Huawei's Honor brand smartphones are known as reliable devices that combine quality at an affordable price. Honor 8 is one of the latest offerings from the company.

Huawei Honor 8 review: unboxing

The smartphone comes in Huawei style: the contents include a fast charger, USB cable C, SIM card ejector and documentation.

Huawei Honor 8 review: specifications

Huawei Honor 8 review: screen and body

After I took the smartphone out of the box, my first impression was: wow, it's really beautiful. Of course, it has a characteristic body, typical of Huawei smartphones, but definitely, holding it in your hand, you feel that this is the most flagship.

The new product has compact dimensions. Its 5.2-inch 1080p display is sharp and clear. It's easy to read even in bright sunlight and overall just has a beautiful panel.

Above the display there is a light sensor, a muscular 8-megapixel camera and LED backlight for notifications. Unfortunately, the phone's navigation buttons are only on-screen.

But the back panel of the device is even more interesting: a 12-megapixel dual camera, like the Huawei P9. There is a laser autofocus system and dual LED flash.

Directly below the camera is a multifunction button that functions as a fingerprint sensor. With its help, you can unlock your phone directly from standby mode. This sensor is very accurate, but not as fast as, for example, the .

By pressing this programmable button, you can do quite a lot. For example, double-clicking will turn on the flashlight. Swiping down on it will open notifications and so on.

The side buttons are pleasant to the touch.

The speaker is located next to the USB C port and plays good quality sound.

Some additional features include an IR blaster, which has already started to disappear on other devices.

Huawei Honor 8 review: software and performance

Huawei Honor 8 comes with an octa-core Hisilicon Kirin 950 processor with maximum clock frequency 2.3 GHz, 3 GB random access memory and 32 GB of memory, expandable via MicroSD card.

You can also choose a model from the upper price range. It has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of disk space.

When playing games at the highest settings, the smartphone gets a little warm, but does not overheat.

Huawei Honor 8 Review: Benchmarking

Huawei Honor 8 review: interface

In terms of user interface, Honor 8 comes with EMUI 4.1 which is based on Android 6.0.

That is, here we have a typical Huawei UI, which is also found on other devices. There is no app drawer, and the icons look cartoonish, but there are many features and customization options. If you have no experience using a Huawei smartphone yet, it may take a few days to get used to it and test all these functions.

Additionally, there are quite a few pre-installed apps, such as Health, that can help you track your fitness performance.

You can also customize the screen settings and navigation bar. You can manage your phone using the built-in manager.

There are many other features and settings that we could go on and on about, but we just want to give you an idea of ​​what you will get when you buy a Huawei smartphone.

Huawei Honor 8 review: camera

The camera has many shooting modes. Among them manual mode and video.

Huawei Honor 8 review: image quality

In terms of image quality, the Honor 8 takes very good, but not perfect, photos. Photos taken in daylight are sharp and detailed, and color reproduction is quite accurate.

Indoor and macro photos look pretty good.

By using additional camera You can take some pretty good pictures that can convey deep information. Various filters can be applied. Not all photos look natural, but you can still take great photos with this smartphone even in low light conditions. However, some shots have a reddish tint when photographed close to a light source, such as street lights.

The phone can shoot video at up to 1080p resolution.

The 8MP selfie camera is simply amazing. It also comes with advanced features.

Huawei Honor 8 review: communication capabilities

The new product has a hybrid SIM card slot, which allows you to use two SIM cards or 1 SIM card and a MicroSD memory card at once.

During testing of the smartphone, I did not experience any problems with calls, receiving incoming calls, GPS or Wi-Fi.

Huawei Honor 8 review: battery

Honor 8 comes with a 3000mAh battery, which is quite capable of handling loads throughout the day.

I was able to squeeze 3 hours of active screen time out of the battery, but keep in mind that I had the brightness set to maximum and was in an area with poor signal reception, and I was using the phone quite a lot during that time.

In normal mode, one battery charge lasts for 1-1.5 days of use.

The phone supports fast charging and I was able to fully charge the phone in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Huawei Honor 8 review: results

Having used this smartphone for several days, I can say that 27,000 rubles is its real price.

