Huawei has made its first smartphone of 2020 official: the Y6s. But this smartphone is none other than the Enjoy 9th, a phone launched in spring 2019 in China where it is so far exclusive. This explains why the Y6s is equipped with Google services.
Huawei cannot theoretically deploy a smartphone with Google services. This follows the U.S. embargo that prevents the firm from purchasing licenses to operate U.S. technologies, hardware or software. And that obviously includes the Google Play Services suite. That's why the Mate 30 Pro doesn't. All smartphones developed after April 2019 are affected.
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To get around the problem, Huawei relies on its large mobile catalog, some of which is still exclusive to China. So you'll certainly hear about the Y6s, a brand new mobile that appeared on the Chinese firm's Western portal. The smartphone is not "new," of course. This is a model that Huawei designed before the embargo was put in place. Its name: Enjoy 9th.
The Enjoy 9e is an entry-level smartphone that looks like the Y6 (2019), launched in Europe almost a year ago. The only difference between the Y6 (2019) and the Enjoy 9th is the chipset: the first benefits from a Helio A22 from MediaTek, while the second enjoys a Helio P35. These are two economical chipsets, but the second is much better than the first, since it benefits from four additional application cores and a slightly higher maximum frequency. In addition, the Enjoy 9e incorporates 3GB of RAM (up from 2GB).
Recycled in the West
Released in March 2019, the Enjoy 9th became the Y6s in January 2020. We find all the technical details already present in the original model: 6.09-inch IPS screen with HD definition, MediaTek's Helio P35 with 3GB of RAM déjà vu before, a 3020 mAh battery, a single 13-megapixel rear photo sensor and an 8-megapixel webcam at the front, a fingerprint reader on the back and conventional connectivity. Finally, the Y6s works with EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9.0 Pie. With Google services.
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The mobile is 8 mm thick and weighs 150 grams. The Y6s will be available in two versions with 32GB or 64GB of storage (with possible extensions). At the time of writing, the mobile has not yet appeared on Huawei's French website. However, there is a regular discrepancy between the international announcement and the confirmation by the French subsidiary. It is therefore possible that the latter will be stalled in the next few days. We will then know its price, its release date and its configuration.