TOP 11 Honor smartphones with Google services in 2022

The disagreement between Huawei and the US has impoverished the smartphone market. Now the company's devices are released without Google services and the Play Store. Missing applications can be downloaded using third-party methods, but not everyone will want to do this.

However, brand loyalty is high, and there is a desire to buy a smartphone from these brands. We have collected for you the best Huawei and Honor devices with Google services - you definitely won’t experience any problems here.

Honor 10 Lite 64/3GB

This is a Lite smartphone in every way. It is light outside and inside. As for the filling, in this case we are talking about its simplicity.

The simplicity of the characteristics lies in the lackluster camera and weak processor. But at the same time, Honor 10 Lite has acquired all the sensors and sensors necessary for 2022, so it is not perceived as an unsuccessful model.

Pros:

• design;
• ease;
• supercharge.

Minuses:

• slowness.

⇡#Camera

The Honor 50 has a quad camera with more or less standard characteristics for this class: a 108-megapixel main module + an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera + a two-megapixel macro camera and a depth sensor.

The main camera received a Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor: 108 megapixels with sensors arranged according to the Nona Bayer system (grouped by 9 - that is, by default Honor 50 shoots with a resolution of 12 megapixels), sensor dimensions (1/1.52 inches, individual pixel size - 0 .7 µm). It is paired with a lens with an aperture of ƒ/1.9 and an equivalent focal length of 26 mm. Autofocus is phase detection, there is no optical stabilizer. The wide-angle camera uses an OmniVision OV8856 sensor: resolution - 8 megapixels, dimensions - 1/4 inch (individual pixel size - 1.12 microns), the lens has an equivalent focal length of 17 mm (viewing angle is approximately 120 degrees), aperture ratio ƒ/2 ,2 and did not get autofocus.

On the main shooting screen, Honor 50 offers to switch between extended and standard viewing angles, as well as 2x zoom - as usual in smartphones with a non-standard pixel arrangement (four each in Quad Bayer or nine each in Nona Bayer), a crop from the image with the maximum resolution is taken for zooming . In this case, thanks to the increased resolution and normal processing algorithms, the picture in normal lighting is actually almost lossless - good detail, decent dynamic range, while contour sharpness looks natural, without overkill. The overkill appears in low light - the smartphone picks up the detail that naturally falls due to contour sharpness, so it dazzles the eyes a little, but in any case, the picture remains digestible.

But the wide-angle camera is not very good: there is not enough sharpness across the entire surface of the frame even when shooting during the day, and at night it simply does not allow you to count on high quality images. The main camera, in turn, does not allow you to doubt yourself in a variety of lighting conditions and in various scenes - thanks to processing using neural networks (this processing cannot be completely turned off, just as you cannot shoot on the Honor 50 in RAW), the dynamic range is very wide, detail excellent, autofocus works, the frame defect rate is low even when shooting at night - pay attention to the well-designed (albeit “noisy”) sky in the night shots above.

On the Honor 50, a software zoom of up to ten times is available, and the level of shooting in this case turns out to be acceptable - there is no need to talk seriously about the artistic merits of the photo, but the quality is higher than, for example, that of Huawei nova 9, for which a ten-fold zoom is declared almost like a native.

As I noted above, when you activate the Hi-Res mode, you can get pictures with a resolution of 108 megapixels. An example is above.

Night mode in Honor 50 is available for two focal lengths - standard and 2x zoom. The smartphone usually needs to be held on the subject for several seconds (usually four) - during this time it takes a series of photos with different exposures and then combines them into one, with an expanded dynamic range, higher saturation, brightness and detail in the shadows. The mode works well, but, of course, sometimes it produces a too unnatural picture - at night I recommend shooting in both the default and night modes and then choosing a more successful post-processing.

The third camera is responsible exclusively for macro photography. This is a two-megapixel module with an aperture of ƒ/2.4, allowing you to shoot from a distance of 4 cm from the subject. But no further - the focus is fixed exactly at this distance, it is impossible to change. As a result, shooting with this camera is not easy; you have to choose the distance very carefully. A common low-resolution macro module that we can often find on mid-range smartphones.

