Finally got mine, initial impressions

[Etyrnus]

My black Honor 8 is now in hand. Been getting apps downloaded, settings configured. Initial impressions:

1. For the size, it feels very solid. I'm coming from a Nexus 5x (was starting to have major heating issues and some problems), and the Honor 8 is a bit heavier with a great in-hand feel.

2. Setup was quick and easy, as should be expected.

3. The look... What can I say that hasn't already been said. This phone is visually a work of art.

4. Everything runs smoothly on it.

I'm going to enjoy the honeymoon period with this phone, but I think it's going to be a great daily driver.

 

[dpham00]

That's great to hear! Glad that you are enjoying yours

 

[libra89]

Yay! Thanks for sharing your impressions!

 

[Etyrnus]

Not sure if anyone cares, but I ran Geekbench 4 just out of curiosity

 

[dpham00]

That's pretty impressive!

 

[chankz]

Can you comment on the wifi/bluetooth connectivity? e.g., does it have the same or worse or better range on your regular networks/connections?

 

[Etyrnus]

Can you comment on the wifi/bluetooth connectivity? e.g., does it have the same or worse or better range on your regular networks/connections?

Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity has been excellent so far. Range has been excellent as well. Bluetooth, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind I haven't even had it a day, but it's been faster to connect and more stable than my Nexus 5x.

 

[Gdwheel]

Wifi and bluetooth have both been excellent for me.

 

[Etyrnus]

Also, I don't get the complaints about the speaker. It's clear and seems louder than the Nexus 5x, as least to me.

 

[libra89]

Also, I don't get the complaints about the speaker. It's clear and seems louder than the Nexus 5x, as least to me.

It is. It makes me wonder what they are comparing it to.

 

[edwin walke]

Was reading the H8 user guide and found a way to raise the column during a call when it's already at max. Press the vol up button twice -- claims to raise it higher than normal max. Have not tried it yet.

 

[Nevs4Nokia]

Also, I don't get the complaints about the speaker. It's clear and seems louder than the Nexus 5x, as least to me.

The speaker is barely okay, nothing to love, nothing to hate.

It does have problems at max volume. I believe that is the main complaint.

 

[cert15z]

Can you comment on the wifi/bluetooth connectivity? e.g., does it have the same or worse or better range on your regular networks/connections?

I have had the H8 for about four days now. The wifi range is great, about the same as my Note 7. The H8 Bluetooth signal is very stable. I haven't had any random discounts. I would say the Bluetooth range is about three-quarters of the range of my Note 7.

 

[BotanicalStig]

The speaker is barely okay, nothing to love, nothing to hate.

It does have problems at max volume. I believe that is the main complaint.

Speaker is pretty much excellent on my end. Comparing to my 2014 moto x the audio quality is so much better... It's not front-facing, but it sounds very good.

 

[Darius DuPree]

I picked up the Blue Sapphire Honor 8 from Best Buy last night, since I needed a new phone quick. And I gotta say, it's pretty awesome, from the smoothness, to the cool features baked into the fingerprint sensor. I've been a fan of Huawei since the original Ascend came to Cricket back when I was in like high school. I'm glad Verizon was being shady and not allowing me to purchase the Z Play outright so I could run it on AT&T, because I would have missed out on this gem. I'm not a camera guy or a specs/benchmark junkie, but I ran through the camera and the DoF app where I can black and white an area of the photo is awesome, and the benchmarks I ran showed it performing better than most flagships minus the Exynos variant Samsungs. Really speaks to benefits of in house production of external and internal components, to me at least.

Now, my only gripes with this phone are minor and can be fixed through an update or accessory makers realizing this device is worth the R&D for accessories.
1. No Tap to Wake or Active Display; I installed Glance Plus to remedy it for the time being (I just wave my hand over the proximity sensor to check time, notifications, etc)
2. No Third Party accessories; I found maybe 2 cases I'm interested in on Amazon, but haven't pulled the trigger yet (I liked the clear AMZER one I used on my LG G5, because it didn't yellow after a while)
3. Would've liked to see maybe a frosted back panel, much like the XPERIA Z5 family, but I'm not broken up over it.
4. When I play music over my Bluetooth system in my Accord, it doesn't display the song info on the either of my head unit screens (I may just have to close and reopen the Apple Music app next time I'm in the car)

But overall I love this phone and what Huawei/Honor is doing to break even more into the US Market. I'm hoping for more of their devices to make it over here, like the Nova and Nova Plus.

 

[Etyrnus]

In reference to number 4, I haven't had that happen. It lists the song, artist, and album over Bluetooth for me. But I'm using google play music.

 

[libra89]

In reference to number 4, I haven't had that happen. It lists the song, artist, and album over Bluetooth for me. But I'm using google play music.

I'm wondering if this is app dependent. I have no issues with SoundCloud but I do have issues with another music app I use. It works just fine with Spotify too.

 

[Darius DuPree]

In reference to number 4, I haven't had that happen. It lists the song, artist, and album over Bluetooth for me. But I'm using google play music.

Yeah, I'll probably test Google Play Music and other apps. I probably shouldn't have put it as a gripe, but more of a occurrence I came across

 

[ranphi]

Not seeing your song info displayed while streaming music over BT is, unfortunately, a pretty common problem. BT is just too finicky in terms of how well it works for this function, so it's a real luck of the draw situation that's totally dependent on the 2 BT devices you're using and how well they can talk to each other. :/

EDIT: just wanted to add that you MIGHT be able to get the song info displayed by using a different music app, but if this issue is indeed caused by an issue at the BT protocol level, you prolly won't have much luck getting it to work regardless of the app.

 

[BotanicalStig]

I've only tried Pandora, but song info and album art are showing up fine in my Subaru.