First of all welcome everyone, glad to be a part of this forum. I've been lurking XDA developers since long, long time ago back in the PDA era (HTC SPV M5000 anyone?).
I've owned my Galaxy Note 2 for over 2.5 years now and I'm tired of constantly running out of internal storage and the now-supar camera. I'm looking to buy a new smartphone that will check off many boxes, but if I could describe what I need in 2 sentences, it would go something like: a large-screened productivity workhorse with loads of storage and battery, and a good camera. And if it's future-proof, that's even better! I want a device that will last me for at least 2+ years.
Here's what I'm looking for:
- Screen size between 5,5" and 6"
- Internal storage min. 32 GB, needs to have a microSD card slot (unless it has 128G internal storage)
- Decent camera with OIS (camera should handle low-light shooting well)
- Decent UI (unlike the majority of community here, I don't really want to be flashing my phone with new ROMs or any of that, I just want something that works well right out of the box and is user-customizeable through custom home launchers etc)
- Great battery life (this is big for me, I'm often on the road, I listen to tons of podcasts, use mobile data, bluetooth, sometimes wifi tethering etc. I need a phone that can get me through a looong day)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Won't put a huge hole in my wallet (I wouldn't mind paying more for the perfect and FUTURE-PROOF phone but seems like there isn't one that checks off all the boxes. At the same time I'm trying to keep it below $500)
- A physical home button is a plus (and capacitive buttons! Just like in Samsung Galaxy series)
- Screen res. above 1080p is a plus (better for VR and I will probably try some VR in near future)
- Replaceable battery is a plus (plus extended phone cases, yay!)
- OTG support is a plus
- USB-C is a plus
- Dual SIM is definitely a plus
- No curved screens like on the Samsung Edge series
I looked at:
- Huawei Mate 8 - checks off most boxes, nice big battery but crappy, buggy, and not very customizable UI.
- Huawei Mate P9 Plus - very interesting camera-wise, the rest just like above
- LG G5 - also very interesting camera-wise, a bit smaller screen, and a battery that's way too small. Although replacable, I cannot imagine remembering to bring a spare battery with me everywhere.
- Nexus 6P - great reviews and everything, great software BUT I'm mostly based in China where ALL Google services are blocked, so it would probably be a big pain to have to rely on VPN the whole time. Also camera has no OIS, although I did read it's great. Another con: a bit expensive and not easily available in the 128G version
- Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro - the top contender for me so far. The 5000mAh battery is nuts and just what I need. Dual SIM and dedicated microSD slot. Affordable. But the big bummer: sub-par camera. Also a bit low on the DPI if I ever want to use VR. And no notification light (how am I supposed to know if I got notifications?)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - a bit slower than the A9 Pro, smaller battery, but better camera. And the stylus - I could definitely use the stylus for more productivity. Just really not sure about investing in the aging technology. I want to get at least 2 years out of the new smartphone. Also I've read there's some issues with GPS that are hard to solve. Added benefit of possibility of extended battery case.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 5 - nice and seems like a significant upgrade from Note 4 but no card slot, and expensive at 128G. Still only microUSB v2.0 even at the high price point.
- LG V10 and LG G4 - very interesting propositions, reportedly good cameras, very mediocre batteries (and not too good power management it seems) at 3000mAh but both could be extended with a bigger battery. Pretty sure I would be fine with a little bulkier phone with a case that accommodates a 4000-6000mAh battery, but I would still need to keep it as slim as possible, I don't mind if it's not the slimmest phone but I certainly don't want a thick and heavy brick in my pocket. I've also read reviews of some of the extended battery cases and it seems like the battery quality can be a real lottery. The batteries lose their capacity quickly, and I think none of them can be charged using the Quick Charge 2.0
- ZTE Avon 7 - veeery interesting proposition, not the biggest battery but almost everything else knocks me out of my socks. 6GB RAM possible, 128G storage that can be expanded by another 128G (!), capacitive buttons in the higher version, an added benefit of insane speakers. The camera is reportedly not too impressive though, although I'm pretty sure it's better than the one in Galaxy A9 Pro. The main concerns: it's a very fresh phone, the UI is reportedly not very optimized, I can imagine there will be plenty of issues that ZTE will need to fix through software before this phone runs as smoothly as the Galaxy A9 Pro or LG G4 would. And I hate waiting in hopes. Also, being in China, I think it's a bit tricky to purchase the phone in International/European version that has a broader range of bands and doesn't block Google services. I've read through the entire 35 page thread on XDA about this phone and yes, it seems like you can get the Google services to work without problems but who knows what the next ZTE updates will do to that. The way I generally see it is Chinese UI = potential problems.
