Huawei phones are hard to find in the Kenyan market now.
The last smartphone they released to local buyers was the Huawei Y7p, and that was more than one year ago.
Over that period, the company has not really brought their phones to the Kenya side, but that is not an isolated case because other markets have equally been affected.
While the company was ramping up its production before the US Entity List ban, things have turned for the worse since the 2019 trade restriction.
Events further deteriorated when the Chinese company was stopped from doing business with companies affiliated with the US. That development pushed out Huawei from collaborating with chip makers. It should be remembered that the corporation was already starting to emerge atop of the mobile silicon game owing to the impressive results posted by its high-end Kirin lineup.
To date, we haven’t seen much from Huawei. Yes, it still makes phones, but production has been reduced on a massive scale. This is really bad for the company because, in 2018, it was the leading Chinese smartphone vendor, even playing alongside the likes of Apple and Samsung on a global scale.
Even in its native China, Huawei is nowhere to be seen: Xiaomi now leads the pack, followed by members of BBK Electronics, including vivo and OPPO.
Will the issue be addressed in the long run? The short answer is that we do not know, and considering that the technology space makes massive leads every other year in terms of innovation, and that customer loyalty when it comes to smartphones changes from time to time, we bet it will be too late for Huawei to compete if at the ban is ever lifted.
Which brings me to the launch of the NOVA Y60.
Huawei Kenya has announced that it will bring the phone here for Kenyan buyers, and Huawei loyal fans. It is an entry-level phone with kind of impressive specs, and we bet it will cost the same or less than matching devices in the market.
The arrival of the NOVA Y60 is slated for early December, so mark your calendars if the device is something you might want to follow up on.
Here are some of the phone’s specifications:
Weight: 185g
Screen: 6.6”, HD+ (1600 by 720)
Chipset: MediaTek P35
Memory: 4/64 GB, microSD card support
Main camera: Triple – 13 MP main, 5 MP ultra-wide, 2 MP depth sensor
Selfie: 8 MP
Battery: 5000 mAh, 5V/2A charging
SIM: Dual, 4G support
Headphone jack: Yes
Fingerprint reader: Side-mounted
This is a Huawei phone, so it does not ship with Google Play services. However, AppGallery has been installed, and from time to time, it keeps receiving some major titles, although it is far from being as robust as Google Play.
The phone’s support page does not specify whether the phone runs Android or HarmonyOS, but my guess is the latter because the company has been transitioning from Android because of the aforementioned ban and its associated limitations.
Remember, there is a way you can use a Huawei phone with Google Play services. Just get an Honor device (you can import one). Note, Huawei has still sold its sub-brand Honor, so the company is not answerable to its parent company, nor has it been banned by the US. However, it is obvious Honor sources a ton of inspiration from Huawei because some of their phones are nearly 100 percent identical, save for the software running in them.
So, fingers crossed until we learn any substantial developments from the two superpowers/
