[Andy The Droid]

Given Android version, UI, or just why you like, or dislike, the Honor 8, would you recommend it to new or returning Android users? How does the Honor 8 stack up against, say, the new Pixel or Pixel XL?

[dpham00]

This provides some good insight for starters.

http://m.androidcentral.com/honor-8-community-review

[robk84]

Cost, size, and performance.

[droidatl]

Cost, size, and performance.

Exactly what I was going to say. Love the sapphire blue color also.

[anon(464338)]

I just recieved the black version and it's gorgeous! I have tried 3 of the smallest android phones in the last couple months. The pixel, sony xperia x compact and the Honor 8.
The pixel was the smoothest (and most expensive) unfortunately, Bluetooth is not functioning correctly with my car
The X compact is surprisingly fast and smooth but I can't get over the screen quality which is subpar and the Camara leaves something to be desired.

Anyway, the reason I'm going to finally stick with the H8 is because the phone is a perfect size imo, the screen is beautiful, the phone is fast, the Camara is great, and the fingerprint scanner is the best on the market. Also, I can't say enough about having an ir blaster, especially if you have several TV's!
I also notice that honor seems to care about this line and I anticipate it getting regular updates as I look forward to next year's model.
Negatives would be video quality and emui 4.1 takes getting use to but waiting for 5.0 and nougat gives my something to look forward too.

[ebrandwein]

Excellent bang for the buck. Flagship level performance at a mid level price. Hard to beat that.

[ab304945]

I will keep my s7e. But this phone is great for the price

[Dconn1975]

I've got the Nexus 6p also as my second phone and number. It's really hard to find a device to compare to the Honor 8. 6p and Pixel XL definitely are comparable to each other. Honor takes Android and to me personally knowing apple as well as I do having only used their product since breaking my blackberry addiction around the iPhone 4 and 5 time period, that the Honor 8's software interface is a hybrid of both apple OS and Android. I've tried a lot of android out this year for the first time and the Honor is just different. I actually like the interface more so than pure Android. So comparing it to a stock Android is hard. I've yet to own or handle anything that is similar. That being said, I like different and I like unique so it may not appeal to everyone. It seems from my research that one either loves EMUI or hates it and downloads a Android interface launcher. I've not altered my Honor 8 any. I love the software. I just hope they keep innovating as that is what creates and inspires. If they lay off and not stay on their game then I could see the Honor line hurting or failing. As long as they keep it rolling and stay their high expectation course then the Honor will always have its place as one of the best devices vs value.

[orangecroc]

I quickly got used to EMUI 4.1 in the weeks I used it, but I have since moved into the EMUI 5 beta.
Customising EMUI is possible with theme editors but it is far from intuitive.
I have been extremely impressed with the battery life and camera on this phone. Some of the shots I've taken are on a par with if not better than the cameras at the top of the flagship tree.
Equally impressive, is the system memory management. With 4gb of RAM I was expecting the phone to use a lot of it to keep the experience smooth but I have yet to see memory usage go above 2.5gb and never experienced a drop in performance.

[dpham00]

I quickly got used to EMUI 4.1 in the weeks I used it, but I have since moved into the EMUI 5 beta.
Customising EMUI is possible with theme editors but it is far from intuitive.
I have been extremely impressed with the battery life and camera on this phone. Some of the shots I've taken are on a par with if not better than the cameras at the top of the flagship tree.
Equally impressive, is the system memory management. With 4gb of RAM I was expecting the phone to use a lot of it to keep the experience smooth but I have yet to see memory usage go above 2.5gb and never experienced a drop in performance.

4gb might not be needed now but it doesn't hurt for future proofing.

[dpham00]

I've got the Nexus 6p also as my second phone and number. It's really hard to find a device to compare to the Honor 8. 6p and Pixel XL definitely are comparable to each other. Honor takes Android and to me personally knowing apple as well as I do having only used their product since breaking my blackberry addiction around the iPhone 4 and 5 time period, that the Honor 8's software interface is a hybrid of both apple OS and Android. I've tried a lot of android out this year for the first time and the Honor is just different. I actually like the interface more so than pure Android. So comparing it to a stock Android is hard. I've yet to own or handle anything that is similar. That being said, I like different and I like unique so it may not appeal to everyone. It seems from my research that one either loves EMUI or hates it and downloads a Android interface launcher. I've not altered my Honor 8 any. I love the software. I just hope they keep innovating as that is what creates and inspires. If they lay off and not stay on their game then I could see the Honor line hurting or failing. As long as they keep it rolling and stay their high expectation course then the Honor will always have its place as one of the best devices vs value.

