Huawei P Smart 2019 64 GB 6.21-Inch 2K FullView Dewdrop SIM-Free Smartphone with Dual AI Camera, Android 9.0, Single SIM, UK Version, Aurora Blue

Bought this to replace an old phone with newly shattered screen. It wasn't immediately clear (& we hadn't followed the news in the last year or so), but this phone is locked out of the Google Play store, so you can't get the regular apps that way.I decided to keep this phone and gave my partner my 1yr/old Huawei Y9-2019 (which is allowed into the Store), because I wanted to try unplugging myself from the Google ecosystem. I'm mostly using the F-Droid app repository (rest are downloaded or from Huawei's store). I'm very happy with the result - I only have this one USB-C cable (our only device right now). Charging is quick - I only need an hour a day and can usually go two days between charges. I use the phone a lot for podcast listening, email, news reading from RSS & Twitter, messaging (WhatsApp & Signal), and Internet hotspot for my house - not huge amounts of screen time, so that's a big factor in battery life.The on-screen fingerprint reader is not nearly as good as the "back of phone" unit on the Huawei Y9, but it still works most of the time: finger must be completely clean & dry (instead of mostly), correctly positioned (still need to look at it to correctly place finger; the recessed hole on Y9 meant I never had to look), and it seems to not work well in bright sunshine. Also, it takes significantly longer (maybe 1 sec instead of ~0.1s). I used to be able to have an active phone in the time it took to retrieve it from my back pocket, but now it's not so "smooth" - still faster than typing a passcode!

Lovely large screen display with high pixel density giving crisp pictures.Have phone set to always stay in full resolution (higher battery drain) and even so, battery life is very reasonable, lasting most of the day with, what I would say is heavy use. Performance I think is great and have been able to play every game that I have wanted so far.Some of the Huawei apps are a bit cringey and invasive (in the sense that you cannot remove them and they'll still try to launch themselves and ask you to set up an account).Despite having a newer version of andriod loaded, seems to lack some basic quality of life features I loved from my old phone, such as detecting a power-up in your pocket, or detecting a case closure - both are simple proximity sensor triggers but will have to put up with accidental phone calls to people in my pocket like its 1999 again.Ear piece speaker seems to be lacking as sometimes struggle to hear people.Overall a large improvement in hardware from my old phone, but seems a step back in the OS compared to xiaomi.

I am definitely not an expert when it comes to phones (my last phone was a Samsung Galaxy which I had for nearly 6 years before the obsolete OS became incompatible with too many crucial apps), so I can't really judge how the Huaewei Smart 2019 holds up against the new high-end models, but from an everyday usage perspective I've been very happy with it.The interface is generally very easy to use, and the Google vocal assistant function is pretty helpful with navigating various settings and features when you're still getting used to everything. It isn't perfect, as you sometimes have to use very specific phrases to get the right options (re-calibrating facial recognition, for example, took numerous attempts and word combinations before I was eventually directed to the setting in the phone itself), but I certainly found it to be beneficial overall. There are numerous options when starting for the first time to import data/settings from your old phone as well, which was great (though possibly limited only to Android devices and/or Google drives), and made the transition relatively painless.For hardware, the handset itself is quite light for its size, and the screen is very big and looks great. Again, my basis for comparison is a much older model, but the Smart 2019 really blew me away in terms of the base aesthetics. It comes with a plastic screen protector but nothing else, so you'll need to get a case if you want to keep it protected. I also had a real issue getting the SIM tray open, as the pin simply had no effect until I eventually found a youtube vid which suggested inserting the pin while the phone was upside down and pressing down with the phone, which somehow worked. This is definitely a flaw with the tray mechanic but not a dealbreaker.Facial recognition is a nifty feature too, though it seems to really dislike glasses (which I unfortunately wear all the time), so the usefulness is very limited. The fingerprint recognition works fine though, and is great for several apps that I use frequently (like banking). There a lot of other apps as well that I'm still exploring, and you can dodge all the unnecessary bloatware by just opting out of the Huaewei account when you start up the phone for the first time. Though with a hefty 64GB storage (plus option for additional storage via SD cards), a few pointless apps here and there aren't going to cause any real problems.I've yet to properly test the battery life, largely because there are a wide array of options for power saving and app management to optimise battery life for different levels. Even without much tinkering and with mild use, my phone has been able to last a full working day without requiring charge which is all I can really ask of it. The phone charges with a micro-USB connection and also has a headphone jack, both of which are a plus for me.All in all I'm very happy with this, and for the price it seems like a brilliant bargain. I only knocked one star off because of the dodgy SIM tray I had with my handset and the poor implementation of some of the apps.

First and foremost for the price of this phone, is quite hard to get one with overall better specs, yes you can find one with better screen, a better camera or something else that you may value, but taking in account all the specs it is really hard to find one so good.The phone not only have an amazing size screen but it is also Full HD (1080 x 2340 pixels) in addition to that you also have a pretty decent camera capable for video 1080p at 30/60fps. The phone counts with a powerful octa-core and 4Gb of RAM and a massive 128GB of storage, something that allows you to easily overcome all types of use, even the most demanding games, from what I've been able to try. Unfortunately it does not come with Android 10 like many other 2020 models, something that could be a down side for some.But in any case, we are not talking about a top of the line phone we are talking about a low budget phone and if you do not plan to spend much on a new phone, this could be indeed one of the best alternatives in the market.