Huawei Y Max In-Depth Hands-On

Huawei has been bolstering their offerings in the Y-series family, and one of them is the — the Y Max. This 7.12-inch phablet is hard to miss so check our out in-depth hands-on of the device especially if you’re looking a large-screened smartphone.

The Y Max is not an ordinary phablet thanks to the faux leather back panel similar to what we saw on the LG G4 4 years ago. It has this premium and professional look, given that we’re all used to seeing glossy or matte back covers. There are two colors, namely Midnight Black and Amber Brown, but we got the latter which looks more appealing. You don’t have to get stylish cases for this given that it is like one already which is a plus. The sides of the device are made up of aluminum alloy which looks pleasing and blends well with the device’s color.

Starting at the front, you’ll see a massive 7.12-inch screen with an FHD+ resolution and a dewdrop notch design that houses the 8MP camera. The colors are accurate, sharp, and bright enough to be used under direct sunlight. There are slim bezels on all sides which amplifies your viewing experience further. I tried playing PUBG Mobile here, and boy, I was so overwhelmed by how massive this device is since I usually put my face close to smartphone’s display.

On the left, we see the lone tray that houses the triple card slots which are great especially for people who like to put extra storage in their phones. Not that you need it, given that the Y Max has a 128GB of storage which is quite large.

You can find the usual volume rocker and power button pairing on the right side. The buttons are clicky and tactile which is good, however, they’re placed a bit high so I find it difficult to reach the buttons and I have to readjust my hands most of the time just so I can press them comfortably.

At the bottom, you’ll see the 3.5mm audio port, micro USB port, main microphone, and loudspeaker. It’s quite a bummer that the device doesn’t use a USB Type-C given that it’s already 2019.

Flip on its back, and you’ll find the dual 16MP + 2MP cameras and LED flash while the fingerprint scanner is placed right beside them. Just like with the side buttons, the sensor is way up to a point where I have to adjust to the device’s size to reach and unlock my phone. I’d prefer it if they could bring it down just a bit further to accommodate people with small hands.

The Y Max is slightly heavy given its size and battery capacity, but it feels solid and premium. The leathery texture also helps my grips on the device further which is good, especially for sweaty hands. I wouldn’t suggest putting this device inside the pockets of your pants as you might bend the device when you suddenly decide to sit.

We took some initial shots using the 16MP + 2MP dual rear cameras of the Y Max and so far so good. Photos have good detail, while the color reproduction and sharpness are decent under good lighting conditions. Images are slightly grainy on some shots, but they are usable for social media posts.

As for the 8MP front camera, images are not that bad but not that good either. The photos are okay in good lighting, but the quality becomes muddy when you try taking pictures under low-lighting conditions. We’ll know more once I test its camera capability in our full review.

Powering the Y Max is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset which is pretty unusual given that Huawei usually uses Kirin chips. It also has a 4GB RAM which is plenty enough for tasks such as browsing, social media posting, streaming videos, file transferring, and even multi-tasking. Its overall performance is snappy and responsive given that its mid-range processor and GPU.

• AnTuTu v7 – 129,965
• Geekbench 4 – 1,468 (Single-Core), 5,533 (Multi-Core)
• PCMark – 5,977 (Work 2.0)
• 3D Mark – 1,231 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,179 (SSE – Vulkan)

I can play Asphalt 9: Legends with ease on this device using the default settings but you can boost its frame rate by setting the graphics to the lowest. Games such as PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends perform very smoothly and thanks to the large display, I can appreciate the game better.

The Y Max runs on EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo and carries a whopping 5,000mAh battery which is an acceptable capacity due to the large display.

Overall, the Huawei Y Max is a great device especially if you’re looking for a phablet that has an enjoyable viewing experience, above average overall performance, ample storage, and 5,000mAh battery capacity. For the price of PHP 16,990 (available online via Lazada), I’d recommend that you get this phone but stay tuned as I’ll take this device for a full review in the coming days.

Huawei Y Max specs:

• 7.12 inch 18.7:9 FHD+ (2244 x 1080) display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 2.2GHz octa-core
• Adreno 512 GPU
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• MicroSD up to 256GB
• 16MP F2.0 + 2MP F2.4 rear cameras
• 8MP F2.0 front camera
• Dual-SIM
• 4G LTE
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
• MicroUSB
• Fingerprint scanner
• EMUI 8.2 (Android 8.1 Oreo)
• 5,000mAh battery
• 177.57 x 86.24 x 8.48 mm
• 210 g
• Midnight Black, Amber Brown