The main question that involuntarily arises in your head when you get acquainted with the technical characteristics of the new Huawei Honor 7: why was it necessary to release it if there is an almost identical one? Seriously, analyze the two right columns of the table below - you will see that the Honor 7 and Huawei P8 are very, very similar. The fact is that in its homeland, China, Honor is already a separate brand, aimed at young people, and distributed exclusively via the Internet, due to which it is possible to reduce the final cost of the devices.
The line of devices, which was previously called Huawei Ascend P, and now simply Huawei P, was the top one in the company’s range and remains so. This means that the P8 is a gadget made with a focus on design and image. It stands on the polished display windows of trading floors, and there, in these same trading floors, they ask for money as for a full-fledged flagship smartphone. Let's put it simply: Honor 7 was originally made cheaper than P8. In Russia, the current price for the “seven” is 23 thousand rubles, and for the premium P8 – 30 thousand. Let's try to figure out what Huawei engineers saved on when creating Honor 7...
⇡#Technical characteristics
| Huawei Honor 6 | Huawei Honor 6 Plus | Huawei Honor 7 | Huawei P8 | |
| Touch screen | 5 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, IPS; 445 dpi; capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches | 5.5 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, IPS; 401 dpi; capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches | 5.2 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, IPS; 423.6 dpi; capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches | 5.2 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, IPS; 423.6 dpi; capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches |
| Air gap | No | No | No | No |
| Oleophobic coating | Eat | Eat | Eat | Eat |
| Polarizing filter | Eat | Eat | Eat | Eat |
| Factory film | No | No | No | No |
| System-on-a-chip | HiSilicon Kirin 920 (ARM big.LITTLE architecture): four ARM Cortex-A15 cores, 1.7 GHz + four ARM Cortex-A7 cores, 1.3 GHz (ARMv7), 28 nm process technology; 32-bit computing | HiSilicon Kirin 925 (ARM big.LITTLE HMP architecture): four ARM Cortex-A15 cores, 1.8 GHz + four ARM Cortex-A7 cores, 1.3 GHz (ARMv7) + Smart i3 coprocessor, 28 nm HPm process technology; 32-bit computing | HiSilicon Kirin 935 (ARM big.LITTLE HMP architecture): four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.5 GHz frequency + four ARM Cortex-A53e cores, 2.2 GHz frequency (ARMv8) 28 nm HPm process technology; 32-bit and 64-bit computing | HiSilicon Kirin 930 (ARM big.LITTLE HMP architecture): four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.5 GHz frequency + four ARM Cortex-A53e cores, 2 GHz frequency (ARMv8) 28 nm HPm process technology; 32-bit and 64-bit computing |
| Graphics controller | ARM Mali-T628 MP4, frequency 600 MHz | ARM Mali-T628 MP4, frequency 600 MHz | ARM Mali-T628 MP4, frequency 600 MHz | ARM Mali-T628 MP4, frequency 600 MHz |
| RAM | 3 GB LPDDR3-1600 | 3 GB LPDDR3-1600 | 3 GB LPDDR3-1600 | 3 GB LPDDR3-1600 |
| Flash memory | 16 GB (11.5 GB available to user) + microSD | 16/32 GB (we tested a 32 GB version - 25.1 GB available to the user) + microSD | 16/32/64 GB (we tested a 16 GB version - 10.7 GB available to the user) + microSD | 16/32 GB (we tested a 16 GB version - 11.3 GB available to the user) + microSD |
| Connectors | 1 × Micro-USB 2.0 1 × 3.5 mm headset jack 1 × MicroSD 1 × Micro-SIM | 1 × Micro-USB 2.0 1 × 3.5 mm headset jack 1 × Micro-SIM 1 × Nano-SIM/microSD (combined) | 1 × Micro-USB 2.0 1 × 3.5 mm headset jack 1 × Nano-SIM 1 × Nano-SIM/microSD (combined) | 1 × Micro-USB 2.0 1 × 3.5 mm headset jack 1 × Nano-SIM 1 × Nano-SIM/microSD (combined) |
| cellular | 2G/3G/4G One SIM card in Micro-SIM format | 2G/3G/4G* One SIM card in Micro-SIM format + one SIM card in Nano-SIM format, which can be replaced with a microSD memory card | 2G/3G/4G One Nano-SIM format SIM card + one Nano-SIM format SIM card, instead of which you can install a microSD memory card | 2G/3G/4G One Nano-SIM format SIM card + one Nano-SIM format SIM card, instead of which you can install a microSD memory card |
| Cellular connection 2G | GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Cellular 3G | DC-HSPA+ (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 900/2100 MHz | HSDPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz TD-SCDMA 1900/2000 MHz | HSDPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 900/1900/2100 MHz TD-SCDMA 1900/2000 MHz | HSDPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 900/1900/2100 MHz TD-SCDMA 1900/2000 MHz |
