Honor 7 – heir apparent to the mid-range Android crown With a starting price of £249, the Honor 7 is a quality phone that offers astonishing value for money: and it could be a genuine game-changer for how people buy phones. Not only is it (comfortably) the standout product in its price range, it also has the kind of features associated with much more expensive models, and a few …
Not really that different just less resolution camera and less fingerprint toys etc. The battery is not all that and a day of heavy use will have you looking nervously at the battery meter come evening. The thing I like least about it is the way that promised dates for software upgrades came and went with nothing released. Having said all that it is otherwise a pretty good solid phone and definitely worth a look if you think you can cope with it's oddball Apple-like GUI.
Cheers. I was about to ask if Huawei were still as useless as they used to be with software updates. I had one of their's a couple of years ago that was released with one of the buggier Android releases. There were all sorts of promises as to updates "coming soon" but none arrived and I eventually flogged it through eBay. I've had a Sony Z1 compact since which has had several updates (2 major versions and a few "patches") leading me to feel rather wary of the lesser brands.
And yes, I'm aware Huawei is a bigger company than Sony are these days but Sony is high profile enough that it needs to support it's users. Huawei is unheard of outside China so isn't going to suffer bad press from leaving users with bug-ridden phones.
"And yes, I'm aware Huawei is a bigger company than Sony are these days but Sony is high profile enough that it needs to support it's users"
There's cause and effect in the same sentence. Huawei and several other companies don't invest into documentation or post-sales support - hence they can sell identical kit with a cheaper pricetag.
You and I represent a small minority of the users. Most people don't know or care if their device could or should be updated - it doesn't factor into their buying decisions. People buy phones based on price, aesthetics, price, brands (Apple), price and suggestions of other people. Some purely compare specifications and select the one with the most megapixels - more pixels means better image quality, right?
The 'Man from Del Monte' inside me says yes for companies that put the extra effort in support and I strive to buy the quality stuff even as it usually costs more upfront. But I know the hoi pollow don't.
A niggle, sorry, but the "the" is redundant - "hoi" is the Greek for "the" - and it's polloi.
It's hard to get across just how élitist the well known Greek writers were. hoi polloi were the townspeople (the people of the polis which is a word that turns up often in English, from police to Metropolitan Line) who by our standards were the educated middle class. This is why classicists are so often far right wing in political views - their heroes are the Douglas "duck house" Hoggs of their era. Hoi polloi included people like skilled craftsmen - exactly the ones who knew and valued good quality.
There are plenty of bargains to be had out there too depending on what you need. I just got a note 3 on vodaphone (lake district, vodaphone has the best coverage up here) with 2gb data for 23.50 a month (I factored in a £30 from quidco cashback, I was also given one of those redemption cashbacks but I DONT factor that in as they never work or the company goes bust - I don't base my purchases on those; quidco has never failed me though so im safe on that front). So over 2 years that's 564. Assuming *you* don't want vodaphone the cheapest 2gb data I could find was virgin on £12 a month so £288 over 2 years. That leaves 276 for a note 3 which (in my mind) is a bargain.
Software updates are always my concern, especially with Chinese manufacturers. I lose count the number of times I've become the nominated support person for some crazy cheap phone, and then battled with "Chinglish" websites in an attempt to find updates, only to find that what it shipped with is all that it ever got. Having said that, even the likes of HTC have bitten me with that on my first Android. Abandoning me with an unsupported phone less than 6 months after I bought it as a current model several years ago (which is why HTC rarely even make it to my long list, let alone my short list these days).
However, it's still interesting, and if CyanogenMod started supporting it (binary firmware blobs permitting of course), I could be very interested in recommending it to my cheapskate rellies.
Yep. Can agree with all that - I've had an Honor 6 since the start of the year and the only real gripes I have about it is the fixed battery (I absolutely hate that in any phone) and the EmotionUI. The power side of the 6 isn't spectacular but I did a bunch of stills and video clips at the weekend on a 55% charge and just about got away with it. From the looks of it, the case for the Honor 7 doesn't have that clock/music control window that the 6 has. Maybe something for the future?
(as usual), I don't think I found much (anything?) on phone feature (hello?). I guess it's becoming a peripheral feature these days anyway.
shame about non-removable battery but 99.9% of users won't bother. If fact I didn't bother until I went out of the plug range for a week (traumatic!).
Pocket Lint reckon the Honor 7 call quality is "perfectly fine", supporting the assumption that a review will often only touch on this aspect if it is drastically better or worse than average.