The fourth camera is another two-megapixel module that helps in portrait mode with artificial background blur (but not a TOF camera). The smartphone draws bokeh quite well, but in the dark it may not process the sharpness/blur area very correctly, removing detail from the face, as in the second photo in the top row above. Moreover, in portrait mode, two focal lengths are offered (regular and 2x hybrid zoom - the second photo in the bottom row), but artificial bokeh is available only for the standard focal length. There is also a beautifier.

The camera application is the same as in previous smartphones on Magic UI - with normal navigation and the usual set of functions. For example, there is no shooting in RAW or filters when shooting video, but it is possible to force “standard” rather than neural network HDR to be turned on and get an even more expanded dynamic range in the photo. The application is also characterized by a poorly implemented zoom adjustment slider, especially when shooting video. For photos, you can switch between available focal lengths by simply tapping the icon.

Honor 50

Honor 50 can shoot 4K video at up to 30 frames per second, Full HD at up to 60 frames per second, and in both cases digital stabilization will work (pretty good). You cannot switch between the wide-angle and main cameras while shooting video. But it is possible between the rear and front in a special “Multivideo” mode - in it, the smartphone is able to simultaneously shoot with both of these cameras, with and without zoom (on one screen), in “picture-in-picture” mode, and so on, and switch between these You can use modes on the fly (in Full HD resolution). But again, shooting with a wide-angle camera is blocked here. However, the mode itself is very interesting, especially for bloggers. There is also a “History” mode, in which the smartphone offers to make several short videos using a template using the rear and/or front camera and combines them into a clip with fixed music. Also, when shooting video, beautification is available, but there is no background blur.

The front camera has a 32-megapixel sensor with an ƒ/2.2 aperture lens, without autofocus and flash. This is a Quad Bayer sensor - by default, shooting is carried out at a resolution of 8 megapixels, and the increased resolution is used to be able to take pictures from two focal lengths. The difference between them is small, but noticeable. There is an artificial background blur and a beautifier. The shooting quality is good, even with artificial light - you can get spectacular selfies in the city at night.

Honor 20e

A similar model, but with its own characteristics. In particular, there is a wide-angle lens, and the resolution of the main camera has become even greater.

At the same time, there are no fundamental differences from 10 Lite. The lack of big changes is precisely due to the problems with Google that began at the time of release. There is support for services, but the characteristics are far from ideal.

Pros:

• camera functionality;
• display calibration;
• 4 gigs of RAM.

Minuses:

• MicroUSB connector.

Which Honors support Google?

Here is a list of which Honors support Google Play and which already have all the “essential” applications installed:

• Honor 7A is a 2022 gadget with Play Store. At the moment it has below average technical characteristics and is not equipped with NFC.
• Models 8S and 8A are good mid-price gadgets with average performance. Device “S” does not have NFC, device “A” has this chip.

• Model 9X Lite, which is a rebranding of Honor 8X.
• Honor 9X is the best-selling in Russia at the end of 2022, with the Market installed. This is a phone with a single and frameless screen, without a cutout for the lens.

• Honor 10 Lite – with good technical characteristics, fingerprint scanner, NFC setup, dual camera. Refers to 2022 devices, but was re-released in 2022, so these Honor phones also have Google services.
• Models 20, 20 Lite are devices with a flagship chip, a good camera and a battery. Naturally, these Honor phones also have the Play Store.

• Huawei P30 Pro is not quite Honor, but it is the last Huawei flagship with the Market pre-installed, released before the ban. It was produced in 2022 and 2022.

The list of models above may not be 100% complete, for example due to device modifications, rebrandings and similar issues. But you can determine for yourself which Honors do not have the Play Market, based on the following criteria:

1. release date: the smartphone was produced before the spring of 2022 or after the spring of 2022. Some models released in 2022 or 2022 may also have Google services “on board”, but if the device does not belong to the 2019-2020 release range, then they are definitely there ;
2. check phones manually - look through the list of installed applications. If they have Gmail, YouTube, Chrome, Google Maps, and there are no problems with the Market, then these Honor models support Google Play and services;
3. study the characteristics on the brand’s website or in online stores to find out which Honors have Google Play. However, it is worth considering that the information provided in the product description is not always absolutely accurate;
4. the presence of services is indicated by the Android 9.0 OS if it is installed on the smartphone. However, this also does not guarantee that this is a device with the Play Store. It is worth using the additional checks mentioned above.