| Cellular 4G | LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbps) FDD: Band 1, 3, 7, 20 (2100/1800/900/800 MHz), TDD: Band 38 (2600 MHz) | LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbps) Band 1, 3, 7, 38, 39, 40, 41 (2100/1800/2600/1900/2300/2500 MHz) | LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbps) Band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 (2100/1800/2600/900/800 MHz) | LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbps) Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 40 (2100/900/1800/1700/ 850/2600/900/700/800/2300 MHz) |
| WiFi | 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 and 5 GHz + Wi-Fi Direct | 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 and 5 GHz + Wi-Fi Direct | 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 and 5 GHz + Wi-Fi Direct | 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 and 5 GHz + Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 + A2DP | 4.0 + A2DP | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| NFC | No | Yes - only for the version with LTE | No | No |
| IR port | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Navigation | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS |
| Sensors | Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) |
| Fingerprint's scanner | No | No | Yes | No |
| Main camera | 13 MP (4160 × 3120), Sony Exmor RS CMOS sensor with back-illumination, Autofocus, single LED flash | Dual, 8 MP sensors (3264 × 2448), Software image stitching up to 13 MP, Autofocus, dual LED flash | 20 MP (5152 × 3888), Sony Exmor RS CMOS sensor with back-illumination, Autofocus, dual LED flash | 13 MP (4160 × 3120), Sony Exmor RS CMOS sensor with back-illumination, Autofocus, single LED flash |
| Front-camera | 5.1 MP (2592 × 1952), no autofocus | 8 MP (3264 × 2448), no autofocus | 8 MP (3264 × 2448), no autofocus | 8 MP (3264 × 2448), no autofocus |
| Nutrition | Non-removable battery: 11.78 Wh (3100 mAh, 3.8 V) | Non-removable battery: 13.68 Wh (3600 mAh, 3.8 V) | Non-removable battery: 11.78 Wh (3100 mAh, 3.8 V) | Non-removable battery: 10.18 Wh (2680 mAh, 3.8 V) |
| Size | 140 × 70 mm Case thickness: 7.5 mm | 150.5 × 75.7 mm Case thickness 7.5 mm | 143 × 72 mm Case thickness 8.5 mm | 145 × 72 mm Case thickness 6.4 mm |
| Weight | 130 g | 165 g | 157 g | 144 g |
| Housing protection | No | No | No | No |
| operating system | Android 4.4.2 Own shell EmotionUI 2.3 | Google Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) Own shell EmotionUI 3.0 | Google Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) Own shell EmotionUI 4.0 | Google Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) Own shell EmotionUI 3.1 |
| Current price | 19,990 rubles | 22,990 rubles for the 16 GB version 25,990 rubles for the 32 GB version | 22,990 rubles | 26,990 rubles |
* There is a version of Huawei Honor 6 Plus without LTE support, but it is not officially supplied to Russia. It has strictly 16 GB of built-in flash memory, while the version with LTE support can be equipped with 16 or 32 GB of memory. Accordingly, when purchasing a version with 16 GB of flash memory, just in case, it is worth checking whether this copy has LTE support.
| Honor 7 – information about the system and hardware according to the CPU-Z application | ||||
⇡#Appearance, ergonomics, fingerprint scanner
Huawei engineers have finally made the body of the next Honor series smartphone metal. And this, in general, is a significant event - previously the cases of gadgets of this family were plastic. This is where the good news regarding appearance probably ends and the ordinary news begins. The fact is that Honor 7 looks, to put it more precisely, mediocre - it can easily get lost among other Android smartphones. This is probably what the creators originally intended, because for the sake of image, there are P-series devices. Nevertheless, the appearance of the “seven” is rather boring – there is literally nothing for the eye to catch on to.
Huawei Honor 7 – front panel
The dimensions of the gadget are also quite standard, as is the weight - 157 grams. Your hands don’t get tired of it, even if you hold the device suspended for a long time. The thickness of the case is 8.5 millimeters. Most competitors are thinner. On the one hand, this does not seem to be very good for our test subject, but on the other hand, a fairly capacious battery of 11.78 Wh (3100 mAh, 3.8 V) fits in its body, so this thickness is justified .
Huawei Honor 7 – front panel
There are no hardware keys on the front panel - the operating system navigation buttons are virtual. At the top of the panel there is a slot for the earpiece, the sensitive area of the light sensor and the lens of the front eight-megapixel camera.
Huawei Honor 7 – front panel
Another interesting feature in the exterior of Honor 7 is the “smart” key. This is a hardware button located on the left side, under the middle finger of the right hand. The key is programmable; the user can assign an action to it (activate the camera, turn on the flash, launch the voice recorder, etc.) or launch an application. It is noteworthy that on this one key you can “hang” three tasks at once - single press, double press and hold. A very convenient feature, I must say.
| Huawei Honor 7 – “smart” key | ||||
Next to this very “smart” key there is a slot for installing two cards – Nano-SIM and a combined slot for Nano-SIM/microSD. Unfortunately, the smartphone, like many other Huawei devices, does not have a separate slot for a memory card.
Huawei Honor 7 – left side
The layout of the controls and connectors on the smartphone is standard. The power and volume keys are located on the right side. On the top edge there is an IR port and a 3.5 mm audio jack, and on the bottom there is a Micro-USB interface and an external speaker. The latter is not blocked by your hand, even if you hold the gadget horizontally.
| Huawei Honor 7 – side ends | ||
Another little surprise awaits on the back panel. Under the lens of the main 20-megapixel camera there is a biometric sensor, which was not previously available in Honor. But something similar was in the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone, released a year ago.
Huawei Honor 7 – fingerprint scanner
It is noteworthy that with its help you can not only unlock the device, but also answer calls, turn off the alarm, view the list of open applications (to do this, you need to swipe up on the sensor), open the notification panel (swipe down) and erase notifications (double tap on sensor). Moreover, the user can create a protected area for storing confidential information and classified applications, which will be accessed using a fingerprint - through a special section in the built-in file manager. The fingerprint sensor works quite quickly and, most importantly, accurately - on the official Huawei website it says 0.5 seconds for recognition, and this seems to be true. During testing, it unmistakably recognized the owner’s finger and did not react to “strangers.” In total, you can save up to five prints in the device memory.
| Huawei Honor 7 – biometric sensor parameters | ||
The main camera lens protrudes somewhat from the body, which is aesthetically not very pleasant. However, this does not cause any inconvenience: it will not be scratched, even if the device is lying on the table with its back down - there is a metal edging around the protective glass. Next to the camera is a two-section LED flash. We had no complaints about the assembly - the device does not creak or bend, although it does not leave the feeling of an expensive thing either.
Huawei Honor 7 – back panel
Design and usability
The dimensions of any smartphone are based primarily on the screen diagonal and Honor 7 is no exception. The smartphone is quite compact, fits perfectly in the hand, and, due to the slightly angular body, it clings to the palm more or less well. For a metal phone, of course. The same iPhone 6 is really scary to hold in your hands, as it constantly tries to slip out. With Honor 7 it’s about the same, but to a much lesser extent.
| Length | Width | Thickness | Weight | |
| Huawei Honor 7 | 143,2 | 71,9 | 8,5 | 157 |
| Sony Xperia Z3 (5.2'') | 146,5 | 72 | 7,3 | 152 |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1'') | 143,4 | 70,5 | 6,8 | 138 |
| Apple iPhone 6 | 138,1 | 67 | 6,9 | 129 |
The smartphone comes in two colors: graphite gray and metallic silver. However, there is (not ours) another color - golden. It is typical for the Honor 7 AL10 model, which is sold in China. A premium device for the Chinese who are obsessed with everything shiny.
From the front everything is simple and no frills. Above the display is a front camera with its own flash, a speaker and a set of sensors.
There is nothing under the screen. System control buttons have been moved to the interface. Their location is configured from the menu. By the way, they eat up a lot of screen space, thus, in fact, we do not have 5.2, but rather something close to 5 inches of usable display area.
At the back, the design of the smartphone, so to speak, opens up. There are plastic inserts on the top and bottom that cover the antennas. There is a convex brand inscription in the middle of the metal back.
