This inexpensive smartphone in an aluminum case, the first in the popular Honor line was equipped with a “high” screen (18:9), occupying almost the entire front surface of the case. Among other features, it is worth noting a dual main camera, a fast fingerprint scanner, as well as functional software with support for audio effects. In this review Huawei Honor 7X let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the new product.

Huawei has set a goal to make Honor the “No. 1 brand” for a youth and active audience. While maintaining a balanced ratio of price and functionality, Honor devices are constantly being improved. So, to replace the mid-price segment model (our review) is the Honor 7X, which in its updated hardware is closer to (our review).

Huawei Honor 7X review: technical specifications

• Model: BND-L21
• OS: Android 7.0 (Nougat) + EMUI 5.1 shell
• Processor: 8-core, 64-bit HiSilicon Kirin 659 (4xARM Cortex-A53, up to 2.36 GHz + 4xARM Cortex-A53, up to 1.7 GHz)
• Graphics coprocessor: ARM Mali-T830 MP2
• RAM: 4 GB LPDDR3
• Storage: 64 GB, hybrid microSD/HC/XC memory card slot (up to 256 GB)
• Screen: capacitive, LTPS matrix, 5.93-inch diagonal, FullHD+ resolution (2160x1080 pixels, 18:9), pixel density per inch 407 ppi, protective glass with 2.5D effect
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, USB 2.0 (USB OTG, charge/sync), 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM radio
• Rear photo module: main camera - 16 MP, wide-angle lens, phase detection autofocus, f/2.2 aperture, secondary camera - 2 MP, autofocus, LED flash, video 1080p@30 fps
• Front camera – 8 MP, wide-angle lens, f/2.0 aperture
• Network: 2G, 3G (HSPA+, up to 42 Mbit/s), 4G (LTE Cat 6, up to 300 Mbit/s), LTE-FDD: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20; TD-LTE: 40
• SIM card configuration: nanoSIM (4FF format) + nanoSIM (4FF format)/microSD
• SIM card operating mode: Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS)
• Navigation: GPS/GLONASS/BDS, A-GPS
• Sensors: accelerometer, light and proximity sensors, compass, fingerprint scanner
• Battery: non-removable, lithium polymer, 3,340 mAh
• Colors: black, blue, gold, red
• Dimensions: 156.5x75.3x7.6 mm
• Weight: 165 grams

Review of Huawei Honor 7X: design, ergonomics

We discussed in detail about the “species” features of smartphones whose screens have been extended “in height.” In particular, one of distinctive features The advantage of such devices lies in improved ergonomics. Indeed, the streamlined aluminum body of the Honor 7X, with an almost 6-inch screen embedded in the front panel, lies quite comfortably in the hand. Unlike, for example, a regular “shovel” with the same diagonal. Even compared to its 5.5-inch predecessor, the new device, purely geometrically, looks quite good - 156.5x75.3x7.6 mm versus 150.9x72.6x8.2 mm. For obvious reasons, it turned out to be a little taller, almost the same in width, and even thinner. At the same time, the matte surface of the metal case is almost smooth. For Russia, the new model has four colors - golden, blue, black and elegant red.

The somewhat “bulging” lenses of the rear camera duo are somewhat reminiscent of steampunk glasses. Perhaps the fact is that the “eyes” of the dual photo module are not located vertically, like, for example, the . The plastic inserts for the antennas on the rear panel are also straight, not curly. However, in terms of overall dimensions and weight, these two rather elegant 5.93-inch smartphones differ slightly - (156.5x75.3x7.6 mm versus 156.2x75.2x7.5 mm) and (165 g versus 164 g).

The front panel of Honor 7X is covered with protective glass with a 2.5D effect that flows smoothly around the perimeter.

Above the display, around the decorative grille of the conversational speaker, there is an LED indicator on the right, and a front camera lens on the left, as well as light and proximity sensors.

On-screen touch control buttons “Back”, “Home” and “Recent applications” are represented by “triangle”, “circle” and “square” icons. In the settings you can change their location, and also add another icon (for the notification shade).

A small plate under the display is occupied by the “chrome” Honor logo.

On the right edge of the case there is a volume rocker and a power/lock button,

the variety of sizes of which makes it easy to distinguish them by touch.

On the left edge there is a closed combination slot with a tray for two places, one of which is intended only for the subscriber identification module of the nanoSIM format, and the other can be occupied either by a second nanoSIM or a microSD memory card.

Between the heads of two screws with star slots, a microUSB connector was placed at the bottom end, to the right of which (viewed from the screen side) there is a decorative grille for the “multimedia” speaker (four round holes), and next to it there is a small hole for a “talk” microphone, with This, on the left, is a 3.5 mm audio headset connector.

At the top end there was only room for a second microphone (noise reduction).

The main dual photo module is closer to the upper left edge of the rear panel. A little lower, and already in the center, there is a round platform for the fingerprint scanner, slightly recessed into the body.

From the inscriptions at the bottom of the rear panel, decorated with another Honor logo, you can find out the name of the manufacturer, model number and country of production.

