Comparison of Huawei Honor 7x and Honor 9 Lite phones

Specifications

• Screen: 5.9″, LTPS LCD, 2160×1080 pixels, 407 ppi, Gorilla Glass;
• Operating system: EMUI 5.1 (Android 7.0 Nougat);
• Processor: Kirin 659, 4 x Cortex A53 2.36 GHz, 4 x Cortex A53 1.7 GHz;
• GPU: Mali-T830 MP2;
• RAM: 4 GB;
• Built-in memory: 64 GB, supports MicroSD memory cards up to 128 GB;
• Cameras: 16/2 MP, main lens/black and white module, 8 MP;
• Battery: 3340 mAh (non-removable);
• Dimensions: 156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm;
• Weight: 165 g;
• SIM slots: 2 Nano, combined slot;
• Communications: 2G: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, HSDPA up to 42 Mbps, LTE Cat6 up to 300 Mbps, FDD: Band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 / TD-LTE B40, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/BDS, FM radio;
• Sensors: fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, light, gyroscope, magnetic field, pedometer;
• Available colors: black, blue, gold;
• Cost at the time of testing: 17990 rub.

Battery

The battery provides one day of uninterrupted operation of the device. The display continuously lasts for five hours when using LTE networks. The backlight is automatically adjusted using a sensor. To fully charge the device it will take about two hours (119 minutes). If you leave the Honor 7X phone connected to a power outlet for 30 minutes, 34% of the electrical energy will be restored.

To extend battery life, you must use the battery manager, where you can select one of the available energy management scenarios. The gadget saves electricity by activating a lower screen resolution.

Equipment

According to the good old tradition, Honor smartphones arrive for testing without the kit and packaging that buyers will receive. The model under the index 7X was no exception. However, we must tell you that the smartphone comes with a charger, a USB cable, a quick start guide, a warranty card, a card eject tool, and a protective case. In addition, at the time of writing the review, the manufacturer’s official online store adds a Huawei AP007 external battery to the kit.

Contents of delivery

Honor 7X comes in a very ordinary cardboard box with a simple design. Honestly, when we saw the smartphone in the photographs, we expected that the device would come in something more premium. Moreover, there are no compartments inside - just a smartphone wrapped in a bag and other accessories. It is clear that Honor 7X is not a flagship, but some third-rate Chinese companies deliver their devices in more attractive packaging. But let’s not dwell on this – we are interested in the smartphone, not the box. The kit includes a power adapter (5V / 2A), a microUSB cable, a simple silicone bumper and a tool for removing the SIM tray. Simple and Chinese.

Appearance

The review included the Honor 7X in black. The austere metal case is thin - 7.6 mm and fits comfortably in the hand thanks to its rounded shape. At the same time, the metal is quite slippery; fingerprints are visible on its surface. The assembly is flawless, even the mechanical keys located on the right, which often have play in more expensive smartphones, sit tightly in place and are pressed clearly. The antenna strips on the top and bottom of the body do not stand out, but slightly dilute its black monotony.

A pair of lenses protruding from the body attracts attention, as does the fingerprint sensor pad at the top of the back of the device, the LED event indicator and the only Honor logo on the front panel. The SIM card tray on the left side of the smartphone, on the contrary, is invisible, and the microphone hole for the noise reduction system on the top end of the case is almost invisible.

The connectors on the bottom edge of the device are arranged as standard. From left to right there are: a 3.5 mm headset jack, a Micro-USB port, a speaking microphone and a ringing speaker.

Thus, the exterior of the Honor 7X turned out to be unimpressive. And, obviously, it was made this way deliberately so as not to distract attention from the smartphone screen.

Sound

The device boasts only one speaker. It is located on the bottom, to the right of the Micro USB port. Both in quality and volume it is average. The ears don’t feel insulted, but the sound doesn’t evoke any positive emotions either.

A proprietary audio player is built into the system. Since I was testing the version for the Chinese market, I was greeted with a ton of Chinese content. Switch to the “Me” tab and find out your songs downloaded in advance into the device’s memory.