The appearance of the smartphone and the build quality correspond to the level of a flagship. I was pleased with the large display, multifunctional fingerprint sensor button and powerful hardware, which allows you to play 3D games and enjoy high performance.

Moreover, the dual camera module makes this phone stand out from the rest. expensive phones. With it you can take great photos with bokeh effect if you want.

On the other hand, the video quality leaves much to be desired, and some may find the user interface cartoonish. Glass back panel slippery and leaves fingerprints.

But in general, Huawei Honor 8 can be called an excellent smartphone. Of course, it has a few shortcomings, but this moment this is one of best phones in its price range.

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It's a long way from a power outlet, but your favorite smartphone is already running low? A familiar situation to many millions of smartphone users. It's your own fault! Developers also need to optimize energy consumption Huawei Honor 8 took care of it. This probably explains its popularity, in particular on AliExpress.

So, how not to be left without communication at the most inopportune moment? Review of basic tips:
Phone Manager – indispensable assistant, allowing you to significantly reduce currently unnecessary costs.

Using the main “Optimize” button, you can turn off unnecessary applications and functions yourself or use ready-made modes:

• The performance mode will allow you to relieve the processor and network as much as possible - important when playing games or watching videos online;
• Smart mode– balance between network/processor load and performance. This is an everyday regimen;
• Power saving mode - you can only call and send a message. Well, this is already an extreme measure - so to speak, on the “last gasp” of the phone.

Additional Methods

Not enough? Then it is worth disabling applications that consume more energy than they are useful. After all, even in automatic mode, the smartphone does not block protected applications that happily destroy the last charge in background, and we are perplexed, . Down with currently unused programs - you just need to go to the appropriate section and disable them. There is a convenient switch there.

The most insatiable applications can be found through the same “Phone Manager”, using the “Power Consumption Control” section. You can turn off the most daring ones with one click. The mode is adjusted here Wi-Fi work.

Does not help? Honor 8 has a new power-saving feature that allows you to save precious power. It adjusts the screen resolution through the GPU. Even if the quality is lower, you can calmly watch videos or play games in nature. There is a special section where you can lower the resolution to 720x1280.

During country trips, it is better to turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, synchronization with other devices, and screen brightness. Airplane mode will also be superfluous. All this will significantly reduce the load on the battery and increase the time until the next charge.

Another aspect: you need to charge the battery correctly. Naturally, a charger is supplied with the phone, but if it fails, then you should select a replacement based on the technical parameters of the Huawei Honor 8 specified in the documentation, and most importantly, buy an original charger. Otherwise lithium battery will quickly fail.

In principle, if the memory power is lower than recommended, it’s okay. It will just take a little longer to recharge and the battery will hold a charge less. And no energy economy will help. If the charging power is slightly higher, this will also not damage the battery, but will significantly reduce its service life. And the price of the original battery is considerable.

All these simple methods will help increase the time your phone can be used without recharging and the life of the battery itself. The main thing to remember is that tomorrow you can pay much more than you save today. Therefore, it is better to buy a high-quality smartphone, for example, on AliExpress.

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The design of Honor 8 is a combination of glass and metal, something between flagships Samsung Galaxy And Apple iPhone. If you like it when everything sparkles and shimmers in the light, then you will definitely like it. If not, stock up on a case right away.

However, the case will be relevant in any case. As soon as you place the smartphone on a slightly inclined smooth surface, Honor 8 begins to slowly “crawl”. During testing, the device slid to the floor three times in this way, although usually such situations do not happen at all. It’s good that nothing was broken - repairs will cost a pretty penny.

But Honor 8 does not slip in the hand: the perfectly smooth glass sticks to the palm and makes the grip more secure. Only fingerprints cover the surface almost instantly - exactly the same drawback as Samsung flagships.

Five color options. Honor 8 comes in black, white, blue, pink and gold. The last option is too pretentious, the pink color is also not for everyone. The blue device looks best, although the black and white classic never loses its relevance. Keep in mind that the darker the case, the more visible the greasy stains on the glass.

The design of Honor 8 is not for everybody, especially if we talk about the gold model. But the smartphone looks luxurious and fits well in the hand.

The fingerprint scanner is located on the rear panel - it works quickly and accurately, as always with Huawei. But this is inconvenient if the device is in a holder inside the car or lying on the table.

