Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 Unboxing and First Impressions
We go hands-on the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 with no notch full-screen display and USB Type-C that just arrived in the Philippines!
Huawei is looking to disrupt the pop-up camera phones with the new Y9 Prime 2019 with its 6.59-inch FHD full-screen IPS display with no notch, USB-C, and triple rear cameras.
Related: Versus the competition, Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 made pop-up cameras affordable
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| Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 with pop-up selfie camera |
Huawei is looking to disrupt the pop-up camera phones with the new Y9 Prime 2019 with its 6.59-inch FHD full-screen IPS display with no notch, USB-C, and triple rear cameras.
Related: Versus the competition, Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 made pop-up cameras affordable
Powering the device is the updated Kirin 710F octa-core processor with the Mali-G51 MP4, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
On paper, it looks promising when you consider the price point when compared to the competition.
Let's dive in!
On paper, it looks promising when you consider the price point when compared to the competition.
Let's dive in!
Unboxing/Accessories
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| Inside the box |
Inside the familiar Y-series box are the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019, 10W USB charger, USB Type-A to USB Type-C cord, SIM tray ejector tool, earphones, documentation, and jelly case.
Build Quality/Design
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| Full screen display with minimal side and top bezels |
The Y9 Prime 2019 is primarily made out of a premium glossy polycarbonate frame, glass front, and glasstic back panel. There is no mention of whether the glass in front is protected by Gorilla Glass.
If you look closely, the transition from glass front, to glossy frame and to the glasstic back is polished. The glasstic back is a fingerprint magnet while the glossy makes the phone slippery when held.
The back is primarily colored with a two-tone design with gradient lines that line across it. At the upper left side of the back is the triple camera set-up made up for a 16MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle camera, and 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor that supports PDAF and with an LED flash. Beside the camera module is the fingerprint reader.
Premium looking glass-like back with no mention of Gorilla Glass
If you look closely, the transition from glass front, to glossy frame and to the glasstic back is polished. The glasstic back is a fingerprint magnet while the glossy makes the phone slippery when held.
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| Rear with Pop-up camera |
The back is primarily colored with a two-tone design with gradient lines that line across it. At the upper left side of the back is the triple camera set-up made up for a 16MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle camera, and 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor that supports PDAF and with an LED flash. Beside the camera module is the fingerprint reader.
The most affordable with a pop-up camera setup yet!
In front is the aforementioned full-screen display with the top and side bezels are thinner than the bottom bezels. In particular, it goes with 91.006 percent of the screen-to-body ratio.
Huawei achieved the no notch by adopting the pop-up selfie camera that rises to the occasion whenever you switch to the selfie camera or when using face-unlock.
Powering the phone is a 4000mAh battery that is charged via USB Type-C and a 10W battery charger. There is no word if it supports Huawei Super charge.
The phone measures at 163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm and 197 grams. It isn't that big for its screen size, but it is a bit heftier than expected.
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| Top side |
On top are the SIM tray, pop-up camera, and single microphone while at the bottom are the 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port and single speaker.
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| Bottom side |
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| Left side |
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| Right side |
On the left side is a smooth surface while the right side is the volume rocker and power button.
Initial findings
1. The display is a 6.59-inch 2.5D curved TFT LCD (LTPS) FHD+ display at 391 ppi with no mention of Gorilla Glass protection. Time has passed as newer gen TFT screens now produce sharp images with vibrant color and pretty deep blacks. |
| AnTuTu score! |
2. Inside the device is the Kirin 710F 64-bit octa-core processor paired with the Mali-G51 MP4 GPU with GPU turbo and 4GB of RAM. This results in a slightly lesser score over the Vivo V15 and OPPO F11 but is negligible in real-world use. Kirin 710F seems to be slightly faster than the Kirin 710 found with Nova 3i. Our Y9 Prime 2019 with Kirin 710F scored 142K at AnTuTu while Nova 3i with Kirin 710 got 138.5K.
It is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that is charged via USB-C with the 10W USB charger. There is no word if it supports Super Charge when plugged to chargers with higher wattage.
3. It loads with Android 9.0 Pie OS with EMUI 9.0 which means that it has Huawei's latest and greatest version of Google's OS. Personally, it isn't my favorite skin. But if you like EMUI, then this is going to be a great time for you as apps and tasks are running smoothly on this phone.
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| Main Camera UI |
4. There triple rear camera set up is made up of the 16MP f/1.8 primary camera, 8MP f/2.4 ultra-wide camera and the 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor that supports PDAF and an LED flash. There is no word if any of the cameras have OIS or EIS. But, it has AI scene optimization and an AI-assisted handheld Super Night Mode technology for better low light shots.
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| Selfie camera UI |
For selfies, it hides the 16MP f/2.2 sensor inside the pop-up front-facing mechanism.
Related: Huawei Y9 Prime 2019: First Camera Samples
5. Y9 Prime 2019 comes with WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE, HWA, aptX, and aptX HD, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and dual SIM. it also goes a 3.5mm headphone jack slot, proximity, fingerprint, and gyroscope sensor.
Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 Specs
Display: 6.59-inch 2.5D curved TFT LCD (LTPS) screen w/ FHD+ 2340 x 1080 resolution at 391 ppi
CPU: 2.2GHz 64-bit Kirin 710F octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4 w/ GPU Turbo
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 400GB
Back Camera: 16MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle lens + 2MP f/2.4 w/ PDAF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.2
Battery: 4,000mAh w/ 10W fast charging
OS: Android 9.0 Pie w/ EMUI 9.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE, HWA, aptX, and aptX HD, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, USB-C Colors: midnight black, emerald green, sapphire blue
Dimensions: 163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm
Weight: 197 g
Price: PHP 12,990
As of the moment
Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 may not be the best in RAW power when compared to its peers, but it makes up in design, features, and value for the price.
It is one of few pop-up camera phones in its price range with USB-C, triple rear cameras and full-screen display with no notch all for the price below the competition.
Bonus: It goes with 128GB storage. Most similarly priced phones only have 64GB or lower.
Out of the box, we are liking the new Y9 Prime from Huawei.
CPU: 2.2GHz 64-bit Kirin 710F octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4 w/ GPU Turbo
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 400GB
Back Camera: 16MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle lens + 2MP f/2.4 w/ PDAF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.2
Battery: 4,000mAh w/ 10W fast charging
OS: Android 9.0 Pie w/ EMUI 9.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE, HWA, aptX, and aptX HD, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, USB-C Colors: midnight black, emerald green, sapphire blue
Dimensions: 163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm
Weight: 197 g
Price: PHP 12,990
As of the moment
Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 may not be the best in RAW power when compared to its peers, but it makes up in design, features, and value for the price.
It is one of few pop-up camera phones in its price range with USB-C, triple rear cameras and full-screen display with no notch all for the price below the competition.
Bonus: It goes with 128GB storage. Most similarly priced phones only have 64GB or lower.
Out of the box, we are liking the new Y9 Prime from Huawei.
For our full review: Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 Review - Affordable pop-up camera phone
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