Review: Huawei Honor 8

Huawei’s Honor 8 smartphone sits just below the flagship P9, and packs in a lot of similar specifications. But it is in direct competition with the likes of the OnePlus 3.

The mix of glass and metal works well for the Honor 8. There is a 2.5D glass above the screen, with the metal frame sandwiched between the glass at the front and the back. It seems like a mix of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Sony’s flagship Xperia phones, and that is a big positive. The Honor 8 is one of the most visually appealing smartphones out there. It’s just 7.45mm thick and tips the scales at 153g.

Like a lot of Android flagship phones, the Honor 8 also has a 5.2-inch (1,920x1,080 resolution) display which does well in terms of sharpness, colour and visibility in bright sunlight.

Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 950 octa-core processor powers the Honor 8. It has 4 GB RAM, and we experienced snappy responses, whether it was app load times, switching between apps, or multitasking. There were occasional lags, but that is more because of the oft-confusing EMUI 4.1 custom interface that is wrapped over Android 6 (Marshmallow)—certain optimization issues lead to the lags. We did notice the Honor 8 would heat up a bit when the camera was used. The 3,000 mAh battery lasts a day, even if you stress the phone with calls, Web browsing, or even extraordinarily high camera use.

The dual-camera bit is the Honor 8’s true party piece. One is a standard 12-megapixel camera, while the other is a 12-megapixel monochrome, the idea being to create the illusion of depth-of-field. You get the ability to define the level of depth you want in a photo, after you’ve clicked it. Software processing is used to create the depth-of-field effect, but it isn’t always perfect. But, for most users who are simply on the lookout for a consistent smartphone, this does a pretty good job in most lighting conditions.

At a price tag of ₹ 29,999, the Honor 8 has a premium design, a good display, and performs well too. What we aren’t entirely convinced about is whether the dual camera can trump the OnePlus 3’s camera in terms of overall detailing for standard photography—with the potential of future software updates, this cannot be brushed aside.