Review of the budget smartphone Huawei Nova Y72

At the beginning of the year, Huawei introduced a smartphone to the European market called Huawei Nova Y72, which was previously known as Enjoy 70 in China. This device is included in the budget segment and is focused on the basic needs of users, while providing a wide audience coverage. It stands out for its interesting design and capacious battery.

• SoC Kirin 710, 8 processor cores (4×Cortex-A73 @2.0 GHz + 4×Cortex-A53 @1.7 GHz)
• GPU Mali-G51 MP4
• Operating system EMUI 12
• Touch display IPS, 6.75″, 720×1600, 60 Hz, 260 ppi
• RAM 8 GB, internal memory 128 GB
• No microSD support
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• Networks 2G GSM, 3G WCDMA, 4G LTE
• GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BDS
• Wi-Fi 5 (2.4/5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE
• NFC
• USB 2.0 Type-C, USB OTG
• There is no 3.5mm audio output for headphones
• Cameras 50 MP + 2 MP, video 1080p@60 fps
• Front camera 8 MP
• Proximity and lighting sensors, magnetic field, accelerometer
• Fingerprint scanner (side-mounted)
• Battery 6000 mAh, charging 22.5 W
• Dimensions 168×78×8.9 mm
• Weight 207 g

All surfaces are matte, the smartphone does not slip in your hands and is almost not covered with fingerprints. The mass is quite large, but this is clearly due to the battery with increased capacity.

The model is presented in green and black body colors. The smartphone body is not protected from dust and water.

The Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone is equipped with a 6.75-inch IPS display with a resolution of 720×1600 (20:9) and flat protective glass. The physical dimensions of the screen are 70x157 mm, and the dot density is 260 ppi. The screen supports a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz, and multi-touch operates at 10 points.

The front surface of the screen is made of glass with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. The anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly better than those of the Nexus 7. A special oleophobic coating on the outer surface of the screen makes it easier to remove fingerprints. The maximum screen brightness is 460 cd/m², which ensures good readability even in the sun. There is automatic brightness adjustment depending on lighting conditions. There is no backlight modulation or screen flickering.

We present photos in which the smartphone and Nexus 7 screens display the same images. The initial brightness of the screens is approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is set to 6500 K.

Example image: White field (Bright profile).

Note the acceptable uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture (profile Normal [colors]):

Color reproduction on both screens is good, the colors are quite saturated, but the color balance is slightly different. It is important to note that photographs cannot fully convey the quality of color reproduction due to differences in the spectral sensitivity of the camera matrix and human vision. The images shown were taken using the «Normal» profile in the screen settings, and there are only two such profiles available.

The Vivid profile has an increased color temperature:

The smartphone screen has good viewing angles, at which colors remain stable even at large deviation angles from the perpendicular to the screen, and color inversion does not occur. However, as you move diagonally, the black field becomes lighter, although it remains mostly gray. When looking directly at the screen, the uniformity of the black field is average (at maximum backlight brightness).

The screen contrast (roughly in the center) reaches a high level of around 1600:1. The reaction time when moving from black to white and back is 20 ms (11 ms on and 9 ms off). The transition between gray halftones 25% and 75% takes a total of 32 ms. A gamma curve constructed from 32 equally spaced gray numeric points does not detect any anomalies in light or dark areas. The power function fitting coefficient is 2.05, which is lower than the standard value of 2.2. However, the actual gamma curve deviates slightly from the power law.

This is due to the presence in this device of a weakly expressed dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness, which depends on the time and nature of the displayed image. As a result, the brightness versus hue curve (gamma curve) may not match the gamma curve of a static image due to the use of special patterns with a constant average brightness instead of solid fields across the entire screen. However, the color gamut is approximately sRGB.

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

The device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue on the color wheel or choosing one of three preset profiles. After selecting the «Normal» profile without correction, the balance of shades on the gray scale is a compromise. The color temperature is higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) on almost the entire gray scale exceeds 10, which is not considered optimal for a consumer device. However, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue, which has a beneficial effect on the visual assessment of color balance.

With the correction (a dot on the circle — as in the picture above), the color balance can be improved — ΔE has decreased:

The darkest areas of the gray scale are not taken into account because color balance is not very important there, and color measurements at low brightness have a large error. However, this correction significantly reduces the maximum brightness, so from a practical point of view it is often preferable to leave the Vivid profile at the default settings. There is also a function to reduce the intensity of the blue component.

Marketers could try to create a sense of concern on the part of the manufacturer by mentioning the problem of blue light and its potential effects on the eyes. However, there is no practical evidence to suggest that blue light causes eye fatigue or is in any way harmful. Instead, adjusting brightness to a comfortable level and maintaining a consistent color balance are more important for eye health.

Apparently, this device does not support DisplayPort Alt Mode for USB Type-C, which means it is not possible to output image and sound to an external device via the USB port.

