Introduction
A couple weeks ago, we posted the unboxing and first look of the Honor 10. We weren’t allowed to mention the specs of the phone as it wasn’t officially announced globally that time. We’ve been testing and using the phone as the daily driver for two weeks. Without further ado, this is the Honor 10 review!
ICYM: Unboxing & First Look
Color Changing Design
Since Honor is the sub-brand of Huawei, it’s not surprising to see that the device looks familiar. The front of the Honor 10 looks a lot like the Huawei P20, with some minor differences. It still has the notch on the top, though the front camera and earpiece positions have been swapped. Additionally, the fingerprint sensor below the display also has a different design. According to Honor, it uses an ultrasonic under-glass fingerprint sensor, which enables fast unlock, even with wet hands. Yet again, having a fingerprint sensor below the display means it has a big chin, which sort of defeated the purpose of the notch.
Looking at the back of the phone, it’s another piece of beauty. The back features the new Aurora glass design, which will change to different colors with different angles, kind of like the P20/P20 Pro Twilight edition. Duly note that only Phantom Blue and Phantom Green come with a reflective glass design. Our unit is the Phantom Blue variant, which will change the color from Purple to Blue depending on which angle you tilt. Unlike the P20, its dual-camera placed horizontally. The “AI Camera” label next to the camera lenses kind of spoil the rear design.
The top of the device houses an IR blaster, which only available on Huawei’s more expensive flagship phones like P20 Pro. The bottom of the device has a 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C port, and speaker. Yes, no dongle life!
5.84-inch 19:9 FullView Display
Like the P20, the Honor 10 also has a FullView display, though it comes in 5.84-inch with 19:9 aspect ratio. It uses an IPS LCD panel and the display has the resolution of 2,280 x 1,080. The screen shows eye-pleasing colors, not too vivid or too dull.
Like I mentioned in the P20 review, the notch is small but actually causes quite a few problems. It blocks certain buttons at the top center of certain apps. This problem can be fixed by optimizing the apps with the notch, or “hiding” the notch. When you are watching YouTube videos or playing games in landscape, there’s a black strip at the top, even though you enable the FullView display. In that case, the screenshot will actually show a black strip, kind of weird.
Same Kirin 970 Processor
Like the P20, the Honor 10 packs the same Kirin 970 processor, which comes with built-in NPU. Kirin 970 processor has been out for quite a while, since last year. The phone also has 4GB RAM and 128GB non-expandable storage, similar to the P20.
In terms of performance, the phone actually performs around the same with the P20, though it doesn’t feel as good as the P20. The vibration motor in the Honor 10 doesn’t feel as good as the P20, and its screen also not as responsive as the P20. No idea why? Maybe there are some compromises in terms of internal hardware.
EMUI 8.1 with Oreo
Similar to the P20, the Honor 10 also runs on EMUI 8.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The user experience is quite similar, though I must say I’ve experienced more issues this time. For some reasons, there was once I enabled the AI photography in the camera app and snap a photo, the whole camera app then froze, but the viewfinder was still working.
It also comes with the same Translator app, which translates the words into the language you understand via talking, typing, or even snapping photos.
It also has the same face unlock feature, which unlocks instantly under good lighting conditions. When in low-light conditions, even in completely dark, the screen brightness will bump up to illuminate your face and scan it. Like I said before, using the fingerprint sensor is still safer.
Dual-Camera with AI
In terms of camera, the Honor 10 packs a dual-camera setup — 16MP RGB sensor + 24MP monochrome sensor, with f/1.8 aperture. Its camera also features AI photography, which comes with real-time recognition of 500+ scenarios in 22 categories and scene-specific parameter application.
Image quality generally is quite good, though the noise level is quite high for certain images. The AI photography generally just auto-tunes the colors to more eye-pleasing, which you can normally do by yourself using a photo editing app.
3,400mAh with SuperCharge
The Honor 10 comes with a 3,400mAh battery, which also supports Huawei/Honor SuperCharge. The phone charges up from 15% to 100% in around 1 hour 15 minutes. As for the battery life, the phone can last through a day easily with around 3 hours 15 minutes of screen-on-time. Overall, the battery life of the Honor 10 is quite similar to the P20.
Final Words
Retailing at RM1,699, the Honor 10 is priced a lot lower than the Huawei P20, which I mentioned the best value flagship smartphone you can get right now. You can even get it for RM1,599 if you buy it before 31st May 2018! So, which to get? Well, if you want to have the P20 experience but at a lower price, just get the Honor 10. However, there are certain areas the P20 definitely has the upper hand, like more premium feel and the better new Leica dual-camera. The Honor 10 is not bad too, it has the IR blaster and 3.5mm audio jack.
The Honor 10 is a beautiful phone! It has flagship specs but not flagship price. A flagship phone at this price tag like the Honor 10, I bet you can’t find one in the market right now!
Yay
- Impressive design
- Has 3.5mm audio jack
- Good value
Nay
- That notch causes some problems
- Last year’s processor
- Not so good user experience