Huawei Honor 8 review – New flagship killer smartphone

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Screen

Honor 8X is equipped with an IPS display covered with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The physical dimensions of the screen are 69×150 mm, diagonal – 6.5 inches, resolution – 2340×1080 (with an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9), dot density – 397 ppi. The frame around the screen has a width of 3.5 mm on the sides, 6 mm on the bottom, and 4 mm on the top (excluding the cutout).

Marketers claim that “Honor 8X also received a second-generation vision protection mode certified by independent audit company TüV Rheinland. This feature reduces the amount of blue light in the backlight spectrum, significantly reducing eye fatigue.” This issue is traditionally discussed below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGBx2zY5D8M

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2020) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left – Nexus 7, on the right – Honor 8X, then they can be distinguished by size):

Huawei Honor 8 review – New flagship killer smartphone

The screen of the Honor 8X is noticeably darker (brightness according to photographs is 102 versus 114 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Honor 8X 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. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating, which is better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7, so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 475 cd/m², the minimum was 1.8 cd/m². The maximum brightness is high, so, given the excellent anti-glare properties, screen readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at an acceptable 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 grille). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases.

The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider: with it the user can try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If you do not interfere, leaving everything at default, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 5 cd/m² (very dark), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 170 cd/m² (normal), in very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight – 20,000 lux or slightly more)

increases to 475 cd/m² (to the maximum, as needed). The backlight brightness level depends on the position of the slider in dark and average conditions, and in very bright environments it is always set to maximum. We weren’t happy with the default result, so we moved the slider a little to the right in complete darkness and for the three conditions above, we got 20, 180 and 475 cd/m² (the perfect combination).

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 Honor 8X and Nexus 7 screens, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K.

White field perpendicular to the screens:

Toward the bottom edge of the screen (on the right in the photo), the brightness decreases slightly and the color tone changes.

And test picture:

The colors on the Honor 8X screen are clearly oversaturated, and the color balance varies between screens.

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 the Honor 8X the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the greater brightening of blacks.

And white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the Honor 8X’s screen is still a little darker. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish tint or remains conditionally neutral-sulfur. 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 excellent:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high – about 1000:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 20 ms (10 ms on, 10 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 21 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 a dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness with an unobvious dependence on time and on 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. In general, such non-disabled brightness correction does nothing but harm, since constantly changing the screen brightness can at least cause some discomfort.

Color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let’s look at the spectra:

The spectra of the components are quite well separated, which determines the wide color gamut. 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 photographs above.

However, not everything is so bad: when you select the Normal profile, the coverage is compressed to the sRGB boundaries.

Colors in images become less saturated (and color balance changes slightly):

The balance of shades on the scale is a compromise, since the color temperature is significantly higher than the standard 6500 K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue – this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance.

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 (Vivid profile), and the curves Corr. — data obtained after selecting the Normal profile and shifting the point on the circle 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 has approached the standard value, and ΔE has decreased, at least on the white field.

There is a fashionable setting that allows you to reduce the intensity of the blue component.

Marketers tried to intimidate the user in order to show the level of care of the manufacturer. Of course, there is no harmful UV radiation (see spectrum above), and there is no eye fatigue caused specifically by blue light. In principle, bright light can lead to disruption of the circadian rhythm (see the article about the iPad Pro with a 9.7-inch display), but everything can be solved by adjusting the brightness to a comfortable level, and there is absolutely no way to distort the color balance, reducing the contribution of blue sense.

To summarize: the screen has a high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. 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 an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of air gaps in the layers of the screen and flickering, high contrast, excellent uniformity of the black field, sRGB color gamut (when choosing the right profile) and good (after a small correction ) color balance. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane. Taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Conclusion

The vibration signal of Honor 8 Pro is powerful, you can feel it in the pocket of a spring jacket. The quality of signal reception did not raise any questions, there are also no complaints about Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – everything is excellent.

I thought that I would write “many letters” in conclusion, but decided that I would limit myself to a short sentence: one of the few smartphones in recent times that I was 99% satisfied with. Nothing is perfect.

I repeat once again that Honor 8 Pro costs 35,000 rubles. I tried to find fault, but I couldn’t find any cons. However, about the wish: I would like two stereo speakers, a dedicated audio chip.

Pros