back to article Huawei Honor 8 Pro: Makes iPhone 7 Plus look a bit crap

Towards the end of his long career as an expert summariser on Test Match Special, Fred Trueman would declare: "I just don't know what's going on out there," and light his pipe. Just what you want to hear from an "expert summariser". But sometimes I sympathise. Like when a company suddenly makes lots of phones that compete with …

  1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

    "Once again, the comparison doesn’t flatter Apple: the Plus is bigger, has a smaller screen, doesn’t last as long on a charge, has less storage, no expansion slot or second slim capability, an inferior fingerprint sensor… and costs over £200 more."

    Not disagreeing with the majority of this statement (even as a diehard Apple fan I'm disappointed by the lack of progress in the iPhone line), but what leads you to the conclusion that the fingerprint sensor is inferior? I thought the iPhone fingerprint scanner was one of the few truly brilliant bits of design on the current lineup...

    1. Unep Eurobats

      Re: On the other hand...

      I maybe have different fingers because I find the iPhone 6 Plus fingerprint sensor a pain. I usually have to try two or three times before it lets me in, and often it activates voice control instead.

      In my experience the rear-mounted scanner on a Google Nexus is better placed and works much more reliably.

      1. sal II

        Re: On the other hand...

        >I maybe have different fingers because I find the iPhone 6 Plus fingerprint sensor a pain.

        There is a major improvement in the fingerprint reader between iPhone 6 and 6s/7. I have the 6, my wife the 6s the difference between the two is like night and day.

    2. Andrew Orlowski (Written by Reg staff)

      I use both and disagree. Apple's is the most unreliable, Huawei's is reliable and fast.

      1. Joe Gurman

        It's what it's connected to that matters

        My experience with both older and newer Apple fingerprint sensors is somewhere along the same lines (iPad Pro excellent, two and a half year-old iPhone 6 successful on first try about 70% of the time), but what's more relevant, I'd say, is how the fingerprints are used. The review doesn't state whether the Huawei phones, or any Android devices, secure the fingerprint information in the same way Apple's hardware does (in the CPU, rather than memory). If not, Android Pay is just another way of inviting someone to hack your phone for PII.

        1. MrXavia

          Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

          Then don't use Android Pay!

          use an actual card!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

          "secure the fingerprint information in the same way Apple's hardware does (in the CPU, rather than memory). If not, Android Pay is just another way of inviting someone to hack your phone for PII."

          Do you understand the detail? Or have you just slurped apples koolaid? Please go into more details, as to what you mean by storing it in the CPU and how this enhances security. Perhaps you mean encryption using CPU secure module? Every CPU in the last 10 years does this, it's certainly not exclusive to Apple.

          Please do tell.

          1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

            Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

            The poster means Apple Secure Enclave. Compared to this, Android security sucks balls. Android security including full-disk encryption has been comprehensively violated on several occasions. Most recently April 2017, using processor encryption stripping which cannot be easily patched. and renders Android phones using Qualcomm processors vulnerable.

            Oh and Android Smart (Un)lock is a catastrophic security nightmare.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

              Everything there is just hyperbole. All recent ARM designs have the exact same features, apple have done nothing special, if you believe they have, then I have some magic beans for sale...

              http://www.openvirtualization.org/open-source-arm-trustzone.html

              As for lock screen bypasses, apple are leaders in this, Siri provides plentiful lockscreen bypass bugs, apple seem to be fighting iOS security on a weekly basis, what are they on this week? 10.3.0.2.1a?

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                Apple does not use ARM designs, so claiming that "all ARM designs have the exact same features" is pointless. Apple does not use Trust Zone, their secure enclave is better in many ways. Apple has a 60 page security guide where you can read all the details.

                As for 'weekly security patches' at least Apple has them. With Android you have to buy a new phone!

                1. Brucelee

                  Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                  What a load of rubbish you spout. I get monthly security updates on both my android phones. I bought 2 for less than 1 iPhone. I have better audio, screen, camera than an iPhone.

                  1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

                    Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                    @BruceLee

                    "What a load of rubbish you spout. I get monthly security updates on both my android phones. I bought 2 for less than 1 iPhone. I have better audio, screen, camera than an iPhone."

                    No you didn't, and no you don't. One or other of your statements might be true, but not both.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

              "The poster means Apple Secure Enclave. Compared to this, Android security sucks balls."

              This is meaningless. What is "android security" when it comes to hardware. The latest versions of Nexus devices are just as secure as the Apple implementations. You use the excuse of a bug in Qualcomm processors as saying that "Android is insecure". You are conflating an Operating system with Hardware security, with third party components and with OEM implementations.

              Due to the way Android devices give freedom to the manufacturers to use any components, any changes to the OS, nay hardware etc then there will always be wildly different features including security with different devices. But it is the unique feature with Android devices that you can choose features, specs, model and manufacturer to get a device that suits your needs which Apple doesn't and will never provide.

              To this end you can only choose to compare a specific device from a specific manufacturer to a specific Apple device to get a comparison. In which case you might find that some are less secure, some are equivalent and some are more secure. Similarly you may find some have worse features, some have better, some are cheaper a few are more expensive.

              The only guarantee is that with Android based phones you have more choice.

