The Huawei Y9 (2019) is a budget smartphone that brings a lot of juice without the baggage of a huge price tag. On top of the generous specifications, this is the best looking Y-series smartphone we have ever seen. Speaking of generous specifications, here’s a quick rundown of what you get:
- Display: 6.5″ (1080p)
- Software: EMUI 8.2 (based on Android 8.1 Oreo)
- Processor: Hisilicon Kirin 710
- Memory: 4GB RAM + 64GB internal storage
- Main Camera: Dual 16MP + 2MP
- Front Camera: Dual 13MP + 2MP
- Battery: 4000mAh
Right out of the box you will be greeted by the device in it’s beautifully coloured back, which is plastic but one can hardly tell. The device is quite shiny thus picks up fingerprints much faster than team mafisi pick up girls.
Still on the back are the two main lenses that are the centrepiece to this work of art – more of this later on and a fingerprint reader to compliment the software-based face unlock feature. The back is slightly curved to aid with handling and this has the effect of giving the phone a premium feel as well.
The side which you will be looking at more, the front, has a notched display and I can already hear you mumbling about this. Despite your feelings towards the notch, the display itself is quite good with good viewing angles and brightness to go with it. The much-dreaded notch houses the two selfie cameras and other sensors and right on top of the notch is the earpiece.
On the software end, the phone feels snappy – at least during the first few hours of testing it out. being EMUI, you don’t get an app drawer out of the box but this can be enabled in the settings if you wish to have it. The software is also packed with gimmicks and useful features such as the ability to hide the notch and changing the screen resolution.
The highlight of the Huawei Y9 (2019) is the four cameras we find on the device. The device is said to have AI cameras, which simply means the Y9 (2019) can recognize what it’s looking at and optimize the camera settings to capture a better image of the scene. The camera is able to recognize people, plants and even food and there are many more recognizable scenes according to Huawei.
Away from the AI gimmicks, the shooting modes available on the Y9 (2019) are impressive and include; software-based aperture control, a dedicated night mode, portrait, Pro mode, light painting and AR Lens.
The Huawei Y9 (2019) retails at Kes.25,000 and we will be having a review in the coming days, just in case first impressions aren’t your thing.
Those interested in watching the unboxing video, have a feast:
