Larger screen with a trendy notch, newer chipset, bigger battery, and a current OS version – it sure sounds like Huawei has ticked a lot of boxes to bring an already successful formula to the year 2019. It’s the Huawei P Smart 2019 we’re talking about, the follow up to the smartphone that happened to be the star of one of our most read reviews in 2019.
The P Smart 2019 swaps out the 5.65-inch 18:9 display of last year’s model for a larger (6.21-inch) and more contemporary 19.5:9 aspect panel that also has a waterdrop notch – you can’t accuse Huawei of not staying on top of trends. In fact, it’s even got the latest Android too, 9.0 Pie – few models in the segment can say the same thing.
The 2019 version comes with an updated chipset – the in-house Kirin 710 replaces the 659 of the predecessor bringing a bump in manufacturing process (12nm vs. 16nm). And to go with the improved efficiency, you’re also getting an increased battery capacity – 3,400mAh vs. the 3,000 of the original P Smart.
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.
Little else has changed in other areas, so the 2019 P Smart comes with what’s at first glance the same camera setup – a 13MP primary module with a 2MP depth sensor on the side. The 8MP selfie shooter has been carried over too, but some regions will be getting an alternative 16MP cam on the front – not our review unit, though.
One thing we need call Huawei out for is the missed opportunity to switch to USB-C – the P Smart 2019 still has a microUSB port and that’s not very 2019, is it?
We didn’t get a strictly retail-grade box, but the contents should include a 5V/2A charger and a microUSB cable to go with it – these two we did get. A pair of earbuds is also part of the retail package. Let’s not get too fixated on the peripherals and have a closer look at the phone itself.
Competition
Competent midragners are no longer the unicorns they once were and there’s plenty of choice if you’re not after the absolute best on the market and are willing to save some bucks. They usually have bright displays, solid battery life, and decent cameras, and it’s often tough to pick one just on the merits. They’re often simply just good enough.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) • Realme 2 Pro • Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro • Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
You could say the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) stands out thanks to its ultra wide camera – those are still close to unicorn status in this segment, and the P Smart certainly doesn’t have one. Overall image quality isn’t significantly better on either phone, however. The A7’s got longer battery life than the P Smart, but is even slower to charge. Its AMOLED display can go significantly brighter and is superior in the sun, but nothing can beat the P Smart for absolute sRGB accuracy (if that’s at all on someone’s list of top priorities). The P Smart’s Kirin 710 is more powerful than the Exynos 7885 in the Galaxy, plus the Huawei phone has the newest Android unlike the A7.
The Realme 2 Pro is still on 8.1 Oreo too, so it’s behind the P Smart 2019 on this one. Battery life is comparable as is charging speed, and the Realme is only slightly better in the display department (except for accuracy, where as we established the P Smart 2019 is king). Where the Realme is consistently better is image quality, day and night, front and back. And going into video, it offers the added bonus of 4K capture and stabilization in 1080p, both of which the P Smart lacks.
Next up is the Redmi Note 6 Pro which also outclasses the P Smart 2019 in the stills department plus it offers video EIS in 1080p (no 4K on the Redmi either). The Xiaomi phone’s Snapdragon 636 isn’t as brawny as the Kirin 710, and the OS is the older Oreo, but battery life and display quality is in the same ballpark.
One of the best-aging midrangers of last year, the Nokia 7 Plus, is worth a mention here. It’s gotten its Pie update so it’s on level terms with the P Smart in this respect, and that’s pretty much the case in battery life. It’s got a proper telephoto camera to pit against the P Smart’s depth sensor, it can record 4K video and it has stabilization in 1080p. The Nokia’s got the more premium build too, but it also costs a bit more.
Verdict
The P Smart 2019 has a display that stands out with chart-topping accuracy but is distinctly good enough in other respects. Battery life is solid and charging speed isn’t as slow as the pedestrian adapter would have suggested. Image quality is not flagship grade, but it’ll do. It runs the latest OS in a world of generally outdated software. And all of this comes at a very reasonable price, which is often sweetened further by carrier subsidies. What’s not to like?
Well, the all-plastic build isn’t the most durable. Or rather, it may live to survive a drop better than glass, but it gets scuffed up more easily. A microUSB port has no place on a phone with ‘2019’ in its name. And then the lack of any video stabilization is hard to swallow, plus some competitors can even record 4K video, and the P Smart 2019 maxes out at 1080p.
Carefully weighing the lists below, while also keeping in mind the price, it’s looking like the Huawei P Smart 2019 is one of those affordable all-rounders that are often the, ahem… smart choice.
Pros
Very light for its display size and battery capacity.
Ah, a new Photo king rises, but its kingdom of apps was taken away before its birth. What happens next then, the crowd asks? Will its subjects flee with the riches now gone? Or will the Huawei P40 Pro break new paths through this uncharted territory and keep its former glory? The crowds shall get their answer!
It was tough for Huawei to lose Google support, but it will be even more challenging to sell in the current stagnated market amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. But the P40 series is having its launch despite the global health crisis, and the P40 Pro surely looks like it is ready to stand its ground.
The P40 Pro provides a premium camera experience with improved sensors and a focus on the optical zooming, plus it has the new 90Hz 1200p OLED screen. There is an even more premium device than the Pro – the new P40 Pro+ with a ceramic body and a jaw-dropping 10x optical zoom.
The Pro+ launch was moved for this summer season though and it seems it will be more of a limited edition, quite expensive at that. So, all eyes on the P40 Pro here, please, as it is the star of this show.
The P40 Pro is Huawei‘s first smartphone with a high-refresh-rate screen – it now has a 6.58″ curved OLED with high-resolution of 1200p and 90Hz refresh rate. The elliptical punch-hole is quite the eyesore but packs a brand-new 32MP selfie camera with autofocus (finally!) and a ToF snapper. It seems that Huawei is making up for the lost pixels Huawei by putting the tech needed for 3D face unlock.
The main camera is what everyone will be talking about, of course. It has a new 50MP sensor with a RYYB filter that will spit 12MP photos. Then comes the ultrawide shooter lifted straight from the Mate 30 Pro – a 40MP sensor with RGGB filter and autofocus. The zoom camera seems to have an identical periscope lens for 5x optical zoom as seen on the P30 Pro’s – but gets a new 12MP sensor with RYYB filter and will allow more light at nighttime. And finally, there is another ToF camera for portraits and autofocus assistance.
The new Kirin 990 5G is at the helm of the P40 Pro. At 4,200 mAh, the battery capacity has remained unchanged since the P30 Pro but charging should be faster.
Huawei P40 Pro specs
Body: Glass front and back, aluminum frame; IP68-rated for dust and water resistance.
Security: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical), 3D face recognition.
Connectivity: 5G/4G/3G/GSM; Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 6+, Dual-band GPS, Bluetooth 5.1 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C.
Misc: IR blaster, acoustic display acts as earpiece, bottom-firing loudspeaker.
The Huawei P40 Pro seems to be lacking so little but the elephant in the room – the absence of Google Mobile Services – is something that raises many questions. And you will get those answered if you stick for a while with us.
Unboxing the Huawei P40 Pro
There are no surprises within the P40 Pro retail box – its contents are worthy of a flagship. Inside you will find the 40W power brick and the enhanced USB-C cable that goes with it.
Huawei is also throwing a pair of its wired earbuds ending on a USB-C plug. Those have the same shape as Huawei’s FreeBuds 3, they are just not so free.
Some markets may be getting a silicone case with the P40 Pro, but our box did not offer one.
Wrap-up
If someone thought Huawei was done after Google cut them off – they were wrong. The Mate 30 and the P40 series are here to prove that there is a life after Google, and it’s not as bad as you might think initially.
Google’s absence is still obvious and while we are pretty sure the Play Services will find their way on to the P40 phones, one way or another, the third-party stores are getting better and stronger, and you are never left without options. The Amazon AppStore and APKPure are perfectly capable to keep most of your apps up to date.
The hardware package is mightily impressive though, and this is where everyone should be focused, not on the Google stuff. The P40 Pro has an excellent screen with top-notch resolution and high refresh rate. The new Kirin 990 5G is one of the best on the market, with solid thermal properties.
But the new Leica camera on both ends are the attention grabbers. Huawei has kept the same arrangement on the back as on the P30 Pro, but has improved the sensors, lenses, and the processing algorithms. New video options are available, too. Meanwhile, at the front, the selfie shooter has finally gotten an autofocus, while with the help of the ToF camera you will get some amazing portrait shots.
With the right price position, stimuli (the pre-orders get FreeBuds 3), and most important – marketing push – the Huawei P40 Pro has every chance of not only surviving but beating the odds.
The competition
Well, we can’t start this chapter without mentioning one great alternative sold at nearly half the P40 Pro price. Huawei P30 Pro figure was slashed numerous times post the USA vs. Huawei war, and it is currently a hot deal pretty much everywhere. The previous generation flagship offers a similar experience in terms of performance and camera (read great). Sure, you will lose the 90Hz refresh rate and the top-notch ultrawide camera, but the P30 Pro almost €500 cheaper! Oh, and it has all Google services on board and already runs on Android 10 + EMUI 10.
Huawei P40 Pro next to the P30 Pro
The Galaxy S20+ is your next option. Its price is a close match to the P40 Pro, but it’s Dynamic AMOLED is larger and of higher resolution. The screen also supports HDR10+, and you can enjoy high-definition content from all popular streaming services thanks to the entirety of Google’s package. The camera experience and quality are similar even if the optical zoom has a shorter range. The Galaxy also offers stereo speakers, 120Hz refresh rate instead of 90Hz, 8K video capturing, and a bit faster performance.
Oppo Find X2 is an interesting alternative to consider if available in your region. It’s a great flagship ran by the Snapdragon 865 and uses a 6.7″ 120Hz Quad HD AMOLED screen. It has high-res wide and ultrawide snappers and a 13MP cam witha periscope lens for 5x optical zoom. Stereo speakers, Android 10, and 65W fast charging complete the flagship bundle.
Finally, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro will be launching soon, and it will cost as much as the Huawei. We know it will have a 6.67″ 90Hz AMOLED of 1080p resolution and the newest Snapdragon 865 chip. The quad-camera at the back is quite peculiar – a 108MP primary, a 20MP ultrawide, an 8MP telephoto for 10x hybrid zoom, and a 12MP portrait camera with 2x optical zoom. 8K capturing is available on its main camera, stereo speaker setup is present, Android 10 as well, and the Mi 10 supports 50W fast charging.
Huawei P30 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus • Oppo Find X2 Pro • Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
The verdict
The Huawei P40 Pro is the right kind of a flagship – it offers cutting-edge tech across the board. The OLED screen is both high-resolution and with a high refresh rate, the performance is brilliant and yet won’t suffer from throttling from heating, and then the battery is relatively large and very fast to recharge.
Photography is what the P40 Pro is all about, and the phone excels in that even if there were some hiccups along the way. We are sure Huawei will fix the minor issues we observed with an update, and we already like its plans for EMUI’s expansion.
The fate of the brand lies in its supporters, but we are seeing no reason why you should stay away from it. The P40 Pro is an excellent flagship specimen worth experiencing, be it with Google functions or not.