For the Galaxy A9 Pro or LG G4 I would just go to Hong Kong to buy them and enjoy a phone that doesn't have the Google services blocked. I couldn't find the ZTE Avon 7 anywhere in HK on the internet.
All in all if I had to go to the store tomorrow I'd probably need to choose between a Galaxy A9 Pro, the well-proven LG G4 with a great camera (but a need to buy a good extended battery case and ultimately ending up with a rather bulky phone), the Galaxy Note 4, and the ZTE Avon 7.
Any suggestions, thoughts, recommendations?
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
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Click to collapse
I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
clsA said:
I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
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Click to collapse
I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
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Click to collapse
The Xperia X has the edge in performance over the H8 but it overheats when using the camera idk if sony fixed it or not.Axon 7 is pricey for me 600 dollars but its a great phone.The Xiaomi MI 5S is cheap and packs perfromance with the SD 821 but being a Xiaomi doesn't it have poor software ?
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
maxlnc said:
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
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Click to collapse
Im in the same state of endless comparisons and watching reviews for phones . From reviews and speed tests the Honor 8 seems like a great deal , in app opening comparsion it was leading 15 to 5 againts the Iphone 7 Plus if 100% true in normal use its a pretty fast phone and is concidered as one of the best 400 dollar phones . My concern is the UI and support i will slap google now launcher but for support updates and so on its a Huawei after all and i don't have experience with them . Most of my root and rom adventures were made with my Galaxy S3 Neo because it came with Android 4.4.2 and never got an update and with the help of roms it had 6.0.1 from the S6 with an overclocked Kernel and slow motion camera mod. All of the reviews for the X performance say that Sony are asking too much (700$) for the flaws it has . I put a thread on the Sony forum but no response yet . For me the price is lower 430$ for the Xperia but if the bugs are not fixed by Sony its dissapointing . I really like the Galaxy S6 but after all its a 2015 model . Xiaomi MI 5s supports my 4G network but being a Xiaomi software wise i think its badly optimized.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
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Click to collapse
I have the Honor 8 and have been using it for the last 3 months or so.
I'm not into all these tests but I know that the phone has stood up to everything that I have thrown at it and I use my phone allot.
If you want a good, solid phone that looks good and will be kept upto date for the next couple of years then get the Honor 8
My flat mate has got the pixel and after using it I really can't see how it's worth the extra couple of £100
John
In my mind, the only phones that are worth getting if you want to flash roms are OnePlus and Google, the rest are not worthwhile. These two phones are the only ones that will get great support on XDA. If this is your purpose then don't even bother considering any other brand, it's just a waste of your time. Even if it is available for other phones you run into hassle with losing warranty by unlocking bootloader and doing more steps than needed. It's better just to get a OnePlus where all the custom rom features are already built in.
If you can get the Honor 8 for $300 new or less and wants a good camera it's worth it. I'm very happy with the camera for still shots which is what I mainly bought the phone for. It's the best camera I've used outside of Samsung so far, I think the Huawei and Samsung are the tops right now for camera. It's better than the Nexus 6P in term of dynamic and colors. Also Huawei currently make the best fingerprint scanner, albeit on the back. The hardware is fast, but expect lots of thermal throttling while gaming.
You will have to deal with some goofy battery management which turns off notification and background running apps, although there is a way to fix this but you have to whitelist the apps in two different nearly hidden places in the settings, although the new Nougat updates is supposed to improve this.
In term of updates support, I think it's pretty poor, at least in term of speed. Many phones are already on Nougat before this one. I do like the fact they made the stock firmware publicly available. The main thing that hampers this phone is the software.
