Honor 7 – heir apparent to the mid-range Android crown With a starting price of £249, the Honor 7 is a quality phone that offers astonishing value for money: and it could be a genuine game-changer for how people buy phones. Not only is it (comfortably) the standout product in its price range, it also has the kind of features associated with much more expensive models, and a few …
Not really that different just less resolution camera and less fingerprint toys etc. The battery is not all that and a day of heavy use will have you looking nervously at the battery meter come evening. The thing I like least about it is the way that promised dates for software upgrades came and went with nothing released. Having said all that it is otherwise a pretty good solid phone and definitely worth a look if you think you can cope with it's oddball Apple-like GUI.
Cheers. I was about to ask if Huawei were still as useless as they used to be with software updates. I had one of their's a couple of years ago that was released with one of the buggier Android releases. There were all sorts of promises as to updates "coming soon" but none arrived and I eventually flogged it through eBay. I've had a Sony Z1 compact since which has had several updates (2 major versions and a few "patches") leading me to feel rather wary of the lesser brands.
And yes, I'm aware Huawei is a bigger company than Sony are these days but Sony is high profile enough that it needs to support it's users. Huawei is unheard of outside China so isn't going to suffer bad press from leaving users with bug-ridden phones.
"And yes, I'm aware Huawei is a bigger company than Sony are these days but Sony is high profile enough that it needs to support it's users"
There's cause and effect in the same sentence. Huawei and several other companies don't invest into documentation or post-sales support - hence they can sell identical kit with a cheaper pricetag.
You and I represent a small minority of the users. Most people don't know or care if their device could or should be updated - it doesn't factor into their buying decisions. People buy phones based on price, aesthetics, price, brands (Apple), price and suggestions of other people. Some purely compare specifications and select the one with the most megapixels - more pixels means better image quality, right?
The 'Man from Del Monte' inside me says yes for companies that put the extra effort in support and I strive to buy the quality stuff even as it usually costs more upfront. But I know the hoi pollow don't.
A niggle, sorry, but the "the" is redundant - "hoi" is the Greek for "the" - and it's polloi.
It's hard to get across just how élitist the well known Greek writers were. hoi polloi were the townspeople (the people of the polis which is a word that turns up often in English, from police to Metropolitan Line) who by our standards were the educated middle class. This is why classicists are so often far right wing in political views - their heroes are the Douglas "duck house" Hoggs of their era. Hoi polloi included people like skilled craftsmen - exactly the ones who knew and valued good quality.
There are plenty of bargains to be had out there too depending on what you need. I just got a note 3 on vodaphone (lake district, vodaphone has the best coverage up here) with 2gb data for 23.50 a month (I factored in a £30 from quidco cashback, I was also given one of those redemption cashbacks but I DONT factor that in as they never work or the company goes bust - I don't base my purchases on those; quidco has never failed me though so im safe on that front). So over 2 years that's 564. Assuming *you* don't want vodaphone the cheapest 2gb data I could find was virgin on £12 a month so £288 over 2 years. That leaves 276 for a note 3 which (in my mind) is a bargain.
Software updates are always my concern, especially with Chinese manufacturers. I lose count the number of times I've become the nominated support person for some crazy cheap phone, and then battled with "Chinglish" websites in an attempt to find updates, only to find that what it shipped with is all that it ever got. Having said that, even the likes of HTC have bitten me with that on my first Android. Abandoning me with an unsupported phone less than 6 months after I bought it as a current model several years ago (which is why HTC rarely even make it to my long list, let alone my short list these days).
However, it's still interesting, and if CyanogenMod started supporting it (binary firmware blobs permitting of course), I could be very interested in recommending it to my cheapskate rellies.
Yep. Can agree with all that - I've had an Honor 6 since the start of the year and the only real gripes I have about it is the fixed battery (I absolutely hate that in any phone) and the EmotionUI. The power side of the 6 isn't spectacular but I did a bunch of stills and video clips at the weekend on a 55% charge and just about got away with it. From the looks of it, the case for the Honor 7 doesn't have that clock/music control window that the 6 has. Maybe something for the future?
(as usual), I don't think I found much (anything?) on phone feature (hello?). I guess it's becoming a peripheral feature these days anyway.
shame about non-removable battery but 99.9% of users won't bother. If fact I didn't bother until I went out of the plug range for a week (traumatic!).
Pocket Lint reckon the Honor 7 call quality is "perfectly fine", supporting the assumption that a review will often only touch on this aspect if it is drastically better or worse than average.
>shame about non-removable battery but 99.9% of users won't bother.
Thank you for reminding me to charge my 5200 mAh USB 'power brick' - I'm just packing for a three-day long festival, so It'll be handy. (not that I'm planning on using my phone much, but it's nice to have).
I bought my first Huawei phone (Ascend G7) a couple of weeks ago (unless you count a T-Mobile Pulse from way back in 2009). It's also my first phone with a non-removable battery. TBH in all the time I've owned phones with removable batteries, I've never had the need to swap one out. This is probably more down to the fact that I tended to keep my phone plugged in while at work.
I have however been really impressed with Huawei's battery performance so far. Though I'm not a heavy user (few phone calls, couple of dozen texts, 30 minutes music and a moderate amount of facebook during the days, usually connected to WiFi as well), I've been getting 3 days use between charges (that's 07:30 to ~ 23:30, switched off at night). Significantly more than I ever got out of my previous handset.
Thumbs up to Huawei, they could well be the brand to watch out for in the next couple of years.
If fact I didn't bother until I went out of the plug range for a week (traumatic!).