The sensor acts as a programmable " smart button" A short, double or long press is recognized. For each action, you can assign the launch of a specific application. Comfortable!

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Shoots at flagship level

With balance white smartphone It rarely makes mistakes, the detail and sharpness are pleasing, the corners of the frames are not blurry. The Camera application launches in less than a second, laser autofocus is not instant, but very fast.

There are two main cameras in Honor 8. Resolution – 12 MP. The concept was borrowed from the flagship Huawei P9 and P9 Plus, where it worked well. One lens takes a black and white image, and the other takes a color image. The two frames are then merged together almost instantly.

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Honor 8 has two cameras, just like Huawei flagships P9 and P9 Plus. The quality of the photos is excellent!

Photos of Honor 8 in comparison with the current standard photo flagship Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Huawei has a wider dynamic range, but it lags behind in detail and noise.

The front camera with a resolution of 8 megapixels takes good self-portraits. For the price the result is decent. There are no questions about colors and detail, although noise is visible even in normal daylight.

Video shooting is the weakest feature of the Honor 8 camera. The maximum resolution is Full HD at 60 frames per second. Image stabilization, if there is any, is only electronic and doesn’t really help.

The dynamic range, unlike photos, is narrow. However, to simply film something interesting or important in decent quality, this is generally sufficient.

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Video shooting is not the Honor 8's strong point.

Performance did not disappoint

Until the very powerful smartphones in the world (OnePlus 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 7) Honor 8 is far away, but this does not prevent it from easily handling the most demanding games. There is no need to talk about simpler tasks: the system works smoothly, you can open a couple of dozen tabs in the browser, leaving several running programs in the background.

Yes, gone are the days when it was really worth chasing the best Qualcomm chipsets. The proprietary HiSilicon Kirin 950 with eight Honor 8 cores is enough for the eyes. In the general AnTuTu 6 system performance test, the smartphone scores more than 90,000 points. This is exactly the level when everything works without delays or complaints.

Honor 8 performance compared to other flagships. The higher the number, the better.

The weak point of this chip is the integrated Mali-T800 graphics, with which the smartphone scores only 950-1000 points in the graphics subsystem test versus 2000 or more for other flagships. But you shouldn’t worry about this either: if at some moments demanding games start to become “dull,” you can simply lower the graphic settings.

And one more thing: under heavy load, the smartphone heats up noticeably. It is not fatal, but some discomfort does occur.

Performance is in order: you can run the most demanding games: for example, shooters Modern Combat 5 and Modern Strike. Only the graphics quality is better left at an average, not the highest level.

Honor 8 is available in three modifications, which differ in the amount of built-in and RAM. The approximate prices of one of the foreign online stores are given in brackets to make it easier for you to navigate:

• 32 GB + 3 GB (25,400 rubles)
• 32 GB + 4 GB (28,800 rubles)
• 64 GB + 4 GB (30,500 rubles)

The amount of built-in memory is much more important, because 32 GB in lower configurations may not be enough, and then you will have to put it in a hybrid microSD slot instead of a second SIM. If communication is a priority, then you will have to buy the most expensive Honor 8 with 64 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of RAM.

Under heavy load, Honor 8 becomes noticeably hot. It's not fatal, but there is some discomfort.

No savings were made on the display

The picture quality on the 5.2-inch Honor 8 screen pleases at first glance. With maximum brightness you can work in direct sunlight. The viewing angles of the IPS matrix are maximum, even the black depth is good by the standards of this type of panel.

Huawei developers don’t like Quad HD resolution and they’re doing it right. Who needs extra battery-consuming pixels when everything is perfectly visible on a Full HD screen? In Honor 8, the dots per inch density reaches 423 ppi, so the detail is high, there is no hint of “graininess”.

But there is still a small nuance. Despite the automatic brightness adjustment being disabled, for some reason our test smartphone occasionally spontaneously lowered the brightness by 15-20%. The reason could not be identified, there are two theories: either it is due to heating (then sadly, they are unlikely to fix it), or due to a firmware glitch (this can be fixed in updates).

There are no questions about the screen: there is a good IPS panel with high brightness, wide viewing angles and moderate Full resolution HD.

