Huawei Ascend Y300 review

The handset has a 5-megapixel camera, and it produces reasonable images, with well-judged exposure – we could pick out every cloud when shooting a tower against a rainy sky. The images are slightly too cold, though, with a mild blue cast. Low-light shots were less impressive, with a distinct lack of detail and significant noise. The camera also struggled when taking video in low light, hunting for focus and showing artefacts from a moving light source. It’s not a terrible camera, especially outside, but we’ve seen better still images from other budget handsets.

We first tested the Y300 in only June last year, but things move quickly in the world of budget smartphones and what was an award-winning handset then for £130 struggles to cut it today, even for only £80.

The 4in display and dual-core processor aren’t terrible but the whole thing feels a bit chunky and basic. At the time we were willing to forgive the handset its unusual take on Android due to the strength of its budget hardware, now its iOS themed operating system feels old-fashioned compared to the latest versions of Android.

If you only have £80 to spend on a phone and not a penny more then the Y300 is still a fair buy. However for not much more you can get some far better handsets. The obvious choice being the astoundingly good-value Motorola Moto G. It has a vibrant and detailed 1,280×720 display, a fast chipset that can handle 3D games and makes its Android 4.4 operating system slick and smooth. Best of all, you can get it now for just £100.