Huawei Nova Y61 Review: A Reliable Budget Smartphone with Impressive Features

The Huawei Nova Y61 is a budget-friendly smartphone that offers an impressive array of features, making it a solid option for users looking for a reliable device without spending a premium price. As part of the Huawei Nova Y series, this smartphone aims to provide essential functionalities, a decent camera, a long-lasting battery, and smooth performance in an affordable package. In this detailed review, we will explore the design, performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and overall user experience of the Huawei Nova Y61, helping you determine if it’s the right choice for your needs.

Design and Display: Sleek, Practical, and Spacious

The Huawei Nova Y61 features a sleek and modern design that is both practical and attractive. With a 6.52-inch LCD display, the phone offers a comfortable viewing experience with a HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. While the resolution may not be as sharp as higher-end devices, it’s more than adequate for everyday tasks such as browsing the web, watching videos, or social media scrolling. The display also features V-shaped notch, which houses the front camera and helps minimize bezels, providing a larger, more immersive screen-to-body ratio.

The LCD screen provides good brightness levels, ensuring that content is visible even in moderately bright environments. Colors are vibrant, and the display is easy on the eyes, though it lacks the deep contrast and vibrancy of an OLED screen. Overall, the Nova Y61 offers a large and enjoyable display for casual media consumption, making it a great choice for users who want a big screen phone without paying a premium price.

In terms of build, the Huawei Nova Y61 has a plastic back that is smooth and glossy, giving it a sleek appearance. While the plastic construction helps keep the phone lightweight, it is prone to fingerprints, so a protective case is recommended. The phone is slim and ergonomic, making it comfortable to hold for long periods. It’s available in several color options, including midnight black and crystal blue, giving users the opportunity to choose a color that suits their style.

Camera Performance: Decent Photography for Casual Users

One of the standout features of the Huawei Nova Y61 is its camera setup, which includes a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The 13MP primary camera is capable of capturing detailed and clear photos in good lighting conditions. Whether you’re taking photos of landscapes, objects, or everyday moments, the main sensor offers solid image quality for a budget device. The f/1.8 aperture allows more light to enter the camera, improving low-light performance to some extent, though low-light shots may exhibit some noise.

The 2MP depth sensor is useful for capturing portrait shots with a blurred background (bokeh effect), which is perfect for snapping professional-looking portraits of friends, family, or pets. While the depth sensor isn’t as accurate or sophisticated as more expensive devices, it does a reasonable job of creating a nice blur effect, making it a handy tool for casual photographers.

The camera system also benefits from AI scene detection, which automatically optimizes settings based on what the camera detects, such as food, landscapes, or people. This feature simplifies the process for users, ensuring that they get well-balanced and vibrant shots with minimal effort. However, for advanced photography enthusiasts, the Huawei Nova Y61’s camera might feel basic, with limited manual controls and fewer advanced features compared to higher-end devices.

For selfies, the Huawei Nova Y61 is equipped with an 8MP front-facing camera, which delivers clear and natural selfies with good detail. The AI beautification features help enhance skin tone and facial features, making your selfies look polished without appearing too edited. The front camera is also capable of recording 1080p video at 30fps, which is decent for video calls or casual vlogging.

Performance: Smooth Operation for Everyday Tasks

Powered by the Unisoc T610 processor, the Huawei Nova Y61 delivers sufficient performance for everyday tasks such as web browsing, social media, watching videos, and light gaming. The Unisoc T610 is a budget chipset designed for efficiency rather than raw power, but it does a good job handling typical smartphone functions. Paired with 4GB of RAM, the phone provides smooth performance for most basic applications and allows users to switch between apps without noticeable lag.

While the Unisoc T610 processor is not suited for heavy multitasking or demanding games, the Nova Y61 can handle casual gaming with ease. Titles like Candy Crush or Subway Surfers run smoothly, but more graphics-intensive games like PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty Mobile may require reduced settings to achieve playable performance.

The Huawei Nova Y61 comes with 64GB of internal storage, which should be enough for most users’ daily needs, including storing apps, photos, and videos. Additionally, the phone supports expandable storage via a microSD card, which is a valuable feature for those who require more space for media or large files. This flexibility makes the Nova Y61 an attractive option for users who need a device with expandable storage at a budget price.

Running on HarmonyOS 2.0, the Nova Y61 provides a clean and intuitive user interface with customizable options. However, due to the lack of Google services, users will have to rely on Huawei’s AppGallery for app downloads and updates. While HarmonyOS offers a smooth and functional experience, the absence of Google Play Services might be a significant downside for users who rely on Google apps and services, such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps.

Battery Life: All-Day Performance for Casual Use

The Huawei Nova Y61 is equipped with a 5000mAh battery, providing excellent battery life for its price. With regular use, such as browsing, social media, and watching videos, the phone can easily last an entire day on a single charge. The 5000mAh battery ensures that users don’t need to constantly worry about recharging, making it perfect for long days out or for those who use their phones for basic tasks.

For more intensive activities, such as gaming or continuous video streaming, the Nova Y61 may require charging before the day ends, but it still offers impressive endurance for typical daily use. The phone supports 22.5W fast charging, which allows you to quickly recharge the device. While it’s not as fast as higher-end devices with super-fast charging, 22.5W charging is still a useful feature, offering 50% charge in 30 minutes for users in a hurry.

Connectivity and Additional Features

In terms of connectivity, the Huawei Nova Y61 supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC for quick and seamless connections with other devices. The inclusion of NFC is a nice touch, allowing users to make contactless payments or pair with other NFC-enabled devices. The phone also includes a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack for those who prefer wired audio.

Security features include a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for easy and secure unlocking, as well as Face Unlock, which adds convenience for users who want to unlock their device quickly.

Conclusion: Is the Huawei Nova Y61 Worth It?

The Huawei Nova Y61 is a reliable and budget-friendly smartphone that offers solid performance, a good camera system, and impressive battery life for its price. With a 5000mAh battery, decent camera setup, and large display, the Nova Y61 delivers excellent value for users seeking an affordable device for everyday tasks.

While it may not offer premium features such as 5G support, high-end gaming performance, or Google services, the Huawei Nova Y61 excels in delivering essential smartphone features, making it a great choice for budget-conscious users. If you’re looking for a budget smartphone with good battery life, decent camera capabilities, and expandable storage, the Huawei Nova Y61 is a solid option that provides excellent value for money.