Pros
Eye-catchy curved design, water-proof body.
Excellent high-res 90Hz OLED screen.
Flagship-grade sustained performance.
Dependable battery life, blazing-fast charging.
Excellent photo quality day and night across all cameras.
Top-notch selfies.
Great video quality at 30fps across the board, excellent stabilization.
All-round connectivity, though no 3.5mm jack
Cons
Only takes NV cards for memory expansion.
No Google Mobile Services means some apps and games will never work no matter what.
A Mate 20 before the real Mate 20s are out that’s lighter on your wallet but not light on features – it’s the Huawei Mate 20 lite. While waiting for the big boys, we figured we’d give this midranger a go.
As with previous Huawei Lites, the Mate 20 edition packs one of the company’s mid-tier chipsets, but this time it’s a new one – instead of the ubiquitous 659, it’s now the 12nm Kirin 710 that swaps out 4 of the Cortex-A53 cores in its CPU for the more powerful A73 variety; a new GPU is also part of the 710 bundle.
The Mate 20 comes with a 20MP f/1.8 primary cam instead of the 16MP f/2.2 unit found in the latest Lite, the P20. On the front, we now see a 24MP f/2.0 camera for selfies, as opposed to the P20 lite’s 16MP f/2.2 module. Each of the Mate’s high-res shooters is paired with an extra 2MP unit for depth detection too.
Like the true Mates, the 20 lite has a large display – in this case a 6.3-inch FullHD-ish panel in a 19.5:9 aspect, complete with the mandatory notch. Mandatory for a Mate, this Lite one has a generous 3,750mAh battery – couple that with the 12nm SoC and we’re in for some pretty good endurance.
Huawei Mate 20 lite specs
Body: Aluminum frame, glass back, 158.3 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm, 172g.
It’s looking like a solid midrange package the Mate 20 lite, but let’s first check out what’s in the actual package.
Huawei Mate 20 lite unboxing
The Mate 20 lite comes in an understated black box with the name of the phone printed on top and on the sides of the lid. The phone’s on top and underneath it there’s a paper sleeve containing one of the thickest quick start guides we’ve seen lately (it’s in a lot of languages), but also a screen protector.
Remove that and you’ll see the charger labeled Huawei Quick Charge. That’s not to be confused with the Huawei Super Charge adapters that you’ll find bundled with the company’s proper high-end models, but it’s still rated at 9V/2A, so there is some form of rapid charging involved. There’s also a USB-A to USB-C cable and in a separate compartment you’ll find a pair of basic earbuds to get yourself started.
Competition
Huawei‘s huge smartphone portfolio inevitably means there are a ton of options within the company’s own lineup. The Honor Play we reviewed recently immediately comes to mind offering the soon-to-be-replaced flagship Kirin 970 chipset which is substantially more powerful than the Mate 20 lite‘s Kirin 710. The Mate wins the stills camera battle, but you may want the Honor’s 4K video. The Honor is substantially cheaper making things extra difficult.
Honor Play • Huawei P20 lite • Nokia 7 plus • Galaxy A6 Plus (2018) • Xiaomi Mi 8 SE • Xperia XA2 Plus
The P20 lite has a weaker chip than the Mate 20 lite, and shorter battery life, but is even more affordable than the Honor Play. You’ll be sacrificing some of the camera prowess, but you’ll also be getting a more compact package.
Once you’ve got your Huawei‘s all sorted out, you should probably have a look at the Nokia 7 Plus. Its Snapdragon 660 is at least as powerful as the Mate 20 lite’s Kirin 710 and battery life is almost as good. It’s got a telephoto camera, however, and can also record 4K video, which the Mate doesn’t. The Android One on the Nokia will please purists and the slightly lower price will please… well, everyone.
Another in a list of more affordable alternatives, the Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) will give you a better display and even longer battery life, but a significantly slower chip and a microUSB port (what year is it?).
No such issues with the Mi 8 SE, whose Snapdragon 710 outperforms the Kirin 710 in the Mate 20 lite, and it can do the number crunching for 4K recording too. Battery life is in the Mate’s favor overall, though not by much, and the Mi’s lack of a headphone jack is a bummer, especially in this class.
The Xperia XA2 Plus has all the right ports and jacks, so no advantage over the Mate on this front. It does match it in battery life, and sells for almost the same money, but is lacking depth cams on either side. Its otherwise not as potent Snapdragon 630 can record 4K video nonetheless.
Verdict
Having the flagship’s name is good and all, but Huawei‘s priced the Mate 20 lite without accounting for the ‘lite’ bit too much, and we’re not liking the numbers. It’s a good overall package, with excellent battery life, decent display and good image quality from its two (real) cameras. But other phones offer those too, some even outperform the Mate in key areas, and often at a lower price. Carrier subsidies could sway things in any direction, but at full retail (north of €400)р we find the Mate 20 tough to recommend.
Pros
Light, without feeling cheap
Battery life to spare
Good all-round camera experience with some creative options
Cons
Expensive for the hardware
Derivative design
No 4K video recording, poor quality 1080p/60fps (though not bad 1080p/30fps)
Huawei has officially announced HarmonyOS, the operating system it was rumored to be developing to replace its reliance on Android. In China, the software will be known as Hongmeng. The company says the operating system, a microkernel-based distributed OS, can be used in everything from smartphones to smart speakers, wearables, and in-vehicle systems to create a shared ecosystem across devices. The operating system will be released as an open-source platform worldwide to encourage adoption.
There’s been a lot of speculation about Huawei’s in-house operating system ever since Google suspended the company’s Android license back in May, following the US government’s decision to put Huawei on the Entity List. Huawei has made no secret of the fact that it’s been working on its own OS, but the extent to which it would be able to act as a substitute for Android is unclear.
Interestingly enough, the list includes the Honor V40, Huawei nova 8 and Huawei nova 8 Pro phones despite these now even being officially announced yet.
HarmonyOS eligible Huawei devices:
– Huawei Mate 40
– Huawei Mate 40 Pro
– Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
– Huawei Mate 40 RS Porsche Design
– Huawei Mate X
– Huawei Mate Xs
– Huawei P40
– Huawei P40 Pro
– Huawei P40 Pro+
– Huawei Mate 30 4G
– Huawei Mate 30 Pro 4G
– Huawei Mate 30 5G
– Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
– Huawei Mate 30 RS Porsche Design
– Huawei Nova 8 (Upcoming)
– Huawei Nova 8 Pro (Upcoming)
– Huawei Nova 7 Pro 5G
– Huawei Nova 7 5G
– Huawei Nova 7 SE
– Huawei P30
– Huawei P30 Pro
– Huawei Mate 20
– Huawei Mate 20 Pro
– Huawei Mate 20 X 4G
– Huawei Mate 20 X 5G
– Huawei Mate 20 RS
– Huawei Nova 6 SE
– Huawei Nova 6 5G
HarmonyOS eligible Honor devices:
– Honor V40 (Upcoming)
– Honor 30 Pro
– Honor 30 Pro+
– Honor V30
– Honor V30 Pro
– Honor Play 4 Pro
– Honor X10 5G
– Honor 30
– Honor 30S
– Honor X10 5G
– Honor 20 Pro
– Honor 20
– Honor 9X Pro
– Honor 9X
HarmonyOS eligible wearables:
– Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro (pre-installed – Chinese version)
– Huawei Watch GT 2e
– Huawei Watch GT 2
HarmonyOS eligible tablets:
– Huawei MatePad Pro
– Huawei MatePad Pro 5G
– Honor Tablet V6
While HC itself confirmed these three phones are incoming and not officially confirmed in any way, the Huawei-centric website rarely is giving misleading information. Nevertheless, the website compiled all the Huawei and Honor devices through various leaks and the interesting thing is only nova, P, and Mate series devices are in line for Harmony OS 2.0 – no mention of the Enjoy/Y lineup.
Looking at the Honor devices, the brand is doing a similar thing – no entry-level phones in line, not the Honor 9 series, nor the Honor 30i or Honor 30 Youth. It looks like all devices with GMS are not switching and Huawei is slowly going to phase them out.
The list of eligible devices also includes three watches and three tablets by Huawei. Interestingly enough, the GT 2 Pro is going to arrive with Harmony OS pre-installed – the wearable runs Lite OS currently
Huawei plans to launch HarmonyOS on “smart screen products” later this year, before expanding it to work on other devices, like wearables, over the next three years. The first of these products will be the Honor Smart Screen, which is due to be unveiled on Saturday. Huawei has yet to explicitly say what constitutes a “smart screen” device, but Reuters previously reported that the OS would appear on a range of Honor smart TVs. The focus for the operating system will be products for the Chinese market at first, before Huawei expands it to other markets.
In a statement, the CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, Richard Yu, says that HarmonyOS is “completely different from Android and iOS” because of its ability to scale across different kinds of devices. “You can develop your apps once, then flexibly deploy them across a range of different devices,” the CEO says.
Previously, it’s been unclear whether HarmonyOS would be an operating system for smartphones or for Internet of Things devices. It now appears that it’s designed to power both, similar to Google’s experimental Fuchsia operating system, which is designed to run on various form-factors.
Although the OS will come to more devices over the next three years, in a follow-up press release, Huawei said that “for the time being” it intends to continue using Android on its phones. Whether it can continue to do so is another matter. CNBC reports that in a press conference following the launch, Yu said that the situation was “unclear” as to whether Huawei can still use Android, and that the company is “waiting on an update” to find out.
Since placing Huawei on the Entity List, the Trump administration has indicated that it’s willing to ease the restrictions on the company. In July, senior officials said that the administration would grant licenses to deal with Huawei in instances where national security wouldn’t be impacted. However, yesterday, Bloomberg reported that the White House is delaying its decision about issuing these licenses in the wake of China’s decision to halt purchases of US farming goods. It’s yet another suggestion that the Huawei restrictions have as much to do with the US-China trade war as they do with protecting national security.
HarmonyOS now has an official name, but it still has some major hurdles to overcome. Huawei is expecting developers to recompile their apps for this new operating system, with the ability to code once and deploy across multiple devices with different screen layouts, interactions, and more. Huawei says developers can compile a range of languages into machine code in a single environment, but it’s unclear exactly how easy that will be for developers. There are a lot of big promises here, but it’s going to be an even bigger challenge to build an app ecosystem to rival both Android and Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
Added Huawei confirmation that the Honor Smart Screen will be the first product running HarmonyOS, and the company intends to continue using Android for the time being. Comments from Huawei’s consumer CEO noting that the company’s situation with Android is still “unclear” were also added.
At Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) 2020 (Together), Huawei launched its latest EMUI version, EMUI 11. This new mobile skin brings new changes in the user interface to make the system experience easier.
The new features of EMUI 11 include the artistic Always on Display designs and clock themes, improved multi-window mode, smoother UI animations, better multi-screen collaboration, and more.
Huawei announced EMUI 11 during its Developer Conference today and even though it’s not based on Android 11, the generational upgrade deserves its name. It brings some visual changes to the table, new animations, features and under the hood optimizations.