Despite the ergonomic form factor of the Honor 7X, the settings retain a set of proprietary controls to compensate for the large screen size. To emphasize the reliability of the smartphone and its components, the manufacturer indicates that the drop test was performed 4,800 times. By the way, the Honor 7X kit includes a clip case that protects the perimeter and back panel smartphone.

Huawei Honor 7X review: screen

The Honor 7X smartphone is equipped with a 5.93-inch screen with FullHD+ resolution (2160x1080 pixels) and a pixel density per inch of 407 ppi. The display occupies almost the entire front panel. According to the manufacturer, this screen aspect ratio (18:9) is better suited for watching widescreen movies with a 21:9 aspect ratio. Recall that 16:9 = 1.77:1, 18:9 = 2:1, and 21:9 = 2.33:1.

To manufacture the matrix, we used LTPS (Low Temperature Poly Silicon) technology. As is known, replacing amorphous silicon with polycrystalline silicon allows one to achieve wider viewing angles, a better color palette, lower power consumption and response time.

The capacitive touch screen recognizes up to ten simultaneous clicks, which was confirmed by the results of the AnTuTu Tester program . The backlight level can be adjusted manually or use the "Auto-Adjust" option. A small reserve of brightness is available. Enabling full-screen mode allows you to stretch "part-screen" applications across the entire display.

You can change the color temperature in the “Screen” settings, making the images on the screen warmer or, on the contrary, colder, using a color wheel with two presets. The vision protection mode reduces the level of ultraviolet radiation and is designed to relieve eye fatigue, while the color temperature can be adjusted independently. You can also adjust the size of images, text and icons on the screen in steps. Unlike, there is no option to increase the sensitivity of the touch layer for working with gloves in this smartphone. The oleophobic coating allows you to remove small stains and fingerprints from the protective glass, the manufacturer of which is not specified.

Huawei Honor 7X review: cameras

The dual rear photo module of the Honor 7X has the same characteristics as the . Thus, the primary camera with a 16-megapixel sensor and an f/2.2 lens aperture is responsible for the shooting itself, and the 2-megapixel auxiliary one determines the depth of field, which is required for wide aperture mode and shooting portraits. The maximum image resolution for the main camera is 4608x3456 pixels (16 MP) with an aspect ratio of 4:3. It is also possible to shoot with frame proportions 1:1 (3456x3456 pixels, 12 MP) and 18:9 (4608x2304 pixels, 11 MP).

The wide-angle aperture (f/2.0 aperture) front camera lens based on an 8-megapixel sensor provides a resolution of self-portraits of 3264x2448 pixels (8 MP, 4:3).

For both cameras, the maximum video resolution is Full HD (1920x1080 pixels, 16:9) with a frame rate of 30 fps. Interval shooting (“Time Lapse”) is supported only in HD quality (1280x720 pixels). But in the “Slow-motion” mode, a video slowed down 4 times is recorded from the main camera with a VGA resolution - (640x480 pixels)@120 fps. All content is saved in MP4 container files (AVC - video, AAC - audio).

The interface of the Camera application has also remained virtually unchanged. So, swiping left opens the settings panel, swiping right opens a list of shooting scenarios, including professional (photo and video), panoramic, HDR, etc. modes. But, for example, the parameters for the “delicious food” scene had to be set additionally. The professional photo mode provides manual adjustment of parameters such as exposure metering method, ISO and shutter speed, exposure compensation level, focusing method, and white balance. However, there is no option to save pictures in RAW format. For the main camera in wide aperture mode, the emulated aperture value can be changed from 0.95 to 16.

Portrait mode enhances the beautification effect in the range from 0 to 10, and also turns on or off the blur effect (resolution 3264x2448 pixels, 8 MP). In the "live photo" mode, along with the photo, accompanying short clips are recorded, which can only be viewed in the standard "Gallery". For proprietary artistic shooting modes "Light" you must use a tripod. In the "Effects" mode, you can apply funny masks to portraits. You can change the focus point, select the depth of field, and also apply filters to the image after shooting. You can see examples of photos from the main camera.

Huawei Honor 7X review: sound

The standard Music application plays, in particular, high-quality audio files (SQ - Super Quality) with the FLAC extension. But listening to them through a “multimedia” speaker, with clearly budget sound and a small volume reserve, is perhaps not the best thing to do. Huawei's proprietary Histen sound processing algorithms implement audio effects that can only be accessed when headphones are connected. In this case, in the “Sound” settings, you should select the type of audio accessory to be connected. By refusing to turn on the 3D audio mode (near, front, surround), you can use a 10-band equalizer with bass boost, five presets and individual settings.

The new product comes with an FM tuner, which will require a wired audio headset as a shortwave antenna. It is not included in the kit, so you will have to worry about its availability additionally. The Voice Recorder mobile application writes conversations and monologues into M4A (AAC, 48 kHz) files, allowing you to leave quick and photo tags on these recordings.