Honor 20s

It's easy to guess that there are minimal differences between 20s and 20e. They are expressed in the resolution of the main camera lens and the presence of a modern USB-C connector on the Honor 20s.

Be that as it may, you shouldn't expect the 20s to perform faster than the 20e. Yes, it takes better photographs, but it is still the same budget device, not modernly adapted for games.

Pros:

• photo quality;
• current interfaces and ports;
• weighs less than 160 grams.

Minuses:

• weak filling.

⇡#Autonomous work

Honor 50 received a battery with a capacity of 16.34 Wh (4300 mAh, 3.8 V). It seems that a good balance has been found between size and battery capacity, but, unfortunately, the scales still tip towards insufficient autonomy. With a dynamic screen refresh rate, the charge barely lasts a full day. It is logical that when using a smartphone in intensive mode, it may not be enough for daylight hours - you will either need to set a lower frequency, or carry a power bank with you, or look for an outlet (fortunately, the smartphone charges very quickly).

At the same time, the smartphone copes well with a uniform load. In our traditional test with Full HD video playback at maximum brightness, with Wi-Fi and notifications turned on (with a “dynamic” screen frequency), the smartphone showed an unexpectedly good result - almost 16 hours. At least the energy doesn’t flow anywhere here.

For charging, the current USB Type-C port (USB 2.0 standard) and the proprietary Honor Super Charge fast charging system with a power of 66 W are used, which allows you to fully charge the battery in 50 minutes. The battery, by the way, is divided into two independent blocks, which avoids overheating and reduces wear and tear at such a high voltage. Wireless charging is not supported.

Honor 7A

This model even belongs to the ultra-budget segment. Of course, the specifications here do not differ in quality and performance.

Honor 7A has a basic set of parameters, including an elongated display, a 3000 mAh battery and a rather weak processor for 2022. But everything is compensated by the price.

Pros:

• compactness;
• attractive price.

Minuses:

• trimmed filling.

Honor 8A 32GB

The next generation of smartphone with a larger screen, but the main characteristics remaining unchanged.

Compared to the previous version, the processor has become a little faster, and an NFC sensor has appeared. But the battery still doesn’t last long, forcing you to constantly look for an outlet to charge.

Pros:

• contactless payment;
• stable work.

Minuses:

• display pixelation.

Why are Google services not available on all Honor phones?

Honor is a Chinese brand owned by Huawei. Due to Western sanctions against Huawei, many corporations have banned the installation of their applications on Chinese smartphones. However, this ban does not apply to devices released or licensed before Google introduced such sanctions, that is, until May 20, 2022.

In any case, Honor has Android installed with Huawei’s own shell – EMUI. The mechanics of the system are exactly the same as on other gadgets - you won’t notice the difference. During the ban, Huawei developed a lot of alternative applications and its own AppGallery store. However, this did not save the company from financial losses, because users are still looking for which Honor models come with Google and the Market, and prefer them. Or they are looking for a way to install the familiar Play Market on their phone. Therefore, from spring 2022, Honor and Huawei are divided into two separate structures. This will make it possible for all new smartphone models to have the Play Market we are used to.

Honor 8A Pro

In general, this is still the same Honor 8A, but only with an increased amount of RAM – 3 gigs versus two.

The display, processor, camera and battery remain unchanged. This means that only those who use multitasking mode need to overpay for the firmware.

Pros:

• NFC chip;
• 3 GB RAM.

Minuses:

• low screen resolution.

⇡#Communications and wireless communications

Honor 50 has a dual nano-SIM slot. An LTE modem of the 12th category is used (download speed - 600 Mbit/s, data transfer speed - 150 Mbit/s), all necessary bands are supported. The 5G modem does not support mmWave frequencies or n7/n79, but operates in the n78 band, which allows the smartphone to operate in pilot 5G coverage areas in Russia.