To summarize, the screen has a high maximum brightness and excellent anti-glare properties, which allows you to use the device even in bright sunlight. In the dark, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. The mode with automatic brightness adjustment also works adequately. Distinctive features of the screen include an oleophobic coating, no flicker or air gap in the layers, high contrast and good color balance. However, it is worth considering the reduced resolution and insufficient stability of black color when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the screen.

The Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone is equipped with only one main camera, and the second lens is an auxiliary module with a resolution of 2 megapixels. The main camera has a 50-megapixel sensor and an f/1.8 lens. The device has fast and efficient autofocus, but there is no optical image stabilization.

Like all modern smartphones, you can shoot at full sensor resolution and in 4-in-1 pixel binning mode. However, the shooting quality is low even after the frame is reduced and processed; 50 MP photographs do not retain any useful information.

The Huawei Nova Y72's overall shooting quality is typical of a budget smartphone, with images lacking in detail, a noticeable increase in edge sharpening in an attempt to compensate, and artifacts after noise removal. Even in good lighting conditions, images remain low-contrast, overexposed, overexposed, and flat. The sensor's dynamic range is insufficient to fully capture all the highlights and shadows, resulting in a loss of shadow detail. The white balance is stable, but the color saturation is lacking. As light levels decrease, autofocus becomes less stable, resulting in reduced detail. Night images are of extremely low quality.

Shooting examples:

Example of night shooting:

The 8-megapixel front camera is comparable in shooting quality to the rear one: detail is weak, the picture is whitish, dark areas lack detail, the pictures are faded and not very expressive.

Video recording of the Huawei Nova Y72 leaves much to be desired: even when using the 60 fps frame rate mode, the video remains unstable, jerky, and has autofocus problems. The image turns out blurry, poorly detailed, overexposed, with insufficient contrast and without stabilization.

The Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone supports mobile networks up to 4G. It also has a wireless adapter that supports dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.1, as well as NFC.

The satellite navigation module provides work with GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BDS. The first satellites are usually quickly detected during a cold start, and the positioning accuracy is not satisfactory.

The sound of the interlocutor's voice in the speaker is quite loud and clear. The vibration motor is ordinary, with average power. There is no gyroscope among the built-in sensors.

In the European market, the Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone is usually offered with the EMUI interface, while the Chinese market uses the HarmonyOS shell. Despite this, EMUI remains a popular interface that is well optimized and ensures smooth operation of the device without lag. It comes with a host of advanced features such as multi-window mode, file organization, and gestures that make using your smartphone more convenient and efficient. Despite the lack of Google services and applications, users can take advantage of the AppGallery app store and other functional utilities such as Health and Maps, which fully satisfy the user's basic needs for work and entertainment.

The smartphone does not have stereo speakers or a standard 3.5 mm audio output for a wired headset. The sound quality is average.

The Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone is powered by an octa-core Kirin 710 processor and Mali-G51 GPU. It has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The device supports connecting external devices via the USB Type-C port in USB OTG mode.

Although the hardware platform is quite old and manufactured on a 12nm process, it is still capable of ensuring smooth operation of the system. However, this platform may not be sufficient for demanding games. Despite this, games such as Call of Duty or PUBG can run on the device at low settings. The high results in gaming tests are partly due to the lower screen resolution of the Huawei Nova Y72.

All results obtained during testing of the smartphone were systematized and presented in tables for ease of evaluation. These tables also include the results of other devices from different segments that were tested on the latest versions of the benchmarks. This allows for a clear comparison of the obtained data. However, due to the limitations of a single comparison, it was not possible to include results from other relevant models tested on earlier versions of the benchmark programs.

We test for performance degradation when heated using the Burnout Benchmark program, which allows you to load the CPU, GPU and NPU:

The Huawei Nova Y72 smartphone is equipped with a high-capacity 6000 mAh battery, which ensures high autonomy of the device. It is important to consider that this is achieved under conditions of low screen resolution and average hardware platform performance.

The testing performed was standard and involved using the device at normal power consumption levels, without activating power saving features, although such features are available in the smartphone. The tests included the following usage scenarios: continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader application using the standard light theme, continuous viewing of HD video (720p) over Wi-Fi, and playing Injustice 2 with automatic graphics settings.

These data represent the maximum possible values obtained under «ideal» conditions, including no SIM cards installed. Any changes in usage will likely result in reduced performance.

Using the included wall charger, the smartphone is fully charged in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Wireless charging is not supported.

This smartphone clearly stands out for its simplicity in all aspects — from the low screen resolution to the outdated hardware platform. Sound, camera quality, network functions — they are all presented at a minimal level. There are no outstanding features, with the possible exception of the presence of an additional programmable button on the case. However, despite this, the device provides a basic set of functions and is affordable.