It may seem strange that just a few months after the debut of the flagship P9, Huawei essentially redesigned its hardware to produce a smartphone that costs a third cheaper. But that is exactly what the Chinese manufacturer did. At the hardware level, the Honor 8 is almost indistinguishable from its more expensive predecessor.
"Killer" flagships
Huawei has faced fierce competition from the ZTE Axon 7, Alcatel Idol 4S, OnePlus 3 and Lenovo Moto Z. It seems that it has sought to prove that it can successfully compete in the flagship killer segment.
The Honor brand is a giant in Chinese industry. Under this name, in 2015 alone, 40 million smartphones were sold. The Chinese company sought to repeat its success in the United States. And she relied on Huawei Honor 8. The characteristics of the model made her unique in the world of smartphones - the exterior is different from everything that has ever been released. And its hardware is fully consistent with appearance.
However, the technical specifications of the Huawei Honor 8 are one thing, and everyday use is another. Will the phone cope with long working days and increased workload on weekends?
Sophisticated design
Although Huawei Honor 8 32GB is classified as a mid-range smartphone in terms of specifications, this is certainly not the impression that its design leaves. The phone looks like a sandwich of two glass panels with a metal frame in the middle and beveled edges, providing additional structure and strength. With the exception of a few cutouts for components such as cameras and AF sensors, its design is completely symmetrical.
The front reinforced glass panel is slightly curved and creates an effect similar to 2.5D on the iPhone. The front part is distinguished by elegant restraint and simplicity. Above the display is a wide-angle camera, LED flash and speaker. The Honor logo complements the set of sensors. There is nothing else. The front and edges look like the iPhone, although the back is more like a Galaxy S7.
The design of the smartphone is simple and minimalistic, not distracting from the impressive light show created by laminated glass. It is the highlight of the model. Thanks to the patented 15-layer design, the panel refracts incoming light into the flickering patterns on the color back panel. Each device picks up the light in different ways, so it is impossible to find two completely identical smartphones.
At the back is a camera with a laser AF sensor and LED flash. Below is a fingerprint scanner edged with a thin shimmering metal strip, and below it, at the very bottom, the second Honor logo is applied to the case.
On the right is an exceptionally thin power button and volume control, and on the left is a combined SIM / MicroSD card tray. At the bottom there is a speaker, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The overall design is sophisticated and comfortable. Its curved edges and glass are suited for hours of typing, texting, social networking and aimless web surfing. The device is lightweight enough to be held for a long time without the risk of strain on the wrist.
Huawei Honor 8: review and feature software
The smartphone works with the Emotion User Interface 4.1 (EMUI), the same as the Mate 8 and P9, installed on top of the Android 6.0 platform. Although EMUI is not without merit, some tasks are becoming more complex than they should be.
A striking example is the notification bar. If you swipe down at the top of the screen, a translucent list of messages will appear indicating the time they were received. However, this implementation is much more cumbersome than the standard one. Third-party applications must be allowed to display notifications. Message deletion gestures do not always work. Quick settings such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switch in a separate tab.
Fortunately, the list of active applications is easier to manipulate. After pressing the task switching button, a card carousel of programs and services running in the background is displayed on the screen. Swipe up you can stop any of them, and down - block, protecting against accidental closure when cleaning the memory. Users find this feature very convenient.
Emotion UI offers several useful tools that Android does not have. Perhaps the most notable of these is the Smart Key. This is the function of assigning various actions to the fingerprint scanner. For example, with one touch you can start the camera, and with three - the photo gallery. Gestures are also supported: by default, a downward movement opens the notification panel, a quick double-touch deletes all notifications, and pressing and holding answers an incoming call and mutes the sound signal.
If the fingerprint scanner is not available (for example, when the phone is on the table), you can use Knuckle Sense. This is a feature adopted from P8, Mate 8, and P9 that allows you to launch applications and perform actions by touching your finger joints. For example, you can take a screenshot by tapping it twice, or record a video by making 2 quick touches 2 times. The Draw function allows you to perform certain commands on gestures with your finger joints. For example, you can start the application by drawing the letter “C” on the screen.
Huawei has installed several useful programs on the phone. The most popular of them is Phone Manager, a kind of universal station for setting up the phone. The system optimization option closes unnecessary temporary files. The traffic management tool provides a graphical representation of the amount of data consumed by individual applications, daily, weekly, and monthly.
The battery settings screen allows you to optimize the effectiveness of programs and services. The "Energy Optimizer" automatically scans running programs and hardware to find the most "gluttonous" of them. There are many options to reduce the power consumption of the phone. For example, there is a power mode switch that allows you to change the levels of energy consumption (Performance, Smart and Ultra). You can also select extreme mode, which reduces the screen resolution to 720p (1280 x 720). The Consumption Overview panel displays a list of applications and hardware in descending order of power consumption.
