The Huawei Y7p arrives as a budget-friendly smartphone that aims to deliver essential features with some premium touches. Positioned in the competitive mid-range segment, this device offers an interesting balance between performance and affordability. Let's dive deep into what makes this phone stand out from the crowd.

Design and Build Quality

At first glance, the Huawei Y7p surprises with its premium aesthetics that belie its price point. The phone features a sleek plastic body with a glossy finish that mimics glass, available in two elegant color options: Midnight Black and Aurora Blue. The curved edges provide a comfortable grip, making one-handed operation relatively easy despite its 6.39-inch display. What immediately catches the eye is the minimalist rear design housing a vertically aligned triple camera setup and a fingerprint sensor positioned conveniently for natural thumb placement.

The front is dominated by the nearly bezel-less display, with only a small punch-hole camera interrupting the screen real estate. Weighing in at 176g with dimensions of 159.8 x 76.1 x 8.1 mm, the Y7p feels substantial without being overly heavy. The build quality exceeds expectations for this price range, though the glossy back does attract fingerprints noticeably.

Display Performance

Huawei equipped the Y7p with a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display featuring a resolution of 1560 x 720 pixels. While the HD+ resolution might seem modest on paper, the actual viewing experience proves more than adequate for daily use. Colors appear vibrant with decent accuracy, and the brightness levels are sufficient for outdoor visibility in most conditions. The 19.5:9 aspect ratio makes for an immersive experience when watching videos or playing games.

Where the display truly shines is in its color temperature adjustment and eye comfort mode, which reduces blue light emission significantly. The punch-hole design for the front camera is relatively unobtrusive, allowing for maximum screen utilization. While it can't compete with AMOLED panels in terms of contrast ratios, the LCD performs admirably for its class, offering wide viewing angles and satisfactory sunlight legibility.

Camera Capabilities

The triple camera system on the Huawei Y7p consists of a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. In daylight conditions, the primary camera captures detailed shots with good dynamic range. The color reproduction tends to be slightly saturated, giving photos a vibrant look that many users prefer for social media sharing. The ultra-wide lens expands creative possibilities, though there's noticeable distortion at the edges and a drop in sharpness compared to the main sensor.

Low-light performance is where the Y7p shows its budget nature. While Night mode helps brighten dark scenes, noise becomes apparent, and details get lost in shadowy areas. The 8MP front-facing camera delivers decent selfies with acceptable skin tones and detail. Video recording maxes out at 1080p 30fps, with electronic stabilization that works moderately well for casual use but isn't suitable for professional needs.

Performance and Software

Powering the Huawei Y7p is the Kirin 710F chipset paired with 4GB of RAM. This combination delivers smooth performance for everyday tasks like social media browsing, messaging, and light gaming. The phone handles multitasking reasonably well, though heavy apps may cause slight stutters. Gaming performance is adequate for casual titles, but graphically intensive games like PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact require lower settings for playable frame rates.

The device runs EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9, without Google Mobile Services due to Huawei's ongoing situation. Instead, it relies on Huawei Mobile Services and AppGallery for apps. While the interface is clean and intuitive, the lack of Google apps will be a dealbreaker for some users. Huawei has included useful features like Digital Balance for screen time management and a system-wide dark mode that enhances battery life.

Battery Life and Charging

One of the Y7p's strongest aspects is its 4000mAh battery, which easily lasts a full day of moderate to heavy use. With more conservative usage, stretching to two days isn't out of the question. The phone supports 10W charging through its micro-USB port (a puzzling choice in 2020), which means charging times are somewhat lengthy - about 2 hours for a full charge from empty.

Power efficiency is well-optimized, with the Kirin processor and EMUI's battery management working in tandem to maximize uptime. The absence of wireless charging is expected at this price point, but the inclusion of a micro-USB port instead of USB-C feels like an unnecessary cost-cutting measure that affects both charging speeds and future-proofing.

Audio and Additional Features

The single bottom-firing speaker delivers adequate sound quality for casual media consumption, though it lacks bass and can easily be muffled when holding the phone in landscape orientation. A 3.5mm headphone jack is present, which will please users who still rely on wired audio devices. Call quality is clear with good noise cancellation during voice calls.

The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor performs reliably and quickly, with a high recognition rate. Face unlock is also available as an alternative, though it's less secure and struggles in low-light conditions. Storage options include 64GB of internal space, expandable via microSD card up to 512GB - a welcome feature for media hoarders.

Technical Specifications:

Dimensions: 159.8 x 76.1 x 8.1 mm

Weight: 176g

Display: 6.39-inch IPS LCD, 1560 x 720 resolution (269 ppi)

Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 710F (12 nm)

CPU: Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A53)

GPU: Mali-G51 MP4

RAM: 4GB

Storage: 64GB, expandable via microSD (dedicated slot)

Main Camera: 48MP (wide) + 8MP (ultrawide) + 2MP (depth)

Front Camera: 8MP (wide)

Battery: 4000mAh, 10W charging

OS: EMUI 9.1 (Android 9 Pie)

Connectivity: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, microUSB 2.0

Sensors: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity, compass

Colors: Midnight Black, Aurora Blue

Final Verdict

The Huawei Y7p presents a compelling package for budget-conscious consumers who prioritize battery life and camera capabilities. While it makes some understandable compromises in areas like charging speed and low-light photography, it excels in delivering a premium-looking design and reliable performance for everyday tasks. The lack of Google services remains a significant drawback for many potential buyers, but if you're willing to adapt to Huawei's ecosystem, this phone offers excellent value in its price range.

Ultimately, the Y7p stands as a testament to Huawei's ability to deliver quality hardware even under challenging circumstances. It's particularly well-suited for users who value battery endurance and display quality over cutting-edge performance or camera versatility. For its asking price, the Y7p delivers where it matters most while making few glaring missteps beyond the unavoidable software limitations.