The camera sticks out and, apparently, you have to put up with it. It all started with a flaw in the iPhone 6, then it was actively cultivated in the Galaxy series from Samsung and off we went. Now engineers can officially fool themselves and leave the camera lens protruding above the body. This is the trend of the season, nothing can be done. We are waiting for the iPhone 7, where the lens will be compared to the body and everyone will rush headlong to copy this solution.
To the right of the camera eye is a dual flash. And below is a fingerprint scanner, which in Honor 7 has acquired additional functionality. There are several gestures that the contact pad recognizes:
- simple tap in the menu - step back, in the camera - release the shutter/start recording
- long touch - return to the home screen
- double tap - erase all notifications when the curtain is down
- Swipe down to open the notification shade
- swipe up to open recently used applications
The last two actions require some skill. You need to move your finger slowly and carefully. The scanner does not recognize careless taps. You can also use this sensor to answer a call or turn off the alarm. They just somehow forgot about navigation in the gallery.
The sensor works quite quickly. In sleep mode, you just need to put your finger and in half a second, or maybe even less, the smartphone will unlock.
In addition, the algorithm is constantly learning and the more often you unlock your smartphone with your finger, the more accurately it reacts in the future.
On the bottom edge there is a Micro USB connector. OTG support on site. There is a microphone to the right of the port, and a multimedia speaker to the left. The latter is loud enough to not miss a call even on a noisy street.
There is a special button on the left side. By default, it is configured to launch various domestic social networks and email applications. Fortunately, the key can be used to open any other application, such as a flashlight.
Button for calling additional applications
Volume rocker key
Power button
I'm not a fan of having physical buttons like this. The OnePlus Two has about the same thing. There, a physical lever is responsible for switching the smartphone to Do Not Disturb mode. In both smartphones, it constantly happened that I unwittingly touched these buttons. In my opinion, this is inconvenient. It would be better if there was a camera button, like in Sony smartphones. This thing is much more necessary.
Any smartphone from Huawei with a pre-installed EMUI shell can boast a whole set of various additional gestures, interface operating modes, its own encryption algorithms and other goodies. There are very useful ones, for example, waking up the screen with a double tap or taking a screenshot by tapping your knuckle.
There are also absolutely stupid features, such as a virtual button for quickly launching various utilities.
There’s probably only one thing I don’t like about the whole shell. This is a branded keyboard.
It is cluttered with various symbols and squiggles, the language is switched through a space bar, and in the lower right corner there is a key with a very strange functionality. In this regard, Google's native keyboard is much more convenient (on the far right screenshot).
the Android 6.0 update for Honor 7 should be released soon (without exact dates yet) .
The new firmware is already available for installation as a beta version, but so far only for Chinese and European devices. If you want to join the beta testers, you will first have to install the firmware for the corresponding region.
⇡#Display
The display characteristics of the Honor 7 are in many ways similar to the display characteristics of the Huawei P8. In particular, they have the same screen diagonals and resolution - both gadgets have 5.2-inch Full HD displays. They have the same pixel density, 423.6 inches. This is a fairly high value - the picture on the screens looks sharp. There is no “pixelation” effect - individual dots on the Honor 7 display cannot be seen, even if you bring the device close to your eyes. You can see this if you look closely at the photo of the display below - the image is quite “smooth”.
Huawei Honor 7 – fragment of screen photo without compression
Huawei has still not installed a Quad HD display (2560 × 1440) in any of its devices - neither in the technologically advanced Honor 7, nor in the fashionable P8. A matrix with this resolution is already used by all the major players in the Android smartphone market - LG (, ), and Samsung (S6/S6 Edge), and HTC (One M9+), and Lenovo, and many other manufacturers, including the second tier . But Huawei’s first smartphone with Quad HD resolution is just about to go on sale – it will be the Nexus 6P.
The display installed in Honor 7 is made using IPS (in-plane switching) technology. Its viewing angles are quite wide - it’s quite comfortable to watch, say, movies and photos on the display together. There are no serious color deviations or shifts, or significant drops in contrast when looking away from the perpendicular. The screen is quite responsive, it responds quickly to touches and recognizes gestures without problems. In total, the device supports up to ten simultaneous touches. The gadget also easily understands touches with loose gloves - this is especially important before winter.
| Huawei Honor 7 – display settings | ||||
The protective glass of the front panel has an oleophobic coating, so it’s pleasant to touch the screen of the “seven”. During operation, it practically does not get dirty: even if the user left “fingers” on the display, it is not difficult to get rid of them using any cloth at hand. The Honor 7 screen is made using One Glass Solution (OGS) technology, that is, there is no air gap between the protective glass and the matrix, which reduces the number of reflections. A very effective polarizing filter also helps combat glare.