Emui 5 moves it much closer to stock Android. It is still far from stock android but much more familiar for those who have been using Android on other devices.

[Dconn1975]

Emui 5 moves it much closer to stock Android. It is still far from stock android but much more familiar for those who have been using Android on other devices.

I'm tempted to not upgrade to 5.0. I actually really like the stock software of the 4.1. Being a apple only user for many years until about a year ago that the hybrid of the two softwares IOS and Android that the 4.1 offers is cool to me. So if I choose not to upgrade to 5.0, I'm sure that means I'll loose the security patch too. I guess I'll have no choice. I dig 4.1. Not once have I considered using Nova on my Honor like I have on all the other Android devices I've been through.

[orangecroc]

You'll appreciate the changes, there's no doubt about that. The changes are more useability tweaks and streamlining settings. The style of EMUI 4.1 can remain.

[laytoncy]

So far with my Honor 8 Sapphire Blue 64 GB, I'm having issues getting all my notifications straight and working but I'm reading through threads to get it all sorted. That is not a negative just a work in progress. I'm not sure if this is better but so far the battery life for me is outstanding. I received the phone 11/30. Did a full charge over night. Took it off the charger at 6:33am on 12/1 and here are my results as of 15:26 12/2. I'm very happy with that and the quick charge is nice to keep me going. With my Moto X 2014 PE when I got to 20% it could turn off at any time. So, to be able to use a phone, with so far, an accurate battery is great.

Edit: I just noticed maybe this would be better posted in the Sticky for what owners like about their Honor 8 but I can't move or delete the post. Either way this is positive for me so far.

[dpham00]

I'm tempted to not upgrade to 5.0. I actually really like the stock software of the 4.1. Being a apple only user for many years until about a year ago that the hybrid of the two softwares IOS and Android that the 4.1 offers is cool to me. So if I choose not to upgrade to 5.0, I'm sure that means I'll loose the security patch too. I guess I'll have no choice. I dig 4.1. Not once have I considered using Nova on my Honor like I have on all the other Android devices I've been through.

You can still keep the similar look of emui4 if desired on the home screen with no app drawer.

The notifications changed to closer to stock Android though.

[Dconn1975]

Positively for me is the hybrid type software experience that the EMUI 4.1 has which is a combination of android and IOS. I've not once thought about using my go to nova launcher on my Honor. I love this software. I don't get why I see reports of people disliking it so much. Positively the a quality of build is very high end and detailed. The Honor is my main phone these days. I've also got a nexus 6p but I'm on the verge of ordering the ZTE Axon 7. I like to keep two phones, one smaller and one larger. The Honor 8 will be considered my smaller phone for a while to come and I'm close to pulling the trigger on the ZTE. It's a 5.5 vs my 6p 5.7 but 5.5 is still large. Negative on the Honor 8 is that without a back skin or case, the device is like holding a piece of butter. The device is just that slippery but I installed a carbon fiber back skin from skinomi so when I'm not using my case it now has a textured grip. Not much to complain about the Honor in my opinion

[dpham00]

People dislike it because they are expecting a more typical Android experience

[Dconn1975]

People dislike it because they are expecting a more typical Android experience

Since I've become to know Android quite well over the past year, I like it a lot. I just think the Honor 8 is unique software wise and it's the innovation I like. It's certainly not a difficult software and it's also seamless smooth. I think it's definitely a hybrid of both smartphone worlds which is cool to me. I've enjoyed using the Honor software. Normally I download my Nova to use but on the Honor 8 I've not even considered it. I enjoy things that are unique and different which is prob why I am so pro EMUI. I like the pure Android on my 6p and I liked it on my Moto Z Force too. The Honor software interface is a nice change from the typical so I welcome the different which also to me is a form of innovation. If the iPhone 8 is going to be full of new and different features then, I'll get one of those too as apple was the only software I knew before a year ago. I miss my Apple devices at times but in the end both softwares have their strong points and I feel like Honor took both the softwares and built a hybrid giving the user some of both worlds. To me that's just cool.

