Tag Archives: Huawei Kirin 970

The HUAWEI nova 4 Price, Features + Pre-Order Details!

HUAWEI first revealed the nova 4 in December 2018, but now it’s finally coming for real. Here is everything you need to know about the HUAWEI nova 4 with the world’s first Punch FullView Display!

Updated @ 2019-02-03 : Added the pre-order links, and additional details.

Originally posted @ 2019-01-17

 

HUAWEI nova 4

The HUAWEI nova 4 boasts the world’s first Punch FullView Display. It is also their first mid-range nova smartphone to feature triple cameras in the back.

The nova 4 is powered by the Hisilicon Kirin 970 flagship mobile SoC, and runs on EMUI 9.0. It comes with 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal flash storage, and a 3,750 mAh battery.

Punch FullView Display

The HUAWEI nova 4 sports a 6.4-inch Punch FullView display. It takes bezel-less displays to new heights with a minimalist blind hole opening for the 25 MP front camera.

This design allows HUAWEI to eliminate the notch and achieve a screen-to-TP ratio of 91.8%.

The 25 MP front camera under the Punch FullView display is the industry’s smallest camera, measuring at only 3.05 mm – 20 percent smaller than the current industry standard.

The opening on the display is a blind hole, meaning the screen is not completely punched through. From assembly (sub-0.1mm margin of error) to adhesive application, the precise manufacturing processes minimise the light leakage from the edges of the blind hole.

Additionally, HUAWEI optimised the light transmittance performance of the blind hole so it is on par to a through hole.

Triple AI Cameras

In the rear, the HUAWEI nova 4 boasts Triple AI Cameras – a high-resolution 20 MP primary camera, a 16 MP ultra wide-angle camera and a 2 MP depth sensor, which HUAWEI calls a “bokeh lens”.

The main camera has a 20 MP sensor with 1.0 µm pixels, and is able to apply software bokeh effects to the background of its pictures with help from the 2 MP depth sensor.

The other camera pairs a 16 MP sensor with a 117-degree field of view. After adjusting for distortion, its performance is equivalent to a 103-degree 17 mm wide angle lens, capturing 2.4 times more information compared to 78-degree wide angle lens.

 

HUAWEI nova 4 Price + Availability

The HUAWEI nova 4 will be available for purchase from 14 February 2019 onwards, with two colour options – Black and Crush Blue. It has a launch price of RM 1,899 / ~US$ 462 / ~£360.

Here are some pre-order / purchase links for your convenience :

 

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Learn How HUAWEI nova 3 Lets You Game Like A Pro!

Mobile gaming is all the rage with Generation Z, and the HUAWEI nova 3 is designed specifically to deliver the best possible mobile gaming experience. Let’s find out exactly how the HUAWEI nova 3 achieves that!

How HUAWEI nova 3 Lets You Game Like A Pro!

Large 6.3-inch FullView Display

The HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) smartphone has a large 6.3-inch FullView display with a Full HD+ resolution and an ultra-wide 19.5:9 aspect ratio.

The larger and wider FullView display lets you see more, giving you a distinct advantage over your opponents with smaller displays. You will also have a more immersive and enjoyable mobile gaming experience!

Flagship-Class Gaming Performance!

The HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) is powered by the really, REALLY fast Kirin 970 – a top-of-the-line mobile platform designed for flagship smartphones. Its 8-core processor and a 12-core GPU easily handle even the most graphics-intensive games, but that’s not all.

The flagship-class Kirin 970 is coupled with an astounding 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, that can be further expanded with a 256 GB microSD card!

Dedicated AI NPU!

The HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) also comes with a dedicated AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that further boosts its performance, while conserving power for longer gaming sessions.

Its AI algorithms automatically determine when to boost performance, and when to conserve power. What this means is you get better performance AND battery life!

Go Further With GPU Turbo!

Did you know that the HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) is one of the few smartphones to feature GPU Turbo? It is a proprietary hardware and software combination that delivers 60% better GPU performance efficiency, with 30% lower power consumption!

With GPU Turbo, you will be able to enjoy better gaming performance, and game far longer than your opponents!

Long-Lasting Battery

The HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) has a large 3,750 mAh battery that delivers hours of mobile gaming, and goes even further with GPU Turbo and AI resource allocation! And it supports 18 watt fast charging so you can catch a quick recharge during your coffee break, and get right back to your game!

Surround Yourself With Histen 5.0!

The display and gaming performance are only two of the gaming experience triumvirate. Real gamers know just how important audio is to their performance and enjoyment. To address this, HUAWEI nova 3 (MY | US | UK) introduces Histen 5.0!

Designed to be used with headphones or earphones, Histen 5.0 is 7.1-channel 3D audio system that analyses the audio content and automatically adjusts the equaliser settings to deliver the best possible soundscape. Its integrated AI algorithms also creates directional audio cues to give you a distinct advantage over your competitors.

 

HUAWEI nova 3 Price + Availability

The HUAWEI nova 3 comes in four vibrant colours that will appeal to mobile gamers – Red, Black, Iris Purple and Primrose Gold. It’s also available at a very attractive price of RM 1,699!

Here are some direct purchase links for your convenience :

 

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Disclosure

This article was sponsored by HUAWEI Malaysia.

 

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The Official HUAWEI Kirin 980 Tech Briefing + Demos!

We were recently invited to an exclusive HUAWEI Kirin 980 tech briefing session.

Here is everything you need to know about the HUAWEI Kirin 980, with videos of the demos and its development board.

Now you can pretty much guess how the upcoming HUAWEI Mate 20 will perform before its official launch on 16 October 2018!

 

The HUAWEI Kirin 980

Although Apple was the first to launch smartphones with a 7nm mobile SoC, the HUAWEI Kirin 980 is technically the first 7nm mobile SoC in the world.

Take a look at the development board, and how small the Kirin 980 really is.

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 is also the first to feature the ARM Cortex-A76 processor core, and Mali-G76 GPU, as well as the first to come with two NPUs, a Cat.21 modem and support for faster LPDDR4X-2133 memory.

It took HUAWEI and TSMC 36 months of joint research and co-engineering to develop this mobile SoC.

The process, which started in 2015, involved over 1000 semiconductor design and process experts.

Thanks to their efforts, the 7 nm process technology delivered a 20% speed improvement, with a 40% boost in power efficiency, and a 60% greater transistor density. This allowed HUAWEI to cram 6.9 billion transistors into the Kirin 980.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what’s new in the HUAWEI Kirin 980!

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The Kirin 980 CPU Architecture

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 pairs four new ARM Cortex-A76 high-performance cores, with four ARM Cortex-A55 cores.

However, instead of the traditional big.LITTLE 4+4 clusters, HUAWEI uses a 2+2+4 cluster architecture.

