Mobile Devices

Huawei Y6 2018 Review: Get it for the FullView Display

DISCLOSURE: Most of our content uses affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a commission when you buy through the links. Each of your purchases via our affiliation links helps us to support the cost and maintenance of this site.

Huaweii Y6 2018 amazon 3jpg e1549356836103

Ever since LG’s G6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 surprised the market with their near bezel-less designs, phone manufacturers the world all over have shown us their take on near bezel-less phones, or at the very least, phones with 18:9 (aka 2:1) ratio screens. Huawei is no stranger to this particular screen configuration, as it has proved with devices like the Mate 10 Pro and Nova 2i – phones which are in the mid and upper tier of the Chinese manufacturer’s line up. But it looks like Huawei is also aiming for the budget segment of the market, giving us the Huawei Y6 2018 edition. Should you get one though? Let’s find out.

Build and Display

Let’s get one thing out of the way – the phone is made of plastic. It’s plastic all over. Fortunately, its design is done in a way that doesn’t overly come off as cheap. The device features a sturdy and nice matte plastic back with the 13-megapixel camera on top, and glossy trimming around the edges. You can get this phone either in black, white/gold, or dark blue. Our review unit is the latter of the three.

The card tray is accessed from the left side of the phone, which can hold two nano sim cards and a micro SD card as well. On the right side, you have the volume and power buttons. The speakers and micro-usb charging port are on the bottom, while the headphone jack – a rare commodity among newer phones nowadays – sits on top.

y6 portsThe front features a 5.7” display, with a resolution of 720×1440 pixels. It’s clear that Huawei wants its budget offerings to have 18:9 screens as well, as the Y6 features very small bezels, a delightful design element for a budget phone. Above the screen is a 5-megapixel camera, a front-facing LED flash and notification light on the corner. The 18:9 FullView display offers great viewing angles and good colors. Because of the screen, movies and content such as ebooks are a pleasure to view and gives the phone an updated look befitting of 2018 display trends. For its price, it is impressive that Huawei was able to fit a screen of this size on the phone. 

IMG 20180731 085609Internal Specs

Released in May of this year, the Y6 2018 clearly fits into the budget segment, featuring an old but acceptable Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 CPU, paired with 2 GB of RAM. The phone also has a quite-limited 16 GB of internal storage, with over 8 GB free for use. The device comes with a built-in 3000 mah battery, which is great for a budget phone and can easily last a day or two of use, provided that you’re not a power user. Although you may not have the option to be one, as the phone’s performance shows.

Performance and Cameras

The phone ships with Android Oreo right out of the box, layered with Huawei’s EMUI Android skin. EMUI is Huawei’s own Android launcher and offers different customization options like themes, icons, and wallpapers, which depending on the user, can be a fun way to differentiate your device from the tons of other Android handsets out there. One thing to take note of is that there are a bunch of preinstalled apps on the phone. These can be uninstalled, however.

While 2 gigabytes of RAM is generous for a budget device, it seems a bit lacking for a modern OS such as Oreo, what with the system’s new developments and features. The phone can easily handle day-to-day tasks such as messaging, phone calls, and media consumption, but interestingly shows stuttering and lag every now and then, most especially when switching through apps, or when a flood of notifications from Facebook Messenger suddenly invades your phone. One can’t help but feel that one more gigabyte of RAM would have given better performance, especially when it comes to games.

Graphics-heavy games such as XCOM: Enemy Within and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic show a bit of stutter here and there and bring up the temperature a bit. The phone will be able to play games like these, but don’t expect the smoothest performance. It is recommended that you adjust games to lower graphical settings if the app allows it.

The Y6 2018’s camera is good for its price. The autofocus is fast and can get you good shots when outdoors. The built-in camera app also offers different capture modes such as panorama shots, HDR, color filters, and even a document-scanner feature. Color reproduction, however, is a bit lacking. You can check out some sample shots below.

IMG 20180730 102502IMG 20180730 102640IMG 20180730 103615For quick photos, the camera will suit your needs. Just don’t expect your images to be that vibrant, especially in low-light and indoor settings, where the camera’s limitations show. Selfies likewise aren’t anything to write home about but will be good enough for posting on your social media profiles.

The Bottom Line

So is the Huawei Y6 2018 edition worth it? Should you decide to go for this phone, being aware of its limitations is a must – know that there are better options if you’re willing to shell out a few more bucks for a better Android experience. But specs aside, we think that the main draw of this phone is it’s massive 5.7″ display and near bezel-less look.

For $129.00 though, you can’t go wrong with this device given its price-to-spec ratio. For communication tasks, media consumption, light gaming, and social media escapades, as well as a nicely-built design and 18:9 FullView display, the Huawei Y6 2018 will be enough to suit basic needs. 

About the author

Mike Viray

A writer with a fondness for consumer tech, Mike is also a music lover, and an avid gamer as well. He and his wife are big fans of Mario Kart.

4 Comments

Click here to post a comment

  • Never used Huawei telephones personally – although I know people who do.

    Y6 is perfectly fine for the price range let me tell you that. I like camera and CPU.
    I own LG Magna – i know its old model.
    Comparing Y6 to LG Magna i paid Magna more and Huawei Y6 is way better.

    Huawei P20 is definitely winner amongs all of the smartphones in my opinion.

    They have the best performance for the least amount of money.

    Peace
    Strahinja

    • Thanks for dropping by, Strahinja.

      For its price segment, the Y6 is a perfectly functional smartphone which can get you access to the latest apps, and does well as a media consumption device due to its large screen.

      Huawei’s P20 is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Huawei have slowly been proving that they have what it takes to compete with the big dogs.

  • I like Huawei (even though I’m probably saying their name wrong) I am getting a little tired of Apple for real though.
    The phones have nice features and take decent photos, but its like they rip you off whenever they get the chance (eg sabotaging battery life or leaving bugs out there which tell you that your “system” is using up half of your storage space)
    I have always considered myself neutral ( not brand conscious) That is probably why I would be willing to give any phone a chance, especially these days where the competition between these companies results in better and ever more similar features for us as users.
    So while the Huawei Y6 may seem basic, I remember having a phone with a keypad, so any new tech will serve me just fine.
    Great post.

    • Thanks for sharing your opinion, Renton!

      Yeah, the Y6 2018 is more about bringing an affordable smartphone experience to users who only need the basics, or people who aren’t after the latest specs but are after functionality, or individuals looking to try a smartphone for the first time. It serves the purpose well.The Android version is still fairly recent, and you can get the latest apps.