The backlight boundaries of the Honor 7 display are quite wide: the luminosity of the white field varies from 12 to 438 cd/m2. These brightness values allow you to comfortably use the device both in complete darkness and in the sun. The gadget is equipped with a light sensor, thanks to which it can independently adjust the brightness level that is comfortable for working in given conditions. The sensor works quite correctly.
The luminosity of the black field is small: at maximum brightness it reaches 0.33 cd/m2. This is a good indicator for an IPS matrix - the black color looks quite deep at any brightness, including maximum, without deviations into dark gray, dark purple or some other dark color. The contrast of the Honor 7 display is very good by the standards of mobile IPS – 1327:1.
Huawei Honor 7 – Grayscale Color Temperature
The color temperature of shades of gray is slightly higher than the reference value of 6500 K - on average it is 7500 K. Evenness is also not all smooth - very light and very dark tones are colder than the intermediate ones, and in general the picture is a little cold. If desired, the user can correct this in the display settings menu.
| Huawei Honor 7 – gamma curve of gray color (left) and color components (right) in comparison with the reference curve (indicated by dotted line) | ||
All gamma curves coincide with the reference curve - the smartphone display displays various halftones and shades correctly. That is, everything is fine with the display, except that the color temperature is too high - we have no other comments.
Main camera
Huawei decided not to waste time on trifles and installed a 20-megapixel Sony IMX230 matrix.
- sensor size 1/2.4''
- f/2.0 aperture
- sapphire crystal lens
The best part is that all this results in really, really good quality photographs. Whether during the day or at night, the images always look decent.
Full automatic (ISO 2500)
Night mode (ISO 200), taken from a tripod
Manual mode (ISO 100, shutter speed 32 seconds)
Below is a composite shot from several photos with different ISO settings.
Night shooting test on Honor 7 camera (ISO test)
Of course, the device cannot compete with the photo flagships of the past 2015, but in comparison with them, the quality of the images is above average, and this is already very good.
By the way, most of the pictures above were taken with HDR mode activated. I advise you to do the same, since the rate of fire of the smartphone does not suffer much. We take the originals of all submitted photos from here.
Photosoft is literally crammed with all sorts of different shooting settings. We list all available modes:
- HDR
- panoramic photos
- night story
- good photos
- audio note
- panoramic photography
- post focus
- Time Laps
- Burst mode or slow motion video
- watermark
- "delicious food" mode
Above is part of the normal frame, and below is the “Delicious food” mode
As you can see, there is no shortage of subjects to shoot. However, that's not all. Like smartphones from ZTE and Nubia in particular, Honor 7 has acquired a light painting mode. The latter is even divided into several separate submodes: lantern light, light graffiti, water and stars. The thing is very interesting and with or without friends you can create really interesting things. The main thing is to get a tripod for shooting, because the device always takes pictures with a very long shutter speed. You won't be able to take something off your hands, even if you're a sniper and know how to pull the trigger between heartbeats.
It is likely that with the release of Android 6.0 the camera will receive additional photography capabilities. Professional or fully manual mode, in particular.
But now I want to quarrel. Unfortunately, Huawei still hasn't made the camera settings menu automatically rotate to landscape orientation.
This is inconvenient, since each time you need to turn the smartphone vertically to read the text of the menus.
Video recording 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps. The quality of the videos is average, nothing remarkable except for digital image stabilization. Below is a video filmed without a stub.
Now take a look at an example of a video with digital optimization enabled.
As you can see, the quality has deteriorated, since the system stabilizes the picture by cropping the central frame and stretching it to the same Full HD. On a smartphone screen both options look good, on a computer the first is average, and the second is bad. It's better not to transfer files.
⇡#Hardware and performance
It’s easy to guess the technical content of Huawei smartphones and tablets in advance. This is how we reasoned in the case of Honor 7. The processor most likely will be a chip from a subsidiary of HiSilicon. Since the smartphone is intended for demanding young people, Huawei will most likely install the most powerful available solution in it - the eight-core Kirin 935 chip. This is actually what happened. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that even the fashionable Huawei P8 has the Kirin 930 installed. However, the difference between them is not very significant: the frequency of the Cortex-A53e cores is 2 GHz and 2.2 GHz, but the Cortex-A53 cores operate at the same frequency - 1.5 GHz. However, the very fact that Honor 7 has a more powerful system-on-chip is surprising.
