The Huawei Y6 Pro was met with largely positive reviews upon its release in 2019. With a 6.09-inch Dewdrop display, 31GB of internal storage, and other unique features hard to come by in other Android phones, it was definitely a step up from its Y6 2018 predecessor. 

Three years later, we’re wondering if it can still uphold its title as one of the best budget entry-level smartphones on the market. Revisit this nifty smartphone with us and check out the rest of our review to find out the answer.

Design and External Features

Huawei has made several improvements to the Y6 Pro’s design, and the star of the show would be the new Dewdrop Display. It’s essentially a small, dewdrop-shaped notch at the top of the screen that houses its internals, allowing the phone to retain a massive screen-body ratio.

2018-2019 marked the trend of bezel-less phones, and the Huawei Y6 Pro tried to adhere to this. If we’re being nitpicky, its top and bottom bezels are thicker than its sides, but this is due to the earpiece, sensors, LED flash, and the camera placed in the top bezel.

The Huawei branding can be found at the bottom of the phone. On the right side are the volume and lock buttons, and on its left is the tray for the dual SIM cards and microSD card slot. 

This is great for users who want expandable storage, although its built-in 32GB is already functional.

Its 3.5mm audio port and secondary microphone sit up top, while its main mic, microUSB port, and loudspeaker can be found at the bottom. The Y6 Pro is cased in a hard plastic that is glossy enough to look like glass, and speckled with fine, shimmery particles.

That said, it doesn’t weigh as much or feel as premium as other higher-end models. However, it looks very modern, sleek, and fits in the hand pretty well. 

It only comes in two color colors, but the midnight black and sapphire blue variations are both quite stunning.

Performance and Applications

The Y6 Pro is powered by a Mediatek MT6761 chip, a PowerVR GE8320 GPU, and 3GB of RAM. While this falls short of the current standard 4GB RAM, you’ll encounter no problems running standard mobile tasks.

Some people purchase this phone specifically for gaming purposes. Although it can run today’s popular games such as Mobile Legends, Genshin Impact, and most FPS games, don’t expect the smoothest frame rates – it’s best to run them in low to medium graphic settings.

Other than that, its 6.09-inch, HD 1560 x 720 resolution screen is perfect for watching Youtube or Netflix on the daily. The Y6 Pro has a good color display and a bright screen that’s even suited for outdoor use. 

Its speaker also produces quality audio despite not having much bass.

Software-wise, it’s running on the EMUI 9 Android 9.0 (Pie). You can also expect the built-in Huawei apps such as the Phone Manager, AppGallery, and Theme Store. 

Other pre-installed apps like Facebook, Messenger, and Camera 360 can be uninstalled to save space.

It also has some quality-of-life features: Digital Balance calculates your phone usage and screen time, Ride mode automatically directs calls to voicemail or SMS, and Party mode syncs music playback across phones connected to the same WIFI.

Its proximity sensor automatically closes the phone when it senses that it’s close to your ear, and an accelerometer that enables compass apps, motion gestures for games, detects your daily number of steps, and so on. 

Lastly, it supports face unlock, a feature that’s pretty uncommon among smartphones in the same price range.

Camera

The Y6 Pro has a back-facing and front-facing camera, both with limited features. Its selfie camera has a normal and a beauty mode, while its main camera also has normal, HDR, Panorama, and Pro modes.

The 13MP back camera allows for pretty impressive image quality. Photos taken are vibrant and sharp, and the HDR and Pro modes can produce detailed photos in good lighting. The camera app interface is also very responsive and is able to take photos with minimal focus time.

Its 8MP front camera is not as high-definition as the back camera, of course, but it does have face tracking to help you take decent-quality selfies. Both the front and back cams can take 1080p videos at 30fps, but because there’s no stabilization feature, footage can be shaky.

Both the front and back cameras are also weak and grainy in low-light environments. Photos and video footage will come out dull and grainy even with flash, so it’s best to shoot in well-lit environments.

Battery Life

The Huawei is powered by a 3020 mAh battery that works with AI Power Management technology. The battery capacity in itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but it has been proven to be reliable and flexible.

You can get an average of 8-9 hours of use with WIFI-connected social media applications running non-stop. For streaming, it can probably handle over 10 hours of video playback. 

It’s safe to say that it can handle over 13 hours of day-to-day use.

Of course, battery usage can also be prolonged by tweaking your phone’s brightness, closing apps when not in use, and reducing WIFI, LTE, and hotspot use. Nonetheless, its longevity can compete with other phones on 4000 mAh batteries.

One downside is that charging time is quite slow, taking around 3 hours to charge to full. It’s also a non-removable battery that will probably require dedicated service to replace.

Value for Money

Our verdict? The Huawei Y6 Pro definitely deserves its title as one of the best entry-level smartphones on the market. It’s reasonably priced at only Php 6,690 — you could even say that you’re essentially paying less for more features.

For those of you wondering whether it can outperform other phones of the same price point, here are some points for comparison. 

The OPPO A16 is another entry-level smartphone launched in 2021. Its RAM, built-in storage, and retail price of Php 6,999 are identical to the Y6 Pro, but the OPPO A16K has a better screen-to-body ratio of 20:9, 5000 mAh battery, and 64GB of built-in storage.

It also has a fingerprint scanner in addition to the face recognition sensor and a triple rear camera, much like other devices released in recent years.

Another similar model launched in 2022 is the Realme C30. It’s at a lower price point of Php 5,499, but it’s lower in quality too with only 2GB of RAM, a 5 MP front camera, and a less premium-feeling casing. 

On a good note, it has a large 5000 mAh battery.

The POCO C40 retails at Php 7,499, making it a bit pricier than the Y6 Pro. It has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a massive 6000 mAh battery.

That said, there are several other phones of a similar caliber to the Y6 Pro that are also around the same price — some of them are a bit better, others a bit worse.

Final Verdict

Overall, the Huawei Y6 Pro still packs a punch as a fantastic entry-level smartphone. At less than Php 7000, it has capable specs that allow it to run smoothly for everyday use. 

Its key features are its 6.09-inch display, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, and high MP cameras.

There aren’t many smartphones at the same price that are able to outperform it, despite it being released in 2019. If you’re on the hunt for a work phone, streaming device, or even a phone dedicated to light gaming, the Huawei Y6 Pro is a great contender.