I can't say anything special about the sound quality in the headphones. The sound is on par with most modern devices.

Display

The Full HD+ resolution of 2160 × 1080 and the diagonal of 5.9 inches indicate that we have a screen with an unusual 18:9 geometry. It seems that we are witnessing the emergence of a new standard in the mobile industry, but so far such displays are new to users and application developers.

This aspect ratio is advantageous, primarily because it allows you to increase the working area of ​​the screen due to the frames at the top and bottom, without increasing the width of the smartphone, a parameter that greatly affects ergonomics. On the other hand, not all applications are yet adapted to “plus” screen resolutions and the additional space is often not used.

In the case of Honor 7X, we are dealing with a high-quality LTPS LCD (a type of IPS technology) liquid crystal panel covered with curved 2.5D tempered Gorilla Glass. The manufacturer does not specify the generation of screen protection. An effective oleophobic coating is applied to the glass. The touch layer recognizes 10 simultaneous touches. In addition, the manufacturer has included a polarizing filter in the “sandwich” of the screen, which eliminates some of the glare.

The image is not replete with spurious shades, does not suffer from color inversion, but slightly loses contrast when viewed from an angle. The picture is bright, natural in color rendering, which is emphasized by the wallpaper that changes on the lock screen. The brightness is average, quite sufficient for everyday use, but in direct sunlight this parameter will have to be set to maximum. All this taken together allows us to say that the Honor 7X has a high-quality mid-level screen.

The color temperature of the screen can be easily changed using a palette, but the adjustment range is not that large. The function is more about satisfying personal preferences than precisely calibrating the screen.

Design

The first and most important thing you need to know about the appearance of Honor 7X. A smartphone in renders and in real life are two different devices. The device looks much better in the hands than in the photographs.

How was it for me?

Initially, I was not eager to take the Honor 7X for review . However, the public still had interest in the new product, and I really liked its predecessor. In general, I decided to give the device a chance. And after turning on the device, I realized that everything was not in vain.

The smartphone turned out to be fiery!

And of course, the reason for this is the 5.93-inch display with a fashionable 18:9 aspect ratio.

It's amazing how a trend started at the beginning of the year and by Samsung by the end of the same year has turned into a mass phenomenon.

The 18 by 9 proportions are not just a stupid and useless copy of the flagship chips. On the contrary, this gives manufacturers a chance to increase the screen area without affecting the dimensions of the smartphone. And Honor 7X is direct confirmation of this.

Length	Width	Thickness	Weight
Honor 7X (5.93'')	156,5	75,3	7,6	165
Honor 6X (5.5'')	150,9	76,2	8,2	162
Xiaomi Mi A1 (5.5'')	155,4	75,8	7,3	165
Meizu M6 Note (5.5'')	154,6	75,2	8,4	173

By the way, it is in white that Honor 7X looks especially good. In black and blue colors, minimal frames do not look like an advantage; they are perceived as usual. So if you buy a smartphone, then only in a light case.

Neatly rounded corners, excellent assembly, relatively minimalistic design - in terms of appearance, the smartphone cannot be undermined.

The device looks and feels much more expensive in the hands than it actually costs.

Except that the two camera eyes and the fingerprint scanner vaguely resemble a crazed minion.

Iron

The performance of the Honor 7X is driven by an eight-core system on a chip developed by Huawei engineers. The Kirin 659 is split into two core clusters clocked at 2.36 and 1.7 GHz and includes a Mali-T830 GPU. The amount of RAM on board the Honor 7X is 4 GB, permanent memory is 64 GB. It is possible to increase storage using MicroSD cards up to 128 GB.

The Honor 7X passed the set of tests that every smartphone goes through with dignity, but not without problems. For example, a benchmark such as Epic Citadel refused to load from Google Play at all. Having tested Honor smartphones before, we have not encountered such problems. However, over time, the processors of the Kirin line have not become any worse. They still feel confident in the mid-range and make Honor devices responsive when navigating menus and fast in most applications.

