Honor 7X hands-on review

Honor 7X hands-on review

Introduction

Huawei is the latest manufacturer to join the 18:9 ratio hype with its subsidiary brand Honor after plenty of companies keep introducing phones with tall screens. The Honor 7X was just launched in China and we already have first-hand impressions of the device.

Huawei has upgraded the chipset compared to the Honor 6X and there is a Kirin 659 ticking inside the new device. It's not a high end chipset, mind you. Performance-wise it should be quite similar to the Kirin 658 as seen in the popular mid-ranger Huawei P10 Lite.

The screen on the Honor 7X is also visibly different from the Honor 6X's - now it has 18:9 ratio and 2160 x 1080 pixels for resolution, or Full HD+ as some already call it.

   
Honor 7X front • Gold • Blue • Black

The cameras are still dual but positioned in a horizontal setup. Some might say they even look like Minion eyes. Huawei is not rushing with ditching the headphone jack, it's still down there.

Huawei Honor 7X

• Body: metal and glass;
• Screen: 5.93" LTPS-LCD 18:9, Full HD+ resolution (407ppi); Gorilla Glass
• Camera: 16 MP sensor + 2 MP sensor
• Video: Full HD recording
• OS: EMUI 5.1, based on Android Nougat 7.0
• Platform: HiSilicon Kirin 659; octa-core CPU (4 x CortexA53 2.36GHz + 4 x CortexA53); Mali T830-MP2 GPU
• Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32 GB, 64GB or 128GB storage (microSD slot available)
• Battery: 3,340mAh/3,240mAh (sealed); USB Power Delivery
• Misc: Huawei Histen 3D Audio, microUSB, fingerprint reader
• Price: CNY1,299 - CNY1,999/$200 - $300 (available on October 17)

Huawei Honor 7X hands-on

If Honor is not a popular brand on your regional market, you should know Huawei takes good care of their product portfolio and provides them with some of its proven hardware features - from the dual cameras through the processors to the EMUI Android interface.

There are two ways to look at the Honor 7X in the context of Honor's portfolio - it may be considered as both as an update to the Honor 6X or a more affordable version of the Honor 8 Pro. And if we step outside of this context and we look at Huawei's - it bears a rather uncanny resemblance to the Huawei Mate 10 Lite.

  
The Honor 7X's aluminum unibody feels impressive

Positioned in the middle of the smartphone spectrum, the Honor 7X's specs speak mid-range language just like its price tag. The chipset is Kirin 659 that we already have seen in the Honor 9i/Mate 10 Lite and the Huawei Nova series.

You get a 5.9-inch 2160 x 1080 pixel screen. Bear in mind we are not talking about a screen with rounded corners or one without bezels.

Some of us are still not convinced about the taller displays (and phones), but if the market demands it, the phone makers will deliver. Honor representatives shared with us that pushing the new aspect ratio into the value segment will propel them forward. We just have to wait and see where it takes them.

  
Huawei Honor 7X from all angles

Talking about the looks, some might say the 7X looks like the Honor 8 Pro, and they will be quite close to the truth. It shares the Navy Blue color and the design along with the antenna bands. It also feels like an update from the shoddy build of the predecessor Honor 6X.

Huawei is doing a tremendous job with its fast fingerprint reader, and the Honor 7X is no exception - the scanner behaves well and reacts seamlessly.

 
Huawei Honor 7X back panel

The dual cameras on the back come with a 16 MP + 2 MP sensors, mostly for portrait improvements like bokeh effect. They are a bit protruded, so you should expect a dust ring to form around them with use.

We expected to see the next EMUI, based on Android Oreo 8.0, on the Honor 7X. Sadly, Huawei is keeping the new user interface under covers and will unveil it not sooner than the Mate 10 event on October 16 in Munich.

  
The 18:9 display looks bigger than it really is

Conclusion

Our first impressions are overwhelmingly positive - the Honor 7X is shaping up as a solid midrange device. We can't wait to see what sort of a price it would get outside of China because its starting price of USD200 there is quite tempting.

Unfortunately, this concludes our short meeting with the device. We'll be looking forward to get a review unit so we can learn more about it how it performs in all possible aspects.