Honor 8 : Review and Full Specs
Indian Consumers have a lot to choose from when it comes to Smartphones and other related devices. Only the features cannot drag the Consumers to Buy your phone. So, the Price becomes a major factor here. This is what happened with the last phone HUAWEI P9 which could not face the competition only because of its high prices. But this time the Company has came up with a more affordable phone i.e. HONOR 8.This phone brings some very commendable features and a build quality that puts even more expensive flagships to shame.
First Let's Have a Glance at the Specs then I will inform you further about this Phone.
Honor 8 Specifications
General
| Launch Date | October 12, 2016 (Official) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Honor | ||
| Model | 8 | ||
| Operating System | Android v6.0 (Marshmallow) | ||
| Custom UI | EMUI 4.1 | ||
| SIM Slot(s) | Single SIM, GSM | ||
| SIM Size | SIM1: Nano | ||
| Network | 4G: Available (supports Indian bands) 3G: Available, 2G: Available | ||
| Fingerprint Sensor |
| Dimensions | 145.5 (H) x 71.0 (W) x 7.4 (T) mm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 153 grams | ||||
| Colours | Sunrise Gold, Pearl White, Sapphire Blue |
Display
| Screen Size | 5.2 inches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels) | ||||
| Pixel Density | 424 ppi | ||||
| Display Type | IPS LCD | ||||
| Screen Protection | |||||
| Touch Screen | Capacitive Touchscreen, Multi-touch | ||||
| Screen to Body Ratio | 71.99 % |
Performance
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 950 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Quad core, 2.3 GHz, Cortex A72 + Quad core, 1.8 GHz, Cortex A53 | ||||
| Architecture | 64 bit | ||||
| Graphics | Mali-T880 MP4 | ||||
| RAM | 4 GB |
Storage
| Internal Memory | 32 GB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expandable Memory | Up to 128 GB | ||||
| USB OTG Support |
Camera
Main Camera
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Front Camera
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Battery
| Capacity | 3000 mAh | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Li-Polymer | ||
| Not User Replaceable | |||
| Talktime | Up to 17.5 Hours(3G) / Up to 21 Hours(2G) | ||
| Standby Time | Up to 390 Hours(4G) / Up to 380 Hours(3G) |
Network & Connectivity
| SIM Size | SIM1: Nano | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Network Support | 4G (supports Indian bands), 3G, 2G |
Build and Design
This phone is one of the exclusive work of art.This lightweight Aluminium frame is sandwiched between two layers of 2.5d curved glass.The mirror finish on the rear looks stunning. But unfortunately both the rear and front does not come with a protection so you might need to apply a case or protective cover to prevent scratches and smudges.
Along the edges you will find a volume rocker and Power button on the right, a USB Type-C Port, a 3.5mm audiojack, Microphone and speakers at the Bottom and secondary Loudspeakera and an IR Blaster at the top.But Unfortunately, HUAWEi has decided to launch only the single-sim variant in India which is very disappointing.
The back Panel has a clean finish with the HONOR branding and certification information at the bottom and Two Rear Cameras at the top which are accompanied by a Laser Autofocus and a Dual-tone LED Flash.It has round edges, compact size and light weight build which makes it more comfortable to be used for longer period of times.
Double Cameras : Double Fun
The Honor 8's cameras are very good, outputting sharp, detailed image with good contrast and low noise. Close ups are particularly good, and landscape shots display good dynamic range too. Low light shots are low on noise with colors visible, but the Honor 8’s dedicated night shot mode requires a tripod to work well.
The Honor 8’s mainstay is its cameras, and interestingly, it uses the same hardware found on the Huawei P9. So you get twin 12MP sensors with f/2.2 aperture. One of the sensors is RGB to capture colour, while the other is monochrome to capture light, detail and contrast. Like the P9, snapping a photo with the rear camera results in both snappers taking an image simultaneously and providing a composite result.
Performance : Fast as Ever
In terms of Performance, the smartphone is smooth and comfortable. It do not panics even in playing big games but one problem is that it heats up quickly after a few minutes of gaming only.
The Honor 8 is powered by Huawei’s own Kirin 950 SoC, an octa-core chipset considering of two quad-core clusters clocked at 2.3GHz and 1.8GHz respectively.The smartphone also features an always-on i5 co-processor, which collects the data from various sensors, and is responsible for step counting in the Health app and speech recognition for the voice controls. It’s capable of performing tasks even when the smartphone is asleep, thereby reducing power consumption.
In terms of storage, you get 32GB of inbuilt memory, out of which about 22.5GB was available out of the box. You can top up the storage by an additional 128GB via microSD.
Battery : Enough for users NOT Gamers
HONOR 8 comes with a 300 mAh battery which lasts long when you use your phone purposely and not for Intense Gaming. So this can not be counted in a negative as the Battery is far better than the average.
In terms of connectivity, the Honor 8 offers dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac with an automatic switchover, Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, an IR blaster and USB OTG. Unfortunately, the Honor 8 doesn’t support VoLTE in India, and we found that Reliance Jio didn’t work well even for regular 4G data on the phone. Honor says that it has plans to bring VoLTE support through an OTA update in the future, but there’s no concrete timeline on this.
Pros:
- Gorgeous design
- Good cameras
- Day-long battery life
- Smart Key implementation is useful
Cons:
- No VoLTE support
- No dual-SIM
- Fast charger not included
- Expensive
Conclusion
Huawei has done a lot of things right with the Honor 8, and among these is the design, which is among the best we’ve seen on a phone in the mid-range segment. The fingerprint sensor / Smart Key implementation is also a clever implementation, and we found it quite useful to quickly access apps and actions like a screenshot. The performance of the smartphone is smooth for the most part, barring the heating up while gaming, and the battery life is very good too. There are a few key areas where the Honor 8 fails though, and among these is the lack of VoLTE. While we have been told that this could be available as a future update, to not have the functionality out of the box is just inexcusable, especially considering the waves that Reliance Jio is making. This, in addition to the lack of dual-SIM is a big blow, given that the use of two SIM cards is almost a mandate in India, at least on budget and mid-range phones.
So All in All the phone is good, affordable, and packed with a lot of astonishing features but also gets some in built negatives like the Single Sim option and a High price which makes it difficult to compete with other cheap phones which may be lacking in some features but can gather more audience than this phone can. So I would suggest you to try your hand on this phone when you love the design and cameras of this phone and if You do not give a damn to the price of this phone.
Please let us know your views in the comments section and Stay Tuned for more updates. THANK YOU.
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