Huawei EMUI 11 based Android 10 first look :
One of the most notable changes in the new EMUI are the multi-window and split-screen functionalities. Both are now put in the center so the user can get more familiar with the features instead of tucking them somewhere in the menus. Now there’s a dedicated gesture to bring out the Smart Multi-Window sidebar. You can summon it in every app or menu. A small side window will open with your favorite apps and with a single drag-and-drop gesture you can start multi-tasking. Of course, the windows are free-form and can be adjusted in size.
The always-on screen gets a couple of new customization options as well. There are new styles and even animated always-on displays. Choosing a picture from your gallery is also an option and the system will convert it into an appropriate color palette.
The animations when navigating through the menus have been optimized for high-refresh-rate displays. Huawei says that it poured hours of research into how the user perceives transition animations and where your eyes usually wander on the screen while navigating. Using the data, the company optimized the animations to look even smoother and also faster.
Multi-screen collaboration 3.0 is now part of EMUI 11 allowing you to control up to three Android apps from your PC once you sync your Huawei phone to the MateBook. Quite similar to Samsung and Microsoft’s Your Phone app.
There are other subtle improvements to the system apps and how the system handles permissions. One example would be the permission notification in the status bar. If an app on the foreground is using your microphone, GPS or camera, a status bar icon will let you know.
You can check the full changelog for more details.
EMUI 11 refines the user experience and brings vivid, dynamic visual elements for the Always On Display (AOD). AOD now allows you to customize your screen and showcase your personal style with text and images even when the screen is off.
Multi-Window allows you to open apps in a floating window for multitasking. You can relocate the floating window to the desired location or minimize it to a floating bubble for easier access later.
The brand new, intuitive animations throughout EMUI 11 create a smoother, more unified, and visually pleasing user experience when touching items or sliding on the screen.
Whether you’re toggling switches on or off, subtle effects have been enhanced throughout the OS for greater visual satisfaction.
This is a special feature that enables your devices to work together to achieve their full potential. You can mirror your phone to your laptop’s screen to improve your productivity with multiple app windows readily available. (This feature requires a Huawei laptop with PC Manager of version 11.0 or later.)
When you project your phone onto an external display, messages and incoming calls are displayed only on your phone screen, both protecting your privacy and ensuring the continuity of screen projection
Notepad now supports editing notes simultaneously from multiple Huawei devices. For example, you can insert a photo from your phone to the note being edited on your tablet.
You can now quickly identify and extract text from images or documents, edit the text, and then export and share it. Creating a digital version of a paper document has never been easier.
EMUI 11 will be pre-installed on all new Huawei phones from now on while the final version of the software will hit P40 and Mate 30-series pretty soon. The Android 11-based iteration, however, will be delayed because of the ongoing trade ban. Since Huaweididn’t have early access to Android 11‘s source code, the company has had that for only a couple of days since Google released its latest OS just the other day.
EMUI 10 was announced at Huawei Developer Conference 2019 (HDC). Following this release, Huawei announced the EMUI 10 beta rollouts for the Huawei P30 series devices.
Compared to its predecessor, EMUI 10 delivers faster performance, new UX design including Magazine Style UI layout, Morandi Colors, Dark Mode, Golden Icons, New Animations, New dark mode as well as improved privacy features.
Early 2020, Huawei unveiled Huawei P40 series, pre-installed with EMUI 10.1, a step-up version of EMUI 10 with added new features. EMUI 10.1 comes with new features such as multi-window multi-tasking, multi-device collaboration, multi-device browsing, new smart features, and more.
On September 10, 2020, at HDC 2020 Huawei launched EMUI 11, it brings new smart Always on Display, improved multi-window mode, smoother animations, better multi-screen collaboration, and more.
Which device will get the EMUI 11? Here are some of them. Most of the devices in this list are identical to EMUI 10 and 10.1 and it’s based on their OS upgrades cycles. As usual, the company will remove the devices that have completed their updates cycle.
Arriving a few months after the rest of the Mate 20 series phones, but considered by many as the best phone in the family, the Mate 20 X is finally stepping in by offering all the screen real estate you could possibly want in a phone.
Better late than never, as the old saying goes. The Mate 20 X was among the most interesting Mate 20 phones, but it never really saw the light of day outside of a few Southeast Asian countries. Not until recently, that is.
The Mate 20 X has now launched in a few European markets and while the chances are that the P30 is already around the corner, the Mate 20 X has niche of its own.
The 20 X is indeed the most memorable device of the Mate quartet – it has the largest of screens, the best of cameras, the fastest of processors, and the beefiest of batteries. It supports a Huwaei’s M-Pen stylus and the gigantic OLED screen has the smallest of them notches.
The Full HD resolution isn’t what we’d call exactly ‘best’, but it is the one to have if you are a gamer. And among other things, the Mate 20 X was indeed praised for its potential gaming prowess. You can even opt for a special hardware controller for a more immersive gaming experience.
We were eager to get this beast of a phone for a spin since its announcement, and here it is – finally in our hands. But before we dig into its productivity, gaming and photography skills, let’s take a closer look at its specs.
Huawei Mate 20 X specs
Body: dual-glass with metal frame; IP53-rated for dust and splash resistance
Camera features: 1/1.7″ 40MP sensor, up to ISO 102,400, 5x optical zoom, OIS + EIS, Variable Aperture, Portrait Mode, can shoot long-exposure without a tripod
Selfie cam: 24MP, f/2.0 Leica lens, Portrait Mode with live bokeh effects
Battery: 5,000mAh; Super Charge 22.5W
Security: Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted)
Connectivity: Dual SIM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C
Misc: IR blaster, stereo speakers, M-Pen support
What a specs sheet – but that goes without saying as it’s shaering the Mate 20 Pro’s DNA through and through! The Huawei Mate 20 X enjoys a large AMOLED, larger than the Huawei Mate 20 Pro but has a more game-friendly resolution and notch size. Then, it also has the same Kirin chipset, the same triple-camera with 3x optical zoom, and a massive 5,000 mAh battery with Super Charge. What’s not to like, right?
Well, the lack of water-proofing might be an issue, but the Mate 20 X does have proper stereo speakers and an audio jack.
But before we dig into any of that, let’s do some unboxing.
Unboxing the Huawei Mate 20 X
The Mate 20 X, just like the star of the series – the Mate 20 Pro – comes packed within a black paper box. Inside you’d find the 22.5W charging brick, the special USB Type-C cable you’d need to fast charge the X, and a pair of earbuds.
The box also contains a transparent rubber case in some regions outside the EU, but we didn’t get one along with ours. There was a factory preapplied screen protector, though.
We have never been keen on Huawei‘s flagship fragmentation and it’s getting worse with each new series. While we could get behind the release of a normal and Pro model for the P series, the Mate versions never really made sense. And the Mate 20 lineup is not an exception, on the contrary.
The Mate 20 Pro is the model intended for the global market, but the mere presence of this Pro moniker hints for other options. And if a customer wants to see them, well, they are not available to him. This just doesn’t make sense, at all.
Mate 20 X between the Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20
But it is what it is, and the Mate 20 X is finally available for purchase outside China. It took four months for Huawei to begin selling this in Europe, and it’s only official in a couple of markets, but that’s a huge step in the right direction. On top of that, various online retailers are shipping the Mate 20 X across the world, so pretty much anybody can get it now.
The Mate 20 X was shaping as the best Mate 20 phone owing to its massive screen, gaming skills, class-leading camera, S-Pen-like stylus, and huge battery, but Huawei never really meant to push its sales. While it could have been the Pro model, the maker instead considered it more of a limited fan edition, rather than a full-fledged package.
Here is hoping the Mate 20 X does sell well and Huawei reconsiders what the Mate 30 series should look like next fall.
The Competition
The Mate 20 X has the largest screen in a smartphone so far, flagship camera, chipset and all, and this is quite enough to leave it without competition.
The only phone to come close to Huawei‘s behemoth is the Xiaomi’s Mi Max 3 with a 6.9″ 1080p LCD screen. The Mi Max 3 is a mid-ranger with a Snapdragon 636 chipset, but other than that, it offers one very good 12MP camera with large pixels, a massive 5,500 mAh battery, and is super cheap at about €250.
Speaking of Xiaomi, its most current large phone is the flagship Mi Mix 3 slider, which has a notch-less 6.4″ 1080 AMOLED, Snapdragon 845 chip and great all-round camera experience. It’s cheaper than the Mate 20 X, but you’d be losing the extra camera skills.
The Galaxy Note9 with its 6.4″ QHD AMOLED screen is Samsung’s offer if you want a phablet, and it ships with an S-Pen and a dedicated slot for it within the Note’s body. It’s equally powerful, the screen doesn’t have a notch, and is now cheaper than the X, too.
Vivo’s NEX S has a 6.6″ AMOLED screen, notch-free as well, flagship-grade Snapdragon 845 chip, and a good-enough camera. It’s as limited as the Mate 20 X, if not more, but it might be cheaper where officially available. If you are after a smartphone with a large screen, you should check this one out. The pop-up selfie camera might not be your thing, though, so you have been warned.
Finally, Apple has the iPhone XS Max with a 6.5″ 1242p AMOLED screen and is probably best equipped to compete with the Mate 20 X despite the different operating system. The iPhone’s screen has an eyesore of a notch, sure, but is one of the largest screens around. Then Apple’s A12 Bionic chip is currently the fastest chipset in a smartphone. The XS Max is fully water-proofed, but while its camera is quite capable, it is not as versatile as the Mate’s and lacks Night Mode. The XS Max is a bit more expensive than the Mate 20 X.
And of course, if you want a Huawei like the Mate 20 X, but a bit smaller and cheaper, you can always go for the Mate 20 Pro or Mate 20.
Xiaomi Mi Max 3 • Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 • Samsung Galaxy Note9 • vivo NEX S • Apple iPhone XS Max
The Verdict
The Huawei Mate 20 X is not everyone’s cup of tea because of that giant 7.2″ screen. While it is a joy for gamers, it might be a nightmare as a daily driver because of that size. Then again, the Mate 20 Xis about 15-17mm taller than the most recent bunch of phablets – the Galaxy Note9, iPhone XS Max, Mi Mix 3 – so its footprint might be not so tough to stomach after all
And if size is what you are after, the rest is as flagship-grade as it can get right now. The Kirin 980 chipset is one of the best, the triple-camera on the back might be the most-skilled setups to date, and the battery life is pretty awesome. There are also some nice touches like the true stereo speakers, the audio jack, and the stylus support if you need one.
Overall, the Huawei Mate 20 X is one of the best flagships right now, even four months after its premiere. No other modern phone can match its screen size, and this alone could have won Huawei the whole phablet category. If only Huawei has thought this through last fall…
The Y9 Prime 2019. It comes with an attractive design, a sizeable sweet display, and that trendy pop-up front camera mechanism.
Design and Construction
Up front, the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 greets us with a full-screen display. Very slim bezels adorn the sides and the top of the Y9 Prime, and while there’s still a little bit of chin, it isn’t that distracting. The chin’s also there to pretty much ensure that the user’s fingers still have a bit of space to swipe up from. The notch-less full-screen display is made possible thanks to the Y9 Prime’s pop-up front camera mechanism.