>shame about non-removable battery but 99.9% of users won't bother.
Thank you for reminding me to charge my 5200 mAh USB 'power brick' - I'm just packing for a three-day long festival, so It'll be handy. (not that I'm planning on using my phone much, but it's nice to have).
I bought my first Huawei phone (Ascend G7) a couple of weeks ago (unless you count a T-Mobile Pulse from way back in 2009). It's also my first phone with a non-removable battery. TBH in all the time I've owned phones with removable batteries, I've never had the need to swap one out. This is probably more down to the fact that I tended to keep my phone plugged in while at work.
I have however been really impressed with Huawei's battery performance so far. Though I'm not a heavy user (few phone calls, couple of dozen texts, 30 minutes music and a moderate amount of facebook during the days, usually connected to WiFi as well), I've been getting 3 days use between charges (that's 07:30 to ~ 23:30, switched off at night). Significantly more than I ever got out of my previous handset.
Thumbs up to Huawei, they could well be the brand to watch out for in the next couple of years.
If fact I didn't bother until I went out of the plug range for a week (traumatic!).
I'm firmly in the camp that says "no removeable battery, no sale", but that's not because I want to swap a flat battery for a charged one, simply that I've seen enough li-ion batteries lose capacity or fail outright over a year or so. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks wrangling with a supplier over whether the warranty covers the problem. I'm sure that under UK consumer law I'd ultimately win the argument, but sometimes it's not really worth the inconvenience to stand on your rights.
I'm firmly in the camp that says "no removeable battery, no sale", but that's not because I want to swap a flat battery for a charged one, simply that I've seen enough li-ion batteries lose capacity or fail outright over a year or so. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks wrangling with a supplier over whether the warranty covers the problem.
A "non-removable battery" doesn't necessarily mean that it's particularly difficult to replace the battery, it just means that it's not a two-minute job, or something you'd want to do on a plane, i.e. it's a bit more than just popping off a cover and taking the battery out. Of course, exactly how replaceable probably varies a lot from model to model, but for example with the Nexus 5, it takes about 5 minutes; few clips, few screws, and it's out.
. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks
I've lost count of the number of non-removable batteries that I've removed and replaced for people. It's a doddle of a job and costs a sight less than £15. Some phones take less than 5 minutes.
yes, I didn't clarify, having a backup battery for longer trips "out there" is one (rare) reason, but then, when your non-removable battery goes kaputt, so does your, otherwise perfectly usable phone, so I'd want an option to replace it. That said, it's obviously not in the interest of "manufacturers".
(as usual), I don't think I found much (anything?) on phone feature (hello?). I guess it's becoming a peripheral feature these days anyway.
That is the most important thing with a phone - making a useful call.
I have tried various phones and most of them are almost useless on a phone call. Ignoring the crappy operator coverage there is also the lack of being unable to physically hear the person at the other end because the audio output is low and there is no way of making it louder (you can make it louder for playing music but not when making a call). This should be considered in a review of a phone otherwise the reviewer could just be looking at a tablet.
@ Ivan 4
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/why-people-hate-making-phone-calls/401114/
There are inherent limitations stemming from the choices made some time ago about the sampling of the audio. In the days of landlines at both ends and quiet offices I could tell from the pauses if someone was fibbing. Not now.
My old blackberry can set call volume in 25% steps using 'in call options'. You can also pop a bit of treble boost on (I have age related hearing loss but not serious yet) which I find useful in noisy environments like railway stations. The ear-bud hands free thing with the microphone on the lead is good as well as long as you can get out of the wind. Phones like the one reviewed are basically portable televisions so I imagine people tend to use headsets!
"For what it's worth, the Honor 7 scored 36839 on the AnTuTu X benchmark, more than the Galaxy S6 or HTC One M8 from last year."
Pretty sure that should be the Galaxy S5, as shown the on the graphic just above. The S6 wasn't available last year.
"Like Sony, it plunks the Notifications and Quick Settings into a split screen pull down pane."
Is that not just standard Android 5? My current Samsung phone does it in exactly the same way as my old Sony.
Never thought I'd type that in a post on here. ;o)
I've just put my name down for a "Mystery Grey" one. No mention of expected delivery dates, but with an option to cancel before despatch.
They're still showing a £40 discount until the end of the month, so £210 including delivery.
Wow, and Samsung are over £800 for their latest and greatest which TBH isn't significantly better. This has a SD slot or dual SIM which is actually an advantage over the Galaxy 6 and Note 5.
