One of the older handsets in the Huawei family, the Ascend Y 100 has plenty to offer the user but for the serious smartphone user, its features may not be enough. As a first foray into the world of smartphones, there is much to keep you busy, but it is not as sophisticated as some of the other handsets on the market.
Price Point:
There is no doubt about it – this is a budget handset. Not everyone has hundreds of pounds to spare for the latest smartphones so this is retailing for well below £100, but it has a reduced experience to match the reduced price. The handset is an Android set so it can offer some of the same features as other handsets, albeit in a smaller way.
Appearances:
And small is definitely a keyword here. The handset is much smaller than many smartphones but it has a very neat appearance which is not too disappointing. The controls are easy to use and well set out and there is a chrome trim which gives it a stylish edge.
This is not a handset for those who are intent on downloading a lot of music or film. There is just 512MB of internal memory, although you can add more with a microSD card. This is a phone which is intended for those who want to make calls, send texts and perhaps check the odd email while on the move.
Using the Phone:
The screen is just 2.8 inches, which is tiny when compared to other smartphones. This does make it very hard to use for the internet and the resolution of the screen makes it difficult to view videos and images. However, the browsing experience is not too bad and the touchscreen makes this easier.
Android 2.6 Gingerbread is not the latest version of Android but it is not bad for those who want to make use of apps. Widgets for sites such as Facebook and Twitter are there and ready to use. The camera on the phone has just 2 megapixels which is relatively basic, even for a cheap phone. This is not the phone for you if you want to spend time taking good quality snaps.
The processor is not as strong as that on top of the range mobile phones but it is fine for what this phone is capable of. You may find that some functions on the phone are slow to load and for some features you will need to insert a microSD card in order to get enough memory to use them.
The battery life is not brilliant for such a basic phone – moderate use only sees a couple of days although this phone is perfect for light users who may only make the odd call or send a couple of texts a day.
Conclusion:
This is an entry level phone and perfect for those who are not interested in surfing the web wherever they are. If you only want a phone so you can make calls when you need to, then this is a good choice.