Turning the device on its rear, we have the triple-camera setup and the fingerprint scanner. The smartphone employs a two-tone colorway, with the design slightly reminiscent of the Pixel’s design. The unit we have on hand here is in the Emerald Green color. While the rear is made of plastic, it gives off a glass-like look and feel upon the first touch. The polycarbonate material also allows the device to feel sturdy and premium when held.
At the right, there’s the power button and the volume rocker. As the phone is quite sizeable, you might need to stretch your thumb a little to reach the buttons, especially if you have small hands. Despite that, they’re both clicky and tactile. The left side of the device is bare without any buttons or the like.
At the top, next to the pop-up camera mechanism, one can find the hybrid dual SIM card tray and the noise-canceling mic.
Last but not least, there’s the 3.5mm audio jack, a USB-C port, a noise-canceling mic for regular calls, and the single-downward firing speaker, all located at the bottom of the device.
Display and Multimedia
The Y9 Prime comes equipped with a 6.59-inch FHD+ LTPS LCD, with a resolution of 2340 x 1080. Slapping a screen protector on the phone would be ideal as the Y9 Prime does not come with any display protection. The enormous display is incredible when it comes to consuming media. You do get an almost-full screen experience as there are no thick bezels nor a notch to obstruct the view; the viewing angles are great as well. The contrast could be more improved though, as well as the vibrancy of the colors.
When it comes to the speaker’s performance, the audio quality is a disappointment. The volume needs to be improved as it doesn’t get loud enough to fill an entire room, even at maximum volume. The lows aren’t exactly present with the volume turned up, resulting in a tinny sound.
OS, UI, and Apps
Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9 skinned on top runs as the Y9 Prime’s operating system. EMUI has a pretty straightforward UI, with tips popping up here and there if ever you’re a first-time user. A standard home screen will greet you out of the box, with the app icons arranged in different screens. This can be modified into a drawer-style arrangement if you’re into that. For navigation, you can also change it up to a gesture-based instead of the default three-button navigation.
Our unit here has 128GB of storage, with about 110GB of it usable. The usual Google apps come with the phone out of the box, as well as third-party apps like Facebook, Agoda, Netflix, and Camera360. The Y9 Prime also has a Party mode, a SIM Toolkit, HiCare, Health, FM Radio, Storage Cleaner, and the Huawei AppGallery.
Camera
A 16MP shooter sits in the Y9 Prime’s pop-up mechanism, while on a triple camera setup composed of the 16MP main + 8MP ultrawide + 2MP depth shooters sit on the rear.
When it comes to selfies, using the standard photo mode, the quality of the images is average enough to post on social media. A bit of a downside, however, is that some of the photos tend to look overexposed. As for portrait selfies, the subject-background separation is rather weak. The edges of the subject are slightly smudged and blurry as well, which shouldn’t be the case in portrait selfies.
As for the rear cameras, in the standard photo mode, the quality is pretty decent. There’s contrast, sharpness for details can be seen as well. When it comes to color, however, it’s not quite accurate, and it lacks vibrancy as some of the photos produced look washed-out. Portrait-mode with the rear cameras, again there’s the lack of a subject-background separation. Similar to the selfies, the edges of the subject are smudged and blurry as well. The Y9 Prime’s camera has a Night Mode, and it’s pretty good when compared to taking low-light shots with just the standard photo mode. In Night Mode, the images take on a brighter tone and get a tinge of color as well.
For video, the Y9 Prime can shoot up to 1080p at 30fps. Video quality is modest, especially in natural light. Check it out.
Performance and Benchmarks
Hisilicon Kirin 710F powers up the Y9 Prime, coupled with Mali-G51 MP4 GPU and 4GB of RAM. As always, we ran the smartphone through a couple of benchmarks, and here are the results:
Performance-wise, the Y9 Prime is pretty capable of multi-tasking, productivity, and gaming. We found the large, full-screen to be a big help when it comes to doing tasks such as reading documents, writing, jotting notes, and the like. Gaming-wise, we played Honkai Impact, Asphalt, and PUBG on it. The games were playable, but do note that we were either at the lowest or at the medium setting to be able to play them.
For biometrics, the Y9 Prime comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. It registered fingerprints pretty quick. Even with the quick registration, unlocking the device took about a second. It might be a tad slower than what we’re used to, but it’s still reliable.
Connectivity and Battery Life
Y9 Prime 2019 has the usual connectivity features like LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the like. Pinning locations and such on the map and Waze was also accurate. AR games are possible to play with this phone as it has a Gyroscope sensor.
For battery, the device comes equipped with a 4,000mAh battery. PC Mark’s battery test gave the Y9 Prime a total of 16 hours and 15 minutes. In our standard video loop test (50% brightness, 50% volume, airplane mode, headphones plugged in), the Y9 Prime ran for about 18 hours and 53 minutes.
Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 specs
6.59-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080) LTPS display, 391ppi
HiSilicon Kirin 710 (12nm) 2.2GHz octa-core CPU
Mali-G51 MP4 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB, 128GB storage
microSD card support
16MP (main) + 8MP (ultrawide) + 2MP (depth) triple rear cameras
16MP FF pop-up front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
USB 2.0 Type-C
3.5mm audio jack
Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C
4,000mAh battery
EMUI 9.0 (Android 9 Pie)
163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm
196.8 g
Midnight Black, Emerald Green, Sapphire Blue
The alluring but always elusive gaming smartphone – many have tried to build it, even Razer, but no one did it perfectly. Now, Honor is also joining the gaming race but with a new concept. Instead of greatness, the new Honor Play is pursuing affordability. And that’s a very welcome turn of events.
The Honor Play looks like most of the smartphones today – a metal body, notched screen, and a dual-camera on the back. The Kirin 970 chip is what’s in charge of the gaming session and the Play has Huawei‘s GPU Turbo out of the box.
The Kirin 970 has been known as one of the most efficient pieces of hardware for mobile gaming – it doesn’t cost as much but offers stable and sustainable performance. And with GPU Turbo things can only get better.
The 6.3″ 1080p screen, notch or not, is enough for gaming purposes, there is a large battery, and you can have the Honor Play with either 4 or 6 gigs of RAM. And on that attractive price at launch – CNY 1,999, INR 19,999, £279, €329 – color us intrigued.
Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, single bottom-firing loudspeaker, 3.5mm audio port
Many omissions can be forgiven when a phone is as affordable as the Honor Play. Like the notch. And the hybrid SIM slot. And the missing FM radio.
Huawei will be launching the Kirin 980 chipset any moment now, which made possible to lower the Kirin 970 price even more and yet keep it valuable thanks to the recent GPU Turbo upgrades. Honor Play seems like a thoughtful addition to the otherwise crowded Honor series.
The phone is available in China and India already, while Europe is getting it just now. Will it game though? Let’s find out!
Unboxing the Honor Play
The white retail box of the Honor Play contains the phone itself, a white USB-C cable, and a white 18W charger. There are no headphones included, but an analogue audio port is available so feel free to plug your favorite pair.
There is a transparent soft case inside the paper compartment, which may not be as needed on a metal phone as it is on one with a glass back, but we still appreciate its presence.
Design
We admit we were delighted to handle the Honor Play – its metal body was a breath of fresh air after a series of glass and glossy devices. Once the aluminum unibody was the popular choice, but now only a few phones get to offer it and the Honor Play is one of those rarities.
The aluminum unibody of the Honor Play is designed the right way – flat back, curved sides with rounded corners, and the good old antenna lines running fashionably around the top and bottom. For some reason, Honor decided to paint those in a darker violet hue than the rest of the body.
The fingerprint reader is on the back, always-on as usual, and blazing-fast and accurate. That’s the experience we usually get with Huawei-made devices and we are happy this hasn’t changed a bit.
The dual-camera setup is humping around, too. There is a 16MP primary cam here and a secondary 2MP sensor for depth sensing. A single LED flash sits outside the camera deck.
Huawei, and its Honor subsidiary, like to brag with the AI prowess of the camera. Just like with the Honor 10, the Play model also gets AI CAMERA inscription on the back. We’re glad they haven’t started putting texts with the phone’s other features around the body, too.
The Honor Play looks modern and trendier at the front. That’s because it packs a large 6.3″ display with tiny bezels and the mother of all trends – the cutout! The notch houses the earpiece, the sensors, and the 16MP selfie snapper, while a tiny LED notification blinker is hidden beneath the earpiece grille.
A notched screen is one way to trim the bezels and while not a fan-favorite, we can’t be angry with makers opting to give us less bezels even if it’s at the expense of a notch.
Honor isn’t specifying the type of glass used to protect the screen, but the history has taught us that sooner or later it will turn out to be one of those tough to break Gorillas.
The Honor Play features all necessary ports – analogue audio and USB Type-C, while its SIM slot is of the hybrid kind – you can swap the second SIM for a microSD card.
Honor Play
The recent Honor Play global announcement introduced two special color options with some design elements imitating a PCB traces running along the back – Player Edition Red and Player Edition Black, the latter with red accents around the hardware keys, camera and fingerprint scanner. They round the tally up to five colors, including the standard Midnight Black, Navy Blue, and Ultra Violet (the one we are reviewing).
The Honor Play spreads at 157.9 x 74.3 x 7.5 mm and weighs 176 g – that’s just 2mm taller than the recently launched Pocophone with a smaller 6.18″ notched screen.
Finally, the Play’s metal unibody has a pleasant matte finish, which boosts the grip and balances the curvy frame which on the other hand is compromising it. The Honor feels secure enough in hand, though one-handed operations are rarely possible at this screen size.
Display
The Honor Play packs a 6.3″ IPS LCD display with a cutout on top. It has a resolution of 1,080 x 2,340 pixels or 409ppi. This size and resolution make for one of the tallest screen aspect ratios on a smartphone – 19.5:9.
There is no information on the display glass, but most Huawei and Honor devices use Gorilla Glass, so we have no reason to believe the Honor Play didn’t get the same treatment.
The Honor Play has three different color temperature presets for its display – Default, Warm, and Cold. Each of those has Normal for accurate and Vivid option for punchy colors. By default, the Honor Play is set at Default + Vivid. This is also where the screen achieves the maximum brightness of 470 nits. Elsewhere the Honor Play screen won’t light up north of 440 nits.
Unfortunately, the black levels are far from stellar no matter the color mode, and this explains the average contrast ratio of 1100:1.
Display test
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Honor Play
0.414
470
1135
Honor 10 (Normal)
0.32
449
1403
Huawei Honor 7X
0.236
458
1941
Xiaomi Pocophone F1
0.314
461
1468
Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
0
455
∞
Oppo F7
0.228
446
1956
Xiaomi Mi A2
0.277
420
1516
Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
0.385
488
1268
Huawei P20 Lite
0.27
482
1785
Meizu 15
0
444
∞
The Honor Play maximum brightness isn’t that impressive and there is no option to boost it outdoors. That’s why we got a good score for sunlight contrast, but nothing impressive. You would need the maximum brightness the screen can offer and then you’ll be able to use it hassle-free in those bright sunny days.
