Hands-On

Huawei Y9 2018 Hands-on: Another midrange phone from the same company

The more, the merrier?

Published

July 5, 2018

Daniel Morial

There’s a phone in our office that, at first, I thought I already used before, but it turned out being a relatively new model from Huawei.

The budget-midrange market is already populated with a lot of handsets and the Y9 2018 is the latest one to join the group. We can’t blame you if you’re confused about which phone to buy, or better yet, which Huawei phone to get since the company has a number of phones in the same segment.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the Huawei Y9 2018 and check out what’s so special that the company had to make a new model.

The 5.93-inch Full HD+ 18:9 display is sharp and vibrant

There are multiple display modes if you want to tweak the colors

The top bezel houses two front cameras, sensors, and the earpiece

Secondary sensor is for bokeh on selfies

The chin only has Huawei branding

A familiar sight among Huawei phones

The triple-card slot is on the left side…

No need to sacrifice your second SIM card for more storage

While the physical buttons for volume and power are on the right

The long button is for volume, while the short one is for powering up your phone

The bottom side is jampacked with the audio port, micro-USB, microphone, and loudspeaker

It’s pretty busy down here and USB-C is still not available

At the back are the dual rear cameras, LED flash, fingerprint reader, and Huawei logo

Clean but too simple, maybe?

Usual design, boring looks

I miss the good old days when phones looked differently. I can still remember that part of the decision when buying a new phone was the looks, but that’s not the case anymore. Most (if not all) of the phones you see in stores have a plain front fully occupied by the display, and the Y9 2018 is no different.

Good thing its 5.93-inch IPS display doesn’t disappoint thanks to its crisp pixel density and good color reproduction. I do like that you can adjust the color balance of the display according to your liking; it can be warm, cool, or just about whatever temperature you prefer.

The display gives justice to the colorful default theme of the phone’s launcher. EMUI on top of Android Oreo benefits the end user with a lot of customization options and extra features that phones running bare Android don’t have.

Overall, there’s not much to say about the phone’s design. The metal back gives an added premium feel when using the phone, but I’m not liking the gold color of the unit I have. It’s just a personal preference, but the tint of gold phones in 2018 is not as appealing as when it was popular a few years back.

Same performance as other mid-tier Huawei phones

Since most touchscreen phones look alike and manufacturers like to release multiple smartphones in the same segment, we focus on specs because that’s what makes a phone worthwhile today. Thankfully, the Huawei Y9 doesn’t disappoint in this part.

The Y9 2018 is powered by a Kirin 659 processor paired with 3GB of memory and 32GB of storage. That’s about the same processing power as its higher-tier siblings like the Huawei Mate 10 Lite and even the P20 Lite, sans the slightly lower memory. After a few days with the phone, I didn’t encounter any lag. Some apps do load a bit slow compared to a flagship phone, but that’s acceptable given the specs of the device.

Gaming shouldn’t also be an issue but it’s also not the phone’s strength. I tested my go-to game Asphalt Xtreme on the highest-possible settings and it ran smoothly. Other titles should also play fine, but don’t expect the smoothest frame rates or best graphics all the time.

There’s also a large 4000mAh battery inside the phone, but sadly, there’s no support for Huawei SuperCharge. It charges through a micro-USB port and not the reversible USB-C, as well.

Shoots better selfies than others

Equipped with four cameras, the Y9 2018 doesn’t lack any photography prowess. The rear has 13- and 2-megapixel sensors while the front has a whopping 16- and 2-megapixel combo. The numbers alone tell that this phone is made for taking selfies, but that doesn’t mean the main camera is not a good shooter. Here are a few samples taken with the rear cameras:

The captured details of the rear cameras are decent, but not that great. I also find the dynamic range to be limited, especially in a gloomy day. There’s HDR mode but it’s not automatically available.

As for selfies, here are three samples: one with no beauty effect, another with beauty, and the last one with added bokeh for portrait-like shots.

The selfies are definitely better than the rear samples, so you might want to get the Y9 2018 for the former. The field of view of the front shooter is also pretty wide, so you’ll be able to take group shots with no problem.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

The Huawei Y9 2018 can easily get lost in the sea of midrange Android phones. It doesn’t offer anything special, but we can’t expect it to because “special features” are reserved for the expensive options. That’s how phone manufacturers form the line between budget, midrange, and premium now.

I see the Y9 2018 as a new option if you find a similar offering too common for your liking. The phone is currently available in select markets in Asia. In Nepal, it’s priced at NPR 25,990 while it goes for THB 6,990 in Thailand.

Related Topics:Huawei Huawei Y9 2018 Y9 2018

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.