptional. In the settings there is an equalizer and other audio effects, but they do not fundamentally change the situation. Low and high frequencies are weak, the medium frequencies are audible.

There aren’t many wireless modules here. Wi-Fi 802.11 (b/g/ n) works without problems. The GPS module needs a little more than a minute for more or less correct positioning, but even after this time, errors occur from time to time. The smartphone finds the cellular network quickly and there were no problems with it. Bluetooth 4.2 (LE) also works as it should. The NFC module for contactless payments is absent.

Firmware and software

The operating system of the smartphone is Android 8.0 with the proprietary EMUI version 8.0 shell.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The shell can be customized not only with standard themes from the built-in store, but also with downloaded themes from other sources. In addition, you can change the desktop style, navigation bar, use gestures and turn on one-hand control mode. The latter, by the way, is really useful here.

Verdict

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 is a fine smartphone for those who seek an affordable device with a big display, good build quality, stable software and the newest OS.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

The phone has a fast fingerprint scanner and can recognize its owner’s face. There’s even a full-fledged slot for two SIM and an SD card. Sure, there are cons as well. Among those is unimpressive battery life, run-of-the-mill cameras and weak hardware.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018

Only time will tell if Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 will be able to fight numerous rivals in this price range.

Dmitry Koval
Dmitry Koval
I write detailed reviews of various gadgets, used Google Pixel smartphones and interested in mobile games.
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