Now let’s talk about color accuracy. Having so many different screen modes is probably confusing, so we’d try to keep it short. We won’t comment on the Vivid options, as the colors are all over the board, as expected.
The Honor Play is set at Default + Normal out of the box. We measured an average deltaE of 4.5 for the DCI-P3 color space and maximum deviation of 7.2 at point white (leans toward violet). There is noticeable blue tint on the screen no matter what you are looking at.
But if you are all about color accuracy – then just pick Normal + Warm. With an average deltaE of 3.4 and a maximum deviation of 5 – the Honor Play will offer you reasonably accurate colors. The display may look a bit duller if you are coming from a punchy screen, but it’s better to have that option for a more accurate color rendition even if it’s not always on.
Battery life
The Honor Play is powered by a large 3,750 mAh battery. It offers Huawei‘s custom solution called QuickCharge, which is not to be mistaken with SuperCharge. It still requires using the provided 18W charger and special cable combo, which can be limiting. Those two pieces come bundled with the Honor Play, so at least you don’t have to go shopping.
The 9V/2A QuickCharge adapter can bring the Honor Play from 0% to about 35% in around 30 minutes, which is not terribly fast either.
The Honor Play scored an excellent result in our battery test with a 94-hour Endurance rating. It did a great job in all tested scenarios – video playback, calls, web browsing and even stand-by performance.
Loudspeaker
There is one speaker on the Honor Play, and it’s at the bottom. It scored a Good mark in our loudness test. The sound quality is excellent though with very deep sound, rich, and with deep bass for a tiny loudspeaker.
Speakerphone test
Voice, dB
Pink noise/ Music, dB
Ringing phone, dB
Overall score
Honor Play
68.3
73.8
75.8
Good
Huawei Honor 7X
66.4
71.1
85.1
Very Good
Oppo Realme 1
64.8
70.5
89.9
Very Good
Huawei P20
66.6
69.8
90.0
Very Good
Oppo F7
68.0
73.8
84.8
Very Good
Honor 10
69.3
72.6
87.3
Excellent
Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
70.5
74.1
85.2
Excellent
Huawei P20 Pro
71.8
69.2
91.0
Excellent
Xiaomi Pocophone F1
72.8
74.7
86.6
Excellent
Xiaomi Mi A2
89.5
72.2
89.8
Excellent
Audio quality
The Honor Play delivered nicely accurate output with an external amplifier and its output was similarly excellent when headphones came into play. In fact the only reading to be affected was stereo crosstalk and that by a lower amount than usual.
Unfortunately, loudness wasn’t quite so impressive with the Honor Play being below average in both parts of the test. So those with a pair of high-impedance headphones might want to steer clear from that one. The rest should be perfectly happy with its performance.
Test
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD
IMD + Noise
Stereo crosstalk
Honor Play
+0.01, -0.03
-93.0
93.1
0.0037
0.0093
-92.9
Honor Play (headphones)
+0.12, -0.06
-92.3
92.5
0.0027
0.088
-65.7
Pocophone F1
+0.01, -0.02
-93.6
93.6
0.0010
0.0069
-93.8
Pocophone F1 (headphones)
+0.65, -0.08
-91.2
92.5
0.0082
0.359
-50.3
Oppo Find X
+0.03, -0.07
-93.4
93.9
0.0012
0.0063
-89.3
Oppo Find X (headphones)
+0.01, -0.58
-92.2
93.5
0.0088
0.330
-55.7
HTC U12+
+0.02, -0.15
-94.3
94.3
0.0021
0.0069
-94.3
HTC U12+ (headphones)
+0.18, -0.13
-93.7
93.6
0.0024
0.104
-52.7
Samsung Galaxy S9+
+0.01, -0.03
-92.6
92.5
0.0012
0.0076
-93.4
Samsung Galaxy S9+ (headphones)
+0.03, -0.03
-92.2
92.2
0.0017
0.042
-76.3
Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.2
Honor Play runs on Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.2 – a similar combination to what we saw on the Honor 10 a while ago. The EMUI is as custom as a launcher can get, so the Android purists may want to look elsewhere for a vanilla experience. The new v8.2 improves the Face Unlock and Gallery with machine learning, there are some new Gaming tricks, and a brand new Party Mode for music playback sync across different devices.
You can either embrace the notch, or you can opt to mask it with a black status bar that extends all the way down to the bottom edge of the notch. You should know, however, that hiding it doesn’t really work as well with an LCD panel as with it does with an AMOLED.
Out of the box, there is no app drawer on the EMUI 8 – it’s a single tier interface like on the iPhone. However, if you miss the Android’s usual layout, you can enable it back in the Display settings. There is also a handy search feature, which can be accessed by flicking down on any empty area of the home screen.
EMUI has Magazine lock screen, as usual, which rotates through a bunch of wallpapers, so you see a different one every time you fire up the display.
Huawei‘s EMUI offers plenty of customization and features like (not so secure) face unlock, smart rotation, and lift to wake. The face unlock has been enhanced with machine learning (or as Honor likes to call it – AI Power) and will learn to recognize your face even with changes such as facial hair or sunglasses.
The notification shade is pretty much a standard affair. There’s a brightness bar with an Auto toggle – pull down again for more toggles.
Multitasking is pretty standard as well. Tap-holding the Recents key will let you activate split screen.
From the Phone Manager app, you can access shortcuts to storage cleanup, battery settings, blocked numbers, Virus scan powered by Avast, and mobile data usage.
Huawei‘s own Music app is here and offers a way to listen to stored MP3s. Huawei‘s Health app is also pre-installed. It offers Google Fit syncing and step counting. There’s a file manager app and a note-taking app. There is an abundance of replacements for these in the Play Store, however.
There is an improved AI-powered gallery with EMUI 8.2. The app now supports automatic sorting with highlights. The machine learning decides the sorting criteria – location, date, event, etc.
The Party Mode is a new feature courtesy of EMUI 8.2. It’s available from app of the same name and allows the user to connect to multiple phones to play the same song simultaneously.
Honor Play will be getting an updated Game Center with a firmware update very soon. It will enable the so-called 4G Smart Shock – dynamic vibrations similar to the ones on the PlayStation’s DualShock controller in compatible games. The first game to support this new feature will be PUBG Mobile. But what’s already available for games is the 3D Game Sound – this works in various games when using wired headphones and should emulate 3D sound.
Performance and benchmarks
The Kirin 970 chipset is what makes the Honor Play tick and the hardware behind all that gaming PR talk. It’s a year-old SoC that will soon be replaced by the new Kirin 980 launching on the Huawei Mate 20, but still one very potent piece of technology.
The Kirin 970 has an octa-core processor with 4 Cortex-A73 cores clocked at up to 2.4GHz and another 4 Cortex-A53 cores capped at 1.8GHz. The GPU is a twelve-core Mali-G72 MP12. There’s either 4 or 6 GB of RAM depending on the model you get.
Quite expectedly, the Honor Play scores on par with other Kirin 970-powered devices such as the P20, Honor 10 and View 10. Single-core performance in Geekbench is excellent but the latest Qualcomm chip is superior (Pocophone). All of the above applies equally well to the Honor Play‘s multi-core CPU performance.
Huawei recently unveiled an interesting software project to the public. It is called “GPU Turbo” and should provide great graphics performance improvements to most recent Huawei smartphones. The Honor Play comes with the GPU Turbo update out of the box, but this maybe misleading to the users.
GPU Turbo accelerates performance by optimizing system utilization of software and hardware resources. With GPU Turbo, graphics processing efficiency can be improved by up to 60 percent while overall SoC power consumption is saved by 30 percent. This is beneficial since graphically demanding operations typically consume battery quickly.
So, GPU Turbo is essentially an extra software optimization layer, sitting between the OS or a particular application and the Android graphics APIs, like OpenGL and the actual GPU drivers.
Even though GPU turbo sounds like it’s promising almost magical improvements, it is up to developers to actually optimize their apps to support the new rendering instructions and APIs. Huawei has promised that it will gradually work towards optimizing the EMUI launcher rendering. But given the way the Android UI is rendered, that’s unlikely to lend itself to major optimization.
Turbo GPU is realistically aimed at gamers and more importantly, game developers, who have to implement the tech inside their titles. Hopefully, Huawei can get enough game studios on board to allow GPU Turbo to lift off. Otherwise, it will just remain unused, sitting in the background. At launch, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile PUBG and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang are the only two games that have support for Turbo GPU.
Huawei‘s GPU Turbo does not necessarily improve maximum frame rates. What it does, however, is significantly smooth out any major frame rate fluctuations and dips, and we were impressed by the perceptibly smoother gaming experience. As a bonus, the tech also provides battery life savings when gaming.
AnTuTu benchmark got us some pretty big and impressive numbers, bested only by the most current Snapdragon 845 chip in the Pocophone.
The Honor Play is not the most powerful smartphone today, but it sure is among the top 5. We are well familiar with the Kirin 970 capabilities and the chip is simply great for gaming. And with the GPU Turbo update it can only get better, live a second life if you will.
Performance-wise the Honor Play aces every task and its highly-praised chipset will live up to the expectations.
But since we know the Kirin 970, we are familiar with its heating and throttling specifics. The good news is that the Honor Play is all metal and its chassis helps dispersing heat much better than glass. Some throttling does occur in benchmarks after repeated runs, but only there – no throttling happens in games, even in long sessions.
The Honor Play does build some heat once we start running the benchmarks, but it takes a lot of time to get to the Play unpleasantly hot and, once again, it happens only in benchmarks.
So, before we call it a day here – the Honor Play and its Kirin 970 offers flagship punch no matter the task at hand, and the GPU will do for seamless gaming with sustainable top-notch performance.
A 16MP camera with depth sensor
The Honor Play has a dual-camera setup similar to what we saw on the Honor 7X. We’re looking at a 16MP sensor behind f/2.2 lens with phase-detection autofocus, accompanied by a 2MP cam for depth information, and a single LED flash.
There is no optical image stabilization for the Honor Play. But Honor promises to bring its proprietary AIS – Automatic Image Stabilization – via software update soon. It reduces blur and compensates for device shake while capturing photos and videos. It’s a software solution that works within 0.2 seconds to detect if the phone is handheld and automatically sets the exposure and framing using AI scene recognition. It’s supposed to be 98% accurate when it comes to figuring out whether you’re holding the handset in your hand.
The Honor Play, just like the Honor 10, stresses on its AI CAMERA. It recognizes in real time 22 different categories of subjects and shooting scenarios and adjusts shooting parameters accordingly.
The camera interface is as messy as before. First off, you have a mode selector on the bottom that you swipe left and right to change modes, but you can’t swipe on the viewfinder, just on the selector itself.
Swiping up and down doesn’t switch between front and rear camera either, you have a button for that (admittedly, on the bottom within easy reach). Basically, you’re wasting the viewfinder by not having gestures enabled on it, except for pinch to zoom.
It’s odd to have a manual HDR mode separately when the AI takes care of that – it’s like a dynamic range enhancement is On all the time.