              1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

                Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                @AC "The only guarantee is that with Android based phones you have more choice.

                You get a lot more than choice with Android. More malware, more security breaches, more risk, more fragmentation, more recalls, more invasive permissions and more data sent to Google, to name a few.

                here, here, here, here and here beg to differ with your assertion.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                  I'm not going to follow random links, but I doubt very much they differ. From your previous posts, I just don't think you really understand technology - iPhones do have a dumbing down effect ;-P

                  Oh the mobile platform wars are back en vogue

                  1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

                    Re: It's what it's connected to that matters

                    @AC "I'm not going to follow random links, but I doubt very much they differ."

                    You're right, they don't differ. They're all written by mobile security experts, and explain exactly the same thing; that iOS (and most other closed systems) beat fragmented Android into a cocked hat when it comes to security.

                    I'm not sure the mobile platform wars are back (did they ever really leave?) - I just have a low tolerance for stupid.

                    And on that note - as long as you're continuing to post AC, I'm done here. I've made the point I wanted to make, you're entitled to your opinion so I'll leave it at that. Bye.

      2. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

        "I use both and disagree. Apple's is the most unreliable, Huawei's is reliable and fast."

        Well, Andrew, you're of course entitled to your opinion. I've also used both, and currently have a Galaxy S7, iPhone 7+ and P9 in testing as well along with iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7. The scanner on the SE is slow now (even if the phone is my current fav, for a number of reasons), as is the S7, but the scanners on both the 7+ and the P9 are fast and accurate. The 7+ gets my vote as the fastest, most reliable and most logically placed of all the scanners I've used.

        YMMV. Maybe you have dodgy thumbs.

    3. Youngone Silver badge

      My boss gave me an iPhone 7 for work use, and I gave up on the fingerprint scanner on the first day.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The fingerprint sensor on huawei supports swipe actions and is faster

      1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

        @AC "The fingerprint sensor on huawei supports swipe actions and is faster"

        The P10 supports swipe (nicked from Elephone, natch), and it's nicely implemented, but it was designed to replace the Android nav buttons - which the iPhone never had nor needed.

        The speed difference is 99% animations on the iPhone - the actual unlock process is practically the same speed. But yes, I'll give you this one. Apple need to up their speed game with the next iteration of iPhone.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Compared to my Nexus 5x, the iPhone 7 fingerprint is slow and unreliable, I also miss the gesture control and find the back sensor location far superior. So there is ALOT wrong with the apple fingerprint sensor

      1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

        "Compared to my Nexus 5x, the iPhone 7 fingerprint is slow and unreliable, I also miss the gesture control and find the back sensor location far superior. So there is ALOT wrong with the apple fingerprint sensor"

        The 5X scanner is significantly slower than the iPhone 6S, let alone the 7. It's also a 2 year old design. Come back when you have a current-gen product to compare.

        Oh and I see your preference for a back sensor, and raise you my ability to touch my iPhone sensor while the phone is lying on the desk, view notifications, unlock and swipe without having to pick the phone up off the desk. Your move.

    6. Steve Evans

      IIRC, the iPhone finger print reader was good when it first appeared, but since then the competition has shot past it.

      An iPhone owning colleague of mine recently tried out the Blackberry Keyone, and couldn't believe how good the fingerprint reader was in comparison to what he was used to.

  2. joeldillon

    'blown up to 100 per cent of the original size' - so, uhhh, exactly the same size as the original?

    1. big_D Silver badge

      I think the author meant, that the other photos were scaled down to fit the web page, whereas the "100%" was a section cut out of a photo and shown without scaling.

  3. Brenda McViking
    Thumb Up

    Appreciate the inclusion of more specs and links from the author. I didn't need to waste another 85 seconds of my life googling for whether it had things like a micro-SD card slot like I did with the HTC U11 article. Thanks AO.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      and the price of £500 is mentioned high enough to make me waste no more of my (precious, etc, etc.) time either! Hell, what next, a non-review?! :)

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Reviews always banging on about the sim-free price when most people pay monthly and don't give as hit.

        1. Martin an gof Silver badge

          Reviews always banging on about the sim-free price when most people pay monthly and don't give as hit.

          Two things.

          Firstly, granted "most people" probably do just opt for a contract, but El Reg readers? Particularly for personal phones? I suspect a lot more commentards go SIM-free than you might expect.

          Secondly, quoting the recommended SIM-free price is the only easy way to compare prices because the cost with a contract varies an awful lot more, thus it is better to compare (say) a £500 Honor with a £700 iPhone SIM-free than those same phones, one on a 24 month contract with O2 and the other on an 18 month contract with Tesco (or whatever).

          M.

        2. big_D Silver badge

          Reviews always banging on about the sim-free price when most people pay monthly and don't give as hit.

          Depends on where you are. Most of the people I know (>90%) buy the phone outright and take a 9€ - 20€ flatrate contract.

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Of course it depends on where you are, but in the context of the article - the author gives the prices in UK£ so I base the comment on that market.

            As for Register readers tending to buy the phone outright as a sim-free purchase, yes of course I know that and I buy sim-free myself but a few Register readers is not going to make any difference to the success or failure of the phone in the market. Register readers, when giving their subjective opinion, often suffer from false-consensus bias and over-rate their own preferences compared to the public at large.

            And the sim-free price of the phone does not necessarily translate pro-rata to the contract monthly prices, it does depend on how the phone is promoted and how the networks want to sell it.

            1. Martin an gof Silver badge

              And the sim-free price of the phone does not necessarily translate pro-rata to the contract monthly prices, it does depend on how the phone is promoted and how the networks want to sell it.

              Which was precisely my point. And since the readership of El Reg is unsurprisingly comprised of Register Readers, it makes perfect sense to frame a review in terms useful to them (to us) rather than terms useful to Joe Bloggs or Jane Bland next door.

              By knowing the baseline price of the phone it is easier to make a judgement about how much value is offered by that phone when compared with others on an equal basis, and if a contract is being considered it's also easier to understand how the cost of the phone fits in to that.

              It might be worth phone reviews having a paragraph along the lines of "this phone is also available on contract for £n at $phone_company_a over y years, or £m at $phone_company_b over z years, but that means research, not simply reiterating the marketing blurb :-)

              M.

            2. big_D Silver badge

              @werdsmith - my step-daughter bought a Hauwei P10 last week, she has a SIM-only contract.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Appreciate the inclusion of more specs and links from the author. I didn't need to waste another 85 seconds of my life googling for whether it had things like a micro-SD card slot like I did with the HTC U11 article. Thanks AO.

      He didn't mention headphone jack.

  4. IsJustabloke
    Thumb Up

    Honor 8

    I'd been casting around for a replacement phone form my aging (but still chugging along nicely thank you!) xperia Z1 that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I chose an Honor 8 I'm very pleased with it. It gives excellent performance and battery life. On a recent trip to the states it got a proper hammering (i was doing the full tourist) but I found it easily lasting the full day. It's a good looking phone, I even like the UI which was updated to v5 shortly after I got the phone and I've found it lightweight and intuitive.

    wouldn't hesitate to buy another or recommend them.

  5. Alexander Hanff 1
    Thumb Down

    And still shovelling Android

    It doesn't matter how good the hardware is (and let's forget about Huawei's ties to the Chinese Government for just a few minutes), it is still an Android phone. You couldn't pay me to use an Android device - and I mean that literally - if you offered me 5k Euros a month to use Android, I would say no.

    Irrespective of whether or not Apple are keeping up with the hardware, iOS is why I buy Apple, not the hardware.

    1. Nick Collingridge

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      No mention of the most critical issue in these modern times - how long do Huawei promise to support the phone with security updates, and what has been their history with this? If it's only a year then you have to reckon on replacing this phone after that time to stay safe, and that alters the value equation dramatically, particularly in comparison to Apple. Maybe we could have an update on the article to address this highly relevant issue?

      1. lybad
        Happy

        Re: And still shovelling Android

        Sometime in the last few months (maybe just after the Honor 8 (non-Pro)was launched), Honor and Huawei announced they would support devices for at least two years.Which is better than quite a lot of Android device manufacturers.

        https://store.hihonor.com/us/software-update-policy

      2. Not also known as SC

        Re: And still shovelling Android

        This is my concern. IPhones may be a bit 'crap' but at least they receive software updates. What is Huawei's track record like on updating their previous models (genuine question)?

        1. ThomH

          Re: And still shovelling Android

          I prefer iOS to Android enough to pay the difference and accept the restricted choice but if anybody is offering €5k/month then I'll switch. Fee negotiable, can discuss goods in lieu of payment. But call fast, as my availability is limited.

      3. Stuart 22

        Middle Ground?

        "No mention of the most critical issue in these modern times - how long do Huawei promise to support the phone with security updates"

        This is precisely why I won't spend serious money on an Android phone. Two years if you are lucky makes it a disposal item. That was £150/year if you took the Nexus route. Now a ridiculous amount with the Pixel line and only to a slightly lesser extent this product. It makes Apple look a better investment if you can stand their control freakery.

        In my mind <£100 purchase price means something likely to have serious shortcomings. £100-200 includes good budget phones which will do the job for 2 years. £200-300 richer feature faster if you like a bit of class and perfectly adequate for most of us. That's what I call the middle ground. Not phones that trade status names for a couple of hundred and still cost £500. Its still upper ground performance wise. Do I really need 6Gb when 2Gb has been just fine? I mean I'd like to try 3Gb first.

        I really can't bring myself to spend over £300 although I could afford it if it was an investment instead of a fast decaying status symbol. Other people have other standards but I wonder whether the real middle ground (£200-300) is now becoming a neglected market.

        1. Pen-y-gors

          Re: Middle Ground?

          @stuart 22

          Spot on comment.

          I got my OnePlus One in Feb 2015 - so just over two years old, and it's fine. It cost £269 + shipping. That's a decent middle ground - remarkably high spec for under 300 quid. And I expect that to continue. I can't see me replacing it for a couple of years yet, and then I want the equivalent pretty high spec for £300-ish. With phones I expect the price point to stay stable over time as the spec goes up. Paying £500-£800 for a phone that lasts for a few years is sheer madness.

      4. This post has been deleted by its author

      5. bengoey49

        Re: And still shovelling Android

        Until early last week my Honor 7 ( unlock) was on Security Patch August 2016.

        It has just been updated today to Security Patch April 2017. The software is still EMUI 4 ( the latest EMUI 5 ).

        For comparison my Sony Xperia X Compact ( Unlock ) has been having regular monthly update now May 2017 Security Patch and several months ago upgraded to Android 7 (Nougat ).

        My wife's Blackberry Dtek60 also has regular monthly security patch , now on May 2017 but the Android software is still Android 6 (Marshmellow).

        1. Naselus

          Re: And still shovelling Android

          Updates aren't really that relevant, though. For starters, most higher-end Droids do get prompt updates throughout the phone's lifespan now; my S6 still receives updates within a week or two of Google releasing them. And for seconds, most people who consume flagship models don't actually notice either way anyway; they have the most expensive handset they can find for prestige purposes rather than because of the specs or the security. They almost certainly couldn't tell you the difference between iOS's approach to FDE and Android 7's.

          The fact is, phones only last about 2-3 years at any price point regardless of whether it's from Apple, Samsung, Sony or whatever, and the actual performance difference between an £800 iPhone and a £200 OnePlus is now meaningless for 99.99% of tasks. Flagships are slowly dying because the marginal performance improvements no longer justify a 4-5 times higher price, which is why Apple's phone shipments fell in 2016 and Samsung's rose despite Sammy producing a flagship-grade phone that literally exploded in customer's pockets.

          Apple will continue to cling to the market, but ultimately the iPhone is headed the way of the Mac - it's going to become a pricey niche device with a small but massively loyal following who would never, ever consider using anything else, even if Apple produced a Samsung-esque exploding handset. Meanwhile the rest of the market will move into low-margin commodity devices; I'd expect the variety of phones in the £600+ range to shrink each year from now on. Samsung might keep producing high-end flagships, but it'll increasingly be a matter of innovation prestige rather than a serious profit source.

    2. Timmy B

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      I suggest you buy Apple because you have more money than sense. I anyone offered me 5K a month just to use a specific phone I'd do so in a second. I could quit my job and what I would end up doing wouldn't involve much phone usage.

    3. Bloodbeastterror

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      "if you offered me 5k Euros a month to use Android, I would say no."

      Total cack, a pointless, untruthful and stupid soundbite. I call a very loud BS on this foolish statement.

    4. Tachikoma
      Trollface

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      if you offered me 5k Euros a month to use Android, I would say no.

      Dude, you're a Barrista

    5. Unicornpiss

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      "Irrespective of whether or not Apple are keeping up with the hardware, iOS is why I buy Apple, not the hardware."

      At the risk of a Coke vs. Pepsi debate here, I feel quite the opposite, and I've used both and have to occasionally support iOS. To me, Android has always been the superior choice for features, usability, logic in the UI design, and not henpecking you with persistent dialogs that pop into the middle of what you're doing, admonishing you to sign back in to Facebook or whatever. (and ugh, iTunes) I will admit that Apple's ecosystem is probably more secure, but a little common sense goes a long way towards security, though many people have never heard of the concept.

      1. greenawayr

        Re: And still shovelling Android

        "if you offered me 5k Euros a month to use Android, I would say no."

        So why read articles reviewing a mid-price android device?

        Or was it because it mentioned iPhone in the headline and you felt compelled to come and defend your darling?

      2. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: And still shovelling Android

        I agree. I've tried several times (each time a major new silly-named version comes out) to get along with Android phones but usually find I have a great phone spoiled by crap, abysmal, abominable OS.

        I really don't like iPhones either, but I can at least tolerate them.

        I keep hoping for a good new phone OS to appear and not get strangled at birth by crass anti-competitive giants.

        1. Adam JC

          Re: And still shovelling Android

          Android? Strangled? You do realise you can install anything you like on it, in APK format... Try doing that on an iPhone! :-/

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: And still shovelling Android

            Strangled, as in a new OS coming to market but having no chance of getting market share.

            As for installing anything I like on an iPhone. Yep, done that. A couple of useful apps, no malware.

            On the other hand, strangling is what I've wanted to do to the Android shyte that I've owned.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: And still shovelling Android

              Urgh, okay - I work for an MSP and something I use almost DAILY is a WiFi channel analyser.

              Can you point me to a WiFi channel analyser/WiFi scanning app available on the Apple App store? It's not like I'm trying to watch filth or gambling, just a plain ole WiFi scanning app to see WiFi channel utilisation.

              Because Apple decided WiFi scanning apps were banned, I'm afraid you can't use them. It's fecking ludicrous that such basic app's aren't allowed into the App Store, one of the many reasons I wouldn't touch them with a 10ft barge pole.

            2. Adam JC

              Re: And still shovelling Android

              (Quoting theverge.com here as of 16th Feb):

              "Of the 432 million smartphones sold in the last quarter, 352 million ran Android (81.7 percent) and 77 million ran iOS (17.9 percent)"

              Even if they don't ALL run the latest and greatest Android, I'd say that's still an absolute landslide in comparison.

    6. James Hughes 1

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      Moronic comment from someone with more money than sense. For $5k a month I'd use Android, naked (Certain limitations apply, like walking outside primary schools)

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      @Alexander - "iOS is why I buy Apple, not the hardware"

      Then you should send a check to those nice people at the FreeBSD Foundation and thank them for writing the free code that runs your devices. Certainly Apple won't.

    8. Roo
      Windows

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      "if you offered me 5k Euros a month to use Android, I would say no."

      Is that because someone pays you >5K + an iPhone to post tosh like that on the web ? :)

    9. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And still shovelling Android

      I find it oddly amusing that the post received 10 up-votes and 90 down-votes. Roughly 10% of El Reg Commentard population appears to be blind apple followers and would turn down 5k a month to avoid purchasing an alternative product.

      Stuff all the other adverts you have running El Reg, there's gold to be made here from these people, start flinging them apple branded gold plated pencil adverts!

      ....It's also quite a scary mindset....

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Holmes

    How long are they going to keep it updated for?

    Any advance on two years?

    1. bengoey49

      Re: How long are they going to keep it updated for?

      See my reply post above regarding update of Honor 7 and comparing it with updates of Sony Xperia Compact and Blackberry Detek60.

  7. Sp0ck

    I've a Honor 7 which came out in July 2015 and I got an OTA update to it this weekend, I've a feeling that well be be its last though. I am truly impressed with this phone, I paid a smidge under £200 and it has been bloomin' marvellous. I'm not one for updating my phones all the time so am happy with this one for now. I would certainly buy another Huawei device based on my experience with this H7.

    1. 's water music

      OTOH my Huawei Ascend G7 (similar age and price) did have an OTA upgrade after about 9 months but it didn't uplift it from Kit-kat and nor have several announcements from the big H that such an update was coming soon ever been delivered.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blah Blah

    But it's not an iPhone. This is mediocre technology. Apple will always be king.

    ,...................Just kidding.

  9. DrXym

    EMUI

    The hardware could be wonderful but while EMUI is a thing I will steer well clear of Huawei phones. Once bitten twice shy.

    1. IsJustabloke
      Megaphone

      Re: EMUI

      "while EMUI is a thing I will steer well clear of Huawei phones"

      It was updated to v5 shortly after I got my phone and I have to say that I like it a lot. It's quick, clean and intuitive. It was the one thing I was worried about when selecting a new phone but I'm very happy with it.

    2. Chris Wilson

      Re: EMUI

      You couldn't figure out how to install a different launcher, if you didn't like it? It's not hard!

      1. DrXym

        Re: EMUI

        I know how to install a different launcher. It doesn't mean I want a shit, superfluous launcher sitting in the firmware eating up space, one whose very existence means it takes Huawei longer to roll out firmware updates because of all the additional testing required. And even if I dump the launcher it doesn't make all the changes to settings, or all the other junk running in the device go away.

        EMUI 5 might have undergone an exercise in turd polishing, but the proper solution would have been to dump it completely.

  10. Andy 97

    If only Android wasn't Google...

  11. skeenan

    Mmmm a piece of crap is a bit harsh

    I've recently gone back to using my iPhone 7 plus 256gb, I really tried Android, but to be honest the quality of the OS and the fricken apps is terrible.

    Never syncs with my car properly, stops playing music randomly. Has very variable battery life and bluetooth LE for some reason sucks donkey nuts.

    That was on both an Honor 8 and a Samsung S7 (which died in the end from some unknown h/w issue). Muddle into that I dont trust Android phones at all, even the app store gives me the heebs.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      Re: Mmmm a piece of crap is a bit harsh

      In my experience of MacOS, Apple deliberately sabotages the Bluetooth stack because it prefers proprietary formats for which it can charge a licence. ITunes will always crap out on Bluetooth after a couple of hours whereas my S5 will happily stream all day and all night.

      FWIW I've been using Bluetooth devices since my Ericsson r520

    2. IsJustabloke
      Stop

      Re: Mmmm a piece of crap is a bit harsh

      And yet my honor 8 . never fails to sync up with my car, always plays the music I want it to for as long I want it to. The apps I use are all pretty good premium apps that I actually paid money for. I don't have to charge it every single night if I don't want to. I've found the bluetooth LE to be considerably more reliable than my old sony, so horse for course and all that.

      Just as an aside why did you feel the need to *exactly* detail the model of your iPhone?

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Mmmm a piece of crap is a bit harsh

        Just as an aside why did you feel the need to *exactly* detail the model of your iPhone?

        Big phone, small …? ;-)

  12. GingerOne

    I did take a look at this but went instead for the cheaper (under £400) BQ Aquaris X Pro (pre-order, coming in June). As an upgrade to my Nexus 5X the BQ seems to fit the bill - and wallet - perfectly. Hoping to see a review soon... :)

  13. FlossyThePig

    The unit is capable of 4K video, saved at 30fps

    What is the point if most users record in vertical (moron) mode.

    Perhaps if vertical videos were actually captured as horizontal 1080p we wouldn't have to suffer the double video shown on news broadcasts.

    1. Chika
      Happy

      What is the point if most users record in vertical (moron) mode.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA

    2. MrXavia

      I think that would be a bloody brilliant idea!

      Its easier to hold a phone portrait to take video, and you focus on your main subject, but recording extra 'sides' would be great!, even better would be if the video format captured it all by default, but on playback the player could alter the ratio ;-)

  14. Alex Walsh

    Not convinced about Huawei/Honor updates. I'm still waiting for the Nougat update for my P9. Bearing in mind I got it at the press launch, which was in advance of availability at retail, I'm not very impressed with it.

    1. bengoey49

      My Honor 7 is still on Android 6 / Marshmellow and EMUI 4 .

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Missing the point

    I've said this before, and I'll say it again...

    Apple could bring out a phone that cost 2 grand, was technologically inferior to this - and it would still be more successful in terms of sales, and the perception people have of how good it is.

    Why is this? Because it's based on PERCEPTION: How good (or bad) the technology is, is absolutely irrelevant to most people (in the big wide world, beyond The Reg).

    So saying it makes an iPhone 7 look "a bit crap" is absolutely meaningless, as it won't even make a dint in Apples sales figures, which at the end of the day, is all they really give a shit about.

    As an analogy - there is a PERCEPTION about Linux that it's for geeks only and it certainly isn't seen as "cool". There's no person Joe Public can name behind it, who they care about. So when people say all this stuff about wondering why it didn't quite get the market share and recognition they deserve...the answer is right in front of you. How you market stuff, the people behind it, leads to the perception - and that's ultimately all the success and how "good" something is seen in the big wide world comes down to.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Missing the point

      Apple works very hard to maintain the impression of a technological leader and never fails to make such points at product launches. But it works even harder to create the impression of hiding all that wonderful but complicated technology from us frightened users. But to stay successful it must continue to invest in technology.

    2. werdsmith Silver badge

      Why is this?

      Because an iPhone doesn't run Android and there is no other choice.

  16. Tomislav

    Only the imminent OnePlus flagship is likely to give it any competition?

    Imminent here means last years' 3T model? Since that model had 6GB of RAM and 128GB of flash at a lower price point I can only see Huawei trying to catch up...

    1. lybad

      Re: Only the imminent OnePlus flagship is likely to give it any competition?

      No - the imminent flagship is supposedly called the OnePlus 5, according to the various "leaked" photo stories currently doing the rounds.

      1. Tomislav

        Re: Only the imminent OnePlus flagship is likely to give it any competition?

        I was being sarcastic. This Huawei model has just about matched the performance of the old 3T model (apart from the higher resolution screen and a bit stronger battery).

        1. Gordon861

          Re: Only the imminent OnePlus flagship is likely to give it any competition?

          The only problem with the Oneplus5 is the leaked price is $650 (£500), and that's probably going to need tax added on top. I really hope this turns out to be wrong.

  17. John Goodwin 4

    Incorrect spelling of honour, so they've lost a pedantic customer.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      The spelling of "WhoAreWe" is also incorrect.

    2. dajames

      Incorrect spelling of honour, so they've lost a pedantic customer.

      Oh, I thought it was named in honour of Honor Blackman!

    3. To Mars in Man Bras!

      >>Incorrect spelling of honour, so they've lost a pedantic customer.

      Two pedantic customers

  18. wurdsmiff

    Any word on the type of internal storage?

    Given the brouhaha around the P10 internal storage lottery, is there any explicit mention of what type of flash memory is used in the Honor 8 Pro?

    There were a lot of complaints about the use of slower eMMC flash storage, rather than the fast UFS 2.0 in the P10 due to availability issues. If the H8Pro uses UFS2 that could make it an even more attractive prospect.

    If I didn't have midget hands it would likely be on my upgrade wish list. Still might be actually.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Not sure why people moan about Androids interface...

    ...just change it.

    Mines set to Square Home 2 + an icon pack, gives it a lovely Windows phone look and feel.Granted the Live tile copy isn't as good, but it'll do.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Not sure why people moan about Androids interface...

      Who can be arsed to change it? How many different launchers would you have to try before finding the one that's stable and decently useable? How long would you waste? I can remember wasting an hour on the Android store just to get an app that actually worked to copy texts from one phone to another (the first three didn't actually work as advertised) - and I just can't be arsed.

      For me at least, a phone is a very important tool for both work and personal life. And so I want one that works properly out of the box, doesn't need hours of tinkering, and in an ideal world can be set up and fully operational in an hour or two.

      Other peoples' mileage may vary of course.

      1. Neill Mitchell

        Re: Not sure why people moan about Androids interface...

        Just install Action Launcher and enjoy.

  20. isogen74

    > The headline feature is the battery life. For the second time this year I’ve found myself trying to think of new ways to exhaust a phone, and been stumped.

    For the most part use the wifi and 4G data connections and watch the battery vanish. Modern phones and display panels are marvelous things and increasingly well optimized, but the physics of shoving a high frequency signal at an aerial some distance from the device is always pretty punishing.

    1. IsJustabloke
      Facepalm

      Yes... it does vanish...

      "For the most part use the wifi and 4G data connections and watch the battery vanish."

      Cunningly both my sony and my Honor make it vanish very slowly over the course of a couple of days.

      Damn that vanishing battery power!!!!

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Yes... it does vanish...