At the same time, the Mali-T830 MP2 graphics accelerator was installed in the Kirin 650 and even then could not boast of performance reserves for the future. Over time, it did not become faster, but the system requirements of the games, although not much, grew. In them, the frame rate does not rise above 30 FPS, and in some projects that are especially demanding on graphics performance, it remains at the level of 15-20 frames per second.

The fingerprint sensor built into the back of the smartphone can only be praised. It works without any exaggeration instantly and without error.

Honor 7X: where to buy, price, analogues

So, for now, Huawei Honor 7X can only be bought in Chinese online stores. It is expected that in December the smartphone will reach the Russian market. The price of Huawei Honor 7X, when ordered from the Middle Kingdom, starts at $220 for the 4+32 Gb version, the 4+64 Gb model is available for $275, and the older Honor 7X with 4+128 Gb can be purchased for $325. We believe that in Russia the price of the younger model will be the same as in China they offer the older one - about 320 dollars (about 18,000 rubles). Honor 7X is available on AliExpress, as well as some other sites.

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Huawei Honor 7X has no serious competitors at its price yet, although smaller manufacturers have already presented a bunch of smartphones with 18:9 screens. It would take a long time to list them, we have reviewed many of them - follow the section “Frameless smartphones“. Serious competitors may include similar solutions from Xiaomi and Meizu, the release of which is expected before the end of the year. Probably, future Samsung smartphones from the Galaxy A (2018) line, which will also receive widescreen screens, will be a worthy alternative. Only they will most likely cost an order of magnitude more, and they will be presented only in the first half of 2018.

Software

Year after year, Emotion UI, as the abbreviation EMUI stands for, has only gotten better. Reaching version 5.1 by the end of 2022, this comprehensive overhaul of Android 7.0 Nougat hasn't changed all that much externally, but has been noticeably rebuilt internally.

The OS now uses RAM differently. Using the Ultra Memory function, the system tries to predict which applications will soon be needed and “unfreezes” the necessary processes in advance. This, combined with faster interface animations and dozens of smaller fixes, made EMUI 5.1 pleasant to use, responsive and airy. The system still has a big appetite for RAM, but 4 GB is more than enough to satisfy it. In addition, the memory requirements are justified by the high functionality of the shell.

Let's list some features: gestures for the fingerprint sensor, choosing the location of the navigation keys, protecting applications with a password, waking up with a double tap on the screen, “floating” control button, turning off the smartphone on a schedule, micro-window function. Separately, we note the new “do not disturb” mode. It is now integrated with the calendar and automatically mutes the sound during important events.

Screen

Honor 7X has a display of almost six inches (FullHD). The FullView information block, made using IPS technology, has 407 dpi, which corresponds to the average segment of mobile handsets.

When launching most applications for the first time, it is advisable to activate full screen mode. Due to the lack of video support from YouTube, the videos are stretched and displayed more accurately. These proportions make working with two open programs on a split screen more convenient.

The maximum brightness is 540 cd/m2, so on sunny days there will be no problems with readability on the visual panel. The minimum illumination is 2 cd/m2. This value does not have a negative effect on the monitor when light flow is limited. The manufacturer took care of the blue filter, the corresponding sensor performs its tasks correctly. Coverage of the sRGB color palette reaches 85%.

Connection

Honor 7X accepts communications in both 3G and 4G bands. SIM cards operate according to the Dual SIM Dual Standby scheme, and if one card transmits data at high speed, the second at the same time works only over 2G. The Wi-Fi module is limited to operating at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.

The smartphone supports the energy-saving version of Bluetooth 4.1; with connected headphones, it receives radio broadcasts and also transfers files via the USB-OTG protocol. No problems with the operation of the listed functions have been recorded.

The manufacturing company’s engineers set the navigation to “five plus.” Honor 7X receives signals from satellites of the three main navigation systems GPS, GLONASS and BDS, identifies several dozen satellites in a matter of seconds and maintains stable communication with them.

Unpacking

Unpacking leaves ambivalent impressions. On the one hand, the box is high-quality, bright, and has everything you need inside: a power cable (5 V and 2 A), a Micro USB cable and a silicone case for the first time.

