The Huawei Y6s is launching in Kenya soon and will be the latest in the company’s Y series to launch in Kenya. I do have a unit for review and with that, I had to do an unboxing post and give you my first impressions on this phone.
The Huawei Y6s will be available in retail stores for around Ksh 14,000 and is the successor to the Y6 Prime from last year. At this price, it is competing with some good phones from Tecno and Infinix and since these two companies are yet to launch their phones for 2020, the Y6s may have the chance to shine.
I am planning to do a full review of the Huawei Y6s that will be up in a week or so. Before we get started, let’s look some of the key specifications of this phone.
Display: 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with 720 x 1560 pixels resolution
Processor: MediaTek Helio P35
GPU: PowerVR GE8320
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 32/64 GB internal storage, expdandable using a MicroSD card
Cameras: 13MP rear camera, 8 MP front-facing camera
SIM: dual SIM
Battery: 3,020 mAh battery
Android: Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9.1
Also Read: Huawei Y6s Specifications and Price in Kenya
First Impressions
When you take the phone from the box for the first time, you get to see the two-tone finish on the back. It does look like the old Google Pixel phones. I got the blue one that is appealing to look at.
The back of the phone is made of plastic with the upper part having a glossy finish while the lower part having a matte finish. The back is also where we find the fingerprint scanner that is very easy to setup and use. Above it and towards the left is the 13MP main camera with LED flash.
Flipping the phone we get to see the 6.3 inch display that looks stunning. It does look very bright and is comfortable to use outdoors. At the very top of the display is the notch that you can hide if you do not wish to have it. This is a 720p display that should not be so bad for media consumption. The 8MP selfie camera is housed in the notch cutout above the display.
On the bottom part of the phone is the MicroUSB port for charging and data transfer, and a speaker grille. The headphone jack is at the top while the power and volume keys are on the right.
The overall design and build of the Huawei Y6s feels quite good and modern. It does not feel premium and neither does it feel cheap. It is just good. It does look and feel much better than the Y6 Prime 2019.
Switching on the phone for the first time brings some familiarity if you have used Huawei phones before. The display feels good and slightly bigger than the one of the Y6 Prime 2019. The UI is familiar and looks the same as with any new Huawei smartphones unveiled within the last 12 months. Both the notch and the on-screen navigation keys can be hidden. I did not hide the notch but did opt for gesture navigation over on-screen navigation keys.
On the software side, the Huawei Y6s comes with Android 9 out of the box paired with the MediaTek Helio P35 processor, 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage space. There is a microSD card slot that can be used to expand this space further. I am curious to test this combination out and see what it does offer.
The cameras have also been promising from the first interactions I have had with them. The back camera takes some decent shots outdoors and I would love to test it further to see if it is reliable in different settings.
Conclusion
I used the Huawei Y6 Prime 2019 when it was launched and I loved it. Except for the aggressive RAM management, it was a very good phone. With this new one, I am curious to see if the experience will be the same This is the first smartphone from a major manufacturer to launch this year within this price and they have the advantage of being the only new one on the market.
I particularly love the design and feel of the Huawei Y6s, it does feel different from its predecessor. Some internals have also been updated and they should offer a better experience compared to the Y6 from last year.
Also Read: Huawei Y6 Prime 2019 Review: Does It Live Up to Expectations?
