Despite the title, anyone is welcome to post their review, comments, whatever you wish about the Honor 8.
My Honor 8 Review
- Thread starter libra89
- Start date
As for my actual review, this will be a long one. Be warned. I'll include a tl;dr version after this text, but just wanted to give a heads up.
Short and sweet version:
-Battery life is great, you can get a day easily.
-Cameras are nice, video isn't horrible or anything, just very average.
-Sound is average too.
-Great in hand for one-handed usage, but be wary of scratches on the glass back, also very slippery.
-UI is very iOS like, but it does have some cool things, such as using your knuckles to take a screenshot.
-Notifications are fickle, some apps don't work so well, but the social apps generally work.
-Auto brightness is random and fickle too, can easily go from medium to low to high.
-Great connectivity all around, some of the best I have had in a phone.
-Band 12, VoLTE work well on T-Mobile, but no WiFi calling.
A little more detailed:
System:
-The battery life is awesome! I always get over a day. I have battery paranoia/anxiety, but with this phone it's a non issue and that is how I personally prefer for my phones to be, especially coming from an iPhone SE where this is never an issue. I have had 8h of SOT.
-The screen is kind of cold on whites out the box in my opinion, but you do have a color profile to change it to how you like. I changed mine.
-I am personally pleased with the cameras. Low light pictures are alright.
-Video is okay, but I'm not one for videos so I can't comment there.
-The sound is average, it sounds better than the Nexus 5x, but it's not amazing.
Design:
-It's really nice in the hand, great for one-handed usage. The fact it comes in black, white, and blue stateside is awesome. I'm really liking that the Honor in white, truly looks like a white device and not a silver device that appears to be white.
-I like the aesthetic of the glass back, but in almost 3 days, I have scratches on the back on some edges. This is my first glass backed phone, so having to be aware what I am putting the phone on top of, is a new concept to me.
-Speaking of glass back, this phone very much slides off of surfaces, which is kind of scary. It sticks better if you place on something with texture. With no texture, it will slide off. True story: Every time I wake up, my phone is in a different place because it slides to a different area of my bed.
UI:
-As for the UI, when they say that it is very iOS like, it is. Settings can be randomly placed, but thankfully you have the option to search in settings, which saves time for sure.
-The themes are alright, I went with the one that matched my phone out of laziness. If you keep the theme, you are able to search through all of your apps for whatever you want.
-Notifications are fickle. With some apps, notifications don't even appear at all, even if you have them enabled in the app itself and in the phone settings. For me, I'm a baseball fan so At Bat is something I use on every phone (usually; Windows Phone aside). With it, notifications just don't work at all. I did a test and installed ESPN, set them just the same (just not with lock screen) and yet I got all of those. It's very much app dependent but for the social apps, I do get all of my notifications (usually).
-I like some features that the UI has, such as the knuckle gesture to take a screenshot or screen capture. It also has a setting where it can detect if the phone is in your pocket or phone and with that, it doesn't wake up the phone, which is awesome (looking at you, Doze).
-The auto brightness is also fickle. It can go from 60% to 20%. Every once in a while, I felt the need the up the brightness but otherwise, I still stick with the fickle auto brightness because I haven't been in a situation where it's been too bright or too dark on auto much.
-There is a learning curve with this UI. This is day 6 and I think I have a handle on it, mostly.
Connectivity:
-This phone has some of the best connectivity I have ever had in a phone for both mobile data and WiFi. It is just excellent. I am very impressed.
-No WiFi calling on T-Mobile, but the VoLTE works great, no set up needed. Band 12 works well here too.
-Noise cancellation is great on phone calls.
-For MMS, it shows a small preview of the image and you have to click said image to actually see the whole thing. It's different and I figured that it was worth noting.
I think that's it. As for if I am going to keep this Honor, I'm trying to weigh everything. Do I recommend it though, heck yeah! It's great, if you can get past the iOS like UI, fickle auto brightness and notifications. If those things will really bother you, I would suggest skipping this phone. For me, it's the best Android phone I have tried all around.
Short and sweet version:
-Battery life is great, you can get a day easily.
-Cameras are nice, video isn't horrible or anything, just very average.
-Sound is average too.
-Great in hand for one-handed usage, but be wary of scratches on the glass back, also very slippery.
-UI is very iOS like, but it does have some cool things, such as using your knuckles to take a screenshot.
-Notifications are fickle, some apps don't work so well, but the social apps generally work.
-Auto brightness is random and fickle too, can easily go from medium to low to high.
-Great connectivity all around, some of the best I have had in a phone.
-Band 12, VoLTE work well on T-Mobile, but no WiFi calling.
A little more detailed:
System:
-The battery life is awesome! I always get over a day. I have battery paranoia/anxiety, but with this phone it's a non issue and that is how I personally prefer for my phones to be, especially coming from an iPhone SE where this is never an issue. I have had 8h of SOT.
-The screen is kind of cold on whites out the box in my opinion, but you do have a color profile to change it to how you like. I changed mine.
-I am personally pleased with the cameras. Low light pictures are alright.
-Video is okay, but I'm not one for videos so I can't comment there.
-The sound is average, it sounds better than the Nexus 5x, but it's not amazing.
Design:
-It's really nice in the hand, great for one-handed usage. The fact it comes in black, white, and blue stateside is awesome. I'm really liking that the Honor in white, truly looks like a white device and not a silver device that appears to be white.
-I like the aesthetic of the glass back, but in almost 3 days, I have scratches on the back on some edges. This is my first glass backed phone, so having to be aware what I am putting the phone on top of, is a new concept to me.
-Speaking of glass back, this phone very much slides off of surfaces, which is kind of scary. It sticks better if you place on something with texture. With no texture, it will slide off. True story: Every time I wake up, my phone is in a different place because it slides to a different area of my bed.
UI:
-As for the UI, when they say that it is very iOS like, it is. Settings can be randomly placed, but thankfully you have the option to search in settings, which saves time for sure.
-The themes are alright, I went with the one that matched my phone out of laziness. If you keep the theme, you are able to search through all of your apps for whatever you want.
-Notifications are fickle. With some apps, notifications don't even appear at all, even if you have them enabled in the app itself and in the phone settings. For me, I'm a baseball fan so At Bat is something I use on every phone (usually; Windows Phone aside). With it, notifications just don't work at all. I did a test and installed ESPN, set them just the same (just not with lock screen) and yet I got all of those. It's very much app dependent but for the social apps, I do get all of my notifications (usually).
-I like some features that the UI has, such as the knuckle gesture to take a screenshot or screen capture. It also has a setting where it can detect if the phone is in your pocket or phone and with that, it doesn't wake up the phone, which is awesome (looking at you, Doze).
-The auto brightness is also fickle. It can go from 60% to 20%. Every once in a while, I felt the need the up the brightness but otherwise, I still stick with the fickle auto brightness because I haven't been in a situation where it's been too bright or too dark on auto much.
-There is a learning curve with this UI. This is day 6 and I think I have a handle on it, mostly.
Connectivity:
-This phone has some of the best connectivity I have ever had in a phone for both mobile data and WiFi. It is just excellent. I am very impressed.
-No WiFi calling on T-Mobile, but the VoLTE works great, no set up needed. Band 12 works well here too.
-Noise cancellation is great on phone calls.
-For MMS, it shows a small preview of the image and you have to click said image to actually see the whole thing. It's different and I figured that it was worth noting.
I think that's it. As for if I am going to keep this Honor, I'm trying to weigh everything. Do I recommend it though, heck yeah! It's great, if you can get past the iOS like UI, fickle auto brightness and notifications. If those things will really bother you, I would suggest skipping this phone. For me, it's the best Android phone I have tried all around.
Read the review.. I think that the negatives like the notification being inconsistent and auto brightness could be fixed by a software update.
Glass back... I am not really surprised about the slippery ness or ease of scratching. I use a case so it wouldn't be an issue for me
Glass back... I am not really surprised about the slippery ness or ease of scratching. I use a case so it wouldn't be an issue for me
libra89, noting your comment about Windows Phone, I'm a convert to Android as well. My path in the smartphone world has been HTC Aria (Android 2.1) > HTC Surround (WP7) > Samsung Focus Flash (WP7) > Nokia Lumia 920 (WP8/8.1) > Nokia Lumia 1520 (WP8.1) > Nokia Lumia 640 (WP8.1/WM10 dev preview) > HTC One A9 > Nexus 5x > Honor 8 (pending).
I wonder if the WP part of the user history has us open to some of the more skinned versions of Android, I had considered the Robin as well.
Anyway, your review sounds mostly positive, just with the note that it takes some getting used to.
Sam_Gs7
Well-known member
I read about in the Main ACentral page: I got impressed with theScreen design and reading the specs posted by "Libra89" I've no
doubt that his Phone could make inroads in the Mobile market
and Best of all..It will work with Android-OS let's welcome it
I hope that they will be too. Those are the only significant cons for me.
That is true that you'll be just fine with a case. If my case wasn't backordered, I would have put that on. I will give this case until Thursday to come, or else I will just have to order one from Amazon that will not take forever to come. Sadly, none of these cases have moved me at all on there.
Anyway, I haven't programmed the fingerprint scanner yet so no comment there even though I'm sure it's fast and good.
Wow, you have been through a lot of phones! I think we are phone twins (to a point), I also have a 640 too, and had the 5x and also A9.
I think you are right and that is probably the case about Android skins. Ooh you have considered the Robin too? That's interesting, I tried it 2x. The size got to me. That and the battery life.
I'm glad that it's somewhat helpful. I am pleased with it overall. I hope that you'll like yours. Just wanted to make sure to share the whole difference experience it brings.
Screen design and reading the specs posted by "Libra89" I've no
doubt that his Phone could make inroads in the Mobile market
and Best of all..It will work with Android-OS let's welcome it
Yeah, I think it can too. We'll see.
I read about the press (click) fingerprint scanner to open camera... When you get a chance, can you comment on how that works?
It works pretty well. It's a little too fast for me though, but that probably takes some getting used to.
So I am supposed to be getting my case on Friday (not the backordered one, I wish it was that though). Ended up ordering from honor directly. I somehow got a new scratch on the bottom of this phone. Going to have to look into getting the back glass replaced, because this is madness. Regardless, I think I will be keeping the Honor. I wish that it was less than 5" but the size of it feels small (even though you have a lot of screen) for a 5.2" screen phone.
For the first 3 months, it's free as long as you register your Honor 8 with them which is what I'm doing right now. I have to read into what is "covered repair" but the 3 months applies for front and back glass.
That's a good idea, I am always very protective with my screen though, since I hate the look of cracked screens (they ruin the aesthetic of a phone for me). I'll see how this goes for me. I'm thinking of finally getting a screen protector too but not impressed with any of the options currently available.
Unfortunately that's the problem with 2.5d glass... Hard to find a tempered glass screen protector that goes edge to edge and looks good (no halo).
Personally I prefer flat screens because tempered glass screen protectors look so much cleaner on them, not to mention cheaper price.
So you are really left with plastic protectors if you want the clean look
You're so right about the halo look. Had that on my previous A9 and hated it! I will be going with plastic. You're so right about the flat screen thing, that was great when it came to the Robin I owned.
Same here on my moto g4... Easy to install and looks great . My zte Zmax pro has a horrible halo with tempered glass . Almost inclined to say screw it and run it without one. It's even more problematic on my note 7 with a curved display
Ooh okay. I was wondering what you do with your Note 7 when it comes to protection. That's so hard.
Right now just using the junk pre installed one. I bought a tempered glass but it didn't work with a case (not even sure it would work well without the case). I have a film protector but don't want to install it now because it is temporary until I get my replacement Note 7.
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