Smartphone Huawei Y Max - advantages and disadvantages

Huawei is undoubtedly the leader among the best smartphone manufacturers. Today its most popular models are bright glass devices that have completely filled the market niche of digital technology. Nevertheless, Huawei never stops there and constantly surprises users with externally and technologically modernized novelties.

One of the atypical ones, even by the standards of the presented brand, is the Y Max smartphone, announced by Huawei in November 2018. Although this is last year's novelty, it began to go on sale only at the beginning of 2019. And if the question arose, what is the best smartphone model to buy, then you should pay attention to the brand new and fresh Y Max.What can you find under the updated wrapper of the sub-flag?

Unpacking the device: delivery set and appearance

By purchasing Huawei Y Max, the user receives a smartphone packed in a compact white box. In addition to the device itself, the equipment of the device also assumes the presence of a power adapter (5V / 1A), a USB / MicroUSB cable and a paper clip for easy removal of the SIM card.

The presented model of the device is available in three classic colors for smartphones: white, amber brown and black. Despite the limited range of colors, the design of the flagship can be called modern and stylish.

Let's start with the bezel, typical of many modern devices, but with a convenient bezel, on which there is an almost frameless (with minimal bezel) screen with a drop-shaped cutout. But the updated rear surface of the device deserves special attention. And if earlier Huawei used a glass coating for the back cover, then in the presented model it radically changed its priorities, making a bias towards the skin. The manufacturer equipped the back of the device with a dual camera with LED flash and a fingerprint scanner.

It should be noted that the Y Max is large enough and has not very user-friendly dimensions. The device weighs 210 grams and measures 177.6 mm long, 86.2 mm wide and 8.5 mm thick. Materials of the device body: aluminum alloy with leather back panel and plastic inserts.

Overview of technical specifications Smartphone Huawei Y Max

Display

Y Max from Huawei can be figuratively called a “shovel”, as it is a very huge device with a screen diagonal of 7.12 inches or 18 cm. The display itself occupies almost the entire front surface of the phone, which is approximately 83.5% of its area. But the resolution figures are not particularly impressive 1080 by 2244 pixels. However, it should be borne in mind that the presented size is considered optimal for smartphone screens, as it avoids excessive pixelation.

In addition to the optimal resolution, the touch screen of the presented model is characterized by the following features:

• matrix IPS;
• aspect ratio 18.7: 9;
• 78.4 mm wide and 163 mm high;
• density of about 350 ppi;
• with a depth of 24 bits and the number of colors 16,777,216.

The Y Max screen offers good quality thanks to its decent performance. It reproduces the color palette volumetric and has wide viewing angles. The modern IPS panel allows the device to reproduce clear pictures regardless of being in the dark or in the sun.

Hardware platform and software

The presented model uses an eight-core Qualcomm SDM660 Snapdragon 660 processor with a 14 nanometer process technology. To date, this is the most powerful and productive processor from the presented series, functioning as an analogue of Snapdragon 65x. In fact, this is the first low-cost chip to run on the powerful Kryo 260 cores, four of which run at 2.2 GHz and the other four at 1.8 GHz.

Particular attention should be paid to the phone's graphics accelerator, which is a modern nimble Adreno 512. Thanks to it, the smartphone provides high frame rates when using gaming applications, which is undoubtedly a bright advantage for fans of complex and active games.

As for the memory of the flagship, Huawei has provided decent indicators:

• 4 GB (4096 MB) LPDDR4X RAM;
• 64 GB (65536 MB) or 128 GB (131,072 MB), depending on the product version of the internal memory;
• up to 256 GB of additional (external) memory via connection to a special slot microSD, microSDHC or microSDXC.

The high functionality of Y Max is provided by one of the advanced versions of the Android 8.1 Oreo operating system with the EMUI 8.2 shell.

User interface

Thanks to the operation of the smartphone on Android 8.1 Oreo and taking into account one of the latest versions of the EMUI 8.2 shell, we can also say that it is provided with a convenient interface with a wide range of various functions. Among the capabilities of the device are the following:

• Modernized menu design: a concise menu that provides the user with a quick search for the desired application, displaying the real battery charge as a percentage, displaying the screen time in the main menu, easier navigation thanks to the special design of various menu sections, where corresponding icons are placed next to each item.
• Google Assistant feature activated by a large Home button with an extra circle.
• Change the background of Quick Settings in automatic mode, depending on the color palette of the desktop.
• Quick settings menu translucent to see the previous screen.
• Battery indicator for Bluetooth accessories in quick settings.
• Dynamic icons with a calendar and a clock, the appearance of which varies depending on the calendar date and time of day.
• Location of the menu for turning off the device in the upper right corner of the display.
• Picture-in-picture mode that allows you to watch videos (Google Maps, Netflix, YouTube, VLC and Duo) in a small window without leaving the current menu by pressing the Home button.
• Built-in gestures for the fingerprint scanner.
• Customize the order of standard keys and, if necessary, add two additional buttons (opening the control panel and forced hiding of the keys).
• Setting the amount of information transmitted over the wireless or operator's network in the section "Data transmission".

Also Y Max is equipped with one of the latest functional innovations - the ability to use a "virtual remote control" for a large list of digital equipment. What is equally important is the equipment of the device with a system search, called by swiping down on the desktop, the option to turn on silent mode by flipping the display and backlighting with a double tap. The presented model provides a "quick screenshot" function, performed by swiping three fingers down the screen.

