Huawei Y7

SIMPLE, FOCUSED AND DECEPTIVELY PREMIUM.

OUTPERFORMING EVERY PHONE we tested in processing power, graphics grunt and battery life benchmarks, the Y7 is a sleek and capable unit that pays close attention to the important details. This budget handset has some lower-level hardware — only 2GB of RAM and a 720p display are its weakest points, and it’s lacking a fingerprint reader — but at this price it works in its favour. Many of the fingerprint readers we tested were unreliable, and the 2GB of RAM doesn’t seem to slow the beast down when it comes to everyday operation. Plus, the 720p display looks surprisingly sharp and helps squeeze more out of the impressive 4,000mAh battery. Its closest competitor in this roundup, the Oppo A57 (right), has identical internals with the exception of 3GB of RAM and still fell short across the board (albeit by a small margin most of the time). Round off the excellent performance with a capable camera and a seriously premium design and feel, and the Y7 is a steal for $249.