On the other hand, we open the lid and see that the smartphone is dangling inside in vain. And the device was wrapped in some kind of scary plastic bag. Well, Honor! Well, Huawei?! What the heck?

Fortunately, this is where the problems end and there will only be positive things to come. Let's go!

Camera

According to the brochures, the Honor 7X's dual camera will make you feel like a real photographer thanks to its portrait mode. This functionality is implemented using a combination of a 16 megapixel color matrix and a 2 MP black and white sensor.

Portrait mode doesn't work perfectly, but it's quite possible to get nice photos with it. In general, the implementation is not much worse than that of competitors.

What's more interesting is how the camera behaves in everyday use. During the day, the pictures turn out to be sharp and quite detailed, but in a series of frames taken literally one after another, the exposure noticeably “walks.” Some photos turn out lighter, others darker. The quality of night photography, alas, does not stand up to criticism: low clarity, artifacts and insufficient aperture of the optics. However, you don’t often come across something better in this price segment.

The advantages of the photographic part of the smartphone include support for the latest version of the camera API and an extremely functional viewfinder program. It implements: HDR, panoramas, a special mode for creating light graffiti, slow and accelerated shooting, color filters, and even more additional modes downloaded through a separate menu.

The front camera has an 8MP sensor and takes quite typical selfies. We only note the built-in function of applying face masks in real time and the screen flash.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Honor 7A phone

The dimensions of Huawei Honor 7A are 73 mm wide, 152.4 mm long and 7.8 mm thick. With such dimensions it is convenient to operate the device with one hand. In addition, the weight of the device is about 150 g. Even if you operate the device with one hand, its weight is almost not felt.

If we evaluate the overall ease of use of the phone taking into account the size and weight, then there will be no problems with everyday use.

The smartphone is equipped with an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8937 processor, which is made at 28 nm. technical process.

The smartphone has 2 GB. RAM, which is quite enough. In very rare cases it will not be enough, but with this amount of RAM, you will rarely have problems.

The device's data storage capacity is 32 GB, and while this is enough for photos, it may not be enough for video shooting and a large number of games.

The phone is compatible with SD cards, so you can easily expand its memory. So you probably don't need to worry about storage capacity.

Honor 7A has a display diagonal of 5.7 inches. It's quite big. Photos, videos and games will look great on this screen. It is also suitable for productive use, such as creating a business document.

The smartphone has a high-end display and any graphic content you display on it, including videos and games, will be displayed clearly.

The main camera of the phone has 12.98 megapixels and can take high-resolution photos and videos. While you're shooting landscapes or printing high-definition photos, you may want a higher-resolution camera, but most of the time you'll be happy with the camera.

Also, the smartphone has a 4.92 megapixel front camera, which is average for smartphone cameras. This is good enough for taking selfies, but you may not be satisfied with group photos or their print quality.

The battery capacity of Huawei Honor 7A is 3000 mAh, which is a relatively large indicator. Compared to other smartphones, the battery life of the Huawei Honor 7A is good. With this capacity, you won't experience any problems even if you spend time on the Internet or Twitter for a long period of time. Even while playing games or watching videos, you can do so comfortably without worrying about battery life. However, some caution should be exercised when watching movies or playing games for too long.

Let's sum it up

We studied the update to the Honor smartphone line and came to the conclusion that the company does not change production traditions. We have before us a high-quality device, the development of which took time and considerable effort. It has a good 3340 mAh battery, a responsive interface, a fast fingerprint scanner and large amounts of memory on board. And yet, the attempt to modernize the company's products was only partially successful.

Honor 7X combines recent trends: a frameless screen and a dual camera. If the first one made a positive impression, then the camera, despite the second lens, turned out to be weak. The reason for this, of course, is the cost limitations of the device, but it seems that it is not worth sacrificing image quality in pursuit of trends. The savings could go towards Wi-Fi that supports the 5 GHz band or an NFC chip.

Pros:

• Frameless screen;
• Large amount of RAM and built-in memory;
• Fast EMUI.

Minuses:

• Long charging time;
• Low quality of night photography;
• There is no reserve of graphics performance.