Camera features

Despite the many advantages regarding the display features, the power of the hardware filling and the vastness of the user interface, the presented flagship cannot boast of high quality cameras. Like almost all modern smartphones, two photo devices function on the Y Max:

1. The rear camera with a CMOS BSI sensor type (backside illumination) is represented by two modules with a resolution of 16 MP (4608 x 3456 pixels) and 2 MP. The optics of the devices are f / 2.0 and f / 2.4, respectively. As a result, you can judge how poorly she takes pictures in the absence of lighting. The camera comes with a nice LED flash though. Functional set of the module: panoramic and HDR mode, autofocus, touch focus, digital zoom, self-timer and face detection.
2. The front camera is equipped with a single module with a resolution of 8 MP (3264 x 2448 pixels) and an aperture of f / 2.0. Like most modern smartphones, the selfie device provides a bokeh effect.

Although the devices for shooting have average resolutions, the smartphone nevertheless allows you to take good pictures. An example of a photo taken on Y Max can be found on the Internet.

The maximum resolution for video recording for both cameras is 1920 x 1080 pixels, and the frame rate during shooting reaches 30 frames per second. This characteristic indicates the absence of interference in the form of slowdown during the subsequent viewing of the footage.

Battery life

The big advantage of the new product from Huawei, released for wide sale at the beginning of 2019, is its high autonomy, provided by a non-removable lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh. Of course, if we talk about the enormous size of the device, then this is a decent indicator of the battery, allowing it to work in active mode for at least a day. With less active use, the phone can work without recharging for up to two to three days.

The phone is charged via the USB input, by connecting a cord and adapter with an input power of 5V and 9V and a current strength of 2A. Fast charging function is supported.

Sound and multimedia

First of all, it should be noted that the Y Max belongs to the category of smartphones equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack and built-in FM radio. Also, the device provides for a speakerphone.

The sound of the device works in the modern multi-channel Dolby Atmos format. This professional sound is used by many not only Russian, but also foreign large cinemas and its main advantage is that it is the first standard based not on channels, but on audio objects. There is also built-in active noise canceling technology for the speakers.

The device is capable of playing most modern audio formats: AAC, AMR / AMR-NB / GSM-AMR, AMR-WB, eAAC + / aacPlus v2 / HE-AAC v2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, OGG, WMA and WAV. Among the codecs for watching videos are classic AVI and MP4, as well as the frequently encountered 3GPP, DivX, Xvid, H.263, H.264 / MPEG-4 Part 10 / AVC video, WebM and WMV.

Communication and external connections

This model supports a number of modern communication standards operating on most of the known frequencies:

• digital mobile communication standard - GSM (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz);
• the next generation of digital communications with 3G networks - UMTS (850, 900, 1900 and 2100 MHz);
• high-speed communication standard - LTE (700, 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz) and LTE-TDD (1900 (B39), 2300 (B40), 2500 (B41) and 2600 (B38) MHz).

Additional network connectivity options for Y Max include UMTS (384 kbit / s), EDGE, GPRS, HSPA + and LTE. The device also supports (depending on the territorial zone) such standards of satellite navigation systems as GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou.

The device has built-in wireless interfaces:

• Internet connections: Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct and Dual band;
• data transmission and reception: Bluetooth version 4.2 with profiles A2DP, EDR and LE.

If necessary, the smartphone can be used as a modem by connecting the "access point" function.

Like most smartphones, the presented model from Huawei provides for the use of two SIM cards (double stand-by), for which there are two individual nano-type card slots. At the same time, the device is equipped with a separate dedicated slot for microSD memory cards.

Scanners and sensors

The user menu of the Huawei Y Max smartphone is equipped with a number of functional sensors:

• accelerometer;
• gyroscope;
• electronic compass;
• light and proximity sensors.

In addition, the sub-flagship has a fingerprint scanner, with which it can be quickly unlocked.

Pros and cons of a smartphone

• design features: bezel-less display and leather back;
• high performance thanks to a powerful CPU Qualcomm SDM660 Snapdragon 660 and a modern OS version - Android 8.1 Oreo;
• extensive user interface provided with the use of one of the latest versions of the EMUI 8.2 OS shell;
• reliable high-capacity battery (5000 mAh) and fast charging function;
• high-speed graphics Adreno 512, which is especially important for game lovers;
• professional Dolby Atmos sound, 3.5 mm jack and built-in FM radio application;
• support for most modern communication standards;
• the presence of wireless interfaces: Bluetooth, improved profiles A2DP, EDR and LE and Wi-Fi connection.

• too large dimensions, creating inconvenience when using the device;
• average camera resolution and LED flash power, which affects such a factor as how a smartphone takes pictures at night, especially in the absence of lighting;
• lack of additional protective technologies (from mechanical damage and moisture).

Device cost

If we talk about how much the Huawei Y Max costs, then although it cannot be classified as a budget device, the price cannot be called overpriced, especially given a number of positive aspects. So, for March 2019, the average price for a version of a smartphone with built-in memory of 128 GB is approximately 350 USD or 22,800 rubles. There is information that the initial selling price of the device was about 280 EUR. For most of the technical parameters, the presented model is a leader within this budget.

Outcome

First of all, Huawei Y Max will be a godsend for fans of "shovels", because it is a really huge device with a large seven-inch display, perfect for both watching your favorite movies and for spending time in gaming applications. Leather materials of the case: Of course, at first the leather covering of the back surface of the device will be embarrassing, but over time you quickly get used to this feature, and then you completely get tactile pleasure.

For the price, this is also an acceptable smartphone, although it is not cheap by budget standards (more than 20,000 rubles), but given the huge functionality, it fully corresponds to the cost.In conclusion, it can be noted that Huawei Y Max is a top-end modern device, which will not take the last place in the ranking of high-quality and inexpensive smartphones. Even if it is not a flagship, but if you do not take into account the not the best technical characteristics of the cameras, then there are no other significant disadvantages of the device.