This genuinely looks very good value for money, and if you order from the Honor EU store before Monday you get it for £210.00
As stated in other reviews the launcher and keyboard are not very good, but you can get Swiftkey for free and Nova Launcher for a couple of quid if you don't have it already.
The tables are turning, Samsung better watch out ......
I know it will have a short useful life because of lack of security updates once Huewei has lost interest in it.
It's too early to tell IMHO. Huawei is relatively new to the market, and may thus still be listening to what customers want. You must admit that this new device sets quite an admirably price/performance challenge to the rest of the market, so with a bit of luck they may have worked out something to pass on updates better as well. At this moment we don't know yet because (a) it's new and (b) I haven't seen an Android update for a while..
Is it not still the case that manufacturers of google sanctioned android phones that carry the "play" apps need to sign up to 2 years security updates? I could be wrong, not been following android news too closely for a year or two now.
Very interested in the phone though, currently one plus one owner but its carrying the many scars of no decent case plus kids using it... Wouldn't mind ordering the lattice case if I opted for the honor 7. Looks like a cheap (but decent) HTC one m8.
The reason for the lack of roaming is the disconnect between regions: particularly between North America and the rest of the world. Most of the world settled on 1800MHz (LTE Band III), but that band is taken in the US by the military so they've settled on the AWS frequency of 2100MHz (Band IV); Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean followed suit. But the settling of LTE bands has only been recent and there is still some drift among providers from country to country due to prior commitments.
It all depends on how many frequencies the LTE radio can tune, but perhaps for a true world phone, the frequency priorities should be: III, IV, I, VII, XX, and XVII. That should provide the widest range of compatibility, and the more you can adopt (in the order listed), the better you'll be.
Shame about the aluminium back. You would have to use a protective case if you didn't want it looking a mess after a few months.
Phones should have plastic bodies, with a replaceable back panel. That way you don't have to use a cover. Which is why I have a Nexus 5. Back still looks great after a year.
I *always* use a cover and an oleophobic screen protector. That's why I can run a phone until I'm bored with it or feel like upgrading rather than need a new one every year. It also means it's easy to sell the old one because it still looks as new.
Each to their own, but for me, an aluminium back is not an issue.
Why on earth do manufacturers persist in only providing 16 GB of storage? At least 4 GB belongs to the operating system; then you're just left with room for a couple of graphics-heavy games (Fifa '15 clocks in a 1.2 GB), a movie, some podcasts; and a few hundred photos and videos from that 20mpix camera. Yes you can stick in a MicroSD card, but that means faffing around with moving files to the card when things start to fill up. Ain't nobody got time for that!
Whilst I agree with your sentiment please take a little time to understand that not every phone user wants to play graphics heavy games on their phones. A bit of Solitaire or Soduku and that is it for a good number of users.
For them 16Gb is probably adequate. But as this device has a slow for a second SIM or SD card then really the problem is rather moot. Perhaps the time spent not playing Fifa '15 could be better spent moving files around?
I'm attracted because of the dual SIM capability because I tend to use my phone for mainly... a phone.
I've got a 16GB phone. Just over 3GB free space.
For me and users like me, it's plenty.
For others, it'd be nowhere near enough, which is fine - and why I really think every phone should have an SD-Card slot, so you can drop in whatever extra space you need, and increase it for very little cost if your needs change.
Re 16Gb is plenty, I was in that camp until I developed my Cardboard addiction. Those files are HUGE. Which, added to the fact I look a dork with the thing strapped to my head, makes me all the sadder.
Still, it's still the coolest (and cheapest) VR around rught now.
So how's the fingerprint stored? Because Android doesn't inspire confidence in this area (see recent security flap for one model which stored them in a world-readable file).
And what about false positives for HTC's generous fingerprint recognition?
Also dual SIM phones which sacrifice the SD card never seem to cut the mustard, you lose the SD card and it might be restricted in some other way (2G only/no data).
Considering my position, and the fact that my SIIx is now hitting close to 5 years of working life...
I'm in the market in general - but - I want it rootable and want to put CM on it directly -- I *know* I can do this with a note3/note4 - anyone have any hint if I can do that with this?
"when a phone has an explicit scene mode called "food"."