Display diagonal – 5.2 inches. Resolution – 1920x1080. It is based on a very good IPS matrix.

Works from morning until evening

The operating time of the smartphone is slightly above average. He works his honest day from early morning until late evening, while the screen is usually active for four hours.

In Full HD video playback mode with maximum brightness, Honor 8 was able to work for a little longer than 7 hours. Continuous play of the Subway Surface Arcade drained the battery in 4 hours and 15 minutes.

This couldn't happen without fast charging. A battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh can be fully charged in 1.5 hours.

A full battery charge lasts for a day in mixed mode, 7 hours of video or 4 hours of games. Eat fast charging.

Time battery life Honor 8 in comparison with other smartphones. The result is given in minutes. Pay special attention to the main competitors: Meizu MX6, Xiaomi Mi5 and OnePlus 3.

You can communicate using two SIMs at the same time

Honor 8 has two slots for SIM cards and two radio modules - this is not a unique, but very rare feature. You can hold both incoming calls at the same time and switch between them. At the same time, 3G and 4G Internet will be available only on one of the SIMs of the user’s choice. Only 2G will remain on the second channel, but this is a standard story.

The call quality is fine: reception is normal, the volume is sufficient, the microphone does not pick up any extra noise during communication. Volume external speaker not prohibitive, but at maximum it does not wheeze - you can even listen to music without much suffering about the quality. The sound in the headphones is normal - there is no amplifier. Low frequencies It's a little lacking, but I can't complain about the mids and highs.

The NFC module and infrared port are available - this is good. The only disappointing thing was the cold start time of the GPS module. First you have to wait 15-20 seconds, and then another 10 seconds are spent on clarifying the geoposition. For a long time!

With communication and wireless modules Honor 8 has no problems, only GPS takes a long time to start.

There is nothing easier than pumping up the survivability of a smartphone away from a power outlet, without resorting to all sorts of tricks. Honor engineers have already taken care of everything, you just need to find the Phone Manager section to optimize your device. In addition, especially for those who want to preserve the Honor 8 battery charge, we have prepared some simple tips.

• Optimizing the basic functions of a smartphone

  At its core, Phone Manager is a powerful add-on for all of your device's energy-consuming functions, which you can manage in one place. The default section is displayed on the “home” screen of the smartphone - find it, go to the menu and click “Optimize”.

  Try disabling unnecessary features and applications yourself for now, or use one of three automatic modes:

  Productive: Minor adjustments to CPU and network load to ensure maximum performance (recommended for games and online videos).

  Smart: automatic setting CPU and network load to ensure balanced operation (recommended for everyday use).

  Energy saving: Only calling and messaging functions are available (recommended when battery power is low).

• Turn off “gluttonous” applications

  If none of the three automatic modes of the Honor 8 smartphone suits you, it’s time to deal with power-hungry applications yourself. Even if you use auto mode, the smartphone gives complete carte blanche to “Protected Apps” that continue to run in the background when the device’s screen is turned off, thereby draining battery power. Therefore, without leaving the “Phone Manager” section, open the “Protected Applications” subsection to see the list of active ones. Use the switch next to them to disable applications that are not currently needed.

• Additional features of Phone Manager

  Honor 8 supports new mode energy consumption, providing energy saving by adjusting GPU: Limits screen resolution and extends battery life between charges. This mode is recommended for use while playing games or watching videos.

  To enable power saving mode by adjusting the GPU, activate the subsection “Enable power saving by adjusting the GPU”. The screen resolution will be lowered to 720x1280, which will extend battery life without recharging.

  Among other things, Phone Manager displays data about the energy consumption of applications in general. In the subsection “Power consumption control (power-intensive applications)” you can find active ones and identify the most voracious of them. Especially for such people, the developers came up with automatic function"Closing power-hungry applications." Return to the main Battery Manager menu screen, tap the settings icon in the top right corner, and toggle the “Close power-hungry apps” switch. Here you can also configure the Wi-Fi operating mode and notifications about energy-intensive applications.