Honor 50, slot for two nano-SIM cards

Wireless connections: Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (yes, with support for Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth 5.2, NFC (with support for Google Pay, of course), navigation module with support for two-position GPS (A -GPS), as well as GLONASS, QZSS, BeiDou and Galileo.

Honor 9X 128/4GB

A higher-level model with a feature in the form of a pop-up front camera.

The presence of a retractable front camera allowed the developers to deprive the smartphone of cutouts. The rear camera and capacious battery also deserve praise. But the performance is typical for Honor and is far from ideal.

Pros:

• symmetrical screen without cutout;
• 48-megapixel photosensor;
• necessary interfaces.

Minuses:

• bad chip.

What's next?

In addition to Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom and integrated circuit manufacturer Xilinx announced the termination of cooperation. And here we are not just talking about smartphones and tablets. Bloomberg reports this. The publication quotes an analyst from Rosenblatt Securities Inc. Ryan Koontz. He believes that the company is very dependent on the American semiconductor industry. And this is a very strong blow to Huawei, whose supplies of components will only last for three months.

For example, MateBook laptops use Intel solutions.

Bloomberg also believes that the decision of the Trump government will slow down the spread of fifth generation networks in the world.

At the same time, Microsoft is still silent. But, probably, this silence will not last long and soon the company will also announce the termination of cooperation with Huawei.

And here is a list of companies dependent on Huawei (the higher the number, the greater the dependence):

Source: Reuters

Honor 9X Lite

As befits a device with the “Lite” prefix, this smartphone has become lighter than its predecessor. But the characteristics have changed not for the better.

Instead of a symmetrical display without cutouts, the buyer receives a screen with a “notch,” and it was decided to abandon the wide-angle camera lens altogether. But there is dual-band Wi-Fi.

Pros:

• Wi-Fi 5;
• profitable price;
• bokeh effect for photos.

Minuses:

• mediocre characteristics.

The best Huawei / Honor smartphones 2021-2022 with Google / Google Play services. Top 5

4th place.

Huawei Mate 20 lite

You can buy Huawei Mate 20 lite on Aliexpress for 15.2 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).

The younger version of the flagship of the Mate family went on sale in Russia on October 1, 2022 and today has received 61% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 81% of recommendations for purchase.

Technical characteristics of the model: 6.3-inch frameless IPS screen (with unibrow) with a resolution of 2340×1080 pixels, Android 8.1 operating system with Google services, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards, there is a slot for a memory card volume up to 512 GB. Battery capacity 3750 mAh. Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 710 processor with Mali-G51 MP4 graphics accelerator. The result of the AnTuTu Benchmark performance test is 138 thousand points.

Fingerprint scanner on the back panel. NFC.

The dual main camera 20+2 megapixels with f/1.8 aperture makes photos expressive with the help of bokeh effect. Artificial intelligence recognizes shooting scenarios from 22 categories and optimizes camera settings to make your photos look professional. The front camera is also dual (24+2 megapixels) and also has a bokeh effect; artificial intelligence optimizes the settings, automatically determining the shooting scenario from eight categories.

see The best smartphones under 15 thousand rubles

3rd place.

Huawei P20 Pro 64GB

You can buy Huawei P20 Pro on Aliexpress for 15 thousand rubles (delivery from a warehouse in Russia).

The older version of the Huawei flagship went on sale in Russia on April 14, 2022 and today has received 66% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 88% of recommendations for purchase.

Technical characteristics of the model: 6.1-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2240x1080 pixels, Android 8.1 operating system with Google services, 64 GB of permanent memory and 6 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards, without a memory card slot. Battery capacity 4000 mAh. Eight-core Kirin 970 processor of its own design with a Mali-G72 MP12 graphics accelerator. The result of the AnTuTu performance test is 251.3 thousand points. Fingerprint scanner on the front panel. There is NFC. There is a unibrow on the front panel, but those who don’t like it can turn off the backlight of the stripes to the right and left of it in the settings, that is, visually align the top edge of the screen with the bottom edge of the cutout. The indicators are displayed in inverted form.

The Huawei P20 Pro smartphone is armed with three main cameras, created in collaboration with the German photo manufacturer Leica. It is worth noting that the P20 Pro is the world's first smartphone with three main cameras. The Huawei flagship has the ability to zoom three and five times; this involves a third camera-telephoto lens of 8 megapixels (aperture f/2.4), operating in tandem with the main camera of 40 megapixels (aperture f/1.8). There is also a traditional Huawei monochrome module; in this model it is 20 megapixels with f/1.6 aperture. The main cameras use accurate and fast hybrid autofocus: phase, laser and volumetric. There is also 4D focusing. The operation of the main photomodules is supported by a dual LED flash, which is capable of illuminating objects in both pulsed and continuous modes. There is an interesting function for recording videos with 32 times slow motion, the video lasts 10 seconds, 8 of which will be slowed down, and the camera pre-records what is happening in the memory buffer - it records what is happening before the record button is pressed. Front camera 24 MP.

Dxomark gave the P20 Pro a 114 for stills and a 98 for video. The P20 Pro takes 6th place in the ranking of the best camera phones for 2022, beating the Apple iPhone 11 with an average cost of 70 thousand rubles.

see Best Huawei Smartphones

2nd place.

Honor 50 Lite

The average price in Russia is 25,000 rubles.

The latest Honor model (along with Honor 50) went on sale in Russia on November 19, 2022.

Technical characteristics: frameless IPS screen (with a cutout for the front camera) 6.67 inches with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, resolution 2376 × 1080 pixels, Magic UI 4.2 OS (based on Android 11) with Google services, 128 GB of storage and 6 GB RAM, two SIM cards, no memory card slot. Battery capacity 4300 mAh. Battery life on the Internet is 16 hours, in video calling mode 8 hours, in gaming mode 7 hours. There is NFC. Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor. The result of the AnTuTu Benchmark performance test is 184 thousand points. Fingerprint scanner on the side.

Main camera with four lenses. 64 MP main lens (f/1.9 aperture), 8 MP wide-angle lens (f/2.4), 2 MP bokeh camera, 2 MP macro lens. Front camera 16 MP (f/2.0 aperture).

see The best smartphones under 25 thousand rubles

1 place.

Honor 50 128GB - the best Huawei / Honor smartphone with Google services

The average price in Russia is 48,000 rubles.

The long-awaited new product, which became the first (along with Honor 50 Lite) after the separation of Honor from Huawei, went on sale in Russia on November 19, 2022.

Technical characteristics: frameless OLED screen (with a cutout for the front camera) 6.57 inches with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, resolution 2340 × 1080 pixels, Magic UI 4.2 OS (based on Android 11) with Google services, 128 GB of storage and 8 GB RAM, two SIM cards, no memory card slot. Battery capacity 4300 mAh. There is NFC. Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor with 5G support. The result of the AnTuTu Benchmark performance test is 512.9 thousand points. Fingerprint scanner under the screen.

Main camera with four lenses. 108 MP main lens (f/1.9 aperture), 8 MP wide-angle lens (f/2.2), 2 MP bokeh camera, 2 MP macro lens. Electronic image stabilization. Front camera 32 MP (f/2.2 aperture, fixed focus).

see Best Honor Smartphones

Huawei Nova 5T or Honor 20

These smartphones are considered together as they have similar characteristics. This practice is often used in Huawei and Honor devices.

The devices are distinguished by a high level of performance and decent image quality. Considering the affordable price and support for Google services, Nova 5T and Honor 20 are worth considering to become a purchase option in 2022.

Pros:

• price-performance ratio;
• fast hardware;
• decent camera.

Minuses:

• difficult to find in the store.

How can Huawei get around the ban?

The same as Xiaomi, when the company had not yet released global versions of its firmware: through the installer in its own application store. That is, you buy a Huawei smartphone, turn it on and go to Huawei AppGallery, from where you download Google Services. But here a problem arises: by circumventing the current sanctions, the company is unlikely to get a chance for forgiveness.

It is worth recalling here that one of the reasons for such pressure was precisely the circumvention of US sanctions against Iran - companies operating in the States are prohibited from operating in Iran. But Huawei, according to the US Department of Justice, continued to do this with the help of its subsidiary Skycom Tech. According to Huawei, the company was divested from its assets.

Another option is to use Kirin OS. The company has been developing its own operating system for five years. Earlier this year, Huawei representatives admitted that they would only use it as a last resort. Apparently it has arrived.

On the other hand, Huawei's main market is China. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, the company occupied 28% of the Chinese market. But here Google services are not used because of the “Golden Shield” - a very developed Chinese firewall.

Source: Counterpoint Research

Huawei P Smart Z

In terms of positioning, this smartphone copies Honor 9X. The only difference is the camera.

It has a less impressive sensor with a modest 16 megapixels, and there is no wide sensor. At the same time, the price turned out to be lower, so there are still reasons to buy the Huawei P Smart Z.

Pros:

• retractable front camera;
• display without “bangs” and “drops”;
• autonomy.

Minuses:

• modest performance.

⇡#Display and sound

Honor 50 received a 6.57-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2340 × 1080 pixels (19.5:9 aspect ratio). Pixel density - 392 ppi.

The screen supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and by default the dynamic frequency is set in the settings - the smartphone itself decides when to keep it at 60 Hz and when to make the picture smoother. Using the gadget in this mode is more pleasant than with a fixed sixty hertz, but I would not say that the battery is saved much - it seems that 120 hertz is almost always set. Other properties of the screen include free viewing angles and a high-quality oleophobic coating (both on the front and back - it’s easy to wipe off fingerprints).

The measured maximum brightness level (measured under artificial lighting with incandescent lamps) is 581 cd/m2 - a very high level for OLED.

In the screen settings, you can enable eye protection (mode with the warmest colors), adjust the resolution (HD, Full HD or “smart” resolution, when the smartphone itself chooses between them), set the scale, font size, hide the hole for the front camera behind a dark curtain ( Moreover, in the settings there is a large cutout - the picture was clearly created and has not been changed for several releases of the shell), set the dark or light mode. There is no special mode that reduces PWM (albeit at the cost of resolution), but flickering at low brightness is not too noticeable anyway. But you can change the color rendering: choose between two profiles - normal and bright - and set the color temperature. I measured color rendering in both preset profiles without individual temperature adjustments.

Honor 50, gamma in normal color mode. Yellow line – Honor 50 indicators, dotted line – reference range

Honor 50, color temperature in normal color mode. Blue line – Honor 50 performance, dotted line – reference temperature

Honor 50, color gamut in normal color mode. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – Honor 50 coverage

By default, the Honor 50 screen operates in normal color mode - with an eye to the sRGB space, although in fact the color gamut is slightly wider. The average gamma is 2.14 (with some curves “dancing” in light colors). The colors are quite warm, but still a little colder than the norm - at the level of 7,000 K. The average deviation DeltaE for the extended Color Checker palette (shades of gray + a wide range of color shades) is far from the norm - 5.36 with an upper limit of 3, 00.

Honor 50, gamma in bright color mode. Yellow line – Honor 50 indicators, dotted line – reference range

Honor 50, color temperature in vivid color mode. Blue line – Honor 50 performance, dotted line – reference temperature

Honor 50, color gamut in vivid color mode. Gray triangle – DCI-P3 coverage, white triangle – Honor 50 coverage

In the Honor 50's Vivid color mode, the color range exceeds the DCI-P3 standard. The gamma is the same - 2.13. The color temperature is increased more strongly - up to 7,500-8,000 K. The average deviation in the Color Checker palette is 4.75 - unexpectedly better than in standard mode.

Honor 50 lacks an analog audio jack, but wireless audio transmission is in perfect order: Bluetooth 5.2 with support for LDAC, aptX, aptX HD profiles. The external speaker is monophonic, located on the lower edge - loud, but without much sound quality. Well, the very fact of monophony is somewhat frustrating: in this class, stereo is already a sign of good and relatively generally accepted tone.