Review of Huawei Honor 7X: hardware, performance

Compared to the previous model, the “engine” of Honor 7X, of course, has been upgraded. Now, instead of HiSilicon Kirin 655, an 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 659 chip is used, also created taking into account the design standards of 16 nm (FinFET+). By the way, exactly the same one was installed, for example, in a smartphone. It remains only to recall that the clock speeds of the quartets of 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores reach 2.36 GHz and 1.7 GHz, respectively. At the same time, the ARM Mali-T830 MP2 graphics accelerator with two execution units works in tandem with the processor. The Kirin 659 chip also integrates a memory controller and an LTE modem (Cat. 6, 300/50 Mbit/s). But the quantity random access memory Honor 7X has 4 GB.

TestingHuaweiHonor 7X . Results in the AnTuTu benchmark

TestingHuaweiHonor 7X. Results in the GeekBench benchmark

Due to the same basic hardware, the test results and Honor 7X differ only within the error limits.

Built-in storage of 64 GB can be expanded with microSD/HC/XC memory cards up to 256 GB. In addition, USB-OTG technology allows you to connect USB flash drives to your smartphone.

Two subscriber identification modules in nanoSIM format alternately work with one radio channel in DSDS (Dual SIM Dual Standby) mode. Of course, the “Russian troika” of 4G frequency bands are available (1,800 MHz, 2,600 MHz and 800 MHz). But about support Bluetooth interface(version 4.1) aptX codec is no longer mentioned. The NFC interface and the second frequency range (5 GHz) for Wi-Fi were also among the irreparable losses. Let us recall that the NFC interface supported NXP Mifare Classic technology, thanks to which, using the Moscow Transport Cards application, it was possible, for example, to find out the balance of Strelka and Troika.

The Wi-Fi+ option remains in the Honor 7X settings, which, in particular, makes it possible to improve the quality of the connection by automatically switching between mobile and Wi-Fi networks.

GPS, BDS and GLONASS satellite systems can be used for positioning and navigation. For coordination over cellular and Wi-Fi networks, A-GPS mode is offered.

Huawei Honor 7X review: autonomy

The capacity of the non-removable lithium-polymer battery in Honor 7X remains the same as its predecessor - 3,340 mAh. We were presented with a smartphone for testing without the corresponding network adapter power supply, but the Huawei ghtcc service told us that the device is equipped in Russian retail with a 5 V and 2 A charger.

The AnTuTu Tester program rated the energy efficiency of Honor 7X at 6,589 points (it earned 7,569 points on this test). At the same time, according to the manufacturer, you can listen to music for 91 hours on one charge. But our set of videos in MP4 format (hardware decoding) and Full HD quality at full brightness played continuously for about 6 hours. In general, you don’t have to worry about one day of active use of your smartphone (even without recharging).

The Battery settings provide options for optimizing and monitoring energy consumption. It is proposed to reduce battery consumption, for example, by limiting the activity of background applications. When the battery level is low, it is recommended to switch to Ultra mode, where only selected programs are available.

Huawei Honor 7X review: software features

The new smartphone runs operating system Android 7.0 (Nougat), the interface of which is hidden behind the proprietary EMUI 5.1 shell.

The "navigation button" settings are designed to change the order of the icons on the control panel, as well as add a fourth icon that controls the notification/quick settings shade.

The extensive functionality of the EMUI launcher makes it possible, in particular, to easily activate HD screencasts (video recordings from the screen), quickly change the working display size, and also facilitate input by sliding the virtual keyboard.

A tap and hold on the "Recent Applications" button divides the smartphone screen into two parts to simultaneously display the operation of some pairs of programs (not all). As usual, there is a so-called “control button” that makes it easier to operate the smartphone. Searching for apps, contacts and messages opens by swiping down from the top of the home screen.

The fingerprint scanner, according to the manufacturer, unlocks the smartphone in just a quarter of a second. In addition, after registering up to five fingerprints, it is easy to increase the level of security for access to personal folders and applications. By the way, the scanner’s touch pad will help you answer voice calls, turn off the alarm, open the notification panel, scroll through images, and activate photo or video shooting from the Camera application. Fingerprint registration is not required.

Huawei Honor 7X review: purchase, conclusions

The main "trick" new Huawei Honor 7X, made in a pleasantly designed aluminum case, certainly has a “high” screen (18:9). In addition to its visual appeal, the smartphone’s hardware includes a dual main camera, a fast fingerprint scanner, and functional software that includes support for audio effects. An undoubted advantage of the new product is also the significant amount of RAM and built-in memory.

It is the capacious storage that somehow compensates for the conflict that usually arises between installing a second SIM card and expanding the memory. But the absence is high frequency rangeWi- Fi(5 GHz) and the NFC interface are difficult to classify as the positive aspects of the smartphone. Slow charging of the installed battery also does not add positive emotions.

In the company's online store, at the time of testing, they asked for 17,990 rubles for Huawei Honor 7X, compensating for this amount with a gift (Huawei AP007 external battery). But purchasing other new products with a “high” screen, such as the 5.7-inch Asus ZenFone Max Plus (M1) or 6-inch Oppo F5 Youth in large retail chains would cost 16,990 or 18,990 rubles, respectively. The Asus ZenFone Max Plus (M1) has a less fast processor (Mediatek MT6750T) and less significant amounts of memory (3 GB/32 GB), while it also has a dual rear camera, and a higher battery capacity (4,130 mAh). In turn, the Oppo F5 Youth, at a higher price, also cannot boast of memory capacity (only 3 GB/32 GB), and it has a single main camera. True, the front photo module with support for SelfieTune technology has a 16-megapixel sensor with a fast lens (f/2.0 aperture). However, a more advanced model - Huawei Nova 2i with a dual front camera - would cost lovers of self-portraits the same amount (18,990 rubles).

Review results of the Huawei Honor 7X smartphone

Pros:

• Sleek aluminum body design
• "High" screen (18:9)
• Significant amounts of RAM and internal memory
• Fingerprint scanner
• Functional software with support for audio effects
• Attractive price

Minuses:

• Mandatory choice between installing a second SIM card and expanding memory
• One Wi-Fi frequency band
• No NFC
• Slow charging

One can only envy the activity of Huawei. The huge range of already released devices is constantly updated with new smartphones. It is easy to get confused in the product line of a Chinese manufacturer, since mobile devices come out very often. Quite recently, a rather interesting budget-class device was presented Honor 7C. It has everything to become a bestseller. And all because its price is very attractive for the buyer. With all this, he has big screen with a fashionable 18:9 aspect ratio and good performance thanks to a fresh processor from Qualcomm. Previously, the Honor 7X model was released, which many people liked. So, the 7C model is a slightly simplified version of this smartphone. How can a new product interest a buyer? This is important to know, because the device’s competitors include a powerful public sector device. So, as you might have already guessed, the hero of our review will be Honor 7C.

Equipment

Traditionally for smartphones with the Honor logo, the box is painted in a bright blue color; it cannot be confused with packaging from other brands. Inside, everything is placed simply and on a budget, but it’s a sin to complain about it. The main thing is that you have all the necessary accessories to use your smartphone from day one. You will find in the box such a set:

• charger 5V/1A;
• microUSB cable;
• pin for SIM card compartment;
• transparent silicone bumper.

Design, ergonomics and materials

The device has a rather boring appearance, typical for latest models Honor. But this is purely a matter of taste; some will even like the appearance of the new product. The body, although made of aluminum, is quite simple in appearance. When looking at the Honor 7C, the feeling of a budget product does not particularly arise, but it immediately appears when it hits the hand. Such emotions are reinforced mainly by plastic panels on the back, top and bottom. They also cover the bottom and top ends. An all-metal construction with plastic veins, like its more expensive “brothers,” would look more solid. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to complain about such moments, given the very affordable price of the device. In general, everything is very good. High-quality assembly and the absence of any creaks are always very pleasing available devices. And Honor 7C is just such a device. For little money we get a well-built device with a good appearance and a fashionable widescreen display from a trusted brand, what more could you want. The filling also didn’t let us down, it’s of a good standard, but more on that a little later. Three body colors are offered - blue, black and gold. This budget employee weighs 164 grams, dimensions are 158.3 × 76.7 × 7.8 mm.

The front has 2.5D glass with a not very good oleophobic coating. The company logo has not disappeared anywhere; it is traditionally placed under the display module. Sensors, an event indicator, a selfie camera with flash and an earpiece are grouped above the screen. There are no physical buttons, there are software ones that can be customized. Otherwise, everything is normal, I would like to note the full-fledged tray on the left side. In addition to two nanoSIM cards, you can also insert microSD, thanks to the manufacturer. This may seem like a small thing, but such small nuances ultimately form the overall impression of the smartphone. The Honor 7C retains the 3.5 mm output, and it is located in a convenient location - on the bottom edge. There are speech and noise-canceling microphones. The finger scanner on the rear panel works flawlessly, it is fast and accurate.

Screen

The display spans 76.3 percent panel. After turning it on, you are finally convinced that Honor 7C is aimed at budget-conscious buyers. The fact is that the IPS display, with its impressive 6-inch diagonal, has a modest HD+ resolution, that is, 720 × 1440 pixels. It’s not entirely appropriate for such a huge screen, and the pixel density level is proof of this - only 269 ppi. If you don’t look closely, it will do just fine, but users who are picky about this aspect will have to look for a better option. The flowers also lack colorfulness. But the load on the processor is less, gamers will appreciate this fact. There is a 10-point multi-touch here, and there is a color palette temperature adjustment. The brightness is not too high, but allows you to comfortably use the screen in the sun. Viewing angles are sufficient.

Technical part and performance

Strange as it may sound, Honor 7C is a gaming smartphone. Yes, it is very far from flagship characteristics, but for its price it has a good reserve of power. The model is based on a vigorous processor Snapdragon 450, combining eight Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.8 GHz. It has a powerful Adreno 506 video chip built into it. The combination of good hardware and a low-resolution screen allows the device to handle heavy games well. At the same time, it pulls everything on high or medium graphics. The smartphone is sold in three versions - 3/32 GB, 4/32 GB and 4/64 GB. The most relevant is the first option. The smartphone in the other two versions is not so attractive due to the price reaching up to $200. And cost is the main trump card of Honor 7C. The device passes the AnTuTu test with dignity, gaining about 73 thousand points.

Autonomy

The battery life of the Honor 7C can be considered an asset; it is good in this regard. The energy-efficient technical component has an impact, since the chipset is made using a 14 Nm process technology, excellent optimization and a power-free display also make themselves felt. Well, the battery is not bad, although its capacity is average - 3000 mAh. After watching a video online for 1 hour, 12 percent of the charge is consumed if the backlight is set to half. When playing tanks, 20 percent is spent per hour. In sleep mode, virtually no charge is wasted. In most situations, autonomy will be enough for a whole day of use. The included charger works slowly, you can buy a 2A unit, then the battery will charge 2 times faster.

Connectivity and sound quality

For wireless connections, interfaces such as Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi are used. 4G frequencies are supported, but of those available in our country, only Band 3 can be noted. Bands 7 and 20, popular in our country, are missing, which is sad. VoLTE technology available. There is no FM signal receiver, you will have to use online radio. But there is support for OTG connection, which is very important for such a large screen. GPS and GLONASS navigation does not experience any problems, working quickly and accurately.

The telephone speaker and microphone perform their functions perfectly. Both interlocutors have nothing to complain about; clarity and audibility are at a good level. But the call speaker could be better; it is average in volume, and besides, it irritates the ear with high-frequency sound. The sound in the headphones is pretty good.

Software stuffing

I received the phone as an “OS”, but, as always, it is disguised under a proprietary shell. In this case we are dealing with firmware EMUI 8.0, which has its own chips. Its design is not to everyone’s taste, but no one will dispute its high functionality and convenience. You can choose a beautiful theme from the list of available ones, but that’s not all that the Huawei shell offers. System updates come regularly, the manufacturer is constantly adding something, and this is nice. Although the smartphone is aimed at China, the Russian language is easily installed.

Cameras

The main camera, as is fashionable today, is equipped with two modules of 13 and 2 megapixels with an f/2.2 aperture. This is not a camera phone at all. The maximum task of the rear camera is to take pictures of normal quality, and for this you will need good lighting. On the street during the day you get quite decent shots. There is a software background blur, called "Aperture Mode" here. The blur level is user adjustable. It’s not easy to get a successful shot with the bokeh effect; the camera often makes mistakes. The more contrast the subject is, the better the background behind it will be blurred. Video recording is performed in Full HD format at 30 fps. The videos show budget quality, there is no stabilization here. But you can’t call them bad either. The 8 megapixel front module takes good pictures for its price.

Conclusions:

Pros:

• performance;
• autonomy;
• good camera;
• EMUI shell;
• nice price;
• aluminium case.

Minuses:

• not all frequencies are 4G;
• unfinished Face ID;
• screen resolution.

The above applies to the Chinese version of Honor 7C. A model with exactly the same name is officially presented in Russia, it comes with a guarantee and has significant differences. It has NFC and all Russian LTE frequencies, but the screen is reduced to 5.7 inches, and it also has a weaker processor - Snapdragon 430. As for the hero of the review, he can safely be attributed to the best state employees for today. It will definitely be a good buy.

A couple of years ago, dual cameras suddenly became a new trend. Moreover, their implementation began with expensive flagship devices. Then, gradually, as time passed, this feature appeared more and more in cheaper devices, and now you can, when buying a smartphone for 80 - 100 dollars, see a dual camera in it.

The dual camera was a trend, but now in 2018-2018, frameless displays are becoming a new trend. Well, to put it more correctly, displays with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and with narrow top and bottom frames. The pioneer was Samsung, then this feature appeared in other flagships, it is planned in OnePlus 5T, it is planned in HTC U11+, iPhone again frameless, Samsung already mentioned, LG G6, LG V30 and other devices. A feature with frameless displays, it is still the prerogative and feature of expensive devices.

However, as has been the case with dual cameras since the beginning of 2018, I think this feature will appear in increasingly cheaper devices. So, the manufacturer who manages to be the first to release a smartphone with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and minimal frames, but at the same time in the middle price segment, will win. Because at the moment, if you look at the market, there really aren’t any outstanding offers.

But there is another manufacturer that managed to release its smartphone with a frameless display, with an aspect ratio of 18:9 - this is, of course, HUAWEI, with its Honor 7X, which, I think, amazed many at the presentation with its ratio of quality, design, specifications , chips and prices.

Today we’ll look at the Honor 7X, let’s go. A little over six months ago, I talked about Honor 6X, which was also good for its segment. However, the 7X, being its successor, came out ahead, made a lot more noise and will definitely be remembered as one of the first of its kind. It’s noticeable to the naked eye that they tried to make it cool from absolutely every angle: in design, in the screen, in hardware, in autonomy, and so on. But first things first.

Chic appearance

The appearance of the Honor 7X evoked associations in me with the Honor 8 Pro, which now costs about $500, for a second, the same shape of the smartphone with rounded corners and smoothed edges, the same materials, the unibody body is made entirely of metal, and intersects it only thin strips of antennas. Same controls, same dual camera and a fingerprint scanner on the back, however, in the case of the Honor 7X, the camera lenses protrude noticeably.

For me, objectively, this was not a big problem, but subjectively, it annoyed me when you put the smartphone on the table with its back side down, and it starts to shake. But another difference is that at the bottom end of the 7. Appearance of the Honor 7X there is a morally outdated Micro USB, while the 8 Pro had Type-C, otherwise the similarity is phenomenal and considering the fact that the price of the 7X is half the price, this is unambiguous should be regarded as an advantage of a smartphone.

Three colors: blue, black, gold. And speaking of quality, if literally on the second day I was covered with several scratches, then not a trace appeared on the body of the 7x, not counting fingerprints. The assembly is monolithic, does not creak, does not play. At the same time, in terms of ergonomics and ease of use new smartphone Honor even outperforms the 8 Pro, which was huge, but here the overall size is a 5.5-inch smartphone and at the same time a comfortable width and thickness.

The telescopic sensor is located on this side, right under the index finger, it works very quickly, although not instantly like in the company's flagships, plus it supports Swype gestures for opening the panel.

The side control keys are located on the right side, also at the optimal distance, right under the missing finger, and the combo slot on the left side supports either two SIM cards or a memory card. Jack is in place, except that the already mentioned Micro USB upset me, it’s an unpleasant little thing.

By the way, I quite liked the sound in the headphones despite the lack of a dedicated DAC as such. But the sound in the speakers is noticeably budget-friendly, it won’t make your ears bleed like I did, but nevertheless the sound is flat with a predominance of high frequencies, there is little pleasure in listening.

Screen

The Honor 7X screen elevates the design and appearance smartphone to the absolute, you just turn it on and go – Wow. Yes, in a few months, there will be so many such smartphones that we will stop perceiving them as something outstanding, but now, due to the lack of frameless screens, such a display is perceived as something probable.

Diagonal 5.9 inches, resolution 2060 by 1080, aspect ratio 18:9, OTPS matrix and very small frames on top and bottom, plus protective glass made using 2.5D technology. The quality of the Honor 7X display itself is decent, there is a very rich picture, sufficient pixel density and, as a result, a very clear image. Virtually complete absence of distortion when turning.

The colors are very colorful, but without any excesses, the brightness reserve is also sufficient. In the screen settings you can adjust the light temperature to suit you, there is a mode to save your eyes. What about the frames? The side frames are quite ordinary, but the top and bottom are less noticeable. Moreover, you quickly get used to them, and then you look at them in comparison with One Plus 3T, for example, and you’re like, damn, the difference is huge.

The buttons are on-screen, I don’t really like them, but at least there’s a rationale here. The problem that all upcoming frameless smartphones will now face is the adaptation of applications. This also applies to Honor 7X; some applications have a Fit button, when you click on it, the application restarts in full screen.

However, the list of such applications is limited; you go to the smartphone settings in a separate menu item and see a limited set of such programs. However, YouTube is not among them, and when watching a video on YouTube, frames will be either on the top and bottom, or on the sides.

But this is a temporary problem and I’m sure that when all manufacturers start churning out smartphones with 18:9 aspect ratios, all applications and all content will instantly be adapted to the new format. But now, I repeat, there is such a problem.

Performance

Hardware performance, and here too everything is good, I repeat, Honor 7X looks like a smartphone that they decided to make simply untouchable from all sides. Self-produced chip KIRIN 659, with 8 cores, dual-core MALI-T830 graphics accelerator, 4 GB of RAM and 32, 64 or 128 GB of storage.

I would like to point out right away that we should not forget that this is a representative of the middle and even budget segment. I think the main goal was to make a fast smartphone with a large amount of memory, and Honor 7X copes with this task perfectly.

operating system

The system, and here it is EMUI based on Android 7, flies quickly and looks good. There are many applications in the memory, between which the smartphone quickly switches. And the minimum size of permanent memory is 32 GB, just think 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. A couple of years ago, it was an extremely expensive flagship. And now, the standard for state employees, this applies, of course, not only to HUAWEI, for example, Xiaomi M1 had the same situation.

In terms of performance, everything is not bad, if we don’t talk about heavy games, the accelerator is from MALI, and it’s also dual-core, and even a budget 830. There’s no need to be surprised that you can’t play heavy games at high settings. But seriously, I was hoping to play some Injustice 2 at maximum speed on a $200 smartphone. WITH simple games everything is fine, Asphalt, for example, is going well. But even in tanks and beautiful 3D games you will have to lower the settings.

Autonomy

Autonomy is also quite a compromise point. Small frames allow you to increase the diagonal of the display, while the smartphone retains its compact size, and therefore the same battery capacity. But a larger display requires more energy, and therefore no miracles happened with the Honor 7X. The manufacturer did not specifically increase the thickness of the smartphone for the sake of the battery and limited itself to a 3340 MAH battery, achieving an optimal ergonomics-battery life ratio.

Benchmark Betru Test the smartphone was discharged from 100% to 20 in 8.5 hours. This is just a little more than the minimum level of comfort for me. Much depends on how actively you use the smartphone, but in any case it will survive until the evening and even the next day without any problems.

What else pleased me was that it works in standby mode, this is the same case when you put your smartphone down, forget about it, then come back after a while and see that the battery has not been discharged at all.

What's frustrating? The lack of normal fast charging, but on the other hand, since the smartphone is still a budget one, this can be forgiven. And NFC could have been added. Seriously, contactless payment technologies are growing in popularity.

Camera capabilities

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the camera capabilities of the Honor 7X. The main camera is dual 16+2 MP, with a pixel size of 1.25 microns, the front one is 8 MP. The dual module traditionally combines a color monochrome sensor and uses a dual camera for photographs in portrait mode. We'll talk about them a little later, first about the camera as a whole.

The quality of the pictures is excellent, considering the cost of the smartphone; as usual, during the day the pictures come out decently, almost comparable to more expensive flagship devices. But at night, all the budget creeps out, resulting in a sharp drop in detail and pixelated mess. The 7X camera actively flirts with software processing: it refines colors, is not shy about sharpening, and so on.

As a result, some pictures come out completely unrealistic and I, for example, absolutely don’t like them. But it happens the other way around, when, due to software processing, photos come out almost better than on the flagship OnePlus 3T. But you don’t need to be fooled, if you zoom in on the pictures, it will be noticeable that the detail of the photos from 3T is higher, the dynamic range is wider, and the color rendition is much more realistic. Although I know for sure that some people will like bright colors more. Like, who cares if the greenery doesn’t look like that in real life if in the photo it looks very lush and attractive.

Finally, the portrait mode, in general, I liked the 7X camera more than the Mi A1, and portrait photos also come out better in terms of the quality of the image itself. But the processing algorithms on the Mi A1 still worked more vigorously, as a result, the 7X takes good portraits, only from a certain distance, while it does not process the edges very carefully, but with desire and a certain skill you can get a good shot. And progress, in terms of software and algorithm, is still noticeable.

The results come out much better than those of the same 6X, for example. Finally, video shooting for this price segment produces good results, but in general I am skeptical about video shooting on smartphones. I don’t understand how to practically apply this, but the result, I repeat, is not bad for the budget segment.

Of the little things, I was personally upset by the lack of Type-C and NFS. However, in general, it’s a surprising thing, but the 7X seemed to me one of the best offers in the $230-250 price segment. And if you take into account its screen, then it’s almost the only one in its price segment where it competes with itself.

IN Lately Huawei announces new smartphones literally one after another. And here we have before us another of their brainchild with the Honor logo – the 7C model. This is a state employee, which is a simplified version. At the moment, it is not yet known whether Honor 7C will be presented in Russia, but the model is already showing off on the international official website of Honor. I ordered this device in China, on Aliexpress, where it is now sold for $150 (for the younger version 3/32 GB). So let's take a look at this new product.

EQUIPMENT

- charger for 1A and 5V,
- microUSB cable,
- paper clip,
- Silicone Case.

DESIGN AND SIZES

This is far from compact. Many believe that Honor 7C was released as a competitor. Yes, they have the same processor. But the dimensions are completely different - due to the presence of a 5.99-inch diagonal screen, Honor 7C is comparable in size to. Length 158 mm, width 76 mm and thickness 8 mm. Weight 161 g.

But the design of the case is really the same as that of Xiaomi Redmi 5: similar plastic ends, the same plastic inserts on top and bottom, and also a metal central panel on the back. Due to such an abundance of plastic, the Honor 7C feels budget in the hand, but visually, if you look at it from the outside, there is no feeling of cheapness. The camera is double and the oval platform with lenses and flash protrudes slightly above the body. To the right of the camera we see a noise-canceling additional microphone, and below in the center there is a fairly fast fingerprint scanner. The audio jack is located at the bottom end, here we also see a microUSB port, a couple of screws, a conversational microphone and a speaker.

The manufacturer has equipped the new product with a full-fledged tray for 3 slots (2 nanoSIM + microSD) and this is respectable.

Grouped above the screen are a notification LED, sensors, front-camera, auditory speaker and front flash. Under the screen, traditionally for this brand, there is a logo, on-screen buttons, and customizable ones.

DISPLAY

The widescreen display here is budget-friendly. More expensive smartphones may lack color saturation. But the screen corresponds to the price of the smartphone. The question here is different - will HD+ resolution be enough with a diagonal of almost 6 inches? Depending on which side you look at, yes, you can see pixelation, but at the same time, I can’t say that in everyday use you experience a critical lack of resolution. But the load on the hardware is less, so performance in the same games will be at a decent level. As in any Huawei smartphone or Honor, you can fine-tune the color temperature of the image. The touch is good, responsive, 10 touches. The brightness range is not very wide, but it is enough both during the day in the sun and at night in the dark the screen does not blind the eyes. But there is no oleophobic layer on the glass.

HARDWARE

In China I see 3 memory modifications: 3/32, 4/32 and 4/64 GB. I think the youngest 3/32 GB is the most attractive, because it is the most affordable, and the highlight of the Honor 7C is precisely its affordability. It will be very difficult for older versions with their price tags reaching up to $200 to compete in the market. We have already seen the Snapdragon 450 processor in Redmi 5. An excellent processor, in my opinion, the best of the budget mobile chipsets at the moment: 14 nm process technology, high-torque Adreno 506 graphics, no overheating even under load and careful energy consumption. Great choice from the manufacturer.

The device is very fast, and this is reflected not only in vigorous hardware, but also in a well-optimized, debugged shell, which is why many people buy these smartphones. Well, as for the gaming capabilities, they are very, very decent. In games, this blade performs well - we reap the benefits of the low screen resolution. In tanks (WOT BLITZ) in most locations it was quite comfortable to play even on maximum graphics. At reduced maximum settings, and even more so at full medium settings, the game flies. Accordingly, any other mobile games will also run without any problems.

SOFTWARE PART

Huawei's Emotion UI shell based on Android 8.0 with all its features. The smartphone has been in my hands for 2 weeks already and during this time 2 updates have arrived, the manufacturer is finalizing something - as always, the Chinese version of the smartphone is being finalized and they usually enter the international market already relatively optimized. The shell itself is multilingual by default.

OTHER FUNCTIONALITY

A set of built-in sensors is in front of you, but the gyroscope is not displayed among them.

Exactly the same story happened with Honor 7X, in which the gyroscope appeared only some time after the next software update. Let me remind you that gyroscopes in smartphones work precisely due to software. So it is possible that the same story will happen with Honor 7C. But there is no hardware FM radio and it will not appear. OTG works properly, navigation is also without any problems. There is a face unlock function, but as usual it is of little use for use in the dark.

And don’t forget that all Chinese versions of Honor smartphones, as well as Huawei, do not support all of our 4G frequencies. Band 7 and band 20 are not here, but Band 3 is supported and in some regions of Russia it is used by operators. If the 7C is officially sold in Russia, then the PCT version will of course have all the frequencies.

Sound. Let's start with the good - the Honor 7C sounds pretty good through headphones. But the multimedia speaker could not please. It has an average volume reserve, and the sound is predominantly high-frequency.

CAMERAS

The main camera here is apparently the same as in the Honor 9 Lite: 13 MP + 2 MP, with an F/2.2 aperture. Honor 9 Lite was not a camera phone, and 7C is not one either. The goal of this camera is to take watchable pictures in good light, and the camera copes with this task. Yes, you can find fault with it; in difficult lighting conditions the result will not always be acceptable, but on the whole I was satisfied with the camera. During the day on the street it is quite functional. And keep in mind that the camera is “finished” by the manufacturer along the way - this can be seen from the update logs.

There is a shooting mode with software background blur, here it is called “aperture mode”. It is possible to adjust the degree of blur. The result is not always perfect, as usual, a lot depends on the subject and the background - the more contrast the object against the background, the better the final result.

Everything is predictable from the video footage. Maximum resolution FullHD, frequency 30 fps, no stabilization. The video quality itself is quite normal, I can’t say anything bad. See examples in the sources at the link below or in the video version of this review.

Front camera 8 MP. The quality is generally quite good.

AUTONOMY

I’ll say right away that autonomy is good. And don’t be confused by the fact that the battery is 3000 mAh. Optimization + energy-efficient processor + not a power-hungry screen - these are the three pillars on which the autonomy of the Honor 7C rests. In 1 hour of watching online video with average backlight, we lose 12% of the charge. When playing tanks, we say goodbye to 20% per hour. In standby mode there is no battery consumption. Yes, this is not a long-lasting smart phone, but for most people the charge will last for the whole day.

The native 1-amp charger is too slow, charging through it lasts about 3 hours, so for charging it is better to use a third-party 2A unit to reduce the process by almost 2 times.

VERDICT

It's certainly not a future hit. The model has its own characteristics: a large screen, but low resolution. The sizes are not small. The situation with entering our market is not yet clear, and the Chinese have been cut in terms of LTE frequencies. Even if we put aside the dimensions and try to compare it with the Redmi 5, then I don’t see any advantages in the Honor 7C, except that it has the ability to blur the background in photographs and there is a full-fledged tray. And at the price of Redmi 5 in a similar modification 3/32 costs a couple of tens of dollars cheaper. At least for now. In general, Huawei has never dumped, however, this does not prevent their smartphones from selling well, they have their own fan base, there are fans of this shell who value stability and predictability. And in terms of reliability, you can’t really find fault with these smartphones. This is why they are loved.

WHERE TO BUY HONOR 7C:

— the smartphone from the review was purchased on Ali
— other sellers on Aliexpress: ONE>>, TWO>>

SAVE WITH CASHBACK:

VIDEO REVIEW: