Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 Android Phone at Safaricom Shops

The latest Ideos outfit: Huawei Ascend Y-100 which replaces Kenya’s most popular smart phone Ideos U8150, has been retailing in the country for weeks now at Safaricom outlets, whether it’ll perform as good is a question of time will tell. We’ve gone hands-on to provide our readers with a clear picture to make a more informed decision. If you’ve previously owned an Android smart phone, this is a no go zone; there’s little or worse no new additions you’ll get; however, for first timers, Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 might be a deal. Gauging from basic specifications and its offer price tag at Safaricom, this handset obviously belongs to the entry-level genre, it’s not the best device we’ve reviewed in that category but it’s a big contender considering everything. Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 does everything you’ll expect from an Android v2.3 powered device, but it’ll not take on heavyweights like Samsung I9300 Galaxy S3with plenty of specs.

Android v2.3 Gingerbread is not the latest version from Google but it surely graces Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 with the feel and taste of world’s popular handset operating system. Despite its unimpressive hardware, both premium and free apps from Google’s play store can be installed on this device to enhance its capability. As expected, Ascend Y-100 does make sacrifices to keep its price down, its housing is not hideous, but it’s cheap and plasticky. The large navigation key in front isn’t as cool as it was intended; track pads on competing devices look sexier. Like the earlier Ideos, Ascend Y-100 greatly suffers from a low 320×240-pixel screen resolution, small text look blurry and images/icons appear over pixilated, and you’ll need to do lots of scrolling here and there while browsing web-pages on your device too. The front panel is largely occupied by a 2.8inch capacitive touch screen with back, menu and search touch sensitive buttons resting below it, contrary to most droid devices which favors a home button instead of a search key. At the back, there’s a primary camera of which again Ideos skimps and saves. It’s only 2 megapixels, with no LED photo light, but it does shoot stills and video.

Ideos U8150 was a major hit in Kenya; however, we are a little skeptical on Ascend Y-100’s success considering the availability of better devices such as Orange San Francisco/ZTE Bladewithin the same price range in Kenya. Under the hood is an 800Mhz processor which’s a major upgrade from the earlier ideos’s 600Mhz with 256mb RAM and 512MB ROM. Safaricom is offering Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 for Ksh.8,499 bundled with Ksh.1,000 airtime, 1.5GB data and 7 days unlimited sms.  

Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100 Features/Specifications;
  • Operating System: Android v2.3 Gingerbread
  • Processor: 800 MHz Cortex-A5, Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon CPU
  • Display : 2.8inch (320x240p) (143ppi), Capacitive touch-screen
  • Camera: 2.0Megapixel (1600x1200p)
  • Storage: up to 32GB MicroSD 256MB RAM, 512 ROM
  • Connectivity: MicroUSB v2.0, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
  • Internet: 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 5.76Mbps HSUPA, 802.11b/g/n WiFi/hotspot
  • Other ft: GPS, Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, Compass
  • Battery: Standard Lithium ion 1050mAh
Huawei Ideos Ascend Y-100Price in Kenya: Ksh.8,499 (at Safaricom)

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