Huawei Y7a Unboxed, Hands-on

Here's what it looks up close
Here's what it looks up close

This is the Huawei Y7a, the brand’s newest mid-range phone that aims to woo those who want to work all-day with its capable hardware, a 5000mAh battery capacity, and an above-average fast charging capability for the price it’s asking for. Here are our first impressions of the device.

Huawei Y7a specs:

  • 6.67-inch IPS display, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 px
  • octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 710A
  • 4GB RAM
  • 128GB storage, with MicroSD slot up to 512GB
  • Expandable up to 512GB via micro SD
  • Quad rear cameras with LED Flash:
    48MP f/1.8 main
    8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra-wide
    2MP f/2.4 depth
    2MP f/2.4 macro
  • 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera
  • 4G LTE, Dual SIM (nano)
  • WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
  • USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack, Side fingerprint scanner
  • EMUI 10.1 (Android 10, Huawei Mobile Services)
  • 5,000mAh battery
    22.5w SuperCharge
  • Colors: Midnight Black, Crush Green, Blush Gold

Inside the retail packaging are the usual contents you’d find, including a SIM tray ejector rool, a fast charging power brick, a USB Type-C cable, some documentation, and the phone itself. We hope that Huawei adds a TPU case here, but it can’t be found for all of the packages we have at hand.

The Y7a will be offered in three colors in the Philippines — Crush Green, Blush Gold, and the neutral Black colorway. I personally like the Crush Green for its standout hue, while the alluring Blush Gold is a pretty hue for the glamorous like the Sakura Pink from the Nova 7i or Space Silver from the more expensive Nova 7 SE.

At the back of the device is, of course, the protruding four-camera layout with the lenses lined up vertically. The Huawei wordmark is in the lower-left part. The back is glossy and may render smudges from time to time, but it can be easily wiped off.

Ever wondered what happened to the fingerprint scanner? It’s now at the side. If I remember correctly, this is one of Huawei’s first lower mid-rangrers, after the Y9s, that features one. It’s at the right side and is easily spotted as it caves into the rounded edges. The scanner is also the phone’s power/lock button, and the buttons above it are for volume control.

Flip the device to the front and we see the 6.6-inch display with a punch-hole camera. Huawei used to present its phones with punched-hole displays at the corner, so to see the camera at the upper-middle part is a refreshing sight.

The left part houses the SIM tray, where it can has dedicated areas for two nano-SIM cards and one microSD card.

The bottom part, on the other hand, has the USB Type-C port, the loudspeaker grille, the microphone, and the 3.5mm audio jack.

This phone sports a Kirin 710A chip coupled with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and a 5000mAh battery capacity for those who want to play more on the go. It’s also notable for pushing faster-charging capabilities in this price segment. We’ve seen only 18-watt charging phones here so far, but Huawei pushed a whopping 22.5-watt Supercharge with the device, so expect a faster battery fill-up with this one.

The Huawei Y7a is priced at PHP 8,999 and will be available for pre-orders starting tomorrow, October 30 (See more pre-order details here) in all Huawei stores and authorized dealers nationwide. Can it woo you more than just its visuals? Our full review’s coming out in a few days, so stay tuned.

Carl Lamiel
Carl writes for WalasTech when he's not working full-time. Give him tips and/or leads at [email protected].