Is EMUI really that bad?

[ascyltus]

More than a few reviews cite EMUI as a practical deal breaker. How is the interface in day-to-day operation?

 

[srkmagnus]

More than a few reviews cite EMUI as a practical deal breaker. How is the interface in day-to-day operation?

I wouldn't say it's that bad. Will you be able to get by day-to-day with it? Sure. More so for the average consumer who doesn't care if the notification trade doesn't properly handle expandable notifications properly. But there's still a long way for it to mature in the way Samsung and HTC (among others) have. Take a look through Android Central's review - it provides a good breakdown of the software component of the Honor 8: Honor 8 review: A new competitor in the U.S. | Android Central

 

[dpham00]

I think that it comes down to personal preference. If you had an iPhone before then this would feel similar..

It is also very customizable

 

[BotanicalStig]

I've talked about this a lot the past three or so weeks since I got my Honor 8. To be short, emui offers a lot of useful software enhancements (gestures, optional battery optimization, caller blocking etc) and customizations (dark themes, custom nav bars, app theming, etc) .

I really can't tell you every reason why I like emui here, but I can tell you I really think it's great. My past two android phones were a nexus 4, and a 2nd gen moto x. So I really like the stock android look and feel. Out of the box, emui looks funny. But it doesn't take long to make it your own. I'm currently using a dark emui theme and action launcher- it's awesome. I couldn't customize my previous phones like this without a custom rom.

Notifications could use a bit of work. I'd prefer the stock Android shade look/functionality, but this hasn't been an issue for me-at all. It works fine, it's just not what I've been accustomed to. I did not like huawei launcher, or the built in lock screen. Both of these are super easy to replace within the play store, and this doesn't interfere with other functions.

There are a couple YouTube videos showing how emui themes work, check them out. I think I learned more about the os and how it looks from these than the corporate reviews. Also, take a look at the screen shot thread.

It's not a deal breaker, not even close.

 

[scmurphy13]

Themes.

 

[Matt Manahan]

Short answer: No. Long answer: I actually like EMUI (except that it doesn't have an app drawer). And with additional launchers available (like Nova), I don't see why EMUI should be a deal-breaker. I own Nova Prime but I'm not even using it on the Honor 8 as I've found EMUI to meet most of my needs.

 

[robk84]

Having to white list apps for background running, the notification shade, and lockscreen for me at the weak points. The lock screen is almost a non issue because the phone unlocks so fast with the fingerprint. The overall performance of the device for me makes up for the weak points and with EMUI 5 we should see it all improve.

 

[dpham00]

Having to white list apps for background running, the notification shade, and lockscreen for me at the weak points. The lock screen is almost a non issue because the phone unlocks so fast with the fingerprint. The overall performance of the device for me makes up for the weak points and with EMUI 5 we should see it all improve.

I had to do the same white list on my deceased note 7.

 

[James Falconer]

It's not bad at all, and has come a LONG way in the past year.

 

[Jared DiPane]

Agree that it isn't bad but it's just different. There are a bunch of quirks that you learn to deal with.

 

[Guytronic]

I'm still scratching my head wondering why the pull down shade is disliked.

Is it because it isn't like other Android incursions that bring down shortcuts with the notifications?
Guess it just hasn't bothered me that much.

Just wondering...

 

[BotanicalStig]

^I think it was clearly designed to look like the shade in ios first and foremost. Function seems like an afterthought. IMO, the stock android pulldown just works better, it's less clunky, maybe. It really doesn't bother me much anymore, but I still wouldn't mind a redesign.

I'm not sure about the complaints about notifications themselves. They seem to work exactly the same as my nexus 4 (running Nougat, mind you) and my moto x (running whatever it came with 2 years ago)

 

[Jared DiPane]

I'm still scratching my head wondering why the pull down shade is disliked.

Is it because it isn't like other Android incursions that bring down shortcuts with the notifications?
Guess it just hasn't bothered me that much.

Just wondering...

The timeline look of it isn't super functional. It cuts off some notifications. Also the lack of actionable notifications stinks. I like to quickly delete or archive things from the lock screen which I can't. I can from notification shade but that means unlock phone.

 

[Guytronic]

Thanks you guys!

I'm not an intense user yet I can see how organized notifications with better actions would be important.

 

[Guytronic]

Notifications do suck pretty bad under EMUI 4.0
After comparing the features on my other phone I can see the limitations now.

Hoping for a great forthcoming update.

 

[orangecroc]

Short answer: No. Long answer: I actually like EMUI (except that it doesn't have an app drawer). And with additional launchers available (like Nova), I don't see why EMUI should be a deal-breaker. I own Nova Prime but I'm not even using it on the Honor 8 as I've found EMUI to meet most of my needs.

This is almost exactly the same as me. I used nova prime on my samsung, but I find EMUI really easy to use. I thought I would miss the app drawer, but without it, it has actually made me more organised with my apps and I've ended up with a more streamlined home screen.

 

[ChumsFuture]

Is it true you need to unlock the phone just to skip music tracks?

 

[Etyrnus]

Is it true you need to unlock the phone just to skip music tracks?

This is app dependent. Some like Google music allow control from the lockscreen.