You get manual (Pro) mode, too. There you can adjust parameters yourself – ISO (50 to 6400), shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s), exposure compensation (-4 to +4EV in 1/3 stop increments), and white balance (presets and light temperature). You can also choose the metering mode (matrix, center-weighted and spot), and the focus mode (single, continuous and manual). If the phone thinks you messed up the exposure, an icon will pop up to warn you.
Since artificially defocused backgrounds became all the rage, Huawei and Honor phones have had both a Portrait mode and an Aperture mode. In Aperture, you can choose the simulated aperture in the range from f/0.95 to f/16. Post shot, you can change the aperture and the focus point within the Gallery.
In Portrait mode you can enable and disable the background blur (why disable it, though), you can change the simulated lighting, and you can also add some beautification on a scale from 0 to 10.
Image quality
Honor’s implementation of the so-called AI is enabled by default. The AI toggle is accessible from the viewfinder, while the P20 phones have it hidden in settings. The algorithms are not as aggressive as Huawei‘s were, even though the AI pretty much works the same way and operates under the same scene presumptions. The camera recognizes the scene properly and most of the time turns on the right mode accordingly, its defaults for each scene do saturate the colors more than usual and the high contrast lowers the dynamic range, but nothing is as excessive as it was on the P20 series.
So, the AI pictures have more than enough detail, obviously saturated, yet pleasant colors, low noise levels, and superb contrast. Multi-frame stacking is often used with the AI scenes, so if HDR was required, it’s applied in real time, and you will always get the most from both shadows and lights.
The normal samples without AI are quite good, too. They have plenty of detail, very accurate colors, high contrast and even lower noise levels. The dynamic range is quite impressive, and we suspect some frame-stacking might be applied here as well.
The AI works for some magic on the low-light shots to improve the contrast and colors, but that’s about it. It’s not as smart and as capable as on the P20 phones and there is no tripod-free Night Mode available for the Honor Play. The samples are very noisy, way noisier than the regular ones you’ll see in a bit, but with brighter exposure and warmer colors, which worked for improved contrast and overall better look.
The regular low-light images are nothing special, too, but they have far less noise. They are quite soft as well, but the colors are true to reality, though the contrast is rather low. But the occasional low-light snaps will do fine for the social networks. And frankly – we’ve seen a lot worse. So, the regular snaps are nothing special, as we said, just alright.
There is a Night mode on the Honor Play but this shot requires a tripod and up to 30s of waiting. At first, we thought it will take a couple of shots and combine them. But this mode is actually closer to what the Light Trails does – basically, it takes one very low exposure photo and then begins to add lights. The phone almost succeeds into cutting out the light trails themselves, and the result is a photo with excellent exposure and contrast, detailed at that. The picture lack sharpness, but that’s alright – at least it’s well exposed.
When using the manual mode, you can select a shutter speed up to 32s with ISO up to 6400. The viewfinder image will change as the exposure develops, so if you figure you’ve gathered enough light you can stop at any time.
And with this freedom, you just need a small tripod to get wonderful images. If you lock the ISO to 50 and use the longer shutter speeds, you can get some stunning long exposure shots come night-time.
Then there’s the Light painting mode, which includes four sub-modes: Car light trails, Light graffiti, Silky Water and Star track. You’d need to have the phone perched on stable support for shooting in these modes (a tripod or a beanbag) as these extremely long exposures can’t be done handheld without camera shake. These modes are nothing new so that we won’t go into too much detail here.
Video recording
The Honor Play offers 4K and 1080p video recording – the latter available in both 30 and 60 fps options. You can also choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs. EIS is available only for the 1080p at 30fps videos and it does an excellent job at stabilizing the picture.
The 4K footage at 30fps is nice and detailed, with pleasing colors, plenty of contrast, and steady framerate. The foliage could have been better, but that’s not a flagship phone, so let’s not be picky. The dynamic range is great, as are the colors. Notable is also the high-quality stereo sound captured with 192 kbps bitrate.
The 1080p clips shot at 30fps are also detailed, and impress with the same nice colors and contrast, and high dynamic range. But there is noticeable over-sharpening.
Finally, the 1080p samples shot at 60fps are always blurry and look out of focus. We tried quite a few different takes – each of those resulted in a blurry video. So, until that is fixed with an update (they weren’t so bad on the Honor 10), the 60fps footage is simply a no-go.
Finally, you can use our Video Compare Tool to see how the Honor Play stacks against the Honor 10 and Pocophone F1 when it comes to video capture.
The Competition
Honor Play aims at gamers, obviously, but instead of making it the best gaming phone on the planet, Honor chose to make it powerful and affordable with some extra gaming chops.
And it succeeded – the Honor Play is indeed impressively powerful and offers a seamless gaming experience. The trendy notched screen is large enough for games, while the camera department offers some nice tricks. Finally, the battery life is simply great for all purposes.
Xiaomi Pocophone F1 • Oppo F9 Pro • Xiaomi Mi 8 SE • LG G7 One
Xiaomi did the same thing with the Pocophone experiment and, well, it did it better. The Pocophone, where available, is cheaper, yet more powerful, has better all-around camera experience, and more features such as stereo speakers and FM radio.
The Oppo F9 has a new take on the notch, its design is cooler, but the GPU is far inferior to the Honor’s. The F9 has better looks and selfie camera, but for everything else – the Honor Play is the better device.
Xiaomi‘s Mi 8 SE is yet another notched device, but with an AMOLED panel. It’s among the first phones to pack the new Snapdragon 710 chip, which has an equally powerful processor to the Kirin 970 but lesser graphics punch. The Mi 8 SE does better when it comes to camera quality, but it sure isn’t on par with the Honor Play as far as gaming is concerned.
Finally, the LG G7 One was unveiled just recently and it looks quite intriguing. It’s able to match the Honor Play price, has a higher-res 1440p HDR screen, a powerful Snapdragon 835 chipset even if it won’t impress with any special camera skills. Still, with that screen and Android One software, the G7 One should be interesting enough to deserve a recommendation.
The Verdict
The Honor Play has one of the best bang-for-the-buck ratios, probably bested only by the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi. The Play has quite an impressive hardware package and is wrapped in metal, which is a build we rarely see these days.
The Play delivers on its promise – it provides an excellent gaming performance with a twist on the cheap. And if those two factors are leading for you, the Honor Play should be on your shortlist of devices you must check before getting your next phone.
Pros
Metal unibody
Large screen with thin bezels and a notch
Top-notch performance
Great battery life
Good all-round camera experience with some creative options
A strange bird this Huawei P20 – a headliner without a spear. The omission of the triple camera is baffling, but as long as you give it a chance, you may be surprised. And if you don’t dwell on what didn’t make the cut, you should be able to see the P20 for what it is – one dazzling flagship.
The signature Twilight hue is among the things the P20 duo will be remembered for. It’s available on both devices if you are lucky enough to reside in a region which stocks it, but the similarities don’t end here. The notched screen is shared, as is the Kirin 970 chip which, even though is six-months-old already, is still relevant.
Now, the elephant in the room – the dual-instead-of-triple camera on the back. Yes, it’s a step down from the more prominent P20 Pro but, fret not, this is not the same dual-camera we left on the Huawei P10 and Mate 10 Pro either. The 12MP color sensor is brand new and has much bigger pixels and thus we can expect brighter low-light images and less noise.
The MasterAI is also a thing on the P20, improving the way we take pictures by allowing for some previously impossible tripod-free long-shutter pictures. You can use lossless telephoto zoom, record 960fps slow-mo videos, but you can also switch to monochrome and take some artsy shots downtown.
The 24MP selfie camera stays the same on both P20 phones, too. It may lack autofocus but can do Face Unlock and shoot portraits with blurred backgrounds in line with the current trends.
Huawei P20 specs
Body: dual-glass with metal frame, 7.7mm thick
Screen: 5.8″ LTPS IPS LCD, 1080 x 2240px resolution (429ppi);
Camera: 12MP f/1.8 OIS color + + 20MP f/1.6 monochrome; 4K video capture, 720@960fps slow-mo; Leica co-developed
Camera features: 1/2.3″ 12MP sensor, 2x optical zoom, OIS + EIS, can change focus and lighting in photos after they are taken, Variable Aperture, Portrait Mode, shoots long-exposure without a tripod
Selfie cam: 24MP, f/2.0 Leica lens, Portrait Mode with live bokeh effects; 2D Face Unlock
Battery: 3,400mAh; Super Charge
Security: Fingerprint reader (front), 0.4 seconds response time
Connectivity: Dual SIM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C
Misc:IR blaster, single speaker
Seeing that Huawei didn’t copy-paste its old dual-camera but instead came up with some notable improvements is enough for us to let the company off the hook here. We can even forgive the switch to IPS LCD screen which some might consider a downgrade from Pro’s OLED.
The crime we can’t let slide is the failing to secure the P20 body against water. It’s beyond us why Huawei made water-tight only the P20 Pro, but it’s not fair and puts even more pressure on the P20. The IP53 rating is not the best excuse for ditching the analog jack, and yet Huawei still opted for its retirement.
It’s clear we are starting on the wrong foot, so let’s pop this Huawei P20 out of its box and hopefully we get on the right one.
Unboxing the Huawei P20
Fancy is not what the Huawei P20‘s white cardboard box is. But the maker has an excellent track record for bundles and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Inside that box, you’ll find eye-catchy Huawei P20 packed with a 22.5W charging plug, an enhanced USB Type-C cable compatible with Huawei‘s Super Charge, a pair of headphones, and a must-have 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter.
Here is something you don’t see every day – a phone that’s instantly recognizable because of its style. We have seen a lot of notched screens and dual-cameras, but those catchy paint jobs are the P20‘s unforgettable trait and potentially the next big trend.
The flashy paint was a brilliant idea for an otherwise ordinary and conventional design. Dual-glass body reinforced with a metal frame is the popular choice this season, so if it weren’t for the paint’s charm, the P20 would have been just another notched glass phone.
Apple iPhone X and Huawei P20
The P20‘s design is an obvious departure from the P10. The metal unibody is gone for good, at least for now, and so are the screen bezels. Behind the screen glass sits a big but notched 5.8″ display, a massive jump from the 5.1″ unit on the P10, yet the growth in size is pretty negligible – just 4mm in height.
Huawei P10 and Huawei P20
The P20 is noticeably heavier, though, due to switch of materials – it has gained a good 20g over the P10 up to 165g.
And while we are comparing siblings, the other notable change is the camera orientation. It seems the iPhone X didn’t just kick off the notch trend, but the vertical camera configuration, too.
Huawei P10 and Huawei P20
Back to the Huawei P20. Both of its glass pieces are slightly curved, matching nicely with the frame’s chamfers. The metal frame is smooth and polished. Admittedly, this works well for the good looks, but hurts the grip – the P20 is as slippery as it looks.
Unlike the water-tight P20 Pro, the P20 is just IP53-rated for moderate dust and light-splash resistance. And while this fact was officially announced at the launch event, you won’t find this mentioned anywhere on the official P20 pages.
This omission is baffling, as the P20 phones have virtually identical bodies, slots, holes, and everything, and yet only the Pro got the ingress protection. The P20‘s case is not helped by the fact that all current flagships and premium mid-rangers are water-protected. What’s up with that, Huawei?