May not like:

• Wi-Fi only supports the 2.4 GHz band;
• No NFC chip.

Battery life

The hardware of the device is not the most demanding, but the built-in battery (3,340 mAh) is not impressive.

However, the device works freely from early morning until late evening on a single charge with 4-5 hours of screen light. At the same time, I used two SIM cards at once, through 4G or Wi-Fi, the usual applications were spinning in the background, surfing the Web, Instagram, taking photos and videos - everything was as always.

It should be kept in mind that I did not tune the system at all in terms of power consumption. At the same time, the EMUI shell constantly hinted to me that there were a bunch of applications running in the background that disproportionately consumed battery power. If you look into this issue, you can add even better autonomy.

How to activate?

There are two ways to activate NFS on an Honor smartphone.

First: go into the settings, go to the “device connection” section, find the position with the “NFS” function, move the slider to o, save the changes made.

Second: pull down the curtain of the notification panel, find the label indicating the desired module, click on it, wait until the color of the sign changes to make sure it is activated.

The actions of one of the methods are quite enough for the service to work and allow the user to read the tags.

Deactivating a module

For the NFS chip to stop functioning, you must:

• enter “settings”;
• go to the section that contains the necessary technology;
• switch the slider to o;
• Click on the button that saves the changes.

You are allowed to use the top curtain. The steps are the same as for turning it on, there are no special features. But an unlit icon means that the NFS chip is disabled.

The plastic card is unlinked through the application, removing unnecessary data on the plastic product in it.

HiSuite

When you connect the Honor 7X to the computer and data transfer is enabled, the internal memory is shown as expected, but the CDROM drive is also shown. This is a separate HiSuite section with legal information in a PDF file and a link to install the HiSuite software.

You must allow your device to connect to this software in the settings and allow data access in the USB connection window. After this, you will get many great options to control your smartphone from your computer. You can view a list of installed applications, remove unnecessary ones, and download Android applications from outside the store. You can see all the images, videos, contacts on the device, transfer them to or from the computer. There is a text message section where you can send and receive them, just like on the old Windows Mobile apps or the Nokia Symbian desktop apps. The Outlook section allows you to perform offline synchronization of Outlook data between your smartphone and computer via cable. Thus, this smartphone is not completely dependent on internet access.

You can't control your smartphone from your computer, but you can see what's happening on the screen and take screenshots. There is backup, restore, update and monitoring of the built-in memory.

You can display your smartphone screen on your computer in full screen mode. This allows you to watch presentations on a large screen. HiSuite's software is impressive and worth installing on your computer if you use it every day and don't want to respond to text messages on a small screen.

Linking a card

Let's look at how to connect a bank card. To do this, go to the previously downloaded application, press the key responsible for connecting a payment card valid in Russia. Enter the necessary details - number, validity period and CVC card, your personal data. We confirm the completion of actions via SMS message.

This connection procedure is used for plastic products of all financial institutions in the country, from Sberbank to small banks in remote regions. Having linked the card, the user only needs to activate the payment function and perform contactless transactions.

How to use the function?

To use a connected and activated function:

1. bring your mobile device closer to the payment terminal;
2. wait for the checkmark to appear on the display indicating a successfully completed transaction;
3. pick up a payment check;
4. to read a tag, just hold your phone close to it and wait a bit for the connection and receiving information;
5. if the transfer is carried out from one gadget to another, the distance between the devices should not exceed ten centimeters.

During the transfer of information, it is prohibited to remove phones from their places.

Huawei Honor 7 - review of the line

The Honor sub-brand has released quite a lot of models in its seventh line, all of them differ from each other. In this article, we will help the user understand the numerous models and help them choose a smartphone to suit their taste. We will look at the 2022 Honor 7X phone and the latest phones released this year: 7C, 7A, 7A Pro, 7S and Play 7. It would seem that this is one line, but for some reason each smartphone is unique in its own way. There is a big difference between them in performance, cameras, and price. And that is why those who want to buy some device from the seventh line are greatly misled. Therefore, inside the article we will show the technical characteristics of each device, try to compare them and make a full review of smartphones.