HUAWEI officially launched the latest addition to its nova Y series, HUAWEI Y90, a mid-range smartphone from the brand. We finally have hands-on experience with it so let’s get started on the review right away.
First of all, let’s take a look at the specifications of the nova Y90.
| Dimensions | |
| Height | 163.3 mm |
| Width | 74.7 mm |
| Depth | 8.4 mm |
| Weight | Approx. 195 g (including battery) |
| Display | |
| Screen Size | 6.7 inches |
| Colour | 16.7 million colours |
| Type | LCD |
| Resolution | FHD + 1080 × 2388 |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 680 |
| Operating System | EMUI 12 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM + 128 GB ROM |
| Rear Camera | 50 MP High-Res Camera, f/1.8 aperture2 MP Marco Camera, f/2.4 aperture2 MP Depth Camera, f/2.4 aperture |
| Front Camera | 8 MP Selfie Camera, f/2.0 aperture |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh + Fast Charging 40W |
| Connectivity | |
| WLAN | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac2.4 GHz / 5 GHz |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| USB | USB Type-C, USB 2.0 |
| Earjack | 3.5 mm ear jack |
| Sensors | Ambient Light SensorCompassGravity SensorFingerprint Sensor (Side-Mounted) |
Nova Y90 Design and Display
Starting with the design, the nova Y90 presented a thin and sleek design which gives it a comfortable grip on my hand. Since it weighs only around 195g, thus giving a lightweight feel to the device. Now, moving to one of the most important aspects of a smartphone, which is its display. With its 6.7-inches screen size, it might just deliver an immersive viewing especially when you stream YouTube videos.
Moreover, Nova Y90 comes with a 90hz screen refresh rate which is enabled by default mainly for gaming purposes. It has a 94% screen-to-body ratio which is nice for reading and scrolling through articles because it gives more content for me to read. Another feature that I found to be interesting is intelligent eye protection, which can be considered a good thing for a budget midrange smartphone. This allows me to read ebook content more comfortably.
Nova Y90 Cameras Performance
In terms of its cameras, the nova Y90 is equipped with a front selfie camera and three rear cameras. For the selfie camera, the quality is quite good. However, it’s a different story when you enabled the bokeh effect. It doesn’t seem to give the outcome that you might expect though (in other words, disable it). It also seems to need a few seconds to sharpen the photo, which I must say, is not an ideal thing for normal budget midrange smartphones.
As for its Rear camera, the ring design is what caught my attention and probably yours too. The quality though is not really up to my expectations but since this is a budget midrange phone, I can live with it. Furthermore, the camera did not perform well in a low-light environment as there is a lot of noise in the photos. If you take a photo outdoors, the outcome should be fine.
Now, let’s talk about video quality. Overall, I would say that it is actually pretty good although for a budget midrange smartphone you can’t really put high expectations on the camera and video quality, the nova Y90 camera setup is not bad at all. Moreover, with its dual view mode, it is suitable for a vlogger since you can shoot both the front view and rear view at the same time.
Nova Y90 Battery life and Performance
The battery life is my favourite part of the phone and let me explain why. Nova Y90 is packed with a 5,000mAh battery which not only lasts longer but can also fast charge using the 40w super charge charging adapter can reach up from 0% to 50% within 30 minutes. As someone who likes playing games and watching videos, this is really important for my daily usage.
Speaking of games, I find it a bit difficult to play them with this phone mostly because I need to download the apk manually in order to play games. For example, call of duty mobile is not available in the Huawei app gallery. But once I installed the game, all is good and With the snapdragon 680 GPU and Adreno 610, it gives me a good gaming experience. Most notably, the phone does not lag while playing games but it can get heated after playing for around 20min+.
Nova Y90 Operating System and Audio Performance
This is actually my first time using the EMUI 12 OS and comparing it to Android, the flow seems almost similar but slightly different. In addition, downloading important apps is difficult, but if you are in Malaysia, all the important apps are available in the Huawei app gallery. These apps include:
- Maybank
- TNG e-wallet
- Boost Pay
- TikTok
- Lazada
- Shopee
- Telegram
You should know that apps like Facebook WhatsApp and Instagram are not available. You need to download a third party which is quite risky for privacy and security matters. As for the audio performance, the quality is good and almost similar to other midrange phones.
Pricing and Colours Availability
Nova Y90 is priced at RM999 and comes in three stylish colour varieties namely Black, Blue, and Green. With this affordable price, you actually get a lot of good features such as a large battery, fast charging support with a 40w supercharge Huawei adapter and dual view recording mode and of course, a sleek design that is suitable for youngsters.
Pros of Nova Y90
- Sleek design
- Beautiful rear matte surface
- Unique Rear camera design
- Battery life (all-day battery life) and fast charging 40w
Cons of Nova Y90
- No google services
- The camera quality is average
- EMUI OS is slightly difficult to use
- Hard to search for apps
From this experience, I would say that if you are looking for a budget midrange phone with nice specs then go for this nova Y90. I mean, there are cheaper smartphones out there but they often have average specs only. So, this is kind of a good deal for you. If you are interested, you can visit the Huawei official stores on Lazada, Shopee and Huawei Online Store.