I'm firmly in the camp that says "no removeable battery, no sale", but that's not because I want to swap a flat battery for a charged one, simply that I've seen enough li-ion batteries lose capacity or fail outright over a year or so. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks wrangling with a supplier over whether the warranty covers the problem. I'm sure that under UK consumer law I'd ultimately win the argument, but sometimes it's not really worth the inconvenience to stand on your rights.
I'm firmly in the camp that says "no removeable battery, no sale", but that's not because I want to swap a flat battery for a charged one, simply that I've seen enough li-ion batteries lose capacity or fail outright over a year or so. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks wrangling with a supplier over whether the warranty covers the problem.
A "non-removable battery" doesn't necessarily mean that it's particularly difficult to replace the battery, it just means that it's not a two-minute job, or something you'd want to do on a plane, i.e. it's a bit more than just popping off a cover and taking the battery out. Of course, exactly how replaceable probably varies a lot from model to model, but for example with the Nexus 5, it takes about 5 minutes; few clips, few screws, and it's out.
. I'd rather be able to spend £15 on a new battery than be without the phone for weeks
I've lost count of the number of non-removable batteries that I've removed and replaced for people. It's a doddle of a job and costs a sight less than £15. Some phones take less than 5 minutes.
yes, I didn't clarify, having a backup battery for longer trips "out there" is one (rare) reason, but then, when your non-removable battery goes kaputt, so does your, otherwise perfectly usable phone, so I'd want an option to replace it. That said, it's obviously not in the interest of "manufacturers".
(as usual), I don't think I found much (anything?) on phone feature (hello?). I guess it's becoming a peripheral feature these days anyway.
That is the most important thing with a phone - making a useful call.
I have tried various phones and most of them are almost useless on a phone call. Ignoring the crappy operator coverage there is also the lack of being unable to physically hear the person at the other end because the audio output is low and there is no way of making it louder (you can make it louder for playing music but not when making a call). This should be considered in a review of a phone otherwise the reviewer could just be looking at a tablet.
@ Ivan 4
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/why-people-hate-making-phone-calls/401114/
There are inherent limitations stemming from the choices made some time ago about the sampling of the audio. In the days of landlines at both ends and quiet offices I could tell from the pauses if someone was fibbing. Not now.
My old blackberry can set call volume in 25% steps using 'in call options'. You can also pop a bit of treble boost on (I have age related hearing loss but not serious yet) which I find useful in noisy environments like railway stations. The ear-bud hands free thing with the microphone on the lead is good as well as long as you can get out of the wind. Phones like the one reviewed are basically portable televisions so I imagine people tend to use headsets!
"For what it's worth, the Honor 7 scored 36839 on the AnTuTu X benchmark, more than the Galaxy S6 or HTC One M8 from last year."
Pretty sure that should be the Galaxy S5, as shown the on the graphic just above. The S6 wasn't available last year.
"Like Sony, it plunks the Notifications and Quick Settings into a split screen pull down pane."
Is that not just standard Android 5? My current Samsung phone does it in exactly the same way as my old Sony.
Never thought I'd type that in a post on here. ;o)
I've just put my name down for a "Mystery Grey" one. No mention of expected delivery dates, but with an option to cancel before despatch.
They're still showing a £40 discount until the end of the month, so £210 including delivery.
Wow, and Samsung are over £800 for their latest and greatest which TBH isn't significantly better. This has a SD slot or dual SIM which is actually an advantage over the Galaxy 6 and Note 5.
This genuinely looks very good value for money, and if you order from the Honor EU store before Monday you get it for £210.00
As stated in other reviews the launcher and keyboard are not very good, but you can get Swiftkey for free and Nova Launcher for a couple of quid if you don't have it already.
The tables are turning, Samsung better watch out ......
I know it will have a short useful life because of lack of security updates once Huewei has lost interest in it.
It's too early to tell IMHO. Huawei is relatively new to the market, and may thus still be listening to what customers want. You must admit that this new device sets quite an admirably price/performance challenge to the rest of the market, so with a bit of luck they may have worked out something to pass on updates better as well. At this moment we don't know yet because (a) it's new and (b) I haven't seen an Android update for a while..
Is it not still the case that manufacturers of google sanctioned android phones that carry the "play" apps need to sign up to 2 years security updates? I could be wrong, not been following android news too closely for a year or two now.
Very interested in the phone though, currently one plus one owner but its carrying the many scars of no decent case plus kids using it... Wouldn't mind ordering the lattice case if I opted for the honor 7. Looks like a cheap (but decent) HTC one m8.
The reason for the lack of roaming is the disconnect between regions: particularly between North America and the rest of the world. Most of the world settled on 1800MHz (LTE Band III), but that band is taken in the US by the military so they've settled on the AWS frequency of 2100MHz (Band IV); Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean followed suit. But the settling of LTE bands has only been recent and there is still some drift among providers from country to country due to prior commitments.
It all depends on how many frequencies the LTE radio can tune, but perhaps for a true world phone, the frequency priorities should be: III, IV, I, VII, XX, and XVII. That should provide the widest range of compatibility, and the more you can adopt (in the order listed), the better you'll be.
Shame about the aluminium back. You would have to use a protective case if you didn't want it looking a mess after a few months.
Phones should have plastic bodies, with a replaceable back panel. That way you don't have to use a cover. Which is why I have a Nexus 5. Back still looks great after a year.
I *always* use a cover and an oleophobic screen protector. That's why I can run a phone until I'm bored with it or feel like upgrading rather than need a new one every year. It also means it's easy to sell the old one because it still looks as new.
Each to their own, but for me, an aluminium back is not an issue.
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