  

• Leaving the countryside, or not being able to recharge your smartphone for a long time, try to disable unnecessary functions that consume battery power, for example: Bluetooth, mobile data, auto-sync, automatic screen brightness or Wi-Fi. In addition, if you are not expecting an urgent call, it is worth turning on airplane mode - this will help avoid wasting energy on maintaining communication with the cellular network.

It may seem strange that just a few months after the debut of the P9 flagship, Huawei has essentially repurposed it Hardware to release a smartphone that costs a third less. But that's exactly what I did Chinese manufacturer. At the hardware level, Honor 8 is almost indistinguishable from its more expensive predecessor.

"Killer" of flagships

Huawei experienced stiff competition from ZTE Axon 7. Alcatel Idol 4S, OnePlus 3 and Lenovo Moto Z. It seemed keen to prove that it could successfully compete in the flagship killer segment.

The Honor brand is a giant of the Chinese industry. Under this name, 40 million smartphones were sold in 2015 alone. The Chinese company was looking to replicate its success in the United States. And she bet on Huawei Honor 8. The characteristics of the model made it unique in the world of smartphones - the exterior finish is different from anything that has ever been produced. And its hardware fully matches its appearance.

However specifications Huawei Honor 8 is one thing, but everyday use- completely different. Can the phone cope with long working days and increased workload on weekends?

Sophisticated Design

Although the Huawei Honor 8 32GB is a mid-range smartphone in terms of specifications, this is certainly not the impression that its design leaves. The phone is like a sandwich of two glass panels with a metal frame in the middle and beveled edges for added 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 the 2.5D of 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 set of sensors is complemented only by the Honor logo. There is nothing else. The front and edges look like an iPhone though rear end more reminiscent of the Galaxy S7.

The design of the smartphone is simple and minimalistic, without distracting from the impressive light show created by the laminated glass. It is the highlight of the model. Featuring a patented 15-layer design, the panel refracts incoming light into shimmering patterns on the colored back panel. Each device captures light differently, so no two smartphones will be exactly alike.

At the back there 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, a second Honor logo is applied to the body.

On the right is an exceptionally thin power button and on the left is a combined SIM/MicroSD card tray. At the bottom there is a speaker, port USB Type-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Overall the design is sophisticated and comfortable. Its curved edges and glass are designed for hours of typing. text messages, use social networks and aimless web surfing. The device is light enough to be held for long periods of time without risk of wrist strain.

Huawei Honor 8: review and software specifications

The smartphone runs on Emotion User Interface 4.1 (EMUI), the same as the Mate 8 and P9, installed on top Android platforms 6.0. While EMUI is not without its merits, it does make some tasks more complex than they need to be.

A striking example is the notification line. If you swipe down at the top of the screen, a translucent list of messages will appear, indicating the time you received them. However, this implementation is much more cumbersome than the standard one. Third party apps must be granted permissions to display notifications. Gestures for deleting messages do not always work. Quick Settings, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are switched in a separate tab.

Fortunately, the list of active applications is easier to manipulate. After clicking the task switching button, a card carousel of programs and services running in the background is displayed on the screen. By swiping up you can stop any of them, and by swiping down you can block them, protecting them from accidental closing when clearing the memory. Users find this function very convenient.

Emotion UI offers several useful tools, which Android does not have. Perhaps the most notable of these is the Smart Key. This is a function of assigning various actions to the fingerprint scanner. For example, with one touch you can launch the camera, and with three – the photo gallery. Gestures are also supported: by default, swiping down opens the notification panel, a quick double-tap clears all notifications, and pressing and holding responds to incoming call and turns off 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 carried over from the P8, Mate 8 and P9 that lets you launch apps and perform actions with knuckle taps. For example, you can take a screenshot by tapping it twice, or record a video by making 2 quick taps 2 times. The Draw function allows you to perform specific commands using finger gestures. For example, you can launch an application by drawing the letter “C” on the screen.

Huawei has installed several useful programs. The most popular of them is Phone Manager, a kind of universal station for configuring your phone. The system optimization option closes unnecessary temporary files. The traffic management tool gives graphical representation about the amount of data consumed separate applications, daily, weekly and monthly.

