Huawei launches budget friendly smartphone in Kenya

Kenya Huawei Y5 Lite 2018 launch.

According to reports by TechMoran - Steven Li, head of Eastern Africa Mobile, said the introduction of the Y5 Lite in the market is part of their strategy to target low end users who are looking for a budget device that offers unique experience that meets their needs and requirement.

The new handset is smaller or lite version of the Huawei Y5 Prime (2018) that was launched in May.

Huawei last year announced it was existing entry-level smartphones to focus on high-end smartphones. The announcement was made Richard Yu, Huawei’s CEO of Consumer Business Group.

“We’re giving up the very low-end devices because the margin in this is extremely low, and it’s not making enough profit for us,” Yu is quoted saying in an interview with Bloomberg.

The company launching a handset like the Huawei Y5 Lite for entry-level smartphone holders draws competitions from likes of itel, and Tecno who have leveraged the smartphone market when it comes to entry-level smartphones.

The Huawei Y5 Lite comes in two colours – Black (which we have) and Blue.

Specs:

• 5.45” 720p IPS LCD screen in an 18:9 ratio
• Android 8.1 Oreo (Go Edition)
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB internal storage – expandable to 256GB
• Quad-core 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6739 chipset
• PowerVR GE8100 GPU
• 8 MP rear camera with LED flash
• 5MP selfie camera
• Dual SIM with 4G LTE
• 3020mAh battery

The 4G enabled budget phone retails at KES 9,990 in stores across the country, operator shops and the Jumia online store. The device is the fourth in the Y series to be launched in the market this year, following the Y9 2019, Y7 Prime and Y5 Prime.