The missing audio jack doesn’t help the P20 either. While this could have been explained with the aqua-shielding on the Pro, it’s merely a missing feature on the P20.
The front-mounted fingerprint scanner is here to stay – it’s an always-on one and is used for system-wide navigation. On the opposite side of the screen is the notch housing a circular grille for the earpiece and the 24MP selfie camera. The earpiece is not centered, which may look odd to some. A tiny status LED is also around.
Comparing notches: iPhone X vs. P20
The vertically-oriented dual-camera is on the back occupying a small hump. It has kept the previous 12+20 MP specs but packs a new color sensor and new lenses. Next up are the dual-LED flash and the laser-AF sensors. The Leica logo is not as boisterous as before, but it’s there.
So, the Huawei P20 is a glass phone like any other. There is nothing special in its bill of materials, the credit for its coolness goes to the clever paint jobs. But that’s enough to make it one of the best-looking devices this season and the fashion-conscious might grab it just for that. Slippery and often smudgy, the Huawei P20 has to be polished and cleaned quite often to look its best, but beauty always comes at a price.
The Honor 10 Lite is the latest addition to the brand’s mid-range lineup and it hopes to ride on the success of the original Honor 10. So how did Honor go about making a Lite version of a phone, which is already somewhat of a Lite version of the flagship Huawei P20?
Well, for one, the feature set has been trimmed across the board starting from the chipset, going through the camera and ending with the connectivity set. But that doesn’t mean this is a bad phone.
The Honor 10 Lite is still an embodiment of the great value phones we’ve come to know the brand for. For about 30% lower price tag than the original Honor 10, the 10 Lite has the same size battery, a larger screen with a smaller notch, the memory is now expandable via a microSD slot and right from the get-go it comes out with the latest Android 9 Pie. In comparison, the Honor 10 still hasn’t got an update to Pie yet.
Honor 10 Lite specs:
Body:154.8 x 73.6 x 8mm, 162 grams, plastic back panel and side frame.
Screen:6.2″ IPS LCD, 1080 x 2340px resolution (19.5:9); ~415 ppi.
Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 710 (12nm) chipset: octa-core CPU (4x Cortex-A73 Gold @2.2GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.7GHz); Mali-G51 MP4.
Memory: 3GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64GB or 128GB built-in storage, microSD slot support (takes the second SIM slot).
Anyway, the bar is set quite high for the 10 Lite as the Honor 10 and the Honor Play are some of the most competitive propositions in the upper midrange offering great performance at tempting price points. We will see if the Honor was able to strike a good balance with the 10 Lite. Let’s start with an unboxing.
Unboxing the Huawei Honor 10 Lite
The handset comes in a modest box containing the usual user manuals, the SIM ejection tool, the microUSB charging cable and, of course, the charging adapter.
We didn’t expect much else but Honor also provided a transparent silicone case that fits the 10 Lite perfectly and doesn’t hide the rather fresh color gradient paint job on the back.
The step back from the USB-C port on the Honor 10 to the slightly outdated microUSB was the first clue we got that we’re dealing with a cheaper device. We also couldn’t help but notice that the charger is not the 22.5W fast charger supplied with the Honor 10 but rather a 10W one.
Design
Naturally, the Honor 10 Lite borrows some design traits from its more expensive sibling – the Honor 10 – while offering some unique details. Also, as one would expect, the Honor 10 Lite misses on the premium materials and instead relies only on plastic for the body. That doesn’t take away anything from the looks, though.
On the front, the smartphone surprises with great screen-to-body ratio with considerably more screen real estate thanks to the move of the fingerprint reader at the back and the narrower notch at the front. While the Honor 10 has a wide, standard-looking notch, the Lite has a matching “Lite” notch. Some may call it a waterdrop and it does look like one to some extent. The side and upper bezels are thin and symmetrical but the bottom one surprised us the most. It’s one of the smallest ones we’ve seen, especially at this price point and also houses a subtle LED notification light. It looks awesome when it lights up.
As we go around the sides, we can see the power key and the volume rocker on the right side – both easy to reach. They have some wobble but compensate with a tactile clicky feedback.
Honor 10 Lite from the sides
The SIM card tray and the noise-canceling microphone reside on the top while the bottom houses the 3.5mm audio jack, the loudspeaker grille and the microUSB connector for charging and data transfer. We can’t think of a reason why they would choose a microUSB instead of USB-C.
We hope there was actual technical reasoning behind this decision and not mere market segmentation. We’ve said it many times before, manufacturers should all move towards a single power and connectivity port for the benefit of the consumers and this can’t come soon enough so releasing a brand new phone with microUSB ports is clearly not a move in the right direction.
As we already stated, the back panel of the phone is made of plastic and houses the rear-mounted fingerprint reader and the dual-camera setup. However, the plastic doesn’t take away from the looks and the silver/blue gradient color looks pretty cool. Also, fingerprints are visible only at an angle.
The back panel isn’t curved but it’s not protruding either so no sharp edges press against your palm when holding the device. Speaking of handling, the smartphone is pretty easy to use with one hand – it feels quite compact and lightweight and for some reason, it’s not slippery. In fact, the side frame feels a bit rubberized to some extent making it even easier to hold. The phone handles really well for a 6.2-inch device.
To be honest, you can’t expect high-end build materials from a such an affordable device and plastic was expected to be the main order of the day. Nevertheless, Honor managed to focus on what’s important here – usability. The plastic sides and back are more likely to withstand drops as the plastic is more shock-absorbent than glass and metal.
Honor 10 Lite from the front and back
And by skipping on the glass, the phone is even lighter and grippier. Keep in mind, though, that the plastic is easier to scratch than glass so keep that case on or be careful where you put it.
Bright IPS display with a minimalist notch
The Honor 10 Lite features a rather generic IPS LCD panel with a small minimalist notch on the top, which isn’t obtrusive at all and you can still hide it if you want to. We’ve noticed a slight “light bleed” around the edges of the notch and you can notice it when only when the background is bright, like white, for example.
Anyway, you’ve got a standard 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution at your disposal at a tall 19.5:9 aspect ratio and around 415 ppi since the diagonal is 6.21″. Just for the record, the standard Honor 10 has a significantly smaller 5.84-inch display and a shorter 19:9 aspect ratio so here’s one reason to opt for the Lite if you are after a larger display.
As far as performance is concerned, the display scored decently in our tests and it’s just what you’d expect from a midranger.
The peak brightness is 441 nits in Vivid mode while the less-bluish Normal mode produced a lower number hovering around 390 nits. However, the Normal mode offers considerably more accurate color reproduction with an average dE2000=2.7.
In Vivid mode, the screen has a slight bluish tinge in whites and grays. Blue, red and green are slightly over-saturated as well. The average dE2000 in this mode is 4.6. That’s still good, but not as stellar as the Normal mode. In day-to-day use, however, we preferred using the Vivid mode as it looked way punchier than Normal, which had a slightly less contrasty look.
Display test
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Honor 10 (Vivid)
0.326
508
1558
Huawei P20 Lite
0.27
482
1785
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
0.322
468
1453
Honor 10 (Normal)
0.32
449
1403
Motorola One (P30 Play)
0.254
447
1760
Honor 10 Lite
0.344
441
1282
Nokia 7 plus
0.254
432
1701
Honor 8X
0.346
427
1234
Xiaomi Mi A2
0.277
420
1516
For everyday use, the max brightness of 441 cd/m2 is perfectly fine. Obviously, it’s not the brightest panel out there but it does the job perfectly well considering the price point.
Unfortunately, our sunlight legibility score is far from stellar due to the overly reflective screen glass.
Battery life
The phone sports a decent 3,400 mAh battery – just like its more expensive sibling – so we expected similar results in our tests from the start.
We were surprised to see that the 3G talk time was considerably longer than what we got on the Honor 10. Other than that, the web browsing and video playback runtimes were pretty close. Judging by the overall score, we can say that battery life is good and a bit over the average for its class.
Unfortunately, the handset doesn’t support any type of fast charging and the charging brick included in the box says the supported output is just 5V/2A or in other words – 10W. A 30-minute charging session from a flat battery would net you 33% of the battery capacity.
Loudspeaker
The loudspeaker returned an excellent result. Even though it’s just one speaker with a single grill, the phone managed to produce quite a lot of noise so you are probably going to hear the phone ringing even in crowded and noisy environments.
Speakerphone test
Voice, dB
Pink noise/ Music, dB
Ringing phone, dB
Overall score
Nokia 7 plus
67.5
71.3
79.7
Good
Honor 8X
67.1
72.9
81.6
Very Good
Huawei P20 Lite
66.3
71.5
84.9
Very Good
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
67.5
77.8
77.6
Very Good
Honor 10
69.3
72.6
87.3
Excellent
Honor 10 Lite
70.0
73.8
87.0
Excellent
Motorola One (P30 Play)
79.2
74.7
85.1
Excellent
Xiaomi Mi A2
89.5
72.2
89.8
Excellent
Audio quality
The Honor 10 Lite had an okay performance with an active external amplifier, delivering an output of below average loudness, but perfect accuracy.
Headphones degraded the volume further, while also introducing some frequency response shakiness, intermodulation distortion and a moderate amount of stereo crosstalk. All in all a performance not worth writing home about even for a mid-ranger.
Test
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD
IMD + Noise
Stereo crosstalk
Honor 10 Lite
+0.01, -0.03
-90.2
90.2
0.0048
0.015
-82.7
Honor 10 Lite (headphones)
+0.64, -0.40
-83.7
88.8
0.0061
0.830
-51.3
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
+0.04, -0.04
-93.5
93.4
0.0011
0.0070
-93.4
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (headphones)
+0.45, -0.18
-93.4
93.4
0.021
0.457
-54.9
Honor 8X
+0.01, -0.04
-92.3
92.4
0.0041
0.0085
-80.7
Honor 8X (headphones)
+0.45, -0.54
-92.2
92.8
0.0084
0.492
-51.5
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
+0.02, -0.02
-93.1
92.9
0.0026
0.0089
-92.5
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) (headphones)
+0.25, -0.17
-91.4
91.6
0.115
0.306
-55.4
Nokia 7.1
+0.02, -0.06
-91.0
88.6
0.0021
0.016
-94.4
Nokia 7.1 (headphones)
+0.05, -0.03
-93.8
89.6
0.0019
0.034
-54.9
Huawei Mate 20 lite
+0.01, -0.02
-94.7
94.7
0.0013
0.0086
-73.1
Huawei Mate 20 lite (headphones)
+0.12, -0.09
-93.8
93.8
0.0035
0.115
-71.7
Pocophone F1
+0.01, -0.02
-93.6
93.6
0.0010
0.0069
-93.8
Pocophone F1 (headphones)
+0.65, -0.08
-91.2
92.5
0.0082
0.359
-50.3
Android 9.0 Pie with EMUI 9.0 on top
As one would expect, the Honor 10 Lite comes with Huawei‘s user interface EMUI and on contrary to a lot of midrangers out there, the device comes with the latest and greatest from Google – Android 9.0 Pie. The UI is also updated to its latest version although, there aren’t any major differences compared to the older EMUI 8 with which we’ve tested the vanilla Honor 10.