General synthetic tests - AnTuTu Benchmark 5 and GeekBench 3 - clearly demonstrated the superiority of Honor 7 over Huawei P8: the new product is really more powerful. For example, in the AnTuTu task, “seven” scored more than 49 thousand points, while P8 scored less than 44 thousand points. At the same time, even the most powerful, the 935th Kirin, is significantly slower than the new monster from MediaTek (Helio X10 MT6795T, which runs the HTC One M9+). Look at the scores in the GeekBench 3 test: how dare we say it, One M9+ boldly beats Honor 7: five thousand points in a multi-threaded task versus three and a half!
Huawei P8 and Honor 7 have three gigabytes of RAM. Of course, fast LPDDR3 modules are used. The built-in storage capacity of the S7 test unit is sixteen gigabytes, of which less than eleven are available to the user. There are 32 and 64 GB versions for different markets, but whether they will be officially sold in Russia is not known. The user can install a microSD memory card instead of a second SIM card; there is no separate slot for a flash drive.
When performing everyday, mundane tasks, the Honor 7 behaves well. Literally a couple of times during testing, it barely noticeably froze - let's hope that this is a flaw in our pre-production sample.
The graphics controller in the Kirin 935 is the same as in the 930, and in the 925, and in the 920 – ARM Mali-T628 MP4, operating at 600 MHz. This solution, as you probably already guessed, is far from the first freshness. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that resource-intensive 3D toys on the Honor 7 are somewhat slow. Of course, this can be partially solved by reducing the graphics settings to medium or initial, but even this will not completely correct the situation. Honor 7 is not for gamers.
⇡#Communications and wireless communications
As we have already said, the device can work with two Nano-SIM cards - the second SIM card is installed instead of a memory card. It is noteworthy and important that the smartphone has two separate radio modules installed - they work according to the Dual SIM Dual Active scheme, that is, when any activity occurs on one of the cards (for example, an incoming call), the second does not go offline. Working with SIM cards is implemented in the simplest way: after installing both SIM cards in the device, the smartphone will offer to assign which one to call, send messages and access the Internet with.
Honor 7 – SIM card management
The gadget can work in fourth generation networks – LTE Cat.6 is supported. The maximum theoretical data reception speed in mobile networks is 300 Mbit/s, upload speed is 50 Mbit/s. All bands important for Russia have been implemented - there should be no problems with 4G reception, regardless of the operator. In general, the smartphone reliably receives signals from mobile networks and does not lose it for no apparent reason. It is noteworthy that Honor 7 has a software option that allows you to improve the quality of signal reception - it is called “Signal+”.
| Honor 7 – improving signal quality | ||
In terms of wireless interfaces, Honor 7 is equipped almost to the maximum. The device supports Wi-Fi of all more or less popular protocols at frequencies of 2.4 and 5 GHz, Bluetooth 4.1 and is even equipped with an infrared port designed to control household appliances - for this it even has its own, quite convenient application called “Virtual remote controller". It is very easy to work with: the user must select the type of household appliance, find the desired manufacturer in a fairly large list, test the functionality of the proposed code and save the device. After this simple procedure, the treasured virtual control panel will appear. And all this is fine and wonderful, but the version that arrived in our test laboratory does not have NFC. Probably, modifications intended for other countries have support for Near Field Communication, as is sometimes the case with Huawei. However, our version did not have NFC - we double checked.
| Honor 7 – built-in Virtual Remote application | ||
The smartphone has a navigation module installed that can communicate with GPS and GLONASS satellites. We have no complaints about his work. A minute after launching the profile test, the gadget detected eleven satellites, but it used only five of them to determine its location. The error radius was moderate - within 8-12 meters, that is, he was oriented quite accurately.
| Honor 7 – AndroiTS GPS Test results outdoors | ||
⇡#Camera
The Honor 7 has a flagship camera set: the front camera is eight-megapixel, without autofocus, but with a number of interesting software filters. For example, it has a “perfect selfie” mode, in which the user can carefully retouch their own self-portrait: smooth out skin unevenness, make eyes smaller or larger, make them brighter, and so on. The retouching result is displayed in real time. The front camera of Honor 7 takes good pictures even in artificial light.
