Is the Huawei Y6p the stylish budget phone you’ve been looking for?
Despite the craziness happening around us, Huawei’s plowing through their product releases for 2020. Announced yesterday through a product Livestream, the Huawei Y6p is the brand’s newest budget phone to date, slotting right below the recently announced Y7p.
With a lower price tag and a somewhat more eye-catching exterior, Huawei hopes that the Y6p’s stunning looks is enough to attract budget-conscious users looking for an affordable and stylish phone.
Before we dive into the review, let’s take a look at what you get when you buy one:
Huawei Y6p Price and Specs Philippines
The official price of the Huawei Y6p in the Philippines is Php5,990.
- MediaTek Helio P22 octa-core processor
- 4GB of RAM
- 6.3-inch HD+ IPS display; 1600 x 720 resolution
- 64GB of expandable storage (up to 256GB via NM card)
- Triple rear cameras: 13-megapixel f/1.8 main camera; 5-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera; 2-megapixel depth sensor; with PDAF, LED Flash
- 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera
- 4G, LTE (Dual SIM, Hybrid Tray)
- WiFi, Bluetooth
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC
- Fingerprint scanner, Facial Recognition
- Android 10 with EMUI 10.1
- 5000mAh Battery with 10w charging
Pros:
- Great looking back
- Large battery
- Can be used to charge other phones
Cons:
- Cameras are so-so
- The processor is showing its age
Packaging and contents:
The phone comes in the Y-series’ typical colorful packaging, with the name of the phone printed on the front of the box in large, white letters.
Aside from the unit itself, you’ll also find a pair of headphones, a USB cable (sadly no Type-C here) as well as a 5V/2A 10W charger. There’s no free silicone case in the package, which is a little odd.
Durable beauty
Like most budget phones nowadays, Huawei’s’ Y6p comes packing a plastic back. The phone has a “high-density composite back panel”, which is basically fancy talk for really, really durable plastic.
We don’t have an idea how durable the phone’s rear really is (we’re here to review phones not destroy them) but we’re going to take Huawei’s word on this one. Interestingly enough Huawei sent their testing and reliability numbers for the Y6p and from what we could gather, the phone is one tough cookie, though take note that we have no way of independently verifying Huawei’s claims.
Despite being a (presumably) tougher phone than most, the Y6p doesn’t look like a rugged animal. Quite the opposite actually – Huawei has engineered the plastic on the rear of the phone to emit shiny, wavy S-shaped textures when it’s hit by light, which certainly makes the phone look more premium than it actually is. If you’re curious, the phone comes in three colors: Phantom Purple, Midnight Black, and Emerald Green, though the textured effect doesn’t really show up that well on the black variant.
Despite aimed at the budget crowd, the phone is very well made, which isn’t always the case for devices in its category. Since the phone doesn’t have a silicone case when you buy it, it might be a good idea to invest in one since we’re pretty sure that the beautiful plastic back is prone to scratches.
The rear of the phone holds the fingerprint scanner and a vertically aligned camera module that’s tucked in the upper left corner.
The overall design of the phone is pretty safe, but really we’re not going to knock Huawei for that.
So-so display
The phone sports a 6.3-inch panel with HD+ resolution. There’s a small dewdrop notch right on top of that that holds the 8-megapixel selfie camera.
The bezels are a little thick on the phone’s display, which is expected considering this is a budget device. That being said, they’re not overly large – they’re perfectly average, which is par for the course for a phone like this.
As far as display quality goes, the display is alright. It’s not bad per se (with good legibility under sunlight) but it’s not amazing either. The overall size of the panel is a little on the small side considering its competitors but the upside here is that it doesn’t pixelate as much as say,a device with a similar resolution that packs a much bigger (6.5-inch) panel.
Decent cameras for the price
The Y6p gets a triple camera module that’s arranged vertically, which protrudes just a few mm from the body of the phone.
The primary shooter is a 13-megapixel unit, with an f/1.8 aperture lens. That’s helped along by a 5-megapixel wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view. The last camera is a 2-megapixel depth-sensing unit.
Images taken from the main camera is alright, with good detail reproduction under bright light. The photos are decently sharp and are just about what you’d expect from a phone with a sub Php 10K price range.
Low-light images tend to suffer a little bit which isn’t surprising here, and while some photos look OK under less than ideal lighting, you’ll be forced to work for a good photo if you insist on taking images in low light.
MediaTek’s Helio P22 is showing its age
The Y6p comes armed with MediaTek’s Helio P22 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.
There’s good news and bad news here, but first the good news: the phone is optimized enough that even with the older processor going through the EMUI 10.1 OS (based on Android 10) still feels smooth, and the processor has enough oomph to power through most Android apps without issue.
The bad news is that the processor is showing its age. The Helio P22 is now two years old, and struggles a little bit with newer, fancier games with better graphics. You’ll still be able to game with most mainstream Android games without problems though, but you’ll have to turn down some graphical settings to enjoy a smooth experience.
And like most recently released Huawei phones the Y6p doesn’t have access to Google Play. Instead you’ll have to get your apps via Huawei’s AppGallery, the brand’s own repository of apps.
Huawei’s been beefing up the content for AppGallery ever since they lost access to Google’s mobile services, and after considerable investment there are now tons of apps in Huawei’s solution, with more being added every day.
The biggest appeal here is the large, 5000mAh battery. It’s certainly bigger than average and is enough to propel you through the day with enough juice leftover.
Verdict: A beautiful phone that lasts quite a long time
If you’re in the market for a phone that’s easy on the eyes, easier on the wallet and has the battery life to stick around the entire day, then the Y6p might just be for you.
Huawei’s latest budget offering though certainly has a lot of competition though, especially thanks to its Php 5,990 price point.
That being said, the phone addresses most of the things that budget users need, including a decent camera, long battery life, and a price that won’t make a huge dent in your savings.
Photos by Jamie Inocian