The UI Emotion interface has other features. An infrared emitter allows you to control consumer electronics like a remote control. Magic Tag assigns modes, tasks, and shortcuts to NFC interaction points such as SpeedMarks or WhizTags. File Manager groups them into categories such as Audio, Video, and Images. A simplified application that provides weather information allows you to keep abreast of climatic conditions in cities and regions of residence.
Performance
Although the characteristics of Huawei Honor 8 are not the most advanced, they are not the worst. The smartphone is equipped with a Kirin 950 processor, the same as that of the Mate 8. It is an 8-core chip with 4 high-performance cores with a frequency of 2.3 GHz and 4 less powerful cores with a frequency of 1.8 GHz, which does not quite correspond to the potential of Kirin 955. However, with everyday tasks the phone copes no worse. In the model of Huawei Honor 8 Pro, the characteristics were significantly improved thanks to the use of the Kirin 960 processor and 6 GB of RAM.
Navigating the main screen, scrolling through applications and rejecting notifications are seamless. Like viewing hundreds of Instagram photos, Snapchat messages, loading graphically overloaded emails, and working with Microsoft Word. The same goes for multitasking. Kirin 950 does a great job with several Chrome background programs and tabs. Even on the hot dashboard of the car, there is no noticeable slowdown, which indicates an excellent processor heat dissipation system.
Unfortunately, all these wonderful features of the Huawei Honor 8 are not displayed in the test results. The smartphone scores 931 points in the 3DMark Sling Shot test, which is significantly lower than 2615 points of the Lenovo Moto Z. This is probably due to the relatively weak Mali-T880 graphics chip.
The specifications of the Huawei Honor 8 32GB RAM 4GB are also due to the i5 coprocessor, which handles lighter tasks such as speech recognition, location tracking and MP3 processing. According to the manufacturer, this solution significantly extends the life of the device between charges, and users confirm this.
Battery life
The battery of the smartphone Huawei Honor 8 is inferior in technical characteristics to the latest flagship models. Its capacity of 3,000 mAh is less than 3,500 mAh of Lenovo Moto Z Force battery. However, most competitors have a similar power source: Alcatel Idol 4S and Moto Z have a capacity of 3,000 and 2,600 mAh, respectively. When testing, the Honor 8 battery (with automatic brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile data enabled) withstands a typical working day with a balance of about 25%. More demanding tasks, as a rule, deplete the battery faster - 5-hour work as an access point significantly reduces the charge, but for the most part the phone is incredibly energy efficient. On average, the battery lasts 14-16 hours.
In addition, the battery charges quickly. In the smartphone Huawei Honor 8 32GB, the characteristics of an 18-watt charger (9 V, 2 A) resemble Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 technology. Theoretically, it is able to restore the energy reserve of the battery to its 50% capacity within half an hour, and this is confirmed in practice. It usually takes about 15 minutes to reach 30-40%. This is inferior to the TurboPower technology of Lenovo Moto Z, which can provide 8 hours of work during the same time, and slower than Quick Charge 3.0, charging up to 80% in 35 minutes, but the difference is not significant.
Display
The smartphone Huawei Honor 8 Pro 64GB screen characteristics are quite high. The resolution of the 5.2-inch display is 1.920 x 1080 pixels, like the OnePlus 3, but it's not Quad HD, like the Lenovo Moto Z Force and ZTE Axon 7. Viewing angles are not ideal - the display tends to distort color when tilted, especially in applications and on web pages with a white background. The surface of the screen reflects too much direct sunlight, although it allows you to read its contents.
In general, the touchpad is responsive, smooth and sensitive. Thanks to the curved ergonomic 2.5D-design of the protective glass, the user enjoys gliding - the edges appear rounded and soft under the fingertips.
On the Huawei Honor 8 Pro phone, the display has been improved: its size has grown to 5.7 ”, and the resolution has grown to 1440 x 2560 pixels. The same resolution went to the 6.6-inch model. Characteristics of Huawei Honor Note 8 have improved due to the replacement of IPS technology with Super AMOLED, although with a decrease in pixel density from 515 to 443 dpi. The original, this figure is 423 t / inch. Otherwise, the almost identical technical specifications of Huawei Honor 8 and Magic also differ in the type and resolution of the display. The latest model is equipped with a 5.09 ”2560p AMOLED screen, which corresponds to a pixel density of 577 dpi.
Hardware
Honor 8 offers several hardware tricks. The first one is an IR sensor. Once they were installed on almost all high-end phones, but in recent years they have become less common, since Wi-Fi and Bluetooth constantly displace invisible light as a means of controlling TVs and household appliances. But considering that only a small part of households acquired the so-called “smart device”, we can say with confidence that infrared sensors have not completely outlived themselves. The IR sensor is running a preinstalled application that supports, according to the manufacturer, "more than 230,000 products of 5810 brands."
Fingerprint scanners are not so rare these days, but the Huawei Honor 8 FRD-L09 sensor is superior in performance to the rest. According to users, this is one of the fastest and most accurate sensors - a password-protected phone unlocks in a split second and often until the entire index finger is fully touched. This is also one of the safest elements: according to Huawei, it uses the level 4 encryption algorithm - the maximum in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s mobile authentication hierarchy.
Camera
In the smartphone Huawei Honor 8, the characteristics of the 6-lens wide-angle camera comply with the specifications of the P9 model. It consists of two 12-megapixel sensors with f / 2.2 apertures and a pixel size of 1.25 microns. The camera is interesting in many interesting ways, since Honor 8 can combine the data of two sensors to improve the overall image quality. A traditional RGB sensor captures color data, while a second monochrome sensor measures brightness. Smartphone software combines 2 streams into a single image. According to the manufacturer, Honor 8 and P9 show exceptional results in low light conditions.
This is not the only feature of the Huawei Honor 8. The smartphone’s camera features are improved by using a laser sensor and software phase detection to focus on objects. The manufacturer calls this feature a “hybrid focus”. There is also a wide aperture mode that allows you to create bokeh effects and depth of field.
But how does all this work in reality? According to reviews, the characteristics of Huawei Honor 8 allow the smartphone to perfectly cope with the responsibilities of the camera. The phone makes clear, largely noise-free images when the setting sun is the only source of light. No less impressive are the pictures after sunrise, in artificial lighting and in dim rooms. Dark areas are richly detailed and do not have the granularity characteristic of ordinary telephone cameras, and bright colors sharply contrast with dark shadows.
Custom bokeh adds an extra layer of fine-tuning. The user can change the focus point after the picture was taken, so you can make incredible manipulations with objects that dominate the foreground.
Monochrome photos are clear. The black-and-white sensor allows you to get clear night shots with an impressive degree of depth and contrast.
However, the focusing speed was noticeably disappointing. It takes time for the smartphone to select the subject and sharpen it. A lack of lighting only exacerbates this problem.
Users have called the P9 camera “revelation”, putting it on a par with the iPhone 6S Plus, LG G5 and Galaxy S7, and the same goes for Honor 8.
Unfortunately, the same design considerations do not apply to smartphone software.
The front camera of Huawei Honor 8 is almost the same as the rear. 8-megapixel images with an f / 2.2 sensor are also clear and bright, albeit with a lower resolution. Unfortunately, the lack of LED flash makes it difficult to shoot in a dim environment. But the Perfect Selfie application improves the result a little: it photographs the face from different angles, softening the dullness of the picture.
The camera software used to configure it is at least universal. Scrolling left brings up a library of common modes, including panorama, timelapse, HDR and slow motion. More exotic settings are also available: for photographing food, scanning documents, night shooting and photography, which allows you to shoot the lights of moving cars and the flow of water.
Pro camera modes offer more control over its hardware. Users can adjust exposure, ISO, point and type of focus, shutter speed, exposure and white balance. The level sensor ensures that the images are aligned with the horizon. A grid of lines, the distance between which is determined by the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers, will help compose the composition.
Experienced photographers will no doubt appreciate the ability to save photos in RAW format, allowing programs such as Photoshop to fine-tune image colors.
Warranty Information
Huawei, like NTS and Motorola before it, offers new customers a grace period: if you accidentally drop the phone and break the screen within 3 months after the purchase, the manufacturer will repair it or provide a replacement. This is in addition to the one-year warranty available to all Honor 8 buyers.
Manufacturer's limited warranty covers defects arising from production. It does not cover accidental damage such as bumps, scratches or moisture. Repair is free, but does not include delivery, and claims expire in 12 months from the date of purchase.
Conclusion
The manufacturing company has achieved what is called a supply chain miracle: almost every high-performance P9 phone component worth $ 600 is offered in a device that sells a third cheaper: $ 400 for 32 GB and $ 450 for 64 GB. It is commendable.
The cost reduction required cutting back on some smartphone features. The Huawei Honor 8's touchscreen is not as bright, colorful, or sharp as the Alcatel Idol 4S and Lenovo Moto Z, and it has less RAM, for example, compared to the OnePlus 3. The design, although not without taste, is derivative. The software needs to be fixed. Nevertheless, these are the only serious shortcomings of the smartphone, which is an impressive achievement for any phone, especially in this price range.
Honor 8 may not be the most budget model, but it depends on the user's priorities. If you need an incredible camera, a flawless fingerprint scanner, an infrared emitter and great customization options, this smartphone will be a very profitable acquisition. If the priority is given to screen quality and performance, then it is better to turn to ZTE Axon 7 or OnePlus 3.