Honor 7 – front camera effects
The main camera of the gadget has a 20-megapixel sensor – these are rarely installed in mid-priced smartphones; usually this is the prerogative of flagship models. It is equipped with an automatic focusing system and dual LED flash.
Honor 7 – main camera
The rear camera of the smartphone takes good pictures. The automation quickly and accurately aims at the object and quite correctly selects parameters for different shooting conditions - there is no need to set the settings manually. Photos are obtained with natural colors, contrasting and sharp. The level of detail practically does not drop towards the edges of the frame, which is undoubtedly good. In bright light, photos come out very detailed. In the dark, the picture turns out a little “soapy” - the software algorithms fight noise too aggressively, but this is quite forgivable. We have no other comments about the rear camera.
Huawei Honor 7
View all images (5)Camera
Sony is responsible for the photographic part of Honor 7. Its 20 MP IMX230 sensor (6 lenses, F2.0 aperture, 27 mm viewing angle) serves as the main camera, and the IMX178 sensor (F2.4 aperture, 26 mm viewing angle) serves as the front camera.
The main camera is equipped with accurate hybrid autofocus and dual LED flash. A picture can be taken by pressing the sound key. The quality of the images is at a high level, except that the processing algorithm in the fight against noise reduces detail, and the lack of optical stabilization makes it difficult to shoot on the go.
The Huawei Honor 7 is worse at shooting video - 1080p videos have a maximum frequency of 30 frames per second and are not impressive in quality, and the lack of image stabilization has a much stronger effect here.
The front camera, thanks to its accurate color reproduction and detail, is well suited for selfies. You can take a picture not only by touching the screen, but also by pressing the fingerprint sensor pad, which is very convenient.
⇡#Autonomous work
We have already noted that Honor 7 has a fairly capacious battery – 11.78 Wh (3100 mAh, 3.8 V). For a 5.2-inch smartphone, this is a perfectly acceptable battery. It is enough for the owner to spend a working day or even a day away from the outlet, provided that he at least sometimes lets go of the smartphone. During testing, Honor 7 did not leave us without a connection even once – and this is definitely good. A full charging cycle takes just under three hours; the gadget is powered by Micro-USB.
In our traditional test for HD video playback at maximum screen brightness, the device lasted more than six and a half hours, which is a very respectable result. At the same time, of course, its wireless modules were turned on, and data (applications, mail, and so on) was updated in the background via Wi-Fi. If you lower the display backlight level, the smartphone's battery will be enough to watch a movie throughout the entire transatlantic flight, without interruption.
| Honor 7 – power saving options | ||
Honor 7, like other Huawei devices, has three scenarios for using the battery with quite self-explanatory names: (auto-adjusting processor power depending on the task being performed) and energy-saving. The user also has the ability to automatically turn off Wi-Fi when the device is in sleep mode. In general, if you adjust the energy saving settings to suit your needs, you can extend the life of the battery by an hour or two.
| Honor 7 – power settings | ||||
Battery
Thanks to a non-removable 3100 mAh battery, Huawei Honor 7 lasted almost twelve and a half hours in our traditional battery test using the Chrome browser at 50% brightness in balanced mode - a very decent result. It was not possible to obtain accurate data for high performance mode because the task manager stopped the browser several times.
⇡#Conclusions
We chose the title “not enough honor” for this material for one reason: Honor 7 is too disrespectful to older Huawei smartphones. Seriously, let's face it: with the same P8, Mate S and others like them, he did what the first Volkswagen Golf GTI did with sports cars of the same time - he made them meaningless. Honor 7 is fast enough, it has many wireless interfaces, it can work with two SIM cards, it has good cameras, decent battery life, it is equipped with a good display... and official resellers are asking 23 thousand rubles for it at the start of sales! Yes, let's admit, he doesn't have a very expressive appearance. But for the above-mentioned gadgets, it is also not so outstanding that you overpay for it. This suggests a logical conclusion: why pay more? The conclusion was short, but that’s probably all we would like to say about Honor 7.
Device design
The Honor 7 smartphone is made of an aluminum body. Thanks to the ceramic coating on top, the phone does not slip out of your hands, it is comfortable to hold and use with one hand.
The Honor 7 mobile device has a rectangular shape, with neatly rounded corners. The screen occupies more than 75% of the front panel area.
In addition, the phone has plastic inserts on the top and bottom of the device, under which the antennas are located
The phone is made very carefully and of high quality. There is no play, the phone lies comfortably, and the battery is not removable.