The battery settings screen allows you to optimize the efficiency of programs and services. Energy Optimizer automatically scans running programs and to search for the most “voracious” of them. There are many options to choose from to reduce your phone's power consumption. For example, there is a power mode switch that allows you to change power consumption levels (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 capabilities. The infrared emitter allows you to control consumer electronics like a remote control. Magic Tag assigns modes, tasks, and shortcuts to NFC touchpoints such as SpeedMarks or WhizTags. groups them into categories such as "Audio", "Video" and "Images". A simplified application that provides weather information allows you to be aware of climatic conditions in the cities and regions of your stay.

Performance

Although Huawei specifications Honor 8 is not the most advanced, nor is it the worst. The smartphone is equipped with a Kirin 950 processor, the same as the Mate 8. This 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 match the potential of the Kirin 955. However, with everyday tasks The phone does no worse. In the Huawei Honor 8 model Pro specifications have been significantly improved thanks to the use of the Kirin 960 processor and 6 GB of RAM.

Navigating the home screen, scrolling through apps, and dismissing notifications is seamless. Like browsing hundreds Instagram photos, Snapchat messages, loading graphically cluttered emails, and working with Microsoft Word. The same goes for multitasking. The Kirin 950 handles multiple background programs and Chrome tabs remarkably well. Even on a hot car dashboard, there is no noticeable slowdown, which is a testament to the processor's excellent heat dissipation system.

Unfortunately, all these great features of the Huawei Honor 8 do not show up in the test results. The smartphone scores 931 points in the 3DMark Sling Shot test, which is significantly lower than the 2615 points of the Lenovo Moto Z. This is likely due to the relatively weak Mali-T880 graphics chip.

The Huawei Honor 8 32GB RAM 4GB specifications also come from the i5 co-processor, 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

Battery Huawei smartphone Honor 8 is inferior in technical characteristics to the latest ones flagship models. Its capacity of 3000 mAh is less than the 3500 mAh battery of the Lenovo Moto Z Force. However, most competitors have a similar power supply: Alcatel Idol 4S and Moto Z have a capacity of 3000 and 2,600 mAh respectively. When testing the Honor 8 battery (with automatic brightness, Wi-Fi turned on, Bluetooth and mobile transmission data) survives a typical workday with about 25% remaining. More demanding tasks tend to drain the battery faster - 5 hours of hotspot use takes a toll on the charge, but for the most part the phone is incredibly power efficient. On average, the battery lasts 14-16 hours.

In addition, the battery charges quickly. The Huawei Honor 8 32GB smartphone has 18-watt specifications charger(9 V, 2 A) resemble Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 technology. Theoretically, it is capable of restoring the battery's energy reserves to 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 Lenovo Moto Z's TurboPower technology, which can provide 8 hours of operation in the same time, and slower than Quick Charge 3.0, which charges up to 80% in 35 minutes, but the difference is insignificant.

Display

The Huawei Honor 8 Pro 64GB smartphone has quite high screen characteristics. The 5.2-inch display has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, like the OnePlus 3, but it's not Quad HD like the Lenovo Moto Z Force and ZTE Axon 7. Viewing angles aren't ideal—the display tends to distort colors when tilted, especially in apps and web pages with a white background. The surface of the screen reflects too much direct sunlight, although it allows you to read its contents.

Generally Touchpad responsive, smooth and sensitive. Featuring a curved ergonomic 2.5D design protective glass The user enjoys the glide - the edges feel rounded and soft under the fingertips.

The Huawei phone's display has been improved: its size has increased to 5.7” and its resolution has increased to 1440 x 2560 pixels. The same resolution was given to the 6.6-inch model. The characteristics of Huawei Honor Note 8 have increased thanks to the replacement of IPS technology with Super AMOLED, albeit with a drop in pixel density from 515 to 443 dpi. For the original, this figure is 423 t/inch. Otherwise, almost identical technical characteristics 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

The Honor 8 offers a few hardware tricks. The first one is an IR sensor. They were once found on almost all high-end phones, but have become less common in recent years as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth steadily replace invisible light as a means of controlling TVs and household appliances. But given that only a small part of households have acquired the so-called “ smart device"It is safe to say that infrared sensors have not completely outlived their usefulness. The IR sensor runs a pre-installed application that supports, according to the manufacturer, “more than 230,000 products from 5,810 brands.”

