Why the Y6? A look at Huawei’s ridiculously cheap entry-level smartphone.

This budget phone dropped the same time Huawei's P20 series did. Is it worth the look?

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While Huawei drew mounds of attention towards the recent Philippine release of its radiant flagship shooters, the P20 Series (P20, P20 Pro, P20 lite), another smartphone from the company silently dropped within the same week. This is Huawei’s Y6.

The Y6 is an entry-level offering from the Chinese smartphone brand. The look and feel of the Y6 sits well with Huawei’s smartphone pedigrees and offers a decent list of specs especially for the price point that it’s in.

Huawei Y6 2018 specs

  • 4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor
  • 2GB RAM
  • 7-inch HD+ IPS display,18:9 display aspect ratio, 1440 x 720 resolution
  • 16GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
  • 13-megapixel f/2.2 rear camera with PDAF, LED flash
  • 5-megapixel f/2.2 front camera with selfie toning flash
  • Dual-SIM
  • 3G, HSPA+, LTE
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
  • Face unlock, USB OTG
  • 3000mAh battery
  • Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 8.0

 

From the initial spec run, the internals of the Y6 doesn’t seem much, but then again, the phone is only under Php 6,000. Yup! This budget-meal of a smartphone retails for Php 5,990 and while, sure, spec-wise, it’s no P20 or P20Pro, the price is crazy affordable for a smartphone that can run your every day apps with relative consistency and even get you to play some popular games albeit in low setting.

Here’s a look at the unit more closely.

Starting with the phone’s chassis, Huawei Y6 is housed in a 6” phone with a 5.7” HD+ IPS display and an 18:9 display aspect ration giving you more screen real estate but not as much as the 19:9 trend that’s popping up in other smartphones this year.

Going to the sides, the Y6 runs a chromed bezel around the phone contrasting it with a matte polycarbonate rear panel. No fingerprint sensors at the back, to the sides or in front which lessens security option by one that are found on most smartphones. It does have Face-unlock technology but isn’t as fast and responsive as we’d like it to be. Still, we’re happy that piece of technology was included.

Towards the bottom of the phone you’ll find the stereo and mic grills while the 3.5mm jack can be located on top of the unit. The phone comes with standard earphones and a USB (non-type C) connector and charger.

The Y6 comes with 13-megapixel f/2.2 rear camera and a 5-megapixel front facing camera with toning flash – to help with evenly lighted selfies even in low light situations.

While it’s fairly obvious the camera will not be superb – hey no Leica lens tech here – it does pull off some decent shots when there’s ample lighting. At night time you will need a tripod or gimbal or something to keep it steady to produce clearer images. Here are a couple of test shots we took with the Y6.

Overall, it’s a decent-enough phone for the price-point it commands. We’ll need to dig a little bit deeper and use the unit on a regular basis to render a fully geeked-out comprehensive review. But from the initial look and unboxing, and for the ridiculous price of less than Php 6,000, Huawei’s Y6 offers a fairly-solid offering that shouldn’t be overlooked even if it does feel a bit outdated.