Huawei Honor 7 16Gb reviews — 185 reviews from real owners about Huawei Honor 7 16Gb mobile phones

Camera

Honor 7 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 20 and 8 megapixels. The front camera is equipped with an 8-megapixel module with an f/2.4 aperture lens. You can take pictures with the front camera by touching your finger to the touch pad of the fingerprint scanner located on the back side.

When the screen is locked, quickly turning on the camera and then shooting can be initiated using the hardware volume down key. Smile tracking feature supported. Additional modes include “Perfect Selfie,” which allows you to apply additional facial embellishment effects to already taken photographs, as well as the ability to take panoramic shots with the front camera.

The front camera copes with its tasks adequately. The color rendition is natural, the pictures are bright and detailed. This quality is quite enough for selfies. With default settings, the front camera gives the shooter a couple of seconds to take the best position, while an audio countdown occurs.

It’s interesting that the front camera here is equipped with its own flash, but it’s not quite ordinary. A large round LED shines with a dim, soft yellowish light so as not to dazzle the eyes. There is even a virtual slider for smoothly changing the backlight intensity. Note that this is not the same diode that is responsible for the status indication and incoming messages — it is smaller and hidden under the sound grille of the speaker.

The 20-megapixel main camera is equipped with an f/2.0 aperture lens. It has fairly fast autofocus with support for PDAF technology, which, according to the developers, allows, in most cases, to reduce the focusing time to 0.1 second, and also has an object tracking function. There is no optical stabilization, but there is electronic stabilization for video shooting.

The settings menu here is exactly the same as that of the older Huawei flagship. In addition to the automatic mode, here you can also select panoramic, HDR, selective focus mode, night shooting, good photo and even more specific modes such as text recognition, watermark, etc. Unlike the Mate S, there is no separate manual control mode, called “Pro,” but manual adjustment of some parameters can be done directly from the main list of settings menu items.

A separate menu is responsible for entertainment modes for working with light at night: Huawei developers found this such an interesting innovation that they installed the “light painting” mode in all their new smartphones. But here they went even further and added food photography to quick access as one of the main modes.

The Honor 7 video camera can shoot only up to Full HD resolution; Huawei is in no hurry to add the ability to shoot in 4K or record at 60 frames per second. There is a Slo-mo mode, which shoots at 720p resolution and 120 fps for later playback in slow motion in the video player of the smartphone itself.

Test video shooting showed that the camera copes with it quite modestly: the image often comes out overexposed, loose, and not always sharp, although there are no complaints about the smoothness of the picture. The sound, despite the built-in noise reduction system, is also not very clear and pleasant to the ear, this is especially noticeable on a noisy street. The noise reduction system also does not always cope adequately with the noise of strong winds.

Below are examples of photographs with our comments on quality. Our specialist Anton Solovyov commented on the camera’s performance.

	There is practically no sharpening on the wires.
	The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable, although it can be better, and at a lower resolution.
	In the shadows, sometimes the camera captures details better than in the light. Often, blurred areas appear in the most unexpected places.
	The colors of the sky and walls are quite even.
	Despite the high resolution, the foliage in the background blends together.
	The camera works well with shadows. The number plate of the nearest car is visible.
	The foliage is done well, but there is a large area of ​​blur on the left side of the frame.
	The camera also copes well in HDR mode.
	The camera handles macro photography well.
	The text is worked out perfectly, the software processing is almost invisible.

We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.

	Lighting ≈3200 lux.
	Lighting ≈1400 lux.
	Lighting ≈130 lux.
	Lighting ≈130 lux, flash.
	Lighting <1 lux, flash.

Still, an irresponsible increase in the number of megapixels has never done anyone any good. All these points do not coexist very well in such an area, and therefore, in order for them to give a good result, you need to either be cunning, like Sony and Nokia, or work hard on the software, which Chinese manufacturers for the most part do not like.

However, in this case, they can still be praised for their work, since bringing a 20-megapixel sensor to this level is also not an easy task. But the optics here are clearly rather weak and, coupled with noise reduction, lose detail. Perhaps the manufacturer should have cheated and reduced the output resolution by at least half.

This way we would get a smaller size and better clarity, and with proper processing, also less noise. And 20 megapixels is a lot even for an expensive soap dish, let alone for a smartphone. In addition, this camera is not without such drawbacks as soapiness and the periodic appearance of out-of-focus zones, especially at the edges of the frame.

Telephone part and communications

In terms of communications, there are no differences from the flagship Mate S model. The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for fourth-generation networks LTE Cat.6 with a maximum possible speed of up to 300 Mbit/s for reception, frequency aggregation is supported if there is appropriate support from the operator’s network.

It is also reported that the smartphone uses a dual antenna: “Two antennas are located in the upper and lower parts of the body and solve the problem of blocking the signal with your hand. If the signal deteriorates, the smartphone switches to an antenna that provides better reception. At the same time, no additional energy is wasted on signal amplification.”

Six FDD LTE bands are supported, while the hero of the review will function in the three most common bands among domestic operators (B3, B7 and B20). In practice, with SIM cards from Beeline and MTS operators in the Moscow region, the smartphone was confidently registered and worked in 4G networks. The quality of signal reception is not satisfactory; the device confidently maintains communication indoors and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception.

There is support for Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Wi-Fi Direct is supported, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. Smart Wi-Fi allows you to automatically switch between a Wi-Fi network and a mobile data network. The Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

The navigation module works with all three world systems: GPS (A-GPS), Glonass and Beidou (BDS). There are no complaints about the operating speed of the navigation module; the first satellites are detected during a cold start within the first tens of seconds. The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the compass of navigation programs operates.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. It is possible to reduce the size of not only the virtual keyboard, but also the entire working area of ​​the screen for ease of operation with one hand (in order to reduce the working area of ​​the screen, you need to slide your finger across the panel with virtual control buttons at the bottom of the screen). The method of continuous input using a stroke from letter to letter (Swype) is supported.

The smartphone supports dual SIM cards. All work with them in the menu is conveniently organized on one page, the settings are conveniently combined into groups, you just need to check a couple of boxes — and the choice is made. Everything is clear and intuitive. Perhaps this menu for managing work with two SIM cards is the most convenient of all possible options.

Any of the SIM cards can be designated as the main one for organizing voice calls, transferring data and sending SMS messages; When dialing a number, you can also select the desired card using the corresponding buttons. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G/4G networks, but only one of them can function in this mode at a time.

To change the assignment of slots, cards do not need to be swapped — this can be done directly from the phone menu. Work with two SIM cards is organized according to the Dual SIM Dual Active standard, when both cards can work in parallel and at the same time, that is, the smartphone uses two separate radio modules — this is a very rare and, of course, very user-friendly option.

Screen

The Honor 7 smartphone is equipped with an IPS touch screen combined with Gorilla Glass protection. The physical dimensions of the display are 65×116 mm, diagonal — 5.2 inches. The screen resolution is 1920×1080, the pixel density is 424 ppi. The frame around the screen is quite narrow, only about 3 mm on the sides, 13 mm on the top, 15 mm on the bottom.

The display brightness is automatically adjusted based on the light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. Supports working with the screen while wearing gloves.

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 no worse 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 when the screens are turned off (on the left — Nexus 7, on the right — Huawei Honor 7, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of Huawei Honor 7 is even a little darker (brightness according to photographs is 107 versus 114 for Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Huawei Honor 7 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 strong 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 (better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 460 cd/m², the minimum was 10 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 camera eye). 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.

If it is at 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 125 cd/m² (too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 325 cd/m² (it could have been lower) , in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight — 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness increases to 460 cd/m² (to the maximum — this is how it should be); if the adjustment is approximately 50%, then the values ​​are as follows:

11, 130 and 460 cd/m² (ideal combination), 0% regulator — 10, 34 and 240 cd/m² (the last two values ​​are slightly too low, which is logical). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately and 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 identical images are displayed on the screens of Huawei Honor 7 and Nexus 7, 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. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

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

The colors on the Huawei Honor 7 screen are oversaturated (note the 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 the Huawei Honor 7 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 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the Huawei Honor 7 screen is still brighter (brightness according to photographs is 237 versus 234 for the 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 not ideal, since closer to the edge the black is lightened in places:

And with a different arrangement of on-screen buttons:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high — about 1400:1. Black-white-black response time is 23ms (12ms on, 11ms off). The transition between 25% and 75% gray halftones (by color value) and back takes a total of 34ms. 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.

In this device, apparently, there is no dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the output image, which is very good.

Color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let’s look at the spectra:

They are atypical, but we have already seen them in the case of, for example, the Sony Xperia Z2. 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.

Most likely, this statement is also true in the case of Huawei Honor 7. 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 — are oriented towards the sRGB space (and these are the vast majority) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

The grayscale balance is good, as the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered acceptable 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 tint warmer or cooler.

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 moving the correction slider to the “warm” side all the way. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value, but ΔE, unfortunately, increased noticeably, although it still remained below the critical value of 10 units.

To summarize: the screen has a fairly high maximum brightness and has good 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, as well as a color balance close to standard. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane and an excessively wide color gamut.

Huawei Honor 7 16gb reviews — 185 reviews from real owners about Huawei Honor 7 16gb mobile phones