Like all EMUI-driven devices, you can set up a magazine lockscreen style that changes the picture every time you wake up the screen. Sliding from the bottom will bring out quick shortcuts to some commonly used utilities and you can re-arrange, add or exclude to your liking. We found it to be useful and a bit annoying at the same time because there were times when we just wanted to unlock the phone but bring out the menu instead.
Unlocking the phone will bring you to the Home screen where you will find all of the installed and system apps. There’s a toggle in the settings menu that lets you choose between the standard layout or a Home screen with an app drawer. This is a really neat option to have as some people prefer the app drawer.
Swiping to the right from the home screen will bring you to Google Feed and by swiping downwards will let you search in your app library.
As for the notification shade, there’s an option in the settings menu that enables a swipe gesture on the fingerprint reader and really helps a lot with the one-handed operation. Also, it works really well. No more reaching for the top bezel when using this tall 19.5:9 screen.
And as for the notification shade – it’s nothing out of the ordinary. It can fit three rows with five quick launch icons for each row and right under the icons, you will find the screen brightness slider.
Opening up the settings menu will greet you with the usual sub-menus and features that you would find on most EMUI-based phones. There are a couple of useful options in the “Home screen settings” such as themes, the option to choose between an app drawer or the standard app arrangement on the Home screen as well as the option to toggle off the Google Feed.
The “Display” sub-menu is rather basic with little to no options in there. You’ve got the Eye comfort option that limits the blue light emissions during the night, choose between Normal or Vivid color modes and adjust the screen resolution – you can lower it to HD+ (720 x 1560) but our numerous tests from the past show little to no difference in the battery savings if you opt for the lower resolution setting.
More importantly, the option for disabling the notch is buried deep in the Display menu and we didn’t find the option swapping the navigation software buttons for gestures.
Moving on to the “Battery” section, you will find plenty of stats and a moderate amount of options to play with. There’s a normal power saving mode and “Ultra power saving mode”. The latter strongly limits the device’s capabilities and lets you use only a handful of essential apps, disables background processes, animations and turns of radios. The battery usage menu will give you all the information you’d need – you can see which apps and hardware components drained the battery since your last charge.
We found the “Digital balance” in the Settings menu quite nifty. You can track how much time you spend on your phone and which apps you used the most.
The “Security and privacy” menu lets you set up a fingerprint, enable face detection, set up “Find My Device” option, etc. The fingerprint setup process is pretty straightforward but it also brings some additional features like the option of taking a photo with the fingerprint reader in the camera app, stop the alarm, answer a call, browse photos in the gallery and as we already mentioned, bring down the notification panel. The latter is quite useful and works 9 times out of 10.
The fingerprint itself performs excellently as well – it doesn’t take a lot of time to recognize your finger but it lags a little when unlocking.
The face detection works just as good and there’s an option in there that enables instant unlock when it detects your face or requires a slide before unlocking. Of course, both lock methods can be used not only for unlocking the device but also a set of apps to your liking.
And last, but not least, comes the “Smart assistance” menu that takes you to the so-called “Motion control”. The latter enables motion gestures like flip-to-mute or raise-to-wake.
With every heavily-customized software come a few pre-installed system apps. In this case, they are generic tools like FM Radio app, Calculator, Calendar, Music, Videos, Clock, Notepad, Email, Files (file browser) and a Phone Manager that gathers some important functions in one place.
As you can see, even for this price, the Honor 10 Lite offers plenty of features and bonus points for the up-to-date software. But we did notice some small annoyances over the course of our testing. For instance, the radio icons appear in the upper left corner of the screen due to the insufficient space around the notch.
Also, the UI doesn’t feel as responsive or fluid as it should be. The Kirin 710’s CPU is more than capable chipset so we guess it’s all down to pending software optimizations.
Aside from that, the UI is highly customizable and you can adjust a lot of settings to better suit your needs though we have to admit, the Honor 10 has a few extra software features on top of what’s available in the 10 Lite.
Performance and benchmarks
The Honor 10 Lite comes with the new in-house mid-range SoC, the HiSilicon Kirin 710. It incorporates an octa-core CPU in a 4/4 arrangement – 4x big 2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 cores and 4x smaller and more efficient 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 cores. The GPU is Mali-G51 MP4 and the whole SoC is based on a newer 12nm manufacturing process.
When it comes to memory, our unit runs with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. However, there are versions with 128GB of storage and 4 or 6GB of RAM.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t benchmark the performance of our review unit due to system limitations imposed by the software it shipped with. We are guessing it might be one of the earlier builds and Honor just doesn’t want it benchmarked at this stage. Still, we recently reviewed the Honor 8X and since they share the same Kirin 710 chipset and the screen resolution, we suggest you check out its performance figures as they should be identical to those by the Honor 8X.
Regular 13MP main shooter aided by a 2MP depth sensor
The Honor 10 Lite carries a dual-camera setup on its back – the main camera is 13MP and has a wide f/1.8 aperture and phase detection autofocus. The secondary 2MP sensor is only used for depth sensing when scene depth information is required such as when shooting portraits with artificially defocused backgrounds.
The front camera that sits on the notch is 24MP with a narrower f/2.0 opening.
Of course, no one expects the Honor 10 Lite to be the best photography performer considering the price range but some basic camera capabilities should be in order. We hope to see it do just as well as the recently reviewed Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite as both phones fall into the same category. Let’s dig into the daylight, indoor and night samples right after a brief review of the camera software.
Camera software
The default camera app is pretty easy to handle. In the default camera mode, you will find the AI and Moving Picture toggles as well as the so-called HiTouch feature that uses machine learning to recognize objects, although we found it to be a hit and miss. The settings icon in the upper right corner leads you to more advanced options like resolution, GPS tag toggle, capture smiles or the option to open up the camera by double pressing the volume down button.
Swiping to left or right will switch between the camera modes – video, portrait, night and aperture. Each mode is self-explanatory and in the “More” section, you will find AR lens, time-lapse, panorama, HDR, stickers, pro, light painting, and filter. Those are self-explanatory as well.
Interestingly, the Auto HDR option was nowhere to be found in the default camera app but then again, not all phones in this price range use the HDR stacking with great success. Actually, quite the opposite. Still, you have the manual option of turning it on so you can toggle it on and off when you feel the need.
Just a quick tip, if you plan on using the bokeh/portrait effect on an object, try using the “Aperture mode” – you might find it produces better results than the standard Portrait mode.
In selfie mode, the camera app offers similar features as the main camera mode – there’s the portrait mode, video recording and AI function.
Image quality
Overall, the Honor 10 Lite takes okay photos with pleasant colors.
The photos have a lot of noise even in daylight. The noise-suppression seems to be working overtime and we still get grainy shots.
The dynamic range is also something that could have used some improving judging by the clipped highlights and HDR does only half of its job – it does open up the shadows but overexposes the highlights. However, the detail was good while the HDR introduced a little bit more sharpening without going over board.
The AI didn’t do much for us – it saturated some of the colors and we can notice some oversharpening here and there. The camera app prompted us with a message when it recognized some of the subjects like a pet or a flower but this didn’t change any of the shooting settings noticeably.
Portraits
Our initial impressions from the Portrait mode were quite positive – the level of resolved detail was impressive, colors were punchy and the edge detection was generally fine.
What we didn’t expect, however, is the background defocusing to fail at random spots. You can notice the “unnatural” de-focus in the first photo.
Selfies
Seflies were underwhelming as well – since there’s no autofocus, it’s hard to find the right focus distance, there’s not enough sharpness for a 24MP camera, it lacks good dynamic range and colors are a bit washed out.
The AI mode helps with the colors to some extent.
Low-light samples and Night mode
As expected, the general graininess of the photos, which we observe in the daylight photos, only got more prominent in low-light situations and a lot of the detail gets lost to noise suppression. And since there’s no OIS, the occasional camera shake makes things even worse.
When the AI is turned on, the camera app prompts you with a message that you should keep your hands still because the algorithm is working on sharpening the photo. In reality, there’s little to no difference between the AI photos and the normal ones.
However, the Night mode produces largely different results. It seems that the software tends to oversharpen things without taking care of the noise and the latter becomes even more visible even though this means less noise suppression and less smudginess. We guess that if you are not into pixel peeping, you wouldn’t mind the extra noise, but you would definitely appreciate the clearer photos and better dynamic range the Night mode shots offer.
Video recording
Surprisingly, the handset doesn’t offer any kind of 4K video recording and defaults at 1080@30fps. However, there’s optional 1080@60fps recording but neither mode offers any kind of video stabilization. As a result, videos appear quite shaky if you shoot handheld. But you do have the option to choose between H.264 and H.265 encoding, which is nice.
We’ve noticed that the issue with dynamic range is prominent in the videos as well – highlights are too bright while dark areas appear darker than they should. Detail is okay though, at least in 30fps mode. If you crank it up to 60fps, a lot of detail will be lost.
Competition
The Honor 10 Lite has a lot to offer but it’s not perfect. And the competition in the mid-range segment is fierce and it takes more than a pretty face to win the hearts of the practical consumer. It would be up to you to decide whether the particular feature mix and pricing is down your alley, but we’ll list a few other phones you may want to consider before making a final call.
While looking at possible alternatives, we tried to narrow the choice down a bit and it appears that most of the competition is rocking Qualcomm’s chipsets, which in turn means they offer better GPU performance. Still, the Kirin 710 is built on a smaller 12nm node and offers better CPU performance and power efficiency in return.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite • Huawei Honor 8X • Xiaomi Mi A2 (Mi 6X) • Nokia 7 plus
There is another Lite phone which stands out among the competition and that’s the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite. We found it to be among the top performers in its class with its Snapdragon 660 chipset but it also has a decent screen, good battery life, and noticeably better camera experience – an area in which the Honor 10 Lite fails to impress.
Another decent alternative to the Honor 10 Lite lies within the company’s portfolio – the Honor 8X. While both phones are close siblings, we can easily recommend the Honor 8X due to the extra screen space, the better battery life, and the more consistent camera performance. And the chipset is also the same if you are happy with what the Kirin 710 offers.
Next down the list is the Xiaomi Mi A2 – a phone for the purists. You get a clean Android UI, swift updates as part of the Android One program, and it’s got comparable hardware. However, it drags behind the 10 Lite when it comes to screen quality and battery life.
And while we are on stock Android, it’s hard to miss the Nokia 7 Plus with a good camera, better than average battery runtimes and capable Snapdragon 660 chipset.
Verdict
Unfortunately, in an overcrowded midrange segment the Honor 10 Lite doesn’t really stand out with anything exceptional. It’s a decent all-rounder but it’s a tough one to recommend when taking into account what the competition offers.
The 10 Lite is definitely not a phone for the more pretentious users. The rather uninspiring camera quality and the not-so-fluid software kept us from giving the phone a good score. That target group should probably stick with the Honor 10 or Honor Play for their wishlists. The only areas where the Honor 10 Lite is a match for its more expensive siblings is screen quality, loudness, and battery life. If these aspects are all that’s important for you in a smartphone, you might as well save yourself some money and get this one instead.
