Huawei Ascend Y330 Review – Pros and Cons

Huawei has added another member to the Y-series of entry-level budget smartphones. This time it's the third member of the Y3xx series, the Ascend Y330 which replaces the preceding Y320 and the even older Y300. Both the Ascend Y320 and the Y300 in particular were popular for their good combination of features at a low price.

Notable differences worth mentioning between the Y330 and Y320 include:

• The Y330 comes with a different aspect ratio, although it retains the four inch screen of its two predecessors. The Y330 now has a FWVGA screen with a resolution of 854x480. The Y320 and Y300 both had a WVGA screen with a resolution of 800x480. By increasing the horizontal resolution, the Y330 better matches the 16:9 aspect ratio of wide-screen video, which should reduce the need for cropping as is sometimes the case for narrower resolutions such as WVGA.
• The Ascend Y330 comes with a single three megapixel camera, which is better than the two megapixel camera found on the Y320. However, it's not as good as the original Ascend Y300, which came with two cameras, including a five megapixel camera at the rear of the phone.
• Battery capacity has also changed. The 1500 mAh battery in the Y330 replaces the 1350 mAh battery in the Y320. Again, the Ascend Y300 had a bigger battery with 1730mAh.

The Ascend Y330 comes only about six months after the Y320 was initially released. This is shorter than usual and suggests that Huawei decided that the Y320 was not a such a good replacement for the Y300. The Y330 seems to be designed to be a better replacement for the Y300 than the Y320 was.

What's good about the Huawei Ascend Y330

As mentioned before, the Y3xx series are entry-level budget smartphones. This class of smartphones tends to have a relative low price, compared to other types of smartphones, to make them affordable for a large segment of the population.

However, in order to keep the price low, manufacturers often have to make a few sacrifices to the phone, which may not appeal to everyone depending on what you expect from your smartphone. The Huawei Ascend Y330 is no different. There are good things worth mentioning, such as:

• The Ascend Y330 is made for people on a limited budget. With a price of around $90, the Huawei Y330 should be affordable to most people. For that price, you get a real smartphone. The Y330 can do all the common tasks that people expect to perform on their phone. Communicate through voice or data through a cellular connection or Wi-Fi, run social media apps such as Whatsapp and other similar apps, use Google Apps such as Google Maps with GPS included, etc.
• Generally speaking, low-cost phones are more likely to be poorly build. That's because companies have to do everything they can to reduce the price, which often includes using cheaper materials that are less sturdy or skimping on quality control. Fortunately, the Huawei Y330 is build well considering the type of smartphones it belong to. It's not as good as more expensive phones of course, but it's more than acceptable for a budget phone.

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What's not so good about the Huawei Ascend Y330

Naturally, an entry-level budget smartphone will not be a perfect phone as there are a few drawbacks to paying less for a smartphone. Weaknesses of the Ascend Y330 include:

• While the Y330 has no problem running most apps, there are limits to this. Any app that is computationally intensive and requires a powerful processor will have problems with the Y330. That is not just the case with the Y330, but all entry-level or budget smartphones. If you want to run demanding apps such as 3D games, you should use a more expensive smartphones that come with faster processors. Certain apps may also run slower on the Y330 than they would on mid-range and high-end smartphones.
• Another drawback of the Y330 is that it cannot run as long as some of the more expensive smartphones. The phone can last a whole day, but it requires monitoring of the battery indicator and not using your phone all the time. As long as you restrict the use, you should have no problem with the Y330.

Comparison between the Huawei Ascend Y300, Ascend Y320 and Ascend Y330

In my opinion, the Y330 is better than the Y320, but not as good as the Y300. Huawei took a big step backwards with the Y320 compared to the Y300. Battery size was reduced significantly and the five megapixel camera in the Y300w as reduced by a two megapixel camera in the Y320.

The front camera of the Y300 was also deleted in the Y320. Huawei has rectified some of this to a certain extent, by making the battery bigger and including a three megapixel camera in the Y330. However, that's still worse than what the Y300 came with.

If all three models were available and I had to choose between the three, I would pick the Y300, Y330 and Y320 in that order. The other differences between them, such as physical dimensions, screen size, internal storage, memory, processor and connectivity options are small and the three phones can be considered similar in that regard.

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Final evaluation of the pros and cons of the Huawei Ascend Y330

The Huawei Y330 is a competent smartphone. It can handle almost all the tasks that most people will want to do with their smartphone on a regular basis. Most people have no need for running complex apps or games on their phone and the Y330 inability to do that is therefore not that big a problem.

In terms of features, the Y330 is fully equipped with the exception of a camera in the front. Taking selfies is not possible with the Y330. The three megapixel camera in the back is limited and there's no flash, but you cannot expect too much from smartphones in this price class.

Most people are also not heavy users of their smartphone. Mostly making and receiving phone calls with limited use of the Internet is what most people need from their phone. To do that, you don't need to have the biggest battery around. So while the limited battery life of the Y330 is an issue, it's not a major issue for most people.

Therefore, in my opinion, the Huawei Y330 is a good choice for anyone who needs a good smartphone, but cannot spend a lot of money on one. Its negatives are ones that most people can live with. Its positives include a low price with good performance. That tradeoff should be more than acceptable for most people.

Other people that might be interested in the Ascend Y330 are those that are new to smartphones or making the transition from feature phones and are not yet sure what they want from their smartphone. The low price of the Y330 allows you room to make learn without any costly mistakes until you're ready for a more capable and more expensive smartphone.


Pros:

• Includes all standard features of smartphones
• Four inch touchscreen is generous for an entry-level phone
• Good build quality for a budget phone
• Quad-band connectivity ensures phone can work everywhere
• Low price

Cons:

• Limited battery life
• Cannot run demanding apps
• Only one three megapixel camera included

Huawei Ascend Y330
Reviewed by Gadget Revue on August 13 2014
Rating: 4

Comparison of Huawei Ascend Y330 and Y320 specifications

Name	Ascend Y330	Ascend Y320
Brand	Huawei	Huawei
Type	Smartphone	Smartphone
Style	Bar	Bar
Color	Black / white	Black / white
Dimensions	122.1 x 63.5 x 11.3 mm	123.3 x 63.2 x 11.1 mm
Weight	126 grams	123 grams
Operating System	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Skin	-	-
4G LTE	-	-
3G HSDPA	900 / 2100 MHz	900 / 2100 MHz
(varies)	850/1900 MHz	850/1900/2100 MHz
2G GSM/EDGE	850/900/1800/1900 MHz	850/900/1800/1900 MHz
CPU	MediaTek MTK MT6572M	MediaTek MTK MT6572
-	1.3 GHz dual-core	1.3 GHz dual-core
GPU	Mali 400	Mali 400
RAM	512 megabytes (MB)	512 megabytes (MB)
Internal storage	4 megabytes (MB)	4 gigabytes (GB)
MicroSD	Up to 32 GB	Up to 32 GB
Screen	4.0 Inch TFT LCD	4.0 Inch TFT LCD
Type	Multi-Touch, capacitive	Multi-Touch, capacitive
Colors	16M colors	16M colors
Resolution	FWGA (856x480, 245 PPI)	WVGA (800x480, 233 PPI)
Rear camera	3.0 megapixels	2.0 megapixels
Front camera	-	-
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
-	Bluetooth 4.0	Bluetooth 3.0
Connectors	microUSB (USB 2.0)	microUSB (USB 2.0)
-	3.5 headphone jack	3.5 headphone jack
Sensors	Accelerometer	Accelerometer
-	Proximity	G sensor
Navigation	A-GPS	A-GPS
FM radio	Included	Included
Battery	Lithium-Ion 1500 mAh	Lithium-Ion 1350 mAh
Special features	-	-