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Battery life
The battery life on the Ascend Y300 was better than the old iPhone 4 we've been using, but that shouldn't surprise anyone as this device is not two years old.
Huawei states the Ascend Y300 provides 320 hours on standby and 320 minutes of talk time. In our opinion this sounds rather ambitious.
We didn't come near those times when reviewing the Y300 but it will last a solid 12 hours with moderate use. Either way you will have to charge the device every evening because the battery will not last two days.
Unlike the smartphones released by Apple, the option to change the Y300's battery is possible on this handset. Swapping the battery over on a long trip is not a problem if you happen to be carrying around a fully charged spare.
Although, unless your glued to you phone all day playing games or watching films, you should get 12-14 hours battery life without too much of a problem.
There is a battery management app built into the setting panel so you can monitor your usage. If you find your batteries decreasing quicker than a bucket with a hole in it, you can pop over there to find out what's causing the issue, and fix it.
There is also a power saving mode in the settings, which is designed for use when you are seriously low on juice. Enabling this option will turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, cut down animations and vibrations, turn down the screens brightness and cause it to time out after 15secs. It will also reduce background data on the device.
All of these settings could be changed manually, but it's convenient to have the option cut down your power consumption at the tap of a single button.
Connectivity
As soon as you take the Hauwei Ascend Y3300 out of the box you will be able to connect in a variety of different ways.
The cellular connection is 3G and Wi-Fi b/g/n comes as standard. On top of this the Ascend Y300 also supports Bluetooth 2.1 and GPRS.
It must be noted there are no NFC capabilities bundled with the Y300, nor is it compatible with 4G. These technologies are relatively new, and although it would have been nice for them to be included on the device, you wont lose too much sleep without them.
We did encounter a problem with the Wi-Fi signal strength, when the Ascend Y300 is held in two hands. For example, we were watching a film on the device holding it landscape and our hands blocked the Wi-Fi signal, cutting the connection from 100%, down to just under 50%.
This was quite concerning as we were only 20ft from our Wi-Fi router and could foresee problems relating to this when in everyday use.
The microUSB connection n the side of the device doubles up as a charger and data transfer method. We placed a 8GB microSD card in the device and found this connection the quickest to transfer data to the device.
If storage space is a problem, it needn't be. The Ascend Y300 can take up to 32GB on a microSD card and if one fills up with data, it's easy to swap it out for replacement with more available space.
There is also a DLAN app installed by default on the device, which allows for wireless streaming of media from once device to another. Photos and movies can be streamed to compatible devices for your viewing pleasure.
