Huawei Y7p Review: Is it worth buying?

Priced under PHP 10,000, the Huawei Y7p features a 6.39 inch display with a hole-punch camera, triple shooters at the back, a Kirin 710F chipset, and a 4,000mAh battery. Our first impressions of the device was it’s a good device all around, we spent more time using the device. Here’s our full review and thoughts.

Premium-looking Design

The Huawei Y7p that we used was the Aurora Blue variant but there’s also a Midnight Black if you prefer a more stealthy look. If you’re looking for an eye-catching device that’s sure to impress people, go with the Aurora Blue as the gradient look will definitely shine bright and give off a premium-feel when compared with others. It may look like that device is made up of fragile glass, but actually, it’s a strong polycarbonate material.

On the front, the Y7p sports slim bezels all over, except from the chin that’s usually bigger than the rest. But the most surprising thing here is the hole-punch front camera located at the upper left corner. Huawei has named it Punch FullView Display. It’s surprising to see this layout in a budget smartphone as it is difficult to make. With a rounded corner and the hole-punch in the screen, the Y7p is measured at 6.39 inches.

At the back, the Y7p has a vertical triple camera setup located on the upper left corner. It sports a 48 megapixel + 8 megapixel Ultra Wide Angle lens with f/2.4 aperture and a 2 megapixel f2.4 aperture that focuses on depth sensing. The lenses protrude a bit but scratches are not visible even for a long period of time. If you’re wary about scratching, the box comes with a free jelly case that completely protects the camera when you lay it flat.

As for the sides, you’ll get a dual SIM tray and microSD card slot on the left. The volume rocker and power buttons are on the right side. They’re clicky and perfectly placed, you won’t accidentally press an unintentional button when using. At the top is the secondary microphone and the 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone, speakers, and micro USB port is at the bottom. It would be nice to see a USB-C port in the next iteration of the device.

Immersive Display

As for the screen itself, the Y7p’s 6.39-inch panel has an HD+ resolution (1560×720). Maybe we can see an FHD+ in the next version, but as an entry-level phone, the screen is expected. Colors are quite satisfying and you’ll get a sharp video when consuming content. The downward-firing speaker is loud enough that you won’t need to use an earphone when watching in a standard room. Bass are a little bit lacking, but the clarity of the Highs and mids are impressive. Overall sound is good, just not at the maximum volume level.

Triple-Camera Setup

The Huawei Y7p’s camera setup is a good combination for general use. Images taken by the rear camera looked decent, with a good amount of detail and sharpness. Colors are good as long as you have the right lighting environment. Photos are a bit muted and low contrast when under low light. I like the inclusion of wide-angle photos, and images taken with it are not distorted.

For the front camera, there’s a bit of noise especially under low light. I wished it had more sharpness but overall the photos looked fine. The depth sensors for both the front and rear shooters worked fine.

A New-world of Software

Right out of the box, the Y7p runs on EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie. One thing to remember is that this device does not have any Google Mobile Services installed. The device features the new Huawei Mobile Services that includes the AppGallery which is the company’s version of the Google Play Store. You won’t be able to find apps like YouTube, Facebook, Google Drive in the AppGallery. You’ll have to find a way to install them on your own.

For security, the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock feature worked flawlessly, and we did not encounter any problems throughout our whole use.

Armed with the Kirin 710F and 4GB of RAM. Navigation, multitasking and web browsing run smoothly without any hiccups. You’ll have to be careful when trying to game and multitask, as we sometimes encountered limitations where apps would refresh and the game itself will have fps drops.

We did not encounter problems with the battery and the 4,000mAh cell will get you through the day with light to medium use. Upon benchmarking we scored around 19 hours of run time. The micro USB charger that comes with the device will take you to full charge in just about two hours.

Conclusion

The Huawei Y7p is a great addition in the budget level and mid-range competition. Priced at PHP 9,990, you’ll get a premium-looking smartphone that sports three rear cameras that’s great for stop-and-shoot style, a good battery, and a performing smartphone. If you don’t mind the removal of the Google Play Store and you know how to install those services without the App Store, then we recommend this device for you.