Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Honor 8 review: fast, fun, affordable


Honor 8 design and build quality


Honor employs the popular design trend of the past two years, delivering glass and aluminum on the Honor 8. Thanks to the vibrant colors the unit comes in, the back always offers striking reflections, bounced through 15 layers of glass.

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Smooth and shiny: the back of the Honor 8 / © AndroidPIT

The Honor 8 has a more high-quality feel than many devices in its price range. If I didn’t know better, I’d presume it was worth more than $400. It has a similar feel to the expensive Samsung Galaxy S7 from the front and back. It does feature less sturdy display protection than the aforementioned S7 though, with Gorilla Glass 3. In my few weeks with the phone, despite careful usage, it suffered a few scratches.

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Ouch: I recommend using a display protector on the Honor 8 / © AndroidPIT

The button arrangement is intuitive and the power and volume knobs are easily reachable with a right thumb or left middle finger. The rear fingerprint sensor is also well-placed, and you can reach the programmable Smart Key button comfortably with a forefinger. The capacitive navigation buttons are displayed at the bottom of the display.

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The 2.5D glass edges lead smoothly into the aluminum frame. / © AndroidPIT

The Honor 8’s frame is made of a rounded metal with subtly, diamond-cut edges. In four places the frame is interrupted so that the antennas can receive good reception. The dual SIM card slot is located on the left side and can also be used in single SIM plus microSD card configuration (up to 256 GB).

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Either dual SIM or SIM and microSD card setup. / © AndroidPIT

Other connections you’ll find include a USB Type-C port and 3.5 mm jack located on the bottom beside the mono speaker. Those who like to use their smartphone as a universal remote control for home stereo, television and other household appliances, are also catered to: the Honor 8 has an IR blaster.

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The top of the Honor 8 houses a pinhole mic and IR blaster. / © AndroidPIT

Unfortunately, the Honor 8 doesn’t include water-resistance or splash protection, yet another reason why you might want to invest in a case to protect the ingresses. It really is quite a delicate little fella.

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