Review of Huawei Ascend Y530 Smartphone – Good or Bad

The Y-series of smartphones from Huawei are entry-level smartphones for those on a small budget. They sit below the G-series and D-series and are therefore cheaper, but also come with less features. One of the latest members to this group is the Huawei Ascend Y530.

The model number of a Huawei smartphone is not some random number, but an indication of its price range and feature set. The number next to the Y indicates its rank within the series. A higher number has more features, but is more expensive.

For example, the Y530 has more features than say the Y320, but costs more. So is the Huawei Ascend Y530 a good or bad smartphone? To answer that question we need to look at the pros and cons of the phone. Continue to read this article to find out.

What is good about the Huawei Ascend Y530

Here's what's to like about the Ascend Y530:

• The phone comes with a well-rounded set of features for an entry-level smartphone. You can pretty much do anything you want in a smartphone. Browsing, software apps, GPS with maps and so on. It may not be do it as well as other more expensive smartphones, but it can do it.
• The Y530 uses Android as its operating system with a custom skin from Huawei on top. The good thing about the OS is that it's very customizable. For example, you can make the phone looks like a Windows Phone with similar tiles. In other phones, you cannot change the look of the interface at all.
• The 4.5 inch touchscreen is relatively big for an entry-level smartphone. Bigger screens are increasingly a must with smartphones because they make a smartphone easier to use. The colors are good and not washed out as is sometimes the case with cheap smartphones.
• The Y530 is build well for an entry-level phone. The plastic doesn't feel weak and it's not likely to break easily. Of course, it will never be as good as a metal smartphone, but it's good for a basic smartphone.
• Battery life is also quite good for an entry-level phone. You'll be hard pressed to find anything better among entry-level phones. It will last a whole day, anything better requires getting more expensive mid-range or high-end smartphones.

By author

What is bad about the Huawei Ascend Y530

Here's what's not to like about the Ascend Y530:

• The picture quality of the cameras are poor. To be honest, it's very hard to get good pictures from entry-level smartphones. If you want better pictures, you will have to buy more expensive smartphones or use a dedicated digital camera.
• The Y30 supports high-speed 3G networks, but there is no support for 4G LTE which offers the fastest Internet around. Fortunately, the Y530 is a quad-band phone, so you can use the it everywhere in the world.
• Huawei's smartphones are cheaper than those from more established brands, but that difference is not as great as it used to be. They're still cheaper than for example Samsung, but they're more expensive than other brands from China such as ZTE.

By author

Overall impressions of the pros and cons of the Huawei Ascend Y530

The Y530 is currently the top model within the Y-series and seems to be the replacement of the Huawei Ascend Y511. The two smartphones are very similar and if you like or dislike one, you will probably feel the same way about the other.

Both phones are made by Huawei. For those that don't know, Huawei is now one of the five biggest smartphone brands in the world. They're bigger than for instance Nokia and Motorola, even if Huawei is not as well-known as those two.

The Y530 is basically an improved version with slightly better specs. The have the same or similar screen, connectivity options, processor, memory, internal storage and so on. Differences include a 5 megapixel camera instead of the 3 megapixel in the Y511 and a newer version of the Android operating system.

The Y530 comes a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB memory, 4 gigabytes internal storage that can be expanded, a 4.5 inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / GPS, cameras in the front and back, support for high-speed 3G radio networks

The Y530 can handle most tasks that a person would want to with their smartphone, except highly demanding tasks such as playing high-end games. The phones doesn't have the horsepower to deal with that and you have to get a more powerful and expensive smartphone if you want to play those games.

However, if you want use the phone for Internet and social apps such as Whatsapp, WeChat, Facebook and so on, the phone can handle those things with ease. All the Google Apps such as Google Docs, Google Maps and so on can be used without any difficulties.

The Huawei Y530 is ideal for those on a budget such as students and seniors and  who want a little more from their phone than what the average entry-level smartphone offers, but without spending the money for a mid-range smartphone.

It's not the cheapest option, but you do get more than what you'll find in most budget smartphones. Overall, the Huawei Y530 is a good option for those in need of a smartphone that can do a lot, but doesn't cost too much.


Pros:

• Well-build
• Big vivid screen for an entry-level smartphone
• Good battery life for an entry-level smartphone
• Has almost everything in terms of features
• Cheaper than most other brands
• Good value for the money

Cons:

• Cameras are below average
• Cannot handle more demanding tasks
• Doesn't support 4G LTE

Huawei Ascend Y530
Reviewed by Gadget Revue on April 4 2014
Rating: 4

Comparisons of Huawei Ascend Y530 and Y511 specifications

Name	Ascend Y530	Ascend Y511
Brand	Huawei	Huawei
Type	Smartphone	Smartphone
Style	Bar	Bar
Color	Black / white / red / yellow	Black / white
Dimension (H X W X D)	132.5 mm x 67.0 mm x 9.3 mm	132.8 mm x 67.4 mm x 10.5 mm
Weight	145 grams	150 grams
Operating System	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Skin	Emotion UI	Emotion UI
Network bands (varies)	UMTS: 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz	UMTS: 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
-	UMTS: 900 / 2100 MHz	UMTS: 900 / 2100 MHz
-	GSM / EDGE: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz	GSM / EDGE: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8210, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor	MediaTek MTK MT6572, 1.3 GHz dual-core processor
Graphics	Adreno 203 GPU	Mali 400 GPU
RAM	512 megabytes (MB)	512 megabytes (MB)
Internal storage	4 gigabytes (GB)	4 gigabytes (GB)
Expandable memory slot	Included, up to 32 GB MicroSD card	Included, up to 32 GB MicroSD card
Screen type	4.5 Inch Multi-Touch IPS LCD	4.5 Inch Multi-Touch IPS LCD
Screen colors	16M colors	16M colors
Screen resolution	FWVGA (854 x 480, 218 PPI)	FWVGA (854 x 480, 218 PPI)
Rear camera	5.0 megapixels + LED flash	3.0 megapixels
Front camera	0.3 megapixels	0.3 megapixels
Wireless Connectivity	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
-	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 4.0
Connectors	microUSB (USB 2.0)	microUSB (USB 2.0)
-	3.5 headphone earjack	3.5 headphone earjack
Sensors	Accelerometer	Accelerometer
-	Proximity sensor	Proximity sensor
-	Ambient light sensor	Ambient light sensor
Navigation	GLONASS / GPS / A-GPS	GPS / A-GPS
FM radio	Included	Included
Battery	Lithium-Ion 1750 mAh	Lithium-Ion 1730 mAh
Special features	Both dual sim and single sim versions available	Both dual sim and single sim versions available