Which budget phone wins?

Huawei’s Y6 Pro is a pretty solid budget smartphone, but how does it fare against two of its competitors in the same price range?

Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. We’re pitting the Huawei Y6 Pro 2019 against two local incumbents: Samsung’s Galaxy J4+ and OPPO’s A3s. The Galaxy J4+ has been in the market for a while and has already gotten a lot of traction from local buyers. That’s the same case with the OPPO J4+, which means the Huawei Y6 Pro has its work cut out for it. But how exactly do the three phones stack up with each other? Let’s take a look:

Samsung Galaxy J6+ specs:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor
• 3GB of RAM
• 6-inch HD+ IPS LCD display
• 32GB of expandable storage
• 13-megapixel main camera with f/1.9 aperture, 5-megapixel secondary camera with
• f/2.2 aperture, LED flash
• 8-megapixel f/1.9 front camera
• Dual SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, fingerprint scanner
• 3300mAh battery
• Android 8.1 Oreo

Huawei Y6 Pro 2019 specs

• 2.0GHz MediaTek MT6761 quad-core processor
• 3GB RAM
• 6.09-inch HD+ IPS display, 1520 x 720 resolution
• 32GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
• 13-megapixel f/1.8 rear camera with PDAF, LED flash
• 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, HSPA+, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• Face unlock, USB OTG
• 3020mAh battery
• Android 9.0 Pie with EMUI 9.0

OPPO A3s Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor
• Adreno 506 GPU
• 2GB RAM
• 6.2-inch 19:9 aspect ratio HD+IPS display
• 16GB of expandable storage
• 13-megapixel f/2.2 and 2-megapixel f/2.4 dual rear cameras with LED flash and PDAF
• 8-megapixel f/2.2 front camera
• Dual SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• 4230mAh battery
• Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.0 UI

Build and design:

Because of the price points these three phones play at, it’s not surprising that they primarily rely on plastic components.

But since we’re all living in 2019, all three companies have taken steps to try and mask the plastic construction of their phones with fancy colors and finishes.

The Galaxy J4+ looks the shiniest, and the most dated out of the three. Aside from being the shiniest, it’s also the biggest physically of the three phones. It has a clear, plastic rear, along with a shiny finish that’s been made to approximate the look of glass from a distance.

The OPPO A3s also has a plastic body, though the company went with a more nondescript plastic chassis instead of the shiny rear of the J6+.

Huawei’s Y6 Pro 2019 looks the best among the three since it represents the latest design trends for mobile phones in 2019. The back is plastic, but it’s treated with a unique colorway that sparkles under the light, making it feel more premium in your hands.

All three manufacturers have ample experience building both high-end and budget smartphones, which shows in their phones. All feel great in the hand, and none exhibit any kind of weird body flex that’s usually associated with more affordable smartphones.

Display

Looking at the three phones’ displays is like looking at a snapshot of design trends in 2017, 2018 and early 2019. The Galaxy J4+, the oldest of the three still has thick bezels on the top and bottom and a 16:9 aspect ratio that was in vogue back during the latter parts of 2017.

The OPPO A3s meanwhile, has a traditional notch on top that houses its selfie camera, which was the most popular design trend last year.

The Y6 Pro meanwhile has a small dewdrop notch on top, which is currently the preferred method of placing the front camera on displays nowadays – at least until hole-punch displays start appearing en masse.

As for actual display sizes, the Galaxy J4+ has a 6-inch, full HD+ 18:5 aspect ratio display, while the OPPO A3s has a 6.2-inch, HD+ panel with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The Huawei Y6 Pro meanwhile, has a 6.09-inch HD+ IPS panel with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio.

Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy J4+ has the oldest processor of the bunch, rocking a Snapdragon 425 chipset, paired with 2GB of RAM. The Y6 Pro 2019 meanwhile, has a slightly better Helio A22 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM.

The OPPO A3s bests the two when it comes to the chipset, since it uses the octa-core Snapdragon 450 chipset vs the quad-core Snapdragon 425 and Helio A22, though RAM is only a measly 2GB.

Storage is important especially with more affordable phones like these, so in this department, the Y6 Pro 2019 wins, thanks to its roomy 32GB expandable storage. Both the A3s and the Galaxy J4+ only has 16GB of expandable storage.

Software

Both the A3s and the Galaxy J4+ lose to the Y6 Pro 2019 when it comes to software since both of them are still stuck on Android Oreo, without a clear update path laid out by either Samsung or OPPO for both phones. The Y6 Pro 2019 on the other hand already comes with Android Pie right out of the box.

Camera

Moving on to the camera, the A3s has the most amount of rear cameras among the three, as it sports a dual 13-megapixel, f/2.2 shooter/2-megapixel combo compared to the single, 13-megapixel f/1.9 aperture camera on the J4+ and the 13-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture shooter on the Huawei Y6 Pro.

When it comes to photo quality though, the J4+ has all-around better dynamic range, while the Y6 Pro 2019 has good color reproduction, though it stumbles a bit with low light shooting. Surprisingly enough, the A3s has excellent low-light performance.

When it comes to selfies though, the Huawei Y6 Pro has an edge, thanks to its wider aperture and selfie toning flash that balances exposure prior to every shot, without making you look overly artificial.

Battery

Huawei’s Y6 Pro 2019 has the smallest battery of the three, coming in at 3020mAh, with the Galaxy J4+ following close behind, at 3300mAh. OPPO’s A3s has the biggest battery of the three, coming in at 4230mAh.

Despite being the runt of the litter battery-wise, Huawei’s Y6 Pro 2019 put up a good fight battery wise, coming in at around 11 hours in our PCMark battery benchmark, right beside the Samsung J4+. OPPO’s A3s meanwhile, had the longest run time according to PCMark, coming in at around 23 hours on a single charge.

Price and wrap-up

All three phones have the same Php 6,990 sticker price, but that’s the only thing that they have in common. All three offer very distinct and different features that a consumer will have to consider before forking over their cash.

Samsung’s Galaxy J4+ seems to be the most dated of the three, while it has slightly better camera performance when it comes to overall image quality, it’s hampered by its large footprint and somewhat dated design.

The OPPO A3s has a slightly better camera, hardware, and longer battery endurance, but like the Galaxy J4+ has lower RAM and storage and an aging OS compared to the Y6 Pro 2019.

The Y6 Pro 2019 on the other hand, has the best-looking externals, display, RAM, storage and has the most modern OS of the three.