The three essential human requirements are shelter, sex and food. Phone camera software seems to be heading for specialised modes for all three, simply because it's possible. In film days food photography was quite a difficult art, juggling lighting and filters.So, while I really don't want to see this on my dslr in my lifetime, I'm afraid it counts as progress.
three essential human requirements are shelter, sex and food
I always thought it was "flax, fodder, fire and frigg" (4 requirements) but web searches turn up a load of Wicca sites (and others) talking about "flags" for some reason.
I wish my landline had a "fuck off I'm cooking/eating" setting.
So, let me get this straight.
- 3GB RAM
- the fastest and most accurate fngerprint scanner currently available
- dual SIM
- 20MP back camera and 8MP front camera
- 5.2" IPS 1080 display
- 16GB storage with an SD card slot
- a decent iOS launcher (I don't like app trays - love the Emotion UI though)
- beefcake battery that you can measure in days
- SIM free and no carrier bloat
- running latest Lollipop
- bargain basement price of £210 (with discount) for a premium all metal design
- it's not a Samsung Galaxy Whatever
Shut up and take my money!
Duly ordered and looking forward to replacing a 3 year old Note 2. TouchWiz will be missed like a TV Licence inspector who calls when you're out.
About the only thing to criticise is the non-removable battery and no RDS on the FM radio.
The RDS I think is a feature of the app rather than the radio, so you should be able to download an app with the capability.
But the lack of removable battery is a deal-breaker for me since I've had a plenty of cases of battery bulging and demand the ability to replace them easily by myself.
MicroSD or second SIM? I can't really say I've ever seen a need for the second SIM, but having the choice is good. What it's more important to me is whether I can receive a decent signal, and an aluminium case looks a bit suspect. But reviewers never seem to see that sort of problem. Maybe they never get out of the urban jungle?
As for the pixel count of the camera, and low-light abilities, "ye canna break the laws of physics". There are hard limits to optical systems and to the sensors. Just to get a lens and sensor into that package almost feels like a miracle. And the smaller the sensor-element, the higher the light level has to be. That's why a 4MP sensor works with less light than a 20MP sensor. Add the optical effects, which have been known since Victorian times. and anything in the scene small enough to match one pixel is likely getting its image smeared over several.
That needn't be bad. The way the colour image is recorded, with a colour filter for each pixel, that blurring could still be invisible in the colour image.
But I'm old enough to have used Kodachrome, and I know what optical limits mean for a high-resolution sensor. I got the nice bright colours, though Agfachrome did the greens better. But I used it with both a cheap camera from Boots and with a Leica.
I'm seeing a pattern here. Do tech reviewers care about the tech, or just about the shiny?
Why do mobile phone reviews no longer mention reception? Recently I was in a poor-reception area (not very remote but hilly) with some friends. One had no signal, another had no problem making calls. They compared notes - coverage varies between different networks - one reason a 2 sim phone may be attractive. Both were using the same provider and both had reasonably new phones but different brands.
Our conclusion was that some phones are better than others where signals are weak. Or have we missed something? We were indoors, changing the position of the less effective phone made no difference and even taking it outside, had to find somewhere high up to get decent reception.
Add that to "non-removable" battery in the list of reasons why I'm not interested.
To be honest, though, I don't see any reason why I'd want one of these over the much cheaper Android slider I'm using now (a Samsung model of some sort), which cost me only a bit over $100. I never find it too slow for my purposes, the camera takes snapshots that are recognizable, I can put ebooks on it for when I'm stuck waiting somewhere. It connects to the car via Bluetooth. Navigation seems to do the job.
And it has a removable battery and SD slot. Only one SIM, but when I want to switch it out for travel it's not hard.
Spending three times that or more for an Honor 7 seems hard to justify. I can't tell from the review what I'd be getting for all that money, even if there were a physical-keyboard model available. (I'm not interested in the fingerprint sensor.)
Typical good value from a non "premium" manufacturer. which goes to show how much of a rip-off the latest and greatest flagships are (i,e anything with a 6 in the model name.)
My gripe is they're all too big for practical use. If I'd wanted a games console and pretend HD TV with a phone attached i'd buy one. What I want is a small pocketable\holster(able) phone with a full feature set for a fair price.
I'd just about given up when I found the Samsung S4 mini, a 4.3" screen, 4G and a load of other useful features incl removable battery
Still suffers from Sammy Bloatware but for all practical purposes its fine.
It's becoming pretty obvious we really do live in ripoff Britain when you can buy even better phones direct from China, eg:
http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones-c_11293/c3_android~5.1/
These are just being rolled out in India, but the UK is still paying premium prices (ie 3-6x as much), just because of ignorance of the alternatives.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
