Why You Can Trust CNET Huawei Ascend Y review: Inexpensive, underpowered Android
Don't be lured by this dirt cheap Android smartphone; U.S. Cellular offers better phones than this for a similar cost.
If there's one thing that U.S .Cellular does very well as a carrier, it's offer smartphones at very affordable prices. The Huawei Ascend Y Android handset costs only a penny in 3G areas, and $29.99 in markets with 4G.
Huawei Ascend Y
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
And yes, you can consider price this Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone's most compelling feature. Beyond the outdated version of Android, the Ascend Y is 3G-only, and comes with basic hardware features, including a mediocre camera without a flash, a slower processor, and a smaller battery. The low-end feature set is intentional; smartphones cost a lot to make, and budget models like this lower the barrier for entry that faces those on tight budgets.
However, that doesn't mean the Ascend Y beats out its fellows. For instance, the much more developed LG Splendor costs the same up-front price on a Web special at the time of this review. Samsung's Galaxy Axiom is also a good deal, and is 4G-enabled.
Design and build
To Huawei's credit, their designers do put thought into their products, and as a result, the Ascend Y is pretty easy on the eye. It's black with rounded corners, some contouring on the face, and a dark gray, metallic strip on the back panel. At just 4.6 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide and 0.46-inch thick, it's a compact phone that's both palmable and pocketable. A soft-touch finish on the back cover makes it comfortable to hold and adds a little class to an otherwise plain backing.
The 4.4-ounce weight isn't as light as some phones, but in this case, the added gravity keeps the Ascend Y from looking and feeling too cheap.
There's a 3.5-inch HVGA touch screen with a pixel resolution of 480x320. The screen is extremely small by today's standards, but even a few months ago, top phones like the iPhone 4S, sported this size. A third-party app like SwiftKey or Swype might help out those who find the virtual keyboard too small to type on. I have relatively smaller fingertips, and was able to compose e-mail and texts with the normal number of errors. The screen quality itself is totally adequate, but colors may not look as bright and edges may not look as sharp as on more premium phone models.
Below the screen, you'll navigate with three touch-sensitive buttons. The power button and standard 3.5-millimeter headset jack are on top. On the left sits a rather short volume rocker; you'll plug your Micro-USB charger into the port on the bottom. The flash-less camera lens on the Ascend Y's B-side and micro-SD card slot beneath the back cover round out the simple hardware features.
Unfortunately, you have to pop the battery to swap in a larger card than the 2GB one that Huawei includes. The Ascend Y can hold up to 32GB in external storage.
OS and apps
Android 2.3 Gingerbread brings with it support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, plus all the tried-and-true Android features, including support for multiple social and e-mail accounts, multiple home pages, and access to a slew of Google services from the phone, voice navigation included.
Huawei adds its own custom layer on top of Gingerbread, enabling useful features like a lock screen that can snap open the camera, text messages, or the phone log. There's also access to quick settings from the notifications window, and the Huawei look and feel in the app tray.
Speaking of apps, you'll find some preloads when you first boot up the phone -- including a backup app, a slew of Amazon apps, a notebook app, a voice recorder, and a storefront for ringtones. I like that the Ascend Y comes with a voice dialer to complement its voice search app, though it's really just a shortcut to tasks you can already perform with Android.
An FM radio, a calculator, a calendar, a clock, a music player, and the WebKit browser all come standard with Android, and you can download any other apps, music, movies, and TV that you'd like from the updated Google Play store.
Cameras
Don't expect much from the Ascend Y's 3.2-megapixel camera and you may not be disappointed. It'll capture license plate numbers and help you remember where you parked, but you won't be turning a photo into a mug or an 8x10 wall print.
For starters, there's no flash, which means that night shots and indoor photos won't come out their best, if they come out at all. There's also no auto-focus, which means that you'll have to possess steady hands and a good eye for focus.
Indoor photos came out looking dull and very noisy. Outdoor pictures that let in natural light looked better overall. Android's Gingerbread camera software contains the usual white balance presets and effects if you feel like fussing, but it lacks useful tools like a self-timer.
You can compare the Ascend Y's studio shot to those taken on other smartphones.
Call quality
I tested the Ascend Y in San Francisco using U.S. Cellular's roaming network (CDMA 800/1900MHz; EvDo Rev A.) Call quality could vary for those living inside the carrier's footprint.
Voice quality was passable, but problematic overall. My regular test parter sounded hollow and tinny, and distortion in the form of a high buzz accompanied the audio every time my partner spoke. In addition, occasional interruptions such as blank spots punctuated the conversation. Volume was just right at medium-high.
On his end, my partner said I sounded a little distorted, though loud enough. I also came across a little muffled, but without background noise. My audio distorted on higher volumes, he told me.
Huawei Ascend Y call quality sample Listen now:
The speakerphone wasn't a very comfortable listening experience when I tested it by holding the Ascend Y at hip level. It was very buzzy and echoey, and voices sounded muffled. I needed to increase the volume a notch. On the other side of the line, my partner said I noticeably dropped in volume, but otherwise I sounded just as I did when speaking through the mouthpiece. When I switched off speakerphone and held the phone back to my ear, I sounded the same, just louder.
Performance
As a 3G phone, the Ascend Y will give you the best data speeds over Wi-Fi. Transfer rates in U.S. Cellular's roaming network were quite slow, with Web sites taking up to two minutes to load. The diagnostic Speedtest.net app clocked download speeds ranging from 0.1 to 0.33Mbps over the course of 9 tests. Uplink speeds were a faster 0.29 to 0.44Mbps, which was at least consistent.
| Huawei Ascend Y (3G) | |
|---|---|
| CNET mobile site load | 34 seconds |
| CNET desktop site load | 1 minute, 56 seconds |
| Boot time to lock screen | 7 seconds |
| Camera boot time | 2.6 seconds |
| Camera, shot-to-shot time | 2.5-3 seconds, no auto-focus |
On the processor side, performance wasn't terrible on the Ascend Y's 800MHz chipset. I've definitely seen faster for this type of lower-end smartphone, but it was acceptable for the category of product. You'll still have to wait a few beats to navigate around, open apps, and attach files to your e-mail. Games won't look as rich as on a high-end device, either. On the other hand, you'd never expect them to on a starter phone like the Ascend Y. All told, I think that you'll notice slow data speeds much sooner than you would any lags in processing power.
The Ascend Y has a rated talk time of up to 4.8 hours on its 1,400 mAh battery and a standby time of up to 12.7 days. During our test for talk time, it lasted 9.67 hours. FCC measurements of radio emissions give the Ascend Y a digital SAR of 0.79 watts per kilogram. Internal memory is on the small side, 256 MB RAM and 120 MB ROM, but there's room for up to 32GB of external storage and the phone comes with a 2GB card pre-installed.
Should I buy?
If you're looking for an inexpensive smartphone with U.S. Cellular and you aren't particular about speed or high-end specs, the Huawei Ascend Y's inexpensive price tag will get you in the door. Buy it for a penny if you live in a 3G zone and plan to use the handset for basic e-mail, browsing, and texting.
However, if you have a little more disposable cash, shop around on U.S. Cellular and other networks. With specials, you can find a better phone with a comparable price, and maybe one that has a better camera, more hardware features, and a faster processor.