Back in 2018, the Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 was unveiled in the country. This is one of the company’s mid-range smartphones from last year. When it was launched, the Y7 Prime 2018 was competing with the Infinix Hot 6 Pro among other devices.
Fast forward almost a year later and the company is back with its successor, the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019. The phone was officially unveiled in the country last week and will be available through retail stores later this week. The big question you may be asking is, should you go for this phone and should you pick the Y7 Prime from 2018 or go with the most recent one, the Y7 Prime 2019. Both phones are available in the country and in this post I will highlight what is new and what has not changed.
What Has Changed
Display Size
The display size is one of the things that has changed between the Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 and the Y7 Prime 2019. The 2019 version has a 6.26-inch display compared to the 5.99 inch one on the Y7 Prime 2018. This is not a big change but it is still significant for those who prefer bigger displays. Having the two phones side by side, the size difference is not evident but considering that the Y7 Prime 2019 has slightly thinner bezels, you get to appreciate the fact that the size of the phone has practically remained the same but the display is a bit bigger.
Even with the big display, the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 is easy to use with one hand thanks to its 19:9 aspect ratio. The display is also brighter on the Y7 Prime 2019 compared to the Y7 Prime 2018 and its resolution has been bumped up to HD+.
Still on the display, the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 has a dewdrop notch at the top, a first for the company. The dewdrop notch is one of the company’s key messages as it promotes the Y7 Prime 2019.
Processor
On the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019, the company is using the Snapdragon 450 processor. This is a slight improvement from the Snapdragon 430 processor used on the Y7 Prime 2018. Having used both phones, I noticed some performance improvements especially when handling demanding applications. On paper, the Snapdragon 450 is 1.5% faster than the Snapdragon 430. I was not being critical and specific with the speeds but I definitely noticed some differences between the two.
Selfie Camera
The Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 comes with a 16MP selfie camera. The Y7 Prime 2018 on the other hand comes with an 8MP selfie shooter. The Megapixel count aside, the difference between the photos taken with these two cameras is clear. On the Y7 Prime 2019, the shots are clear and have more detail. Beauty mode on the Y7 Prime 2019 is also better that what the Y7 from 2018 has to offer. With the latter, you don’t get actual improvements in my opinion.
The back cameras remain the same, 13MP and 2MP sensors. On the Y7 Prime 2019, the company decided to include the AI mode that we saw on the Y9 2019 last year. This mode allows the phone to adjust the settings to match the scene you are in for the perfect shot every time.
Battery
The battery has also been upped between the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 and the Y7 Prime from 2018. On the 2019 version, we are getting a 4,000 mAh battery that I have had no problems using for up to 2 days. This battery is way better that the 3,000 mAh battery we had on the Y7 Prime 2018. If you worry about your phone running out of charge in the middle of a work day, the Y7 Prime 2019 might be a good choice for you.
Besides the bigger batteries, both the 2018 and 2019 Huawei Y7 versions come with a number of battery optimization settings to get your battery to last even longer.
New Design and Colours
With the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019, the company has also improved on the overall design of the phone. Gone is the boxy and uninspiring design and now we have a curvy device that I am a huge fan of. The Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 looks a lot more like the Huawei Y9 2019 that we saw towards the end of last year. The slightly curved edges make the Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 comfortable to hold and carry around.
The company has also added new colours with the Y7 Prime 2019. These include Coral Red, Midnight black and my favourite, Aurora Blue.
Dual 4G VoLTE
The Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 supports Dual 4G VoLTE. If you have two networks that both support 4G connectivity, you can have both their SIM cards on your phone and both SIM cards will be able to support 4G connections. If you have ever used a dual SIM phone, then you know that this is not possible with all phones.
Face Unlock 2.0
The Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 also comes with Face Unlock 2.0. With this, you get faster unlocking speeds and more direction unlock. This means that you do not have to be looking directly at your phone for it to unlock. You can also use Face unlock to access some of the apps you have locked on your phone. For example, if you do not want anyone accessing your WhatsApp messages, you can lock it up and only allow access to it when your face is recognized. You can also enable smart lock screen notifications and this means that your notification details will not be shown on the lock screen unless the phone recognizes your face.
What Has Not Changed
RAM And Storage
The company has not changed much with the RAM and storage space between the Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 and 2019. Both come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage space. Both have microSD card support but the Y7 Prime 2019 can accommodate a 512GB card while the biggest card the Y7 Prime 2018 can accommodate is a 256GB one.
Android Version
The Android version is still Oreo but on the Y7 Prime 2019 we get Android 8.1 and on the Y7 Prime 2018 we had Android 8.0. Both are Android Oreo variant so there is not a big change in the features that you are getting.
Now Read: Huawei Y7 Prime 2019 Unboxing and First Impressions