The four ARM Cortex-A55 cores, running at 1.8 GHz, are used for low loads and background tasks, while two ARM Cortex-A76 cores, running at 1.92 GHz, will be used for most loads, together with some of the A55 cores.

But when you really need a big boost in performance, the last two Cortex-A76 cores kick in.

With a higher clock speed of 2.6 GHz, they offer a big boost in performance. But to conserve battery life, they are meant to be used in short bursts.

Here is a table that illustrates the kinds of loads that will trigger each cluster :

 

New Mali-G76 GPU

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 is the world’s first mobile SoC to deploy the ARM Mali-G76 GPU.

HUAWEI did not reveal how many cores it has, but they say that it offers 46% better performance than the Mali-G72 GPU used in the Kirin 970, with 178% better power efficiency.

Go Back To > Dual NPUs + ISPs, Faster Connectivity, Dual Frequency GPS

 

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Kirin 980 Has Dual NPUs

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 retains the same NPU that was first introduced in the Kirin 970.

However, HUAWEI double its AI performance by using two of them, instead of just one.

The boost in AI performance allows HUAWEI to introduce new AI-related technologies like :

  • the HUAWEI AI Loading Prediction technology, and
  • the Real-Time Multi-Person Gesture Recognition technology.

We will take a closer look at these two technologies below.

 

HUAWEI AI Loading Prediction Technology

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 manages its CPU and GPU performance using an AI Loading Prediction Technology.

It basically predicts when a game will require more power, or less; and pre-emptively boosts or reduces the CPU and GPU clock speeds accordingly. It also determines when the CPU’s turbo cluster (of two Cortex-A76 cores running at 2.6 GHz) should be activated for a boost in performance.

The combination of much faster CPU and GPU cores, with AI Loading Prediction Technology, allows the Kirin 980 to hit and sustain 60 fps even with strenuous games.

Note that while it can go beyond 60 fps in this demo of NBA 2K18, the AI Loading Prediction Technology caps its frame rate to reduce power consumption and extend battery life.

 

Real-Time Multi-Person Gesture Recognition

Thanks to its greater AI processing capabilities, the HUAWEI Kirin 980 can perform real-time multi-person gesture recognition.

It can also determine their distance using a single camera, allowing it to know when someone has gone in front of, or behind, someone else.

Most impressively, it accomplished this using a single camera. Imagine how much more accurate it can be using two cameras which would offer much better depth perception.

 

Kirin 980 Has Dual ISPs

It has two image signal processors which offer a 46% boost in performance, a 33% reduction in recording latency, and 23% better power efficiency.

The boost in performance greatly expands its ability to “massage” the raw images to produce better photos.

Although HUAWEI did not detail how they did it, their sample photos above appear to be using HDR to bring out details in the shadows while correcting for overblown highlights.

For sharp images, it will needs to be paired with a fast image sensor that can take multiple photos with different exposures in quick succession.

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Kirin 980 Has Faster LTE + WiFi Speeds

The HUAWEI Kirin 980 boasts a new LTE Cat.21 modem, which allows it to deliver download speeds of up to 1.4 Gbps! Upload speed remains at 200 Mbps.

When paired with the HUAWEI Hi1103 chip, it can offer WiFi transfer rates of up to 1.7 Gbps.

 

Kirin 980 Introduces Dual-Frequency GPS

This is arguably its most underrated feature – support for dual-frequency GPS.

By using both L1 and L5 frequencies, it can deliver 10X better positioning accuracy. You won’t ever have to worry taking the wrong turn!

Go Back To > HUAWEI Kirin 980 Performance Comparisons + Summaries

 

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How Fast Is The HUAWEI Kirin 980?

These HUAWEI performance comparisons show the performance differences between the Kirin 980 and its predecessor, the Kirin 970 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.

CPU : 75% Better Performance, 58% Better Power Efficiency Than Kirin 970

CPU : 37% Better Performance, 32% Better Power Efficiency Than Snapdragon 845

Memory : 20% More Bandwidth, 22% Lower Latency Than Snapdragon 845

GPU : 46% Better Performance, 178% Better Power Efficiency Than Kirin 970

Image Recognition : 89% Faster Than Snapdragon 845, 3X Faster Than Apple A11

App Launch Time : 6% to 23% Faster Than Snapdragon 845

Game Performance : 22% Better Performance, 32% Lower Power Consumption Than Snapdragon 845

AI Performance : 2X Better Performance, 87% Better Power Efficiency Than Snapdragon 845

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Kirin 980 vs Kirin 970 Summarised

Here is a HUAWEI comparison of the Kirin 980 against the Kirin 970.

 

Kirin 980 vs Snapdragon 845 Summarised

And this is a HUAWEI table summarising the differences between the Kirin 980 and the Snapdragon 845.

Go Back To > HUAWEI Kirin 980 Keynote Slides, Recommended Reading

 

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The Complete HUAWEI Kirin 980 Keynote Slides

Here is the complete set of the official HUAWEI keynote slides for your perusal :

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HUAWEI P20 Pro Pearl White Edition Hands-On Preview!

Of all of the colours the HUAWEI P20 Pro launched in, the Twilight Edition was our firm favourite. But at IFA 2018, HUAWEI announced a new P20 Pro Pearl White Edition, and today, we had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with the new HUAWEI P20 Pro Pearl Edition. Check it out!

 

The Huawei P20 Pro Pearl White Edition

The HUAWEI P20 Pro Pearl White Edition has a 6.1″ OLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2240 pixels. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core SoC, with 6 GB of LPDDR4 memory128 GB of internal storage, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

The front camera has a 24 MP sensor, with f/2.0 lens. The “killer feature” is its Leica-branded triple lens camera, which is made up of a high-resolution dual-lens camera, and a separate telephoto camera.

The high-resolution dual-lens camera pairs a 40 MP RGB camera with f/1.8 lens, with a 20 MP monochrome camera with f/1.6 lens. The separate 8 MP RGB camera with f/2.4 telephotos lens is capable of 3X optical zoom, and 5X hybrid zoom.

 

HUAWEI P20 Pro Specification Comparison

SpecificationsHuawei P20 ProHuawei P20Huawei P20 Lite
Display6.1" Full HD+ OLED display
- 1080 x 2240 pixels (408 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels (428 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
System PlatformHiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 659
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.7 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-T830 (900 MHz)
Memory6 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR3
Storage128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
64 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraTriple-lens Leica 40 MP camera system
- 40 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- 8 MP RGB sensor with f/2.4 telephoto lens
- 3x lossless zoom + 5X hybrid zoom
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens Leica camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASS
NFCYesYesYes
Battery4,000 mAh lithium-ion battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion battery3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Colour OptionsCeramic Black / TwilightCeramic Black / TwilightMidnight Black / Klein Blue / Sakura Pink
Fingerprint SensorYes, Front MountedYes, Front MountedYes, Rear Mounted

 

HUAWEI P20 Pro Pearl White Price + Availability

The new HUAWEI P20 Pro Pearl White Edition is available for purchase at RM 2,949 / ~US$ 1,075 beginning 14 September 2018.

This is a limited edition colour with only 500 units available in Malaysia. Check for availability in the official Huawei store – Web | Mobile App.

 

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Why PUBG Mobile Is Best Played On The Honor Play!

PUBG Mobile is the hottest mobile games of 2018, and the Honor Play smartphone is specifically designed to bring out the best in PUBG Mobile. Find out why PUBG Mobile is best played on the Honor Play!

 

Why PUBG Mobile Is Best Played On The Honor Play

Large 6.3-inch FullView Display

The Honor Play (Price Check) smartphone has a large 6.3-inch FullView display with a Full HD+ resolution with an ultra-wide 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It also boasts very thin bezels, with an incredible 89% screen-to-body ratio.

The larger and wider FullView display is designed to give you a more immersive and enjoyable mobile gaming experience. Pity those who still have to struggle with tiny displays!

CRAZY FAST Kirin 970 With AI NPU

The Honor Play is CRAZY FAST. It is powered by the Kirin 970, which is a top-of-the-line processor used in flagship smartphones. It easily handles even the most graphics-intensive games, but that’s not all.

It comes with a dedicated AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that further boosts its performance, while conserving power for longer gaming sessions. This is why the Honor Play is perfect for playing PUBG Mobile!

Better Gaming On PUBG Mobile With GPU Turbo

One major reason why the Honor Play is such a great gaming smartphone is GPU Turbo. It is a proprietary hardware and software combination that delivers 60% better GPU performance efficiency, with 30% lower power consumption!

Working together with Tencent Games, Honor made sure that GPU Turbo would work perfectly with PUBG Mobile right out of the box! If you love playing PUBG Mobile, the Honor Play is perfect because it guarantees the ultimate gaming experience with longer play times on PUBG Mobile!

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4D AI Gaming Experience

For an even more immersive mobile gaming experience, Honor Play (Price Check) delivers a 4D AI Gaming Experience with Smart Shock and Histen 3D Gaming Audio

Smart Shock is an exclusive Honor Play feature. The Kirin 970‘s AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU) automatically recognises images and sounds of your game in real-time, and vibrates the Honor Play to give you directional cues and a more realistic gaming experience.

It is so advanced, it recognises 30 different scenarios, and 10 different weapons. Now, you get to feel the kickback of your gun, and get alerted to gunfire and approaching enemies. Boost your situational awareness with Smart Shock!

Histen 3D Gaming Audio, on the other hand, envelopes you in an ultra-wide 3D sound space, with three modes – near, front and wide. – to deliver a more cinematic and immersive gaming experience.

Supporting both wired and wireless earphones, Histen 3D Gaming Audio also helps you accurately determine the azimuth of everything you hear – footsteps, shots, explosions. Now you will have an edge over your PUBG Mobile opponents on less capable smartphones!

#PlayMorePayLess

PUBG Mobile will run on every flagship smartphone without a sweat. But why pay more, when you can play more and pay less?

Despite packing flagship-level performance and advanced gaming features, the Honor Play (Price Check) only costs ⅓ as much as any flagship smartphone! Can you beat such incredible value?

Be smart – #PlayMorePayLess with Honor Play!

 

Where To Buy The Honor Play

The Honor Play is available for purchase at these incredibly low prices :

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Disclosure

This article was sponsored by Honor Malaysia.

 

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Honor Play In-Depth Review – Mobile Gaming FTW!

The Honor Play debuted in China last month as a gaming-centric smartphone, and it’s coming to a store near you. Read our In-Depth Review of the Honor Play, and find out why it’s designed for mobile gaming!

 

The Honor Play – Designed For Mobile Gaming

The Honor Play is specially-designed for mobile gaming. From the front, it looks like the Honor 10 (Price Check, with a display notch and an ultra-wide FullView display. Instead of an Aurora Glass back panel, it features a metal unibody design and a larger 6.3-inch display.

Like the Honor 10 (Price Check), the Honor Play is powered by the Kirin 970 SoC, which features a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that speeds up certain AI functions. To ensure that you get to play your games for hours on-end, it comes with a larger 3,750 mAh LiPo battery that supports 18 W fast charging.

 

Honor Play Full Specifications

Here are the specifications of the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check), compared against the Honor 10 (Price Check) smartphone.

SpecificationsHonor PlayHonor 10
Display6.3 inch Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2340 pixels (409 ppi)
- 83% screen-to-body ratio
5.84" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2280 pixels (432 ppi)
- 19:9 aspect ratio
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.2Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
System PlatformHisilicon Kirin 970Hisilicon Kirin 970
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12ARM Mali-G72 MP12
Memory4 GB RAM4 GB RAM
Storage64 GB internal flash storage
microSD card slot (up to 256 GB, shared with SIM 2 slot)
128 GB
No microSD card slot
Front Camera16 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
- 1080p video recording @ 30 fps
24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraDual Lens Camera with LED flash
- 16 MP PDAF sensor with f/2.2 lens
- 2 MP depth sensor with f/2.4 lens
- 4K / 1080p video @ 30 fps
Dual Camera System
- 16 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 24 MP monochrome sensor
- single LED flash
SIM CapabilityDual SIM, Dual Standby
Hybrid SIM Card Slot (shared with microSD)
Dual SIM, Dual Standby
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual band
Bluetooth : BT v4.2
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual band
Bluetooth : BT v4.2
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
FM RadioYesYes
Fingerprint SensorYes, Rear-MountedYes, Front-Mounted
Other SensorsAccelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, CompassAccelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass
Infrared EmitterNoYes
Battery3,750 mAh Li-Po battery (non-removable)3,400 mAh Li-Po battery (non-removable)
Dimensions74.3 mm wide
157.9 mm tall
7.5 mm thick
71.2 mm wide
149.6 mm tall
7.7 mm thick
Weight176 g153 g
Available ColoursBlack, Blue, VioletPhantom Blue / Phantom Green / Midnight Black / Glacier Grey

 

Unboxing The Honor Play

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) comes in a plain white box. It is, after all, a mid-range smartphone. Don’t expect bling.

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Once you fully unbox it, you will find the following items :

  • One Honor Play smartphone
  • One soft TPU bumper case
  • One SIM tray extractor pin
  • One 18 watt Huawei Quick Charge USB adaptor
  • One USB Type C cable

The package may be sparse but practical. Who needs cheap earbuds? What’s more important is that it comes with a free TPU bumper case so you can protect your new smartphone right out of the box!

Next Page > Honor Play Up Close, Cameras + Fingerprint Sensor

 

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The Honor Play Smartphone Up Close!

Designed for mobile gaming, the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) is powered by the Kirin 970 SoC, which features a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that speeds up certain AI functions. To ensure that you get to play your games for hours on-end, it comes with a larger 3,750 mAh LiPo battery that supports 18 W fast charging.

Because it is a larger device, the Honor Play is heavier than the Honor 10 (Price Check). But surprisingly, it is slightly thinner even though with a 10% larger battery!

 

Front + Rear Cameras

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) comes with a high-resolution selfie camera in the front. It has a 16 MP sensor, paired with a fast f/2.2 lens. There appears to be a laser diode on the other side, which is probably used for their AR emoji and 3D face lighting features. It doesn’t have a flash, but uses screen flash instead.

The camera at the back uses a dual-lens system that consists of a 16 MP camera (with a PDAF sensor and f/2.2 lens), and a 2 MP depth-sensing camera. The depth-sensing camera helps the main camera differentiate between the subjects in a photo and its background, allowing for more accurate software bokeh effects.

Please note that the main camera lens module will protrude through the TPU bumper case. The bumper case, therefore, cannot prevent damage to the main camera.

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Fingerprint Sensor

Honor opted to go with a rear fingerprint sensor with the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check). It is very fast and accurate, and allows you to trigger specific actions with different fingers.

The only downside? You can’t use it to unlock the device while it’s attached to a car mount. That’s when you need to use the Face Unlock feature. It uses the front camera and facial recognition algorithms to authenticate your identity, so it will work even with the Honor Play mounted on your car’s dashboard.

Next Page > Hybrid SIM, Display Notch, GPU Turbo, AI Game 4D Experience, Game Suite

 

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Hybrid SIM Tray

Unlike the Honor 10 (Price Check), the Honor Play has a hybrid SIM tray. This means the SIM 2 slot doubles as a microSD card slot. You can either use a second nanoSIM card, or a microSD card for extra storage capacity.

Its 64 GB internal storage capacity is plenty for many people, but microSD storage offers additional peace of mind – even if the phone is physically damaged or destroyed, you can still recover your data or photos and videos from the microSD card.

 

Display Notch

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) has a Full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It features a display notch that is noticeably larger than that of the Honor 10 (Price Check).

The display notch allows for notifications to be confined to the top, giving you more space for your work… or really, your games. Heh… In games or apps that do not support the notch, it will simply “disappear” by turning black.

 

GPU Turbo

GPU Turbo is a hardware and software combination that increases the “efficiency” of the GPU by up to 60%. It does not mean you get a 60% boost in frame rate, although Honor says it will greatly reduce the jitter rate (variance between the highest and lowest frame rates), while appreciably increasing the overall frame rate.

Honor also claims that it will reduce the Kirin 970 SoC‘s power consumption by 30%, extending its battery life.  In a specific test using King Glory 1.34.1.11, the Honor Play lasted 4.5 hours – 30 minutes longer than the Apple iPhone X (Price Check).

How does GPU Turbo work? From what we understand, it uses a proprietary algorithm in the graphics driver to detect the change between the current frame being rendered, and the next one. This allows the Honor Play to boost CPU and GPU performance for completely new frames, and reduce them for frames with few changes.

The only downside? GPU Turbo support is currently limited. Extremely limited. From what we understand – it will only work with PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and King Glory. Naturally, game support will be extended to more games over time.

 

AI Game 4D Experience

The Honor Play also offers an “AI Game 4D Experience” with a feature they call Smart Shock. In certain games (like PUBG), Smart Shock will vibrate the device according to the type of weapon used in the game.

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The AI Game 4D Experience also includes the 3D Gaming Audio capability. Basically, it’s a 3D spatial surround sound effect that helps you to judge the azimuth of a particular sound effect (like footsteps or an explosion).

 

Game Suite

This is a software feature that reduces network latency and game lag, and offers an uninterrupted gaming experience. Turning it on restricts the notifications that you receive, and allows you to play your game while receiving calls simultaneously.

You will only receive notifications for incoming calls, your alarms and low power alerts. Even these notifications will appear smaller, so they won’t disrupt your gaming experience.

Next Page > Setting Up The Honor Play, Ergonomics, Available Memory + Storage

 

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Setting Up The Honor Play

Setting up the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) is easy, and takes no more than 10 minutes if you are setting it up as a new device. Take a look at a video of the initial setup process.

 

Ergonomics

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) is definitely much larger than the Honor 10 (Price Check). In fact, it is about the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S9+ – they both have similar-sized displays. It is a phablet that is a better fit for those with bigger hands and pockets.

The 6.3-inch IPS display is bright and brilliant even in daylight, which means you get to play your games wherever you go. The non-standard 18:9 aspect ratio of the main display section gives you more screen space for gaming, but you will get some pillarboxing while watching movies.

 

Available Memory + Storage

For a mid-range smartphone, the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) comes with rather large memory and storage capacities. It has 4 GB of memory, of which 1.52 GB (38%) is available for use. That is a considerable amount of bloat, but still enough to run several memory-guzzling apps at the same time.

The Honor Play comes with 64 GB of internal storage, of which just under 51.2 GB (80%) is available for use. That’s enough for over 12,000 photos, or 5.5 hours of 1080p videos, or 2.5 hours of 4K videos.

Next Page > Honor Play Camera Performance – Photos + Videos

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Camera Performance – Photos

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) has a depth-sensing dual-lens camera, with a 16 MP image sensor paired with f/2.2 lens.  Photos from this camera have a 4:3 aspect ratio, with 4608 × 3456 pixels and an average file size of between 2 MB and 3 MB.

Photos from the wide-angle secondary camera have a 4:3 aspect ratio, with 3264 × 2448 pixels and an average file size of between 6 MB and 7 MB.

Here are 10 high-resolution samples from this 16 MP camera for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

As you can see, the Honor Play’s main camera can take really great photos, with bright, vivid colours. And the software bokeh effect is much more accurate, thanks to its depth-sensing camera. However, note that its dual-lens design requires a greater distance to work, so it won’t be able to focus if the object is very close – less than 10 cm or so.

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Camera Performance – Video Recording

Despite its humble price point, the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) supports 4K video recording. There is a 10 minute limit, and each clip is also limited to 4 GB in size. It even supports the newer and more efficient H.265 (HEVC) codec.

The Honor Play also supports electronic video stabilisation. However, it is disabled for videos that are recorded in 4K or 1080p at 60 fps.

Video Recording Test #1 : Piano (1080p)

The video stabilisation while recording at 1080p was very good. It’s not quite gimbal-level of stabilisation, but close enough. The Honor Play also showed good control of the highlights – you can see deep into the Padini Concept Store in the background. The recorded audio though was overly bright and lacks dynamic range.

Video Recording Test #2 : Piano (4K)

The 4K resolution is amazing, but there is noticeably less control of the highlights. The video is also jerky, because the Honor Play does not support video stabilisation at this resolution.

Video Recording Test #3 : Street Market (1080p)

The Honor Play’s video stabilisation is very good at this resolution. It felt like it was attached to a gimbal. There was minimal jerkiness even when we panned. There was also good control of the highlights. Very good!

Video Recording Test #4 : Street Market (4K)

Switching to 4K recording disabled video stabilisation, so the end result was a very jerky video. If you really want to record in 4K using the Honor Play, you should do so when it’s attached to a tripod or a gimbal.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

 

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Honor Play’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0 Honor Play Honor 10 ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 Samsung Galaxy S9
Performance Score
(Average)
7361 7106 6118 5618
Web Browsing 7695 7295 5815 5357
Video Editing 5499 5159 4898 5265
Writing 6649 6752 5722 4673
Photo Editing 13326 12910 10041 7560
Data Manipulation 5764 5524 5240 5616
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The HiSilicon Kirin 970 is a flagship SoC and it shows. Powered by the Kirin 970, both Honor Play and Honor 10 (Price Check) devices beat the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 as well as the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check)!

 

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Honor Play’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0 ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 Honor Play Samsung Galaxy S9 Honor 10
Battery Life 14 hours 12 mins 9 hours 56 mins 9 hours 6 mins 8 hours 56 mins
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Despite its large 6.3-inch display, the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) managed to deliver a battery life of just under 10 hours!

Thanks to its larger 3,750 mAh battery, it will last about one hour longer than the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) or Honor 10 (Price Check) smartphones. Only the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 (Price Check), with its phenomenal 5,000 mAh battery, lasted longer.

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Battery Recharging Performance

The Honor Play supports 18W fast charging, and comes with an 18W quick charger. Take a look at how fast it recharged its 3,750 mAh battery.

It took the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) just 92 minutes (1 hours 32 minutes) to recharge its battery from 20% to 100%. This gives it a battery life : recharging ratio of just under 6:5.

Next Page > Gaming Performance, Our Verdict + Award, Price + Availability

 

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Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Honor Play’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited Samsung Galaxy S9 Honor Play Honor 10 ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1
Gaming Score 39588 31622 30560 19752
Graphics 45577 37351 34801 20707
Physics 27116 20576 21423 17008
Graphics Test 1 267.9 fps 208.9 fps 206.2 fps 113.5 fps
Graphics Test 2 157.2 fps 132.8 fps 119.5 fps 74.6 fps
Physics Test 86.1 fps 65.3 fps 68.0 fps 54.0 fps
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As expected, the 12-core ARM Mali-G72 used in the Honor Play (and Honor 10) is fast, flagship-class GPU. The faster Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) actually uses the same GPU, just with 18 cores.

 

Our Verdict

As Huawei’s sister company, Honor has a reputation of offering similar models with better features at an even more affordable price point. The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) is yet another example of the incredible value for money that Honor always offers.

The Honor Play is really an improved version of the HUAWEI nova 3i smartphone. They both have the same 6.3-inch FullView display with a notch, and the same 16 MP + 2 MP depth-sensing dual-lens main camera.

Where they differ though are mainly in five aspects.

  • The HUAWEI nova 3i has a 24 MP + 2 MP depth-sensing dual-lens front camera, while the Honor Play only has a 16 MP front camera.
  • The Honor Play features a flagship-class HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC, while the nova 3i only uses a mid-range Kirin 710 SoC.
  • The HUAWEI nova 3i comes with 128 GB of internal storage, while the Honor Play only comes with 64 GB of storage.
  • The Honor Play comes with a larger 3,750 mAh battery, while the nova 3i only has a 3,340 mAh battery.

This is why Honor is far from being Huawei’s little brother. They are a key driver of Huawei’s phenomenal growth. By offering devices with even better features at a lower price point, Honor always has a price-performance advantage over its bigger brother.

We earlier reviewed the smaller Honor 10 (Price Check), which is a great smartphone in its own right. It too is great for gaming and comes with a gorgeous Aurora Glass back panel. The Honor Play is, in a way, a larger version of the Honor 10.

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Powered by the same flagship-class Kirin 970 SoC, which features a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), it offers a much larger display for greater enjoyment of movies and games. It also comes with a larger battery that gives you longer battery life.

The Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) also comes with GPU Turbo and “AI Game 4D Experience” with Smart Shock built-in. While both features currently have very limited reach, so don’t expect much from them just yet. However, they are steps in the right direction towards a more immersive gaming experience.

Overall, the Honor Play (US Price Check | MY Price Check) offers a great combination of a large high-resolution display with flagship-class performance and a large battery, in a svelte metal-glass chassis. In fact, when compared to the HUAWEI nova 3i, the Honor Play is obviously the better choice.

This is why we believe the Honor Play deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Honor!

 

Honor Play Price + Availability

The Honor Play launched in China in June at RMB 1,999, which is about US$ 293 / MYR 1,189. Honor started rolling it out globally in August, with the following countries being first :

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  • Malaysia : RM 1,249 (10 August 2018)
  • Singapore : SGD 429 (8 August 2018)
  • Philippines : PHP 15,990 (13 August 2018)

You can now purchase the Honor Play at these online stores :

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The Top 5 Reasons Why The Honor 10 Is Awesome!

The Honor 10 smartphone is one of the best smartphones Honor ever made. Here are the top 5 reasons why the Honor 10 is amazing!

 

Reason #1 : Exquisite Aurora Glass

The first thing that strikes you when you pick up the Honor 10 (US Price Check) for the first time is the spectacular Aurora Glass design. Inspired by aerial net sculptures and first introduced in the Honor 8, the Aurora Glass is painstakingly crafted using 15 layers of membrane and glass in a Class 100 dust-free workshop.

Creating the Aurora Glass is a laborious affair that takes twice as long to fabricate, with a high failure rate. But all that hard work and sacrifice is rewarded with the exquisite Aurora Glass design that is literally out-of-this-world.

 

Reason #2 : Large True Colour Display

You will be amazed by the Honor 10’s large 5.84″ display, with an incredible 86% screen-to-body ratio. Thanks to its bezel-less design, the Honor 10 (US Price Check) is only about the size of a traditional 5.2″ smartphone. You will love how it fits in your hand and pocket. Now you can have your cake and eat it too – a large display in a small package!

You will also be amazed by the display’s true colour capability. The Honor 10 (US Price Check) has an improved FullView 2.0 display with a wide 96% NTSC colour gamut. Once you see your photos and videos appearing exactly as they would in real life, you can never go back!

 

Reason #3 : AI Camera

The Honor 10 (US Price Check) has an amazing dual-lens AI camera that combines a 16 MP RGB camera with a 24 MP monochrome camera to capture photos with less noise and greater detail.

The RGB sensor captures the colour data; while the monochrome sensor captures the details, with less noise and greater sharpness. Both cameras then combine their sensor data to create a final image that is sharper and with greater detail than would be possible with a single RGB camera

But its photographic capabilities go beyond its dual-lens setup.

The Honor 10 AI Camera can recognise more than 500 photographic scenarios in real-time, identifying the outlines of objects and separating them from the background using the world’s first Semantic Image Segmentation technology.

Semantic Image Segmentation is game-changing because it allows the Honor 10 to literally take apart the picture, and dynamically enhance each element separately for the best results possible. You can take great photos, but the Honor 10 will make them amazing!

 

Reason #4 : Flagship CPU With AI Capabilities

The Honor 10 (US Price Check) runs on the most powerful platform from HiSilicon – the Kirin 970. This is a flagship-class platform that is fabricated on the latest and most power-efficient 10 nm process.

The Kirin 970 does not only boast a fast octa-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, it supports the latest LPDDR4X memory, and comes with the best-in-class network capabilities – LTE Cat18 for download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps, with 4×4 MIMO, 5CC carrier aggregation and 256-QAM.

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 also boasts a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) that delivers 25X the AI processing performance, at half the size! The Kirin 970 NPU is more than twice as fast as the Apple iPhone 8 Plus, and 21X faster than the Samsung Galaxy S8.

The AI processing capability of the Kirin 970 NPU is important because it allows the Honor 10 AI Camera to quickly identify the scene and apply the appropriate settings for the best picture possible. Take this motion capture demo, for example.

The Kirin 970’s ability to identify and predict the motion in the scene allows it to better capture a sharper image. Without the AI predictive capability, it will be virtually impossible to capture a clear image of an object in motion.

 

Reason #5 : Unbelievable Price!

Flagship smartphones always feature the best technologies possible. However, they are often priced in the stratosphere for the same reason. The Honor 10 (US Price Check) is one of the few exceptions.

Price at only RM 1,599 / ~US$ 399, the Honor 10 (US Price Check) offers flagship capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Can you find another flagship smartphone with the same features at this price point? No, you cannot!

 

Honor 10 Price & Availability

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The Honor 10 is available in three colour options – Phantom Blue, Glacier Grey and Midnight Black – at a low, low price of RM 1,599 / £299 / US$ 403! You can get them from :

Don’t forget to check out our comprehensive Honor 10 Review!

 

Disclosure

This post was sponsored by Honor Malaysia.

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The Honor 10 AI Camera Smartphone Reviewed!

Officially launched on 15 May 2018 in  London, the Honor 10 is one of the most eagerly-anticipated mid-range smartphone of 2018. It offers a flagship processor with an AI chip, a full HD+ display and large memory and storage capacities at an affordable price point.

In this review, we will take an in-depth look at the Honor 10 – its key features, specifications and performance. We will also look at the quality of the photos and videos its AI Camera takes.

 

Honor 10 Specifications

SpecificationsHonor 10
Display5.84" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2280 pixels (432 ppi)
- 19:9 aspect ratio
ProtectionCorning Gorilla Glass
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
PlatformHisilicon Kirin 970
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.8 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12
Memory4 GB
Storage128 GB
No microSD card slot
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraDual Camera System
- 16 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 24 MP monochrome sensor
- single LED flash
SIM CapabilityDual SIM, Dual Standby
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth 4.2
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFCYes
Fingerprint SensorYes, front-mounted
Infrared EmitterYes
Battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)
Dimensions71.2 mm wide
149.6 mm tall
7.7 mm thick
Weight153 g
Available ColoursPhantom Blue / Phantom Green / Midnight Black / Glacier Grey

 

Unboxing The Honor 10

The Honor 10 (Price Check) comes in a white cardboard box with a simple 10 printed in blue. Let’s unbox it, and see what we find inside!

To keep costs low, Honor provided only the essentials in the Honor 10 package :

  • One Honor 10 (Price Check) smartphone
  • One clear TPU bumper case
  • One 22.5 W Huawei SuperCharge charger
  • One USB Type C cable
  • One SIM tray extractor pin

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The Honor 10 Smartphone Up Close

The Honor 10 (Price Check) is built around the powerful Kirin 970 SoC with a dedicated NPU, with a 5.84″ Full HD+ display with a “notch”. It also comes with a dual-camera system, and large memory and storage capacities.

And you might have noticed it by now – the Honor 10 (Price Check) boasts the really great-looking Aurora Glass back that was first introduced in the Honor 8. What you might not have noticed – the Honor 10 does not come with a microSD card slot. More on that later…

Next Page > The Honor 10 Key Features

 

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The Honor 10 Cameras

The Honor 10 (Price Check) comes with a very high-resolution selfie camera in the front. It has a 24 MP sensor, with a fast f/2.0 lens. That allows it to better handle low-light conditions – important since the front camera does not have any flash.

Its killer feature is the AI Camera at the back. It consists of a 16 MP RGB camera with f/1.8 lens, and a 24 MP monochrome camera. This dual-camera set-up does not only improve depth perception (for more accurate bokeh effects), it also creates sharper, more detailed pictures.

The RGB sensor captures the colour data, while the monochrome sensor captures the details, with less noise and greater sharpness. Both cameras then combine their sensor data to create a final image that is sharper and with greater detail than would be possible with a single RGB camera

 

Fingerprint Sensor

The Honor 10 (Price Check) uses a front fingerprint sensor. The sensor is completely flat, which looks great because it merges seamlessly with the black bezel. Placing it in the front makes it is great for those who want to use their Honor 10 while it’s attached to a car mount.

The sensor is quite accurate but is rather hard to train, as our setup video will show. It is also relatively slow to detect your fingerprint. For best results, you’ll need to press your finger against the sensor with some force.

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No MicroSD Card Slot

The Honor 10 (Price Check) is the first Honor smartphone to do away completely with the microSD card slot. The tray you see below fits up to two nano SIM cards, but there is no microSD card tray.

Honor could have given it a hybrid SIM slot, as Samsung has done with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. Instead, they chose not to include a microSD card slot, and give the Honor 10 a large storage capacity of 128 GB.

 

Display Notch

The Honor 10 (Price Check) has a Full HD+ display, with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels. It features the display notch made popular by the iPhone X.

Although the notification icons nearest to the notch can appear “cut-off”, the Honor 10 is smart enough to work around the notch. In games and applications that don’t support the notification area, it just displays the main 1080 x 2240 section.

Next Page > Initial Setup, Ergonomics, Available Memory + Storage

 

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Setting Up The Honor 10

Setting up the Honor 10 (Price Check) is quite easy, and takes no more than 10 minutes if you are setting it up as a new device. We only faced some issues in registering our fingerprints. Honor needs to look at that fingerprint sensor…

 

Ergonomics

The Honor 10 (Price Check) is an amazingly small smartphone, even though it sports a display that is almost 6″ is size. It is just over 7.1 cm wide, and under 15 cm tall, and weighs just 153 g. This is despite sporting the multilayer Aurora Glass back. It naturally fits very well for those with small hands, and small pockets.

The IPS display is very bright and vivid indoors, and does a decent job outdoors despite not being an AMOLED display. The non-standard 19:9 aspect ratio, while useful in giving you more screen space, will result in some pillarboxing for movies.

 

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Available Memory & Storage

For a mid-range smartphone, the Honor 10 (Price Check) comes with rather large memory and storage capacities. It has 4 GB of RAM, of which 1.62 GB (40.5%) is available for use. That’s plenty to run several memory-guzzling apps at the same time. Interestingly, the Honor 10 has more free memory than the Samsung Galaxy S9!

Honor chose to give the Honor 10 (Price Check) smartphone a TON of storage – 128 GB, with a whopping 115 GB of free space. That is enough to store about 28,750 photos, or 18 hours of 1080p videos, or 8 hours of 4K videos.

Next Page > Honor 10 Camera Performance – Photos + Videos

 

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Camera Performance – Photos

Honor did not reveal the sensors used in their dual camera system, but the final photos have a 24 MP resolution with the 4:3 aspect ratio, with 5632 x 4224 pixels. Despite the high resolution, Honor appears to use a more efficient (or lossier) compression algorithm, resulting in a file size of between 3 MB and 4 MB.

Here are 8 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

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Camera Performance – Video Recording

Despite having 24 MP sensors on both front and rear cameras, the Honor 10 (Price Check) is only capable of recording 4K videos from the main AI camera. The 24 MP front camera can only record 720p videos. The 4K video recording by the main camera is also limited to just 10 minutes. This was likely done to prevent sensor overheating.

Video Recording Test #1 : Piano (1080p)

First off – we can see that there is no optical or electrionic image stabilisation, so the video can get very jerky. The audio, while clear, is very thin and overly bright (too much emphasis on treble).

Video Recording Test #2 : Piano (4K)

The 4K resolution is amazing, and there is good control of the highlights. You can see right into the Padini Concept Store. The audio recording is, however, quite a letdown. Honor should try to tone down the emphasis on the high frequencies, and boost the lower frequencies for a more balanced sound.

Video Recording Test #3 : Street Market (1080p)

There is absolutely no image stabilisation, so you get to experience every shake and jolt. Remember – we recorded this in the two-handed mode.

Video Recording Test #4 : Street Market (4K)

When recording at 4K, there appeared to be somewhat more noticeable jerkiness. Overall – not a very pleasant video to watch!

Next Page > Honor 10 Work Performance, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

 

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Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Honor 10’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 2.0 Honor 10 Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S9+ Samsung Galaxy A8 2018
Performance Score
(Average)
7106 5618 5303 5197
Web Browsing 7295 5357 5155 5035
Video Editing 5159 5265 4998 4433
Writing 6752 4673 5158 5607
Photo Editing 12910 7560 7082 7238
Data Manipulation 5524 5616 4458 4183
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The Kirin 970 powering the Honor 10 (Price Check) is a true flagship SoC. Look at how fast it was at Work 2.0, beating the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) by 26%, and Galaxy S9+ (Price Check) by 34%.

 

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Honor 10′ battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Work 2.0 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S9+ Honor 10
Battery Life 10 hours 32 mins 9 hours 6 mins 9 hours 5 mins 8 hours 56 mins
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The Honor 10 (Price Check) has a slightly smaller 3,400 mAh battery than the 3,500 mAh battery of the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Price Check). It managed to last just under 9 hours in this stress test.

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Battery Recharging Performance

The Honor 10 (Price Check) comes with a Huawei SuperCharge fast charger with a power output of 22.5 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged its 3,400 mAh battery.

It took the Honor 10 (Price Check) about 107 minutes (1 hour 47 minutes) to recharge its battery from 20% to 100%. This is 11.5 minutes longer than Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Price Check) with its 18 W fast charger.

This gives it a rather poor battery life : recharging ratio of 5:1, even with a high-powered fast charger. Honor really needs to look into addressing this issue.

Next Page > Honor 10 Gaming Performance, Our Verdict

 

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Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Honor 10s’ gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

Ice Storm Unlimited Samsung Galaxy S9+ Samsung Galaxy S9 Honor 10 Samsung Galaxy S8
Gaming Score 42489 39588 30560 29509
Graphics 49852 45577 34801 33279
Physics 28009 27116 21423 21130
Graphics Test 1 308.6 fps 267.9 fps 206.2 fps 173.1 fps
Graphics Test 2 167.0 fps 157.2 fps 119.5 fps 124.3 fps
Physics Test 88.9 fps 86.1 fps 68.0 fps 67.1 fps
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While the Kirin 970 was very fast at work applications, it did not do so well in games. Its ARM Mali-G72 GPU only has 12-cores, while the ARM Mali-G72 GPU used in the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Price Check) by 26%, and Galaxy S9+ (Price Check) has 18 cores.

Even so, the Honor 10’s gaming performance was more than decent for a mid-range smartphone. It was slightly faster than the Galaxy S8, which uses the older ARM Mali-G71 GPU (with 20 cores).

 

Our Verdict

The Honor 10 (Price Check) is a rather impressive smartphone. It is a mid-range smartphone based on the Kirin 970 flagship platform, with 4 GB of RAM and a whopping 128 GB of flash storage. And it looks really good, thanks to its Aurora Glass back, and the almost bezel-less design.

It was no surprise to see the Honor 10 power through our benchmarks like a champ. It was especially fast at work applications, while offering good flagship-class gaming performance. And with so much RAM and storage space, there’s really nothing it cannot handle.

The Honor 10 (Price Check) is also one of the smallest smartphones with a 6″ display. Ergonomically, this is great for those with smaller hands, or small pockets

Its AI camera also worked as advertised, producing really high-quality 24 MP photos. This is yet another flagship feature Honor packed into this mid-range smartphone. However, its video recording capabilities are rather dismal.

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The Honor 10 AI camera does not support optical image stabilisation, and for some reason, Honor neglected to enable even electronic image stabilisation. So the video we recorded were shaky, even when recorded with two hands. The recorded audio was also too thin and overly bright.

Finally, it has a rather lacklustre battery life, lasting just under 9 hours in our stress test. While not the worst we have seen, it could be better.

Now, it is easy enough to criticise the Honor 10’s shortcomings, but we have to remember that this is a mid-range smartphone that is 30-40% cheaper than flagship smartphones with equivalent features. That itself is Honor’s chief accomplishment with the Honor 10 (Price Check).

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Honor 10 Price, Availability & Presentation Revealed!

Wondering how much the Honor 10 will cost? You’re in luck! Here are the full details of the Honor 10 price and availability details, including its launch presentation by George Zhao!

Don’t forget to read our Honor 10 review!

 

Honor 10

Officially launched in London on 15 May 2018, the Honor 10 is one of the most eagerly-anticipated mid-range smartphone of 2018. Here was its launch presentation by George Zhao Zhiwei, Head of Honor Malaysia.

It is built around the powerful Kirin 970 SoC with a dedicated NPU, and boasts a 5.84″ Full HD+ display with a “notch”. It also comes with a dual-camera system, and large memory and storage capacities. Here are its key specifications :

SpecificationsHonor 10
Display5.84" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2280 pixels (432 ppi)
- 19:9 aspect ratio
ProtectionCorning Gorilla Glass
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
PlatformHisilicon Kirin 970
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.8 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12
Memory4 GB
Storage128 GB
No microSD card slot
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraDual Camera System
- 16 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 24 MP monochrome sensor
- single LED flash
SIM CapabilityDual SIM, Dual Standby
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth 4.2
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFCYes
Fingerprint SensorYes, front-mounted
Infrared EmitterYes
Battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)
Dimensions71.2 mm wide
149.6 mm tall
7.7 mm thick
Weight153 g
Available ColoursPhantom Blue / Phantom Green / Midnight Black / Glacier Grey

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Honor 10 Price & Availability

The Honor 10 launched in London with an official price of £399 for the 128 GB model. This works out to be around RM 2,139 as of 18 May 2018. However, we have good news!

The Honor 10 will be available for sale in Malaysia for a low, low price of RM 1,699 / £318! But if that’s not enough, Honor Malaysia is giving a RM 100 cash back, which means the Honor 10 will cost only RM 1,599 / £299!!!

The Honor 10 goes on sale on 24 May 2018, and the special RM 1,599 price ostensibly lasts from 24 May to 31 May. On 1 June 2018, it would be priced at RM 1,599. This basically removes the 6% GST tax concern from everyone’s mind.

The Honor 10’s price of RM 1,599 / £299 / US$ 403 is the lowest price globally. It’s a whopping 14% cheaper than the Chinese launch price of RMB 2,999 / RM 1,869 / £336 / US$ 471!

The Honor 10 will be available in three colour options – Phantom Blue, Glacier Grey and Midnight Black.

Don’t forget to read our Honor 10 review!

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HUAWEI P20 Pro Twilight Edition Hands-On Preview!

HUAWEI released just 500 of their P20 Pro Twilight smartphones to a great reception last night. We got our grubby hands on the HUAWEI P20 Pro Twilight Edition, to see for ourselves the allure of the Twilight colour.

Check out our hands-on preview, and see why the P20 Pro Twilight Edition (Price Check) is definitely our favourite model!

 

The Huawei P20 Pro

The P20 Pro has a 6.1″ OLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2240 pixels. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core SoC, with 6 GB of LPDDR4 memory128 GB of internal storage, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

The front camera has a 24 MP sensor, with f/2.0 lens. The “killer feature” is its Leica-branded triple lens camera, which is made up of a high-resolution dual-lens camera, and a separate telephoto camera.

The high-resolution dual-lens camera pairs a 40 MP RGB camera with f/1.8 lens, with a 20 MP monochrome camera with f/1.6 lens. The separate 8 MP RGB camera with f/2.4 telephotos lens is capable of 3X optical zoom, and 5X hybrid zoom.

 

HUAWEI P20 Pro Twilight Edition Up Close!

No, the Twilight Edition (Price Check) does not refer to the Twilight Saga… but the Northern Lights. This is a new colour option for the HUAWEI P20 Pro that was inspired by the Aurora Borealis. Take a look at how nice it looks!

 

HUAWEI P20 Pro Specification Comparison

SpecificationsHuawei P20 ProHuawei P20Huawei P20 Lite
Display6.1" Full HD+ OLED display
- 1080 x 2240 pixels (408 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels (428 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
System PlatformHiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 659
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.7 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-T830 (900 MHz)
Memory6 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR3
Storage128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
64 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraTriple-lens Leica 40 MP camera system
- 40 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- 8 MP RGB sensor with f/2.4 telephoto lens
- 3x lossless zoom + 5X hybrid zoom
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens Leica camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASS
NFCYesYesYes
Battery4,000 mAh lithium-ion battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion battery3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Colour OptionsCeramic Black / TwilightCeramic Black / TwilightMidnight Black / Klein Blue / Sakura Pink
Fingerprint SensorYes, Front MountedYes, Front MountedYes, Rear Mounted

 

HUAWEI P20 Pro Twilight Price + Availability

The HUAWEI P20 Pro Twilight Edition (Price Check) retails for RM 3,299 (inclusive of 6% GST) / ~US$ 845. HUAWEI released 500 units for an early sale that saw fans queueing up for hours. After this early sale, the Twilight Edition will only be available for purchase starting 4 June 2018.

It is possible to purchase / pre-order the HUAWEI P20 Twilight Edition (as well as other colours). Here are some purchase links for your convenience :

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Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Smartphone Launch Event

Huawei today launched their flagship Huawei P20 Pro and Huawei P20 smartphones at a large event with more than 1,500 guests. They represent a major assault on Apple and Samsung’s dominance of the smartphone industry.

The Huawei presentation, in particular, took special aim at the Apple iPhone X and the recently-launched Samsung Galaxy S9. Find out why Huawei thinks the new P20 Pro and P20 smartphones are more than just rivals to the Apple and Samsung flagship smartphones!

 

The Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Smartphone Launch

The Huawei P20 Pro and P20 launch event was the opposite of the glitzy, mind-numbing Vivo V9 launch event. Just a simple catwalk parade of hot models with their new smartphones.

 

The Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Presentation

Huawei Product Marketing Director, Luke Au, is (obviously) a great fan of the new Huawei P20 Pro and P20 smartphones, so we will let him explain why you should seriously consider them.

For more details on these new Huawei smartphones, check out our article, Huawei P20, P20 Pro + P20 Lite Smartphones Revealed!

 

Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Specifications

SpecificationsHuawei P20 ProHuawei P20Huawei P20 Lite
Display6.1" Full HD+ OLED display
- 1080 x 2240 pixels (408 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels (428 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
System PlatformHiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 659
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.7 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-T830 (900 MHz)
Memory6 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR3
Storage128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
64 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraTriple-lens Leica 40 MP camera system
- 40 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- 8 MP RGB sensor with f/2.4 telephoto lens
- 3x lossless zoom + 5X hybrid zoom
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens Leica camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASS
NFCYesYesYes
Battery4,000 mAh lithium-ion battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion battery3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Colour OptionsCeramic Black / TwilightCeramic Black / TwilightMidnight Black / Klein Blue / Sakura Pink
Fingerprint SensorYes, Front MountