Introduction

Ease of Use

Honor 7X: At a glance

•     18:9 full screen with 2,160x1080 (FHD+) resolution display
•     5.5inch body
•     5.93in edge-to-edge view
•     Available in three colours: black, blue, gold
•     Tough metal body with rounded edges
•     One-key split screen to use two functions simultaneously 
•     16MP rear camera with additional 2MP depth sensing camera + 8MP front camera
•     Portrait Mode for both front and rear cameras 
•     Full HD 1080p videos at 30fps 
•     3340 mAh battery gives up to 12 hours internet time
•     Kirin 659 processor + 4GB ram 
•     64GB internal memory 
•     Support for 256GB micro SD card 
•     £269/ 299 euros
•     Available 5th December in UK

For a phone costing less than £300, the Honor 7X feels solid and looks great. The smooth metal body - which is a little slippy for our liking - has rounded edges, complemented by the 2.5D curved glass display. This all makes for a tough phone that should take a few knocks no worries. 

Fingerprint ID scanner is positioned in a really comfortable access point on the middle of the phone’s rear side and the phone activates speedily on touch of your index finger. 

When the large edge-to-edge screen comes to life it is wonderfully vibrant, without being overly saturated. It’s hard to believe such a great screen belongs to a phone at this price point. 

The 6in edge-to-edge screen is in 18:9 format and its 2160x1080 resolution display gives a crisp image. Such a wide format is a big plus for gamers, while in the camera app the menu icons can be positioned outside of the picture frame for an uninterrupted display of live view. 

Front

A neat feature is the one touch dual screen display, where you can easily view messages as they pop up while operating other apps. Only a screen this large and in 18:9 format adequately provides for such a function. 

According to Honor, the battery inside is a powerful 3,340mAh unit. That battery capacity provides power for up to 22 days standby, 12 hours video playback, 21 hours talk time or 12 hours internet. Impressive stuff. The battery can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes, though a full charge takes longer than we would expect.

Operational speed is fine, with an impressive 4GB ram. We did not at any point experience glitches or lags when using the phone. 

At a generous 64GB, it will take a long time to fill up the internal storage with photos and videos. There is also support for micro SD cards, up to 256GB. That micro SD card slot doubles up as a second SIM card slot. 

Rear

Let’s now get into the nitty gritty of the camera app. 

The camera menu is laid out just how we would like it. As mentioned, the large 18:9 format screen allows the menu icons to be positioned outside of the live view picture frame, which makes for a tidy display.

Swipe to the left and you find the plethora of shooting modes. These include the following: Photo (auto), Pro Photo, Video (auto), Pro Video, HDR, Panorama, Light Painting, Time-Lapse, Slow-Mo, Filter, Effects, Watermark, Audio Note plus More. 

Swipe to the right and the Settings menu appears, where there is access to image Resolution, GPS tag, Watermark, Camera Grid, Mute, Timer, Audio Control, Touch to Capture, Capture Smiles, Object Tracking, Touch & Hold Shutter, Volume button unction, Ultra snapshot and image adjustment.

Filters

On the main camera screen you have quick access to library, photo and video modes, plus direct access to the Flash Mode, Wide Aperture activation, Portrait Mode, Moving Picture and switching between front and rear cameras. 

When certain shooting modes are selected, a couple of sliders appear at the bottom of the screen, in order to make manual adjustments to the severity of the effect. 

That is a lot of controls and modes on offer, but it is all laid out really well and handles fine.

Operationally, the front camera caters well for selfies, with automatic remote capture functions. These include smile detection, audio detection when you say Cheese, touch shutter, plus gesture where a 3 second timer is activated once your palm is detected. 

Bokeh Mode

Unfortunately the Honor 7X does not feature image stabilisation. No IS does have an impact on how the camera is used - you’ll need to be particularly conscious of keeping the phone still for photos and videos if you want sharp images. 

Honor says that the Honor 7X features phase detection auto focus that can acquire a sharp focus in as little as 0.18 seconds. In reality, it seems quick enough when the lighting is good. Find yourself in low contrast light and there is more focus hunting. Over time you may find several out-of-focus low light shots in your gallery (which may also be the lack of IS). But hey, this is a phone. 

But wait now, what is this, a histogram in playback? There is a novelty on a mid-cost smart phone. Tap the info button when in image playback and there is a wealth of information about the image; exposure settings, focal length, file size, GPS and that glorious full histogram. 

Through the histogram you can tell how good your exposure settings were and make any adjustments accordingly - which is all possible through Pro Photo mode where exposure compensation can be applied or the metering mode changed. There is enough in the Honor 7X to keep photographers happy. 

Image Quality

The rear-facing camera of the Honor 7X has a focal length of 26mm, with an f/2.2 aperture. It will record 16MP images in JPEG only format. That’s an impressive maximum resolution of 4608x3456 pixels, with a file size anywhere between 3MB and 9MB.

Unlike an iPhone, HDR is not on by default and needs to be selected each time after switching shooting modes. We think a single click HDR option would be handy - here it’s a swipe to the left then selecting the dedicated HDR mode. HDR is not additionally available within most other shooting modes - that’s a change we’d like to see.

Of course like all smart phones, the Honor 7X has a tiny imaging sensor. Therefore, those 16MP pixels are a tiny 1.12um pixel size (so an Honor spokesperson informed us). Small pixel size = less light gathering prowess and limited dynamic range. 

The true aperture of the lens is f/2.2, which is relatively fast for a smartphone. Don’t be fooled by the claimed f/0.95 aperture in wide aperture mode - this is not a true aperture but a blurred effect applied to an f/2.2 image, without increasing light intake.

Fairly aggressive sharpening is applied to pictures. When viewed on a phone or tablet like most pictures from a phone are, over sharpening is not an issue at all. 

All this to say, the Honor 7X like most smart phones can produce punchy and crisp images in good contrast light. Shooting in JPEG format only, you’ll need to get that exposure right first time, but with HDR mode, plenty of manual exposure control in Pro Photo mode, plus a generally reliable auto shooting mode, pictures usually come out alright.

In practice, if there are bright and dark areas in the same scene, it is a good idea to tap the part of the picture where the highlights are, to avoid missing all that highlight detail. The phone will not be able to capture all those tones in a single image unless HDR is activated.

The focus point not only affects metering, but colour white balance. We’ve taken the same picture but focused on different areas in the frame and observed quite a different colour rendition. For example, focus on a green field and the colour balance shows magenta cast to compensate for all that green. Tapping on the horizon or on a horse in the foreground and the results were much better, with a lovely warm and neutral tone. 

The phone’s camera is backed up by an excellent feature set, with a plethora of shooting modes. We love how much manual control there is in the Pro Photo mode - exposure compensation, AF and metering modes, ISO control and shutter speed. 

As mentioned, Wide Aperture mode does not let any more light through the lens but recreates a blurred effect like what is possible in editing apps like Snapseed and Instagram, helping subjects pop from the blurred background. 

Portrait mode is available for both rear and front cameras. The second rear-facing camera is used for depth sensing and helps Portrait Mode to create a better transition for sharp to blurred areas. There are two sliders for Beauty (skin smoothing) and Bokeh. The fact that bokeh is an ‘effect' tells you that it’s recreated and nothing true to the lens (this is a single aperture lens after all).

All in all, Portrait Mode works surprisingly well on clearly defined subjects. It’s not always successful though, if you look closely there will be patches where the blur has not been applied, plus the transition from sharp to blurry is a little crude at times. That said, for this type of effect, we’re impressed with the results. 

Pro Photo mode should appeal to keen photographers, with manual control over most exposure settings save for aperture. With a little know how you’ll be able to get the most out of the camera.

Any of the light painting modes require the phone to be completely still during capture, because it’s recording a long exposure. To get the most out of this mode you’ll need a tripod of some kind.

Throughout testing the phone we missed image stabilisation. Consequently the Honor 7X is much less useable in low light conditions. Many of our blurry shots were nothing to do with autofocus issues, so much as uncorrected camera shake. With a 26mm focal length lens, we’d expect images with a shutter speed as slow as 1/25sec to be sharp, but this was not always the case. 

Video specification is less comprehensive. The Honor 7X is limited to 1080p at 30fps. There’s no 60fps or slow motion at 1080p, or 4k video recording, you’ll need to spend a lot more on a phone for these features. Without image stabilisation, handheld videos can look quite shaky, even when the phone is held relatively still.

Noise

In Pro Photo mode, the Honor 7X gives manual control over ISO sensitivity, with an ISO 100 to ISO 1600 range. You also get control over shutter speed, with a maximum speed of 8 seconds where you’ll need to keep the phone completely still during capture to get sharp results.

All this to say, for static subjects the long shutter speed up to 8 seconds maximises light intake and improves image quality in low light. 

However, if you are shooting handheld, the Honor 7X is rather limited and image quality in low light is no match for the class-leading smart phones. 

JPG

ISO 50 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The rear facing camera has a standard 26mm focal length. 

Macro

The Honor 7X can acquire a sharp focus for objects as close as around 10cm. 

Macro

Flash

Flash modes appear basic, with choice of; on/ off/auto/ always on. The latter activates the torch, which is kind of neat because many phones will not allow the use of the built-in torch in the camera app.

Flash Off

Flash On

Flash Always On

Night

As already mentioned, in the Pro Photo mode, there is manual control over most exposure settings, including shutter speed, exposure compensation (EV), ISO, White Balance, plus auto focus and metering modes.

There is a shutter speed range of 1/4000sec down to 8 seconds, an ISO sensitivity range of ISO 50 to ISO 1600 and exposure compensation up to ±4EV. With control over these settings, it is possible to at least attain the right sort of exposure for a night scene. 

Overriding the automatic Photo Mode by inputting a slower shutter speed where possible ensures the maximum possible light intake and better image quality in low light.  

Also, not forgetting the Light Painting shooting mode menu where there is a choice between Car Light Trails, Light Graffiti, Silky Water and Star Track. In these modes the shutter speed can be even longer than when manually selecting it in Pro Photo mode. 

The camera does not feature any sort of image stabilisation. Even still, when using long shutter speeds in excess of 1/15sec, you’d need a method of keeping the phone still while a picture is taken. 

We found quite a lot of low light images to be blurry when shot handheld - there certainly is a limitation to what the phone can do. 

Night

Filters and Effects

The Honor 7X features some beginner friendly picture effects. In the filters menu you’ll find eight styles, including Mono, Nostalgia and Valencia. Like other styles, there is a slider to manually control how strong the style is applied. The effects menu offers plenty of Snapchat animations like bunny ears and so on.

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Honor 7X camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movies & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

The Honor 7X is a bargain. For a phone with 18:9 FHD+ display, metal body, 4GB ram and 64 internal memory, £269 is very competitive. You could consider this as the first mid-range sub £300 smartphone with all these features.

So as a phone you get a lot for your money. But what about the camera? We say the camera’s performance is respectable at this price range. In high-contrast light, you get sharp and vibrant 16MP images. Get into low-light situations and image quality understandably takes a nose-dive.

Perhaps what we have missed the most is image stabilisation. Videos tend to look a little shaky even when the camera is held still. The same can be said for photos. At shutter speeds of around 1/25sec you can’t guarantee sharp images. 

Functionally, the Honor 7X camera app handles really well. There are heaps of neat features like gesture control and so on, plus a tonne of shooting modes. There is plenty here to please photographers. We especially like how much manual control the Pro Photo mode offers, image data in playback that includes a histogram and how the large format of the screen allows for a tidy live view display. 

All in all, at this price the general feature set is hard to beat and the camera feature set is generous too. If you do not hold the same high expectations for image quality, then the Honor 7X will satisfy you enormously.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	3.5
Value for money	5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Honor 7X.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Honor 7X from around the web.

Specifications

News

The View 10 is Honor’s first AI-powered smartphone available in Western Europe. Retailing for £449.99, the Honor View 10 features a dual-lens camera with 16 MP and 20 MP on the back and 13 MP on the front, F/1.8 wide aperture and 2-in-1 PDAF automatic focusing.

Honor Press Release

“AIming high : Honor View 10 challenges the smartphone market with AI”

[London, 5 December 2017] – Honor today presented the brand-new revolutionary flagship, the Honor View 10, in London. It’s Honor’s first AI-powered smartphone being available in Western Europe, providing supreme intelligence and performance for an unbeatable price-performance ratio of £449.99. The Honor View 10 features the new Kirin 970 SoC, the world’s most powerful mobile AI processor and architecture, that truly understands what consumers do with their phones. From recognizing different scenes to making photos better to optimizing the phone system to suit the way consumers use their phone, AI speeds up operations, improves ease-of-use and delivers best results.

“We believe that AI enabled phones are the future. Consumers want a smartphone which can understand and predict what they need and provide the right services at the right time” says George Zhao, President Honor Global. “With the Honor View 10, we mark a new AI era and offer an innovative device combining state-of-the-art technology with consumer insights to enable a productive, entertaining and fun lifestyle – consumers will love the Honor View 10 and the way it will make their lives smarter.”

Key features include:
• Kirin 970 System on a Chip (SoC), the world’s most powerful mobile AI processor and architecture with a dedicated Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU)
• FHD FullView display with 18:9 screen
• Upgraded dual-lens camera with 16 MP and 20 MP on the back and 13 MP on the front
• Honor SuperCharge for fast charging
• All new EMUI 8.0, based on Android 8.0

Making smartphones smarter

The stylish Honor View 10 comes with 2.5D curved glass and a metal unibody design in Navy Blue or Midnight Black. The heart of the device is the Kirin 970 SoC (4 x 2.36 GHz & 4 x 1.8 GHz), delivering AI performance that far surpasses any CPU and GPU architecture and processing data in real time. It is built with the most advanced TSMC 10nm process and features an octa-core ARM Cortex CPU and a first-to-market Mali-G72 12-core GPU and the dedicated NPU for mobile devices. The SoC interacts with cloud: By processing big data in the cloud, cloud-based AI systems continuously update smartphones with new intelligence. Meanwhile, the Kirin 970 AI system gets to know the user better every day and provides personal services, intelligence and experience. The heterogeneous computing architecture delivers up to 25 times faster performance and 50 times increase in efficiency when performing AI tasks, i.e. over 2,000 images can be processed per minute. The Kirin 970 also supports LTE Cat. 18 DL and Cat. 13 UL connections and achieves a peak download speed of 1.2 Gbps, supporting the highest possible download speed on any carrier networks worldwide.

Intelligent photography powered by AI

The camera of the Honor View 10 has been upgraded to a 16 MP (RGB) and 20 MP (monochrome) with F/1.8 wide aperture and 2-in-1 PDAF automatic focusing. It features AI-powered real-time scene and object recognition technology that can identify different types of scenes and objects. The camera instantly sets the best parameters by adjusting colours, contrast, brightness and exposure, making photos better than ever. The new digital zoom system powered by AI allows up to 10x zoom and enables phase detection, depth and contrast focusing.

New functionalities assist and inspire

Honor considers user experience a top priority in phone design and offers with EMUI 8.0 a series of personalized services to satisfy people’s multi-tasking needs, ease operations and improvement connections with people, i.e. consumers can double their productivity and fun by splitting one screen into two, using two apps at the same time.

The combination of the Kirin 970 and EMUI 8.0 also allow a better processing performance and SDK optimization to enhance people’s mobile gaming experience by reducing disruptions in gaming.

A 3,750 mAh battery and SuperCharge technology make Honor View 10 ideal for heavy users. The battery can be charged to 50 percent in just 30 minutes while operating at a low temperature and voltage.

The Honor View 10 comes with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM (can be extended up to 256 GB by microSD card) and features Bluetooth 4.2, a fingerprints sensor on the front and USB type C.

The Honor View 10 will be available for purchase on store.hihonor.com, Amazon and Very.co.uk.

#Honor #ForTheBrave

First Impressions

We were at the global launch of the Honor 7x and the Honor View 10 smart phones in London last week. During the event, Honor CEO George Zhao took us through the key features of the two new phones. 

If the features are anything to go by, both phones appear to offer excellent value for money. 

We had a brief hands on with both phones afterwards and have taken away a full-production version of the Honor 7x. Shipping of the Honor 7X in the UK started on the day of launch, 5th December. 

The Honor View 10 will be officially launched on 8th January during CES. The units of the Honor View 10 at the event were not full production versions so we are unable to supply sample images from the phone. 

Let's start with our first impressions of the Honor 7x, and then we'll take a look at the key features of the Honor View 10.

For more information please visit the Honor website. 

Honor 7x

There has already been shipment of 2 million Honor 7X units in China, but as of 5th December it is now available in the UK. The phone looks like great value at £269. Here’s what you need to know. 

Honor 7X: Design & Features

For its price point, the Honor 7X packs a lot of features. You get an impressive 4GB ram, 64GB internal storage and support for micro SD cards up to 256GB. 

The 5.93in edge-to-edge screen is in 18:9 format and its 2160x1080 resolution display gives a crisp image. Such a wide format is a big plus for gamers but it also allows dual screen display - meaning you can easily view messages as they pop up while operating other apps. 

A metallic-finish body gives a comfortable hold and comes in three colours; Black, Blue and Gold. Honor has made comparisons between the Honor 7X and iPhone 8 Plus, where the Honor 7X is thinner and its battery inside is a more powerful 3,340mAh unit. 

Battery capacity provides power for up to 22 days standby, 12 hours video playback, 21 hours talk time or 12 hours internet. Impressive stuff. 

Honor 7X: Camera

As for the camera, it’s a dual rear camera array with the main camera featuring a 16MP sensor and the second 2MP camera is used for depth sensing. The camera pairing provides portrait and wide aperture modes. The front camera has a 8MP sensor and offers a wide aperture mode too.

Phase detection AF (PDAF) is included in both cameras and promises focusing as fast as 0.18 seconds. In good contrast light we have found focusing to be quick and accurate, though the phone struggles more when in low contrast light. There were several times out on the streets of London at night where the phone has struggled to acquire a sharp focus at all. But hey, this is a phone.

Shooting modes wise, the Portrait Mode is available for both from and rear cameras. In addition there are panorama, time-lapse, light painting, HDR and funny effects modes. Truly, there is a comprehensive array of shooting modes.  

It is possible to trigger the front camera by gesture, where by a palm to camera starts the timer for selfie. A smile will work too, as does saying cheese when using audio control.

Video specification is less comprehensive. There is no image stabilisation and the Honor 7X is limited to 1080p at 30fps. No 1080p at 60fps or 4k video recording. 

Honor 7X: Other Impressions

We’ve had our hands on the Honor 7X for a short while and generally first impressions are positive. 

Fingerprint ID on the rear of the camera is super comfortable to access and quick to function. When the large edge-to-edge screen comes to life it is wonderfully vibrant. 

The camera menu is nicely laid out. Swipe to the left and you find the plethora of shooting modes, including Pro Photo, Light Painting and Slow-Mo among others. 

Swipe to the right and the Settings menu appears, where there is access to GPS, watermarking, gesture controls and display preferences.

On the main camera screen you have quick access to library, photo and video modes, plus direct access to the Portrait Mode camera, wide aperture activation, flash mode and switching between front and rear cameras. 

All in all, the handling of the camera is intuitive, despite the volume of features on offer. 

We have used the camera both in bright light and in low contrast light. We’e already mentioned about auto focus, but what about image quality? We say that it’s respectable for the price, but there are plenty of other smartphones out there with better cameras. Images are crisp in bright daylight, but detail is much more smudged and noisy in low contrast light. 

Take a look at our sample images gallery to judge for yourself. 

Honor 7X Sample Images

Honor 7X: At a Glance

•       18:9 full screen 2,160x1080 (FHD+) display
•       5.5inch body
•       5.93in edge-to-edge view
•       Available in three colours: black, blue, gold
•       Tough and with rounded edges
•       One-key split screen to use two functions simultaneously 
•       16MP rear camera with additional 2MP depth sensing camera + 8MP front camera
•       Portrait Mode for both from and rear cameras 
•       Full HD 1080p videos at 30fps 
•       3340 mAh battery gives up to 12 hours internet time
•       Kirin 659 processor + 4GB ram 
•       64GB internal memory 
•       support for 256GB micro SD card 
•       £269 or 299 euros
•       Available 5th December in UK

Honor View 10

Honor’s new flagship phone is the Honor View 10. Features wise it goes up against the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy Note 8, while it costs around half the price at £449 (499 euros). Shipping of the Honor View 10 commences on 8th January.

Honor describes the Honor View 10 as the first AI (artificial intelligence) phone. Let’s take a closer look.

Honor View 10: Design & Features

There are a whole tonne of features in the Honor View 10 and we won’t mention all of them here. But we will touch on the key features, such as the 6GB ram and internal storage of 128GB. 

Design wise, you get a 5.99in screen in 18:9 format. It’s pretty much the same display as found in the Honor 7X. 

It’s premium metal body is available in two colours; Midnight Black and Navy Blue. At 6.97mm thick, the View 10 is thinner than the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy Note 8, but the battery inside is a more powerful 3,750mAh unit. That battery can be charged to 50% in around 30 minutes with the super-charge option. 

You get dual SIM card slots, with dual 4G & volte support, meaning it is possible to make an internet call and your other functions like web browsing remain at full capacity.

Then there is dual face recognition ID and embedded fingerprint sensor in the front glass. 

We haven’t even got on to the AI aspect of the phone which improves much of the phone’s functionality. Features include Easy Talk, which detects whispering and boosts the audio for clear signal. Honor has also teamed up with Microsoft for an Advanced Assistant translator, including immediate translation from a picture of text. 

Honor View 10: Camera

On paper the Honor View 10 possesses one of the most impressive cameras in any smart phone. 

It’s a dual rear camera setup, with a 20MP front facing camera and a 16MP front facing camera. Both lenses feature a fast f/1.8 aperture. 

Honor is intent on marketing the AI element of the camera, which offers an unparalleled fast image recognition of 33 images per second and 13 intelligent scene recognition, all of which are built-on by ‘deep learning’ AI. 

What does that mean in reality? The Honor View 10 should select the correct exposure settings in more situations. For example, AI motion detection uses tracking prediction in order to freeze movement rather than let it be blurry. There’s also a digital zoom to enhance detail in a text document.

As for portraits, Portrait Mode uses segmentation to separate subject from the background in order to then blur the background. This technology is available for selfies, solo and group pictures. There are then options to extract the ’segmented’ subject and then place them onto any background, green screen style. 

We look forward to trying out the new phone when it’s launched in January. 

Hands On

Want to see exactly what the new Honor 7X smartphone looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Honor 7X smartphone.

A gallery of hands-on photos of the new Honor 7X smartphone.

Image Gallery

Click on a thumbnail to see the full version.

Preview Images

Ahead of our full review, here are some sample images taken with the new Honor 7X smartphone.

A gallery of sample images taken with the Honor 7X smartphone.

Honor 7X Sample Images

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