Huawei Nova Y70: A budget-friendly smartphone that punches above its weight
Robert Cerff / 02-09-2022 / Reviews
The Huawei nova Y70 is setting the bar for affordable smartphones. With its massive battery, triple-rear camera, great storage size and large, dynamic screen, the Huawei nova Y70 might be the midrange smartphone you need.
Crystal Clear Display
The Huawei nova Y70 boasts a big 6.75-inch screen with a premium look. The display features HD+ resolution, a screen-to-body ratio of 84.1% and a TFT LCD. While it does not have a higher-end OLED display, the nova Y70 setup emulates the display with its bright, accurate colours, crystal clear quality, and good viewing angles.
Photos that Pop
This smartphone sports a solid 48MP triple camera system at the back AI, which includes a 5MP ultra wide-angle camera and a 2MP depth lens. Then, there’s an 8MP snapper at the front. Together the cameras capture vibrant, high detail photos. Colours are accurate and natural, especially in good lighting conditions. Some of the standout features of the nova Y70 is portrait mode which expertly blurs the background and the depth lens which produces incredibly detailed close-up images.
One Charge Wonder
Packing a massive 6000mAh battery, the nova Y70 provides premium endurance on a budget. With light usage, this smartphone can last up to 2 days on just a single charge. Like playing a game or two?
With light gaming, the Huawei nova Y70 can keep going for around 11 hours.
While the battery is long lasting, the charging process takes a little longer than other smartphones on the market right now. This is mainly due to the fact that it’s a modest 22.5W system.
A fully depleted battery can go from 0 – 50% in just under an hour and reach full charge in around 1 hour 45 minutes.
Super Software
The nova Y70 runs on Android 10 with Huawei's EMUI 12 skin. Android 10, released at the end of 2019, features plenty of perks, such as a system-wide dark mode, tighter security and privacy measures, and more streamlined multitasking. There are also some cool modes available such as Focus Mode, which allows you to concentrate on tasks by pausing other apps temporarily.
Responsive Performance
The performance of the Huawei nova Y70 relies on the Kirin 710 chipset with an octa-core CPU and Mali-G51 GPU. Although this is not cutting-edge technology, it is reliable and ideal for a mid-tier handset. Coupled with 4GB RAM and 128GB inbuilt memory (which is expandable up to 512GB) the nova Y70 has more than enough onboard and removable storage for pictures, music, videos and apps.
The chipset and RAM produce smooth and snappy performance that punches way above its mid-range weight. You get no lags while browsing the web, scrolling through your socials and switching between apps.
Huawei AppGallery
Since Google Mobile Services and Play Store are no longer available on Huawei, the Chinese tech giant has been hard at work improving its AppGallery. It now has over 45 000 apps, including big names like Microsoft, Amazon, Deezer, TikTok, Tidal and Adidas. For those constantly on the road, you also get Petal Maps for easy navigation, live traffic and public transport. Other popular apps from Huawei’s own mobile services are Health, Cloud, My Huawei and Huawei Wallet. These work much like Google does, so you won’t miss out if you decide to make the switch.
An obvious downside is the lack of core apps like Netflix, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. But the good news is there’s an easy workaround in the form of Petal Search. You can download APKs of apps directly to the nova or any other Huawei smartphone, so you never have to do without these popular apps.
Verdict
The Huawei nova Y70 is a powerful entry-level phone with excellent battery life, smooth performance, decent camera capabilities, and seamless integration with Huawei Mobile Services. It’s a smartphone that accomplishes plenty on just one charge and doesn’t slow down while multitasking. If 4GB of RAM isn’t a deal breaker, this solid smartphone is ideal for those on a budget.