Hey there. I was in the dilemma you are right now two months ago when I bought the Honor 8. I'm not disappointed at all, in the past few years I've used almost every brand there is, HTC, Samsung s3, Lg G2, Sony z3 Compact, Moto G 1 and 2, Sony z3, z3+ and m5, and my last phone was the Huawei p9 lite, I was astonished as to how that "cheap phone" camera could beat my Sony z3+ that I loved so much. That's when I paid attention To Huawei, and man they're doing a great job. Yes maybe in development you won't be able to do much, if that's what you're looking for, maybe it's better to look elsewhere, but in terms of battery, daily use performance and heavy usage, camera, good looking phone, this is a great deal. I bought for 400 when it was released. A few weeks ago my brother got it at 330, which was like stealing haha. And I know this month it will get Nougat. Emui software will be better with the update, not saying it was bad but many disliked it, I'm fine with it to be honest. And Honor offers 2 years of support after the date of release. So you'll get Android updates until mid-2018.
Hope this helps.
I really don't recommend buying a phone at the moment, as u know it's a new year
New phones and chipsets are released and prices eventually will drop. I recommend waiting for couple of months if you can.
Regarding the Honor 8 itself, I know there's something about this phone makes you want it although u can just save a little and get axon 7 or 1+3 and it's not a perfect phone either it lacks some things like OIS for videos and 4K for video.
Other than that it offers a great camera you should check threads here for camera samples, it does take very great still images!
I saw lots of comparisons too between that phone and others. Well in everyday usage there's no difference between it and a snapdragon 820 powered phone regarding opening apps and so .. The kirin 950 is pretty strong scoring 90K+ in antutu benchmark which is okay.. You shouldn't be worried about a game that won't run smoothly on it at the moment! But it's not the best developer friendly unlike snapdragon chipsets!
Beside all that it's a pretty phone ( sexy design, great camera, decent battery & good performance ) it has USB C and fast charging and the chipset supports Vulkan API which makes somewhat it future proof. Also about the EMUI, it can grow on you over time it has neat features not laggy as people might suggest it has theme engine too plenty of customizability and gestures, I don't see it lacking other than the looks of the pure android but that can be fixed by using nova launcher.
Bottom line, if u don't mind the UI and the development area ( it exists but it may take a while ) definitely go for it .. Otherwise u may consider saving or buying One Plus 3 if you're a flashaholic there are plenty of ROMs for the one plus, And a strong development community!
I have the FRD-L14 (64 GB USA version) for $340 total from Amazon. It has replaced my Sony Z3 Compact that I had for two years bought for $500. Tell you what the Honor 8 is worth the money. Fast and responsive. The 4 GB of memory is awesome since apps stay in memory so multitasking is mostly instant. 64 GB memory + 64 GB microSD = awesome. Camera is fast enough with good quality. The screen is the only downside compared to flagship phones costing $600+ but I came from the Sony Z3 Compact display so it's not a problem for me. Maybe I am also lucky but I don't have a blue-ish tint on certain reviews.
The best thing about this is it has Band 12 LTE for TMOBILE. I now have 3 bars of signal sitting in my office instead of 1 or zero or searching all the time. The HD Voice call is also super clear. The speaker phone, though, could be better. The fingerprint scanner is just as good as the Samsung or Apple. Two THUMBS UP. I would upgrade to the Honor 9-10 down the road assuming they keep the price competitive.
Price of Honor 8
Tarbruh said:
I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
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Click to collapse
I just bought a Honor 8 from a dealer on ebay..paid $250....New but no box..
Exactly as the others say the Honor 8 is a great phone! It is fast, good looking and has a great camera! So in 2015 I was looking for a new phone to replace my old Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and this seller showed me the Honor 7 but it didn't really appeal to me that much (Mostly because of EMUI) and I decided to keep on using my S4 Mini.
But a few weeks ago I got the Honor 8 for 325€ (Discounted) even if I didn't really like EMUI that much I must say, it is better than I expected! Now there is a few things I still don't like in EMUI (Like the split Notifications and Shortcuts) but in the new EMUI 5 update that is currently being rolled out, it will just get a whole lot better and many of the things I find annoying is fixed
So would I recommend this phone? Yes I would definitivtly recommend this phone for someone who is looking for a great phone but still not to expensive, even though it doesn't have that many custom ROMS yet (Coming from someone who used Custom ROMS a lot previously) I think we will get more custom ROMS within a few months
Tarbruh said:
Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it
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Click to collapse
I've been using it since 1st December 2016 and I wouldn't recommend it, 'cause:
1. It has no system-level equalizer;
2. It has no system-level audio balance tweaker(?);
3. When using the app com.rubycell.pianisthd, the audio output is full of "clicks"; no longer with android 7
4. It's kirin-based, therefore "good luck" with custom roms.
edit:
I'm not gonna sell it any soon 'cause I can kinda live with it thanks to Poweramp, but come on, the audio subsystem of this phone is sh*t. You should only get it if you're deaf or for some reason you don't enjoy listening to music.
I apologize for being this rude.
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
PErsonally, I like it over the S7 Edge. Faster and smoother.
Handful of reasons the S7 Edge is the daily driver:
Larger screen
Better video and slightly better camera shots
Audio can be tweaked
Only major con is the ugly IOS skin on the Honor 8. Personally i like it a ton.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately the OP3 and OP3T have no microSD-cardslot.
You have to consider this.
the Honor 8 has the following advantages.
- fairly fast (Arm Cortex A72 CPU's) and due to a FHD-screen the gfx-perfomance is even slightly faster than e.g. the galaxy S5.
--> so many (older) high-end games run quite good.
- great screen (wide gamut LCD screen)
- IR-blaster
--> and reviewers don't mention this but the Honor's IR-blaster is both output AND input, which means it can "learn" codes from other remotes while the e.g. Samsung's can't.
--> works also good with other IR-blaster apps too.
- microSD-slot
- price compared to known-brand flagships and mid-range devices (bar the oneplus models)
--> the standard Honor 8 (32GB) has a great price/performance-ratio IMHO and there's usually some sale somewhere
--> got mine with a free 64GB card so it was even greater value for money
- camera is good for the price
--> great quick shortcut (with volume-keys or fingerscanner-button)
- EMUI has some nice tricks with the fingerprint-scanner
--> e.g. there's a "safe" to store private files which can be locked/unlocked with fingerprint
- bootloader CAN be unlocked and is fairly easy to root.
--> Huawei themselves supply the unlock codes which is great, isn't it?
- beautifull design. It looks great and the camera is completely flush
- mirrorcast (to non-Samsung TV's) works fine without rooting and tampering with the build.prop
disadvantages.
- it is VERY slippery
- not as fast as particularly Oneplus 3 (and 3T) which cost the same
--> Honor 8 premium cost the same as OnePlus 3/T and has the same internal storage capacity
- some people prefer QHD
--> this doesn't bother me personally but it might be a dealbreaker for some
- no EQ on the standard music app or anywhere else on the device
--> so you need another music-player if you really want this or other audio-enhancements.
- Samsung's still have better camera's for low-light photography especially the S6 (IMHO the S6 is even better than the S7 in this respect)
- no DLNA so you'll need an optional app for this. Though screencast works fine.
--> I tried the old Skifta-app myself from qualcomm and it works great. Unfortunately you have to look hard to find this though asit isn't on Play anymore.
IMHO the Honor 8 is a great little device. Sufficiently powerful and it has most of important points covered.
As for me, the SD-card slot, IR-blaster and the better deal (with a free 64GB card) were the main reasons to go for the Honor8 instead for the OP3T
There's probably a lot more that I haven't covered but I have my device just 4 days so I'm not a "pro" just yet
So I hope this is helpful.
LaserChicken said:
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
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Thanks for the long and explained point of view it seems that only on the honor 8 forum people comment on stuff like this because it made a thread on the x perfromance forum still 0 comments . The OP3T is a great phone and comes for about 470 dollars . Over the past few days i've got the conclusion that im not getting the honor 8 because its priced at 420 ish dollars and for and for the same price i can get the xperia which has the SD820 with a 1080p screen so it will perform 23 MP camera will fine compared to my current 12 or i can get for 460 the Zte Axon 7 also with SD820 2k display and amazing audio and if i go even higher i can get the S7 for 490 . But im thinking on not going too far for the S7 because the Xperia and Axon offer the same performance just losing on camera and ips sertification if i got with the axon but it has one of the best if not the best speakers and headphone output.
I just got a used one off of Amazon for $235. Honestly, I think it's worth that price, but I would recommend waiting for MWC at the very least. I only pulled the trigger on it right now because the only other phones in the price range I had (about $200 - $300), were the upcoming MOTO G5 series. I have been using a Moto E 2015, but I felt that since the Honor 8 had higher specs, a better design, a better camera, etc. that it was worth it.
Additionally, I think Huawei promised 2 years of support and the phone just came out, so we will definitely see Android O at the very least (which is pretty great).