        I was a bit confused by the author of the article talking about getting 2 days of light to medium us as if it's something special. I would have said normal, the least I would expect.

  21. YARR
    Boffin

    "Octocore"

    Does this or any other "octocore" phone actually use 8 cores simultaneously, or are they all of the big.little kind (switching between 4 high performance + 4 low power cores)?

    Also why is 6G the favoured amount of RAM, rather than a regular 4G or even 8G? I'm guessing that 99% of apps out there will run just fine on a phone with only 2 cores and 1-2G memory. Apple have managed with only 1G on their retina display devices so that can't be the reason.

    1. wurdsmiff

      Re: "Octocore"

      Do Apple devices do full multitasking now? Of not, that would explain the difference in RAM required.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Octocore"

      The more modern big.little implementations can use all 8 cores simultaneously; the core swapping model only seemed to be implemented in the first couple generations of devices.

  22. tedleaf

    For a site that is meant to for techy folks,geeks,or I.t pros,it's sad to see not one comment t anywhere about the very easy way to keep most android devices up to date with latest version of the os,and quite often still get makers security updates..

    Have none of you heard of rooting a phone and flashing a new Rom to it ?

    Me,I will not buy any device that doesn't have a known,tested root method..

    If your willing to trust the "many eyes" idea for open source software,well the same is true of roms,stick to those from known re-writers with a decent history..

    I've flashed hundreds if Roma across dozens of devices,never had a problem with backdoors etc being added,but have used plenty with the makers ones removed..

    Honour are ok,but there are as good but cheaper available,ZTE AXON 7 is an example..

  23. Tromos
    FAIL

    "Honor mini-site for full specs"

    If those are indeed the full specs, I'm not impressed. No Wi-Fi or GPS? I assume it actually must have both of these but I went to the site to check if 5GHz Wi-Fi is supported and which GPS constellations are handled plus details of other sensors and found zilch. Can't even download a PDF manual for the device in case there is more information there. It does, however, offer a manual in Estonian for an earlier model. If the website is indicative of the support being offered, I'd look elsewhere.

  24. CanadianMacFan

    Yet another large "phone"

    Is there any company that makes smaller phones? I know that Apple has the SE but I'm not going to pay their asking price for a phone that has a bunch of features missing. It was bad enough when they had the two sizes and the plus version had a couple of extras. Now they bring out the SE halfway through the normal cycle (which they didn't this year) and it's missing the big features altogether. For the most part it just has things like the processor upgrade.

    Bring out the phone in the three sizes and have all three equal except for the screen size. And f*ck off about making them thinner all of the time. Nobody is screaming about wanting them thinner. How about making them a bit thicker for once and put some more battery back in? Apple has acknowledged the problem since it's selling external battery packs. If people are willing to put that ugly thing on their phone then they would be more than willing to have a phone that's a bit thicker.

    Yes, I do like my Apple stuff. I used to be a fan but Apple's products have been going downhill since Jobs passed away. And I have (I didn't want to put the pun in with the contraction) never been afraid of calling them out, as you can see. Their stuff has usually worked but it's getting less user friendly. If something better came along I would switch.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  25. BongoJoe

    Howay man!

    The Howay web site is hopeless. One of these bloody trendy responsive sites where the letters are three inches tall and unreadable as the eye has to scale each character one by one...

    One thing that I couldn't find in the review or on the site concerns the second SIM. I have one of these dual SIMs in my WhineyFox and in areas where there's not good signal strength (i.e. where folk are blessed by no street lights) the second card is useless.

    What's the story with the second SIM on this phone? Does it work in the Real World or do I have to be sitting rubbing shoulders with some twonk with a pork pie hat and beard, drinking a PratteLatte in a metrosexual built up area?

    Yours slightly riled up because techical reviews don't seem to be as technical as they used to.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. D@v3

      Re: second SIM

      I don't know for sure, as I have not used a phone with more than 1 SIM slot before, but i would have thought that if you are in an area where there is no signal, it doesn't matter if you have 2, 3, 5 or more SIM's, they're not going to help.

      My understanding for multiple SIM's is, 1) you spend lots of time in 2 areas, with good signal on two separate networks, 1 SIM for each. 2) you have a really good minutes plan and a really good data plan 1 SIM for each. And you switch between the two as required.

      The only way that i can see that the proximity of Twonks could affect the usefulness of your 2nd SIM, is if you have chosen a 2nd network that only has coverage in areas frequented by Twonks.

  26. Martin Pittaway

    The problem, is Android

    Why do people buy Apple? It's not just the brand name, it's the fact that Apple are the most moral corporate company on the planet with a built in principle to secure their IOS: and more to the point, their users security too. Android security....... come on. Windows mobile security... guffaw guffaw.

    1. DasWezel
      WTF?

      Re: The problem, is Android

      "it's the fact that Apple are the most moral corporate company on the planet"

      u wot m8?

      I presume that is ignoring their labour practices, tax practices, and their overworked army of lawyers?

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    The iPhone 7 is a fine example of Cook-era Apple

    No real innovation, just tweaking at the edges. See also Apple Watch Series 2.

    Ive appears to be phoning in designs now (no pun intended)... Whether this is because he's run out of ideas, is just bored, doesn't have that spark with Cook that he clearly had with Jobs, or a combination of factors, I couldn't say. But Apple is now run by accountants and lawyers, which is rather sad.

    1. Naselus

      Re: The iPhone 7 is a fine example of Cook-era Apple

      "Ive appears to be phoning in designs now"

      I never really saw any evidence of his supposed genius for design anyway tbh. Flat UIs, round corners, the entire iPhone 4 disaster from start to finish... he's not the world-class design maestro that people often proclaimed him. Very Apple, in that he'd do something profoundly obvious and call it brave, or profoundly unpopular and then just call his market idiots if they dared to dislike it... but not actually a particularly impressive or innovative designer.

      Agreed on the rest of Cook's Apple though - he's just a bit of a duffer, isn't he? He's mostly coasted along by iterating existing product lines, and when he's picked a new idea to follow it's been derivative and usually a failure. Jobs regularly stole anything he could find, but at least had a good eye for what he should steal and a how to improve on it. Cook appears to just jump on whatever bandwagon is going (wearables, self-driving cars, Apple music) with little idea of what it's supposed to be for, and then delivers an overpriced and underspecced version years later, only to quietly drop it 18 months later when no-one but the most die-hard Apple fans goes for it.

      For all his many faults, Jobs understood that a piece of tech should have a clear use to solve an existing problem (MP3 players for digital music on the go; iPhones for mobile net access; tablets for mobile consumption). Cook just doesn't seem to grasp that, and so goes for any old tat that a competitor is doing just for the sake of competing with them. He's slowly converting Apple into modern-day HP, run by the bean counters and lawyers rather than the designers and engineers.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The iPhone 7 is a fine example of Cook-era Apple

        "I never really saw any evidence of his supposed genius for design anyway tbh."

        I think you're underestimating Apple. A lot of the design goes into things like their stores, promotional material, website and print advertising, product placement and so on. It's still design. The product is just the thing you hold in your hand at the end of it, and the way you perceive it is partly due to your expectations.

        Think scent, if you don't mind. The stuff pongs. Some of it is OK, some of it is a bit overpowering, but when you're young and male and your hormones are working you're more likely to be affected by the erotic associations of the woman friend who used it. [or I am just unusual, which I doubt. I can honestly say that Chanel no. 5 still has strong erotic connotations for me. However.] But the image of the stuff with the buyer is all about the advertising, the packaging, the bottle, and everything else that goes to the 5000% markup.

        Apple have a very good product. Single threaded it will be significantly faster than the Kirin chip. There's no doubt that the UI is smooth and no particular IT skill is needed to make it work properly. But the product is probably no more than 10-20% of Apple's design efforts.

    2. Unicornpiss

      But don't you want it thinner? Don't you?

      By the iPhone 10, one of the advertised features will be that you can shave with it, and the Plus and Plus +(++) will offer multiple blades, and a proprietary hipster grooming app will be included. Beyond protecting it from fracturing, the next generations of Otterbox will offer "Otter-goo", a lubrication strip with a sebaceous, self-secreting lubricant straight from the Otterbox for smooth shaving. The "iStrop" will be offered to keep it sharp. If you cut yourself, the pulse monitoring sensor will detect it and the phone will offer a soothing cooing noise to assuage your pain. (for $29.95) Next up will be the lawsuit against Motorola (or what's left of them) for claiming the "Razor" trademark.

  28. ChrisBedford

    Yes but then you have to use Android.

    I had a Galaxy S II for about 14 months and hated every second of it. I've had 2 iPhones since then and while there are still somethings that are a bit frustrating, it's so far ahead of the user experience I remember from the Samsung that the thought of going back makes my blood run cold. I think I'd rather not have a mobe.

    Probably the worst part of Android as it was then was the predictive text and the stupidity of the keyboard, and possibly it has improved since then, but I'm just not prepared to take a chance. And no-one lets you the general public test drive a phone for a week before buying one so I guess I'll never find out.

    Quite happy with my iPhone 5S, thank you, see no reason to change.

  29. Pete 2 Silver badge

    Drain that battery fast!

    > For the second time this year I’ve found myself trying to think of new ways to exhaust a phone, and been stumped

    Simple. Just turn on the GPS.

  30. peterm3

    It would be great to have a round up of phones for £250. Or last year's model which are now that price.

  31. Nick Pettefar

    Can you run IOS on it?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Can you run IOS on it?"

      It's a pity that isn't possible. It would be really interesting to know how well iOS runs on hardware designed for Android, and vice versa. And that, along with all the commercial, image and marketing stuff, is part of the reason why we will never find out (and no, I'm not committed to either side being "better", it would just be interesting).

      1. Unicornpiss
        Meh

        Re: "Can you run IOS on it?"

        The poor Android device would soon die. Not because the hardware is incapable of the specs in any way (except for the kitschy multi-pressure screen), but because its spirit crushed, it would take its own life, in much the way I would consider the same if I had to go back to working a Level 1 Helpdesk after many years in IT, or attend perpetual team-building exercises.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When Google own the OS update cycle I may just consider an Android. Simply OEMs do not care about the security of devices they've sold. Samsung probably though I'm not seeing LTS over 24 months or immediate patching.

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