Three latest budget smartphones from Chinese device maker Huawei are now available for purchase in Kenya. The trio, Huawei Y7 Prime, Huawei Y5 2017 and Huawei Y3 2017, can be bought at retail stores across the country for prices ranging between Kshs 12,000 and Kshs 24,000.
The Huawei Y7 Prime is the senior-most of the three devices and also the latest, having been announced two months ago compared to the Huawei Y5 2017 which was announced way back in April and the Huawei Y3 2017 which came a month later, in May. All the three devices are members of the Y series of Huawei smartphones which is usually reserved for the company’s low-cost smartphones.
The Y7 Prime’s main difference with the Y7 is the amount of memory and storage capacity.
Specifications of the three devices are as follows:
| Huawei Y7 Prime | Huawei Y5 2017 | Huawei Y3 2017 | |
| Dimensions and weight | 153.6 x 76.4 x 8.4 mm | 143.8 x 72 x 8.35mm | 145.1 x 73.7 x 9.45mm |
| Display | 5.5-inch HD display | 5.0-inch HD display | 5.0-inch FWVGA display |
| Camera | Rear : 12MP (f/2.2), Front : 8MP (f/2.0) | Rear : 8MP (f/2.0), Front : 5MP | Rear : 8MP (f/2.0), Front : 2MP |
| Processor | Octa-core Snapdragon 435 clocked at 1.4 GHz | Quad-core MediaTek MT6737T clocked at 1.4 GHz | Choice of either a quad-core MediaTek MT6737M clocked at 1.1 Ghz or MT6580M clocked at 1.3 GHz |
| Memory | 3GB RAM, 32GB Storage (expandable via microSD slot up to 256GB) | 2GB RAM, 16GB Storage (expandable via microSD slot) | 1GB RAM, 8GB Storage (expandable via microSD slot) |
| Operating System | Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.1 layered on top | Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI 4.1 | Same as Y5 2017 |
| Battery | 4,000mAh | 3,000mAh | 2,200mAh |
| Network | 3G, 4G | Same | Same |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v 4.1, USB Type-C, NFC | Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 | Same as Y5 2017 |
| Colour options | Silver, Gray, Gold | Pink, Blue, Gray, Gold, White | Same as Y5 2017 |
It is worth noting that the Huawei Y7 Prime, Y5 2017 and Y3 2017 may be the last of their type since Huawei will no longer be focusing on low-end smartphones going forward. The company has since late last year been selling the second generation of its Y smartphone devices locally before it started selling the newly updated third generation lineup over the last three weeks without any pomp or formal announcement as is usually the case.
The low-end smartphone segment in Kenya has recently heated up with the introduction into the market of even cheaper options by the two leading Chinese smartphone brands, Tecno and Infinix, in the Spark and Smart smartphone series.
The Huawei Y7 Prime costs Kshs 24,000 while the Y5 2017 and Y3 2017 cost Kshs 13,000 and 12,000 respectively* as per our independent findings. Since we expect Huawei Kenya to make the availability of these devices official soon, it won’t be long before we have the official recommended retail prices.
*Prices may differ
