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Huawei Ascend Y210D Review

Looking for a very capable dual-SIM Android smartphone that won’t burn holes in your pockets? If that’s the case, the Huawei Ascend Y210D is one phone to consider. Find out why by reading our full review.

y210d

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

Design and Construction

Most entry-level smartphones sport simple designs that won’t attract much attention. Sad to say the Ascend Y210D doesn’t fall far from that description. It has a soap-shaped body that looks generic and feels stocky. Found on the front is the 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display. Right above it are the earpiece and notifications light. Down below are the three capacitive buttons and the microphone. Found on the left is the microUSB port, while on the right is the volume rocker. Right on top are the power/lock button and headset jack, while located at the bottom is a small slit to help you remove the phone’s matte backplate. Flip it on its back and you’ll see the 2 megapixel camera and the speaker.

y210d_ps

The Y210D doesn’t have much to boast about in terms of looks but it certainly doesn’t look ugly. The glossy bezel and the chin-like design at the bottom prevent it from looking totally uninspired. It might look a little chunky but it feels solid and gives you comfortable grip.

Display

The Ascend Y210D has a 3.5-inch display with HVGA (480 x 320) resolution. Resolution is low but since you’re looking at a small display, pixels are not an issue and can be ignored. There’s no IPS technology here so viewing angles are limited.

y210d_display

On the bright side, colors are great and sunlight legibility is good as long as you crank the brightness to maximum.

OS, UI and Apps

Running the show for the Y210D is Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread skinned with Huawei’s visual tweaks. Nothing much has changed from the stock Gingerbread in terms of navigation. However, instead of the usual four capacitive buttons, you now have three (Back, Home, Options) which makes it simpler.

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The rest are pretty basic like tapping on the Grid icon brings up the applications drawer which you can navigate by swiping left or right. While swiping down the notification bar shows connectivity shortcuts and current notifications.

ui2

As for apps, you can always count on Google Play Store to provide you with what you need except for OS restricted ones like Chrome.

Camera and Multimedia

The Y210D’s 2 megapixel fixed focus camera is nothing to write home about. It falls behind in terms of clarity and colors but it will suffice if you’re planning to go creative with it using filters with apps like Instagram. As for its multimedia prowess, the Y210D is capable of playing video files but the small screen estate won’t give the right amount of satisfaction.

y210d_sample

Sounds coming from the speaker are very audible and loud enough for notifications to be heard. But as a music player, it’s enough for casual listening but you’re better off hooking it up to an external speaker or just use your headphones instead.

Performance, Benchmarks and Battery Life

We’ve reviewed a lot of entry level Android Gingerbread smartphones in the past and we don’t expect smartphones of this caliber to do well on resource intensive applications. Instead we installed Temple Run and Temple Run 2 – games that you’d normally an comfortably play on a small screen. Unfortunately, these games crash on the Y210D after loading. We didn’t receive any low memory problems, in fact we still had plenty of internal storage in addition to the microSD card inserted. The problem was probably caused by a software glitch in the review unit we received rather than a hardware problem. Other than that, UI navigation is quick enough and we didn’t encounter any noticeable lags or random reboots.

y210d_battery

Benchmark scores are nothing to be impressed about. AnTuTu gave it a score of 3,940 while Quadrant Standard gave it a score of 1,468, falling at the bottom of both charts. As for its Adreno 200 GPU, NenaMark2 gauged it at 15.4fps.

NenaMark2_2013-04-08_0659

On battery life, with two SIMs on standby, constant WiFi connectivity, moderate SNS like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and moderate calling and texting, the 1,700mAh battery was able to last for 12 to 14 hours, which is good. Going heavy on SNS and light games like 4 Pics 1 Word and Candy Crush, with the addition of mobile internet and it’s down to 5 to 6 hours.

Conclusion

So what we have here is a smartphone with a good build, good display, and above average battery life. As for the cons, it has a small display and an aging, yet still capable, Android Gingerbread OS. But what it all boils down to is the Php2,990 SRP which is really affordable. To conclude, the Huawei Ascend Y210D is a very budget-friendly yet very capable Android smartphone. Perfect for those who are on a budget, looking for a secondary phone to use or as a gift for loved ones.

y210d_rear

Huawei Ascend Y210D specs:
3.5-inch HVGA LCD @ 480×320 pixels, 262k colors
Qualcomm MSM7225A Cortex-A5 1.0GHz
Adreno 200 GPU
256MB RAM
512MB internal storage
MicroSD (up to 32GB)
3G/HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps
W+G Dual Sim Dual Standby
2.0 megapixel FF camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
GPS with aGPS
Li-Ion 1700mAh battery
Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread
117 x 62 x 12.4mm
120g

What we liked about it:
* Solid build
* Good display
* Above average battery life
* Affordable price tag

What we didn’t like about it:
* Runs an outdated Android Gingerbread
* Small screen size
* Limited viewing angles
* A bit chunky

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Avatar for Diangson Louie

This article was written by Louie Diangson, Managing Editor of YugaTech. You can follow him at @John_Louie.

9 Responses

  1. Avatar for richard richard says:

    good day. i have a question about the dual sim card of my huawei y210d phone.. I cannot insert Globe sim only sun and smart is active.. anyonw can help me on how to activate it? thank you..

  2. Avatar for Peki Peki says:

    Hello….I need some help :) I just broke my mobile…. He turn out from my pocket, and his glass is a little broken, nothing bad, but it’s annoying me…. So, the thing which I’m interested in is about that glass…. Is it touch screen separated from it, or are they together… cause my touch screen is working still, and I need to know how bad is this breaking?

  3. Avatar for cesar cesar says:

    ayudaa necesito la romm para huawei y-210

  4. Avatar for vaidyanath vaidyanath says:

    I buy this 210D Huawei, through online shop Snapdeal, The phone is working is good , but It does not support the regional languages i mails/sms, also accessories are not available, or not matched anyone like screen-guard, back protected cover etc,,,

  5. Avatar for MC MC says:

    Most games that like Death Dome, Vector, and Temple Run crashes. Not suitable for gaming.

  6. Avatar for J J says:

    @mdm May I respectfully ask your opinion before getting this phone from Globe. I need a phone with large font, can type chinese character, easy go to yahoomail and facebook lang po. pwede na? really appreciate your answer po.

  7. Avatar for mdm782010 mdm782010 says:

    i have bought this phone last 3 weeks ago,i say the battery is much better than the SGY,and the speaker is very loud.The 3G wifi tethering function is very fast.But the down side of this phone is low ram that causes freezes regularly when too many apps running.I was always result to a battery reset to ease the terrible freezes on this phone.

  8. Avatar for Cheeze_Keyk Cheeze_Keyk says:

    any accessories for this phone here in the philippines? jellycase or screen protector?

  9. Avatar for Iyan Sommerset Iyan Sommerset says:

    This is the same one Globe offers for free bundled with a plan 299/499, right? How does it compare to the Galaxy Y Refresh?

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