HONOR 8X smartphone review — The Best of the Best | Smartphones | Reviews | DNS Club

Productivity

The Honor 8 hardware platform is based on the 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 SoC. The SoC includes four powerful 64-bit ARM Cortex-A72 cores with a frequency of up to 2.3 GHz, which are complemented by four simpler 64-bit cores Cortex-A53 with a frequency of up to 1.8 GHz. The quad-core Mali-T880 MP4 video accelerator is responsible for graphics processing.

The smartphone’s RAM capacity is 4 GB, the built-in flash memory is 32 or 64 GB (the user has no more than 23 GB of free space out of 32 GB). This volume can be increased using microSD cards, but then you will have to remove one of the SIM cards. It is also possible to connect external flash drives to the USB port in OTG mode.

Kirin 950 is a top-level platform, it’s practically the same flagship Kirin 955, only here the maximum operating frequency of the older Cortex-A72 cores is reduced from 2.5 to 2.3 GHz. Everything else is the same, including the Mali-T880 video core and the i5 coprocessor, responsible for the operation of the Honor 8 sensors. The platform is much more powerful than the Kirin 650, which was installed in the Huawei P9 Lite, a very large gap is visible in all tests without exception.

In comprehensive tests, the Kirin 950 SoC shows good results, although they are not maximum. The flagships of the mobile platform market remain the top SoCs from Qualcomm and Samsung; their superiority over the Kirin 950/955 is especially evident in graphics tests. However, the performance of the review hero should be enough to complete any task, including fairly demanding games.

Testing in the latest versions of complex tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have summarized all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures).

Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark game tests:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Браузерные кросс-платформенные тесты:

Что касается бенчмарков для оценки скорости движка javascript, то стоит всегда делать скидку на то, что в них результаты существенно зависят от браузера, в котором запускаются, так что сравнение может быть истинно корректным только на одинаковых ОС и браузерах, а такая возможность имеется при тестировании не всегда. В случае с ОС Android мы всегда стараемся использовать Google Chrome.

Результаты теста AndroBench на скорость работы с памятью:

Экран

Смартфон оснащен сенсорным экраном IPS и защищен стеклом с покатыми краями (2,5D) Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Физические размеры дисплея составляют 64×114 мм, диагональ — 5,2 дюйма. Разрешение экрана составляет 1920×1080, плотность точек равняется 423 ppi. Рамка вокруг экрана стандартная: примерно по 3 мм по бокам и по 15 мм сверху и снизу.

Яркость дисплея имеет автоматическую регулировку на основе датчика освещения. Есть и датчик приближения, который блокирует экран при поднесении смартфона к уху. Технология мультитач позволяет обрабатывать 10 одновременных прикосновений. Активировать экран с помощью двойного постукивания по стеклу нельзя, но экран активируется нажатием на заднюю площадку сканера отпечатков пальцев. Поддерживается управление в перчатках.

Подробную экспертизу с использованием измерительных приборов провел редактор разделов «Мониторы» и «Проекторы и ТВ» Алексей Кудрявцев. Приводим его экспертное мнение об экране исследуемого образца.

Лицевая поверхность экрана выполнена в виде стеклянной пластины с зеркально-гладкой поверхностью, устойчивой к появлению царапин. Судя по отражению объектов антибликовые свойства экрана лучше, чем у экрана Google Nexus 7 (2020) (далее просто Nexus 7). Для наглядности приведем фотографию, на которой в выключенных экранах отражается белая поверхность (слева — Nexus 7, справа — Honor 8, далее их можно различать по размеру):

Экран у Honor 8 темнее (яркость по фотографиям 102 против 114 у Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Honor 8 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS — One Glass Solution type screen).

Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (even better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 460 cd/m², the minimum was 4.4 cd/m². The maximum brightness is high, which means, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level.

In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases.

The operation of this function depends on the brightness adjustment position, with it the user can try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If in an office environment the brightness slider is set to maximum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 4.4 cd/m² (dark), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 450 cd/m² (excessively bright) , in a very bright environment (corresponding to the lighting of a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight — 20,000 lux or a little more)

increases to 460 cd/m² (to the maximum, which is what you need). If everything is also in the office environment, the brightness slider is at half scale, then the screen brightness for the three conditions indicated above is as follows: 4.4, 140 and 460 cd/m² (the first value is a bit low). If the brightness control is set to minimum — 4.4, 4.4, 460 cd/m² (now the first two values ​​are too low).

We were not satisfied with the result, so we moved the slider a little to the right in complete darkness. We got 11, 150-160, 460 cd/m² (ideal combination). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

This smartphone uses an IPS type matrix. Microphotographs show typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even when viewing large deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Honor 8 and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² over a white field on the entire screen, and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K. Perpendicular to screens white field:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And test picture:

The colors on the Honor 8 screen are oversaturated (noticeably, for example, on tomatoes) and the color balance is slightly different. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on Honor 8 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong highlighting of blacks. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased (at least 4 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but Honor 8’s screen is still brighter (brightness according to photographs is 236 versus 222 for Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good, although at the edges of the screen the backlight shines through the white body, which slightly worsens the overall impression:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high — about 1200:1. Black-white-black response time is 33ms (19ms on, 14ms off). The transition between 25% and 75% gray halftones (based on the numerical value of the color) and back again takes a total of 50 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows.

This device has some kind of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) may not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

For this reason, we carried out a number of tests — determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles — (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. It should be noted that in this case, the brightness correction is weakly expressed and has a not entirely obvious dependence on the image, but it would be better not to have it at all.

Color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

We look at the spectra:

They are atypical, but we have already seen them in the case, for example, of the Sony Xperia Z2 and other mobile devices. Sony indicates that these screens use LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows for a wide color gamut.

Yes, and red phosphor apparently uses so-called quantum dots. For a consumer device, a wide color gamut is not an advantage, but a significant disadvantage, since as a result, the colors of images — drawings, photographs and films — oriented to the sRGB space (and the vast majority of them) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is average, since the color temperature is significantly higher than the standard 6500 K, the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is formally below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. However, in this case, the color temperature and ΔE in the not yet very dark area vary greatly from hue to hue — this negatively affects the visual assessment of color balance.

In general, jumps in values ​​in the two graphs above indirectly indicate that some kind of digital correction is being performed, and it is being done poorly. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue on the color wheel.

In the graphs above, the curves are Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr. — data obtained after shifting the point to the position indicated in the image above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value and ΔE remained small.

However, it doesn’t make much sense to perform the correction. Note that this function is implemented more for show, since there is no numerical reflection of the correction, there is no field for measuring color balance and the adjustment range is insufficient, since even at the edge of the circle you have to find a compromise between a color temperature close to 6500 K and the minimum ΔE value .

To summarize: the screen has a high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately.

Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, high contrast, good uniformity of the black field. The disadvantages are low black stability to deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, an excessively wide color gamut and average color balance.

Huawei honor 8c review: purchase, conclusions

Along with a fresh, energy-efficient processor, one of the “chips” of the Honor 8C was a high-capacity battery (4,000 mAh), which they managed to fit into a relatively thin case. Among other features of this smartphone, it is worth noting a “tall” screen with thin frames and “notch”, a separate slot for a microSD memory card, as well as face unlock with a backlit screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC17OKplieY

Significant shortcomings include slow charging of a capacious battery, unclear shooting in low light, and, in addition, the lack of an NFC interface and a 5-GHz Wi-Fi band.

At the time of testing, Honor 8C was valued at 12,990 rubles, and in the official online store it came with several more gifts, including external batteries, headphones and a monopod. For the same money in large retail chains you could buy, for example, a representative Nokia 3.

1 (our review here), included in the Android One program. This 5.2-inch smartphone, along with a separate place for a microSD memory card, boasts a 5-GHz Wi-Fi band and an NFC interface, as well as prompt software updates. True, the processor of the Nokia 3.1 is rather weak (MediaTek MT6750), the battery capacity is one and a half times lower (2990 mAh), there is no fingerprint scanner, and it does not have a camera duo.

But Oppo A3s, for which they also asked for 12,990 rubles, received a more impressive battery (4230 mAh), a similar-sized 6.2-inch screen with the same resolution (1520×720 pixels) and “bangs” . But the trouble is, the processor of this “long-liver” is also not so hot (Snapdragon 450), the RAM is only 2 GB, in addition, it was also deprived of an NFC interface and a fingerprint scanner.

Huawei Honor 8C review summary

Pros:

• Fresh processor
• “High” screen with hidden “bangs”
• Face unlock with backlit screen
• Separate slot for microSD memory card
• High Capacity Battery
• Attractive price

Cons:

• No NFC interface and 5 GHz Wi-Fi band
• Slow charging
• Unclear shooting in low light

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