Fingerprint scanners aren't that rare these days, but the Huawei Honor 8 FRD-L09's sensor outperforms 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 before a full touch of the entire index finger. It's also one of the most secure elements: according to Huawei, it uses a Level 4 encryption algorithm, the highest in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's mobile authentication hierarchy.

Camera

The Huawei Honor 8 smartphone features a 6-lens wide-angle camera that matches 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 features a lot of interesting tricks as the Honor 8 can combine data from two sensors to improve the overall image quality. A traditional RGB sensor captures color data, while a second monochrome sensor measures brightness. Software smartphone combines 2 streams into a single image. According to the manufacturer, Honor 8 and P9 perform exceptionally well in low light conditions.

This is not the only feature Huawei phone Honor 8. The smartphone's camera performance has been improved by using a laser sensor to focus on objects and software definition phases. The manufacturer calls this function “hybrid focus.” There is also a wide aperture mode that allows you to create bokeh and depth of field effects.

But how does all this work in reality? According to reviews, the characteristics of Huawei Honor 8 allow the smartphone to cope well with the responsibilities of a camera. The phone takes clear, largely noise-free images in conditions where the only light source is the setting sun. Pictures taken after sunrise, under artificial lighting and in dim rooms are no less impressive. Dark areas are richly detailed and free of the grain found in conventional phone cameras, and bright colors contrast sharply with dark shadows.

Custom bokeh adds an extra layer fine tuning. The user can change the focus point after the photo has been taken, allowing incredible manipulation of subjects that dominate the foreground.

Monochrome photos come out clear. The black-and-white sensor allows you to take clear night shots with an impressive degree of depth and contrast.

However, the focusing speed was noticeably disappointing. The smartphone takes time to select the subject and focus on it. And the lack of lighting only exacerbates this problem.

Users have called the P9's camera a "revelation", putting it on par with the iPhone 6S Plus, LG G5 and Galaxy S7, and the same goes for the Honor 8.

Unfortunately, the same thoughtful design doesn't extend to the smartphone's software.

The front camera of Huawei Honor 8 is almost identical in characteristics to the rear one. 8-megapixel images with an f/2.2 sensor are just as clear and bright, although at a lower resolution. Unfortunately, the lack of an LED flash makes shooting in dim environments difficult. But the Perfect Selfie app improves the result a little: it photographs the face from different angles, softening the dullness of the photo.

The camera software used to set it up is versatile to say the least. Swiping left brings up a library of common modes, including panorama, time-lapse, HDR, and slow motion. More exotic settings are also available: for photographing food, scanning documents, night photography and light photography, which allows you to capture the lights of moving cars and the flow of water.

Pro modes offer more control over your camera's hardware. Users can adjust exposure, ISO, focus point and type, shutter speed, exposure and white balance. ensures that pictures are aligned with the horizon. A grid of lines will help you create a composition, the distance between which is determined by the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers.

Experienced photographers will no doubt appreciate the ability to save photos in RAW format, which allows programs like Photoshop to fine-tune the colors of the photo.

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 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.

The manufacturer's limited warranty covers defects resulting from manufacturing. It does not cover accidental damage such as impacts, scratches or exposure to moisture. Repairs are provided free of charge but do not include delivery and claims expire 12 months from the date of purchase.

Conclusion

The company has achieved what's called a supply chain miracle: Almost every high-end component of the $600 P9 phone is offered in a device that sells for a third less: $400 for 32GB and $450 for 64GB. This deserves praise.

Reducing the cost required cutting down some characteristics of the smartphone. The Huawei Honor 8's touchscreen isn't as bright, colorful or sharp as the Alcatel Idol 4S and Lenovo Moto Z, and it has less RAM compared to the OnePlus 3, for example. The design, while not lacking in taste, is derivative. The software needs fixing. However, these are the only major shortcomings of the smartphone, which is an impressive achievement for any phone, especially in this price range.

Honor 8 may not be the best budget model, but it depends on the user's priorities. If you want an incredible camera, a flawless fingerprint scanner, an IR emitter and great customization options, then this smartphone will be a very profitable purchase. If the priority is given to screen quality and performance, then it is better to turn to the ZTE Axon 7 or OnePlus 3.