[Etyrnus]

Since coming back to Android, I've been trying different devices. My first foray back was the HTC One A9. It was nice, stock-like, but horrible battery life, and felt difficult to hold due to being relatively thin and light. Then I got the Nexus 5x, the size felt right, but that flavor of Android felt soulless and vacant. I picked up a Moto g4 to try, and was not impressed. The 2 GB RAM with the 617 processor was slower than a 3 year old windows phone. Returned it before the 30 days was up.

Now I have the Honor 8, and interestingly enough a LeEco S3 as a backup. I know some people complain about the skins, but they actually feel fairly intuitive to me. I think EMUI 5 is going to shine.

[dpham00]

Since coming back to Android, I've been trying different devices. My first foray back was the HTC One A9. It was nice, stock-like, but horrible battery life, and felt difficult to hold due to being relatively thin and light. Then I got the Nexus 5x, the size felt right, but that flavor of Android felt soulless and vacant. I picked up a Moto g4 to try, and was not impressed. The 2 GB RAM with the 617 processor was slower than a 3 year old windows phone. Returned it before the 30 days was up.

Now I have the Honor 8, and interestingly enough a LeEco S3 as a backup. I know some people complain about the skins, but they actually feel fairly intuitive to me. I think EMUI 5 is going to shine.

That's the issue with the moto g4 specifically, not the s617. My ZTE zmax pro which i paid$40 for had similar specs (same cs617 cpu and 2gb ram)and ran much smoother and cooler.

[Etyrnus]

That's the issue with the moto g4 specifically, not the s617. My ZTE zmax pro which i paid$40 for had similar specs (same cs617 cpu and 2gb ram)and ran much smoother and cooler.

I know, the HTC has the same chip with 3 GB RAM and was fine. Moto just had poor implementation. And for some users, the moto g4 week probably be fine. It just wasn't for me.

[dpham00]

I know, the HTC has the same chip with 3 GB RAM and was fine. Moto just had poor implementation. And for some users, the moto g4 week probably be fine. It just wasn't for me.

The ZTE zmax pro was great because it had good battery life to go along with good performance, and very reasonably priced. I was getting ten hours SOT on it.

[Dconn1975]

The ZTE zmax pro was great because it had good battery life to go along with good performance, and very reasonably priced. I was getting ten hours SOT on it.

I'm actually thinking about dropping my Nexus 6p and getting the ZTE Axon 7. How did you like ZTE? Are they a good conpany

[dpham00]

I'm actually thinking about dropping my Nexus 6p and getting the ZTE Axon 7. How did you like ZTE? Are they a good conpany

Well i had the zmax 2 and zmax pro. Both were great for their class. The zmax pro was just updated to the November patch.

Both phones where really good bargains and performed very good for their class though obviously below the honor 8 which is in a different class. I wouldn't expect as frequent updates as the pixel though.

From my reading the Axon 7 had sub par radios though.

[Dconn1975]

Well i had the zmax 2 and zmax pro. Both were great for their class. The zmax pro was just updated to the November patch.

Both phones where really good bargains and performed very good for their class though obviously below the honor 8 which is in a different class. I wouldn't expect as frequent updates as the pixel though.

From my reading the Axon 7 had sub par radios though.

That's what I needed to hear. My other option I was looking at was the Zenfone 3 Deluxe but I'm not seeing much fan support of that phone. I go through phones like maniac so I was looking for a larger device to take my 6p's place. My honor 8 isn't going anywhere. I get the bug and it's all over. I'll have something soon I'm sure but it won't be a Pixel XL. To almost exactly similar to the 6p. I want to try an HTC out as that is one of the only androids or popular Android phones I've not tried. It's the same size as my honor so it's out. I'll keep searching as it's going to have to be a nice device as the 6p has been a good one.