Review of Huawei Ascend Y320 and Y320D Smartphones – Pros and Cons

Huawei's line of Y-series smartphones are designed to be affordable to those on a budget. Of course, this requirement will have an impact on what can be fitted into the phone in terms of specs and also what the phone can and cannot do as a result.

However, being limited in terms of features does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Not everyone needs a high-end smartphone, a simple one will do just fine. Some people have neither the need nor the money for anything else.

On the other hand, a low price does not automatically mean it's a good phone. It is necessary to look at what the phone's strengths and weaknesses are. Only then can someone determine whether the phone is worth it or not.

Among the Y-series, the Huawei Y300 was well-liked by people because it offered a lot of value considering its low price. That phone has now been replaced by the Y320 and the good news about it is that it retains most of the good qualities people liked about the Y300.

With the exception of taking pictures which is significantly worse, everything else remains roughly the same. Battery life seems to be worse, but it's faster and even more affordable than its predecessor. Externally, they look similar with the same screen and casing.

In my opinion, the Y320 isn't as good as the Y300, but if you liked the Huawei Y300, you will probably feel the same about the Y320. Unlike some budget phones, the Y320 doesn't feel cheap, which is sometimes a problem with low-priced phones. In order to cut costs, some brands will skimp on quality, but the Huawei does not suffer from this problem.

The Y-series are supposed to be affordable to almost anyone and the Y320 succeeds with flying colors in this regard. In the United States, the Huawei Y320 can be bought new and unlocked for slightly above $100. That is lower than its predecessor, the Y300, and makes it one of the cheapest smartphones around.

Despite the very low price, the Y300 is every bit of a smartphone. If you're still stuck using a feature phone, then now's a great time to upgrade to a real smartphone. They can do so much more than older feature phones and the price difference has become very small.

One of the best things about the Y320 is that it comes with a 4 inch touchscreen, which is quite large for a budget phone. The screen seems to be the same as the Y300 and comes with good picture quality. Cheap phones often come with poor quality screens, but that's not the case with the Y320. To top it off, the screen is resistant against scratching wich really helps.

The only thing I would have liked to see different is that I would have preferred a higher resolution than the 480x800 of the Y320. That's still good for this type of smartphone, but it can cause some issues when browsing the Internet.

Some websites were only designed for much higher resolutions, which many mobile devices do not. If the website is too wide to fit onto the screen, you may want to try the mobile version of the website, assuming there is one. Other than that, the resolution is acceptable for general use.

Brand is an important issue to some people and on this issue Huawei is at a definite disadvantage compared to other brands that are better known such as Nokia and so on. Some people may hesitate to use a product from a company they are not familiar with.

However, it's important to note that Huawei is a very large company with tens of billions in annual revenue. Companies do not become that large by consistently putting bad products on the market. They do it by bringing quality products to the public that offer good value at a decent price.

The Y320 should therefore be at the very least an okay product. If you're unsure if Huawei is a good brand, the fact that it's such a large company makes it almost certain that it will stand behind its products. That makes it worth the risk in my opinion.

The Y320 has the horsepower to handle most, but not all software applications. Standard apps such as those from Google or social media apps are fine, but demanding apps such as games won't run. Simple games such as card games are okay, but the Y320 can't handle anything fancy.

Since the Y320 is a budget phone, this is understandable and quite common for this type of smartphone. As long as you're aware of the limitations of a budget phone and don't expect too much from it, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for more, then you will have to find a different phone than the Y320.

Compared to its predecessor, the Y320 is much worse when it comes to taking pictures. Huawei probably was looking to cut costs somewhere and this is what they chose to do. The Y300 came with cameras in the front and back. On the other hand, the Y320 has only a rear camera with no front camera.

The loss of the front camera is not such a big deal since it wasn't that useful. However, the rear camera of the Y320 is a huge step backwards. In my opinion, a better camera would be preferable, even if that meant raising the price of the Y320. If pictures are important, you may want to get the Y300 if you can find it.

Like some other manufacturers, Huawei will bring the same phone to the market, but with a slightly different configuration. This is done to address different needs for different markets. This is okay, but it can become a problem when different configurations are not sufficiently distinguished using a different name.

The Huawei Y320 is one example. There is a version with one sim card and another with two sim cards, but with half the amount of memory. The first seems to be the real Y320, while the second is marketed with the model number Y320-U01 or Y320D. Some online retailers refer to both models as Y320 even though they're different.

This can cause confusion because people may not be aware that the model number refers to the same phone, but with a slightly different configuration. When people are shopping around and comparing, they may not be aware that the prices refer to different smartphones.

The possibility exists that someone orders the phone with the best price, only to find out later that the phone is not the one he or she wanted. In my opinion, Huawei should use a name that's clearly different, so people can tell they're dealing with different phones.

For example, using Y320 or Y321 and so on would not cause people to mistake one phone for the other. The current naming convention it too similar and unfriendly to the consumer. It needs to change as soon as possible.

In my opinion, the Huawei Y320 is very good for a budget phone. Granted, it may not be for everyone. It doesn't have the horsepower and is therefore limited in what it can do. Power users need to look elsewhere.

However, for people with not a lot of money, the Y320 is an excellent option. It offers tremendous value for very little money. Yes, the Y320 has its weaknesses and there are smartphones with more or better features, but they also cost a whole lot more.

Just make sure to select the Y320 with a single sim and not the Y320D, Y320-U01 or whatever other name the version with two sim cards is known. That version seems to be much slower than the standard Y320, which runs much smoother.

The Y300 is also a good option if you can still find it. I would probably pick the Y300 if I had to choose between the Y320 and Y300. Even though the Y300 is more expensive, the better camera makes it worth it.

With the Y320, people can easily upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone with all the benefits that come with it. Its very low price makes a smartphone a possibility where it previously did not exist. In terms of value, the Huawei Y320 has very few rivals out there.


Pros:

• Very affordable
• Nice screen for a budget phone
• Excellent price/value ratio
• Well-build for a cheap phone
• Lots of features for a budget phone
• Doesn't skimp on important smartphone features like many cheap smartphones.

Cons:

• Limited ability to take pictures
• Does not have the horsepower to handle every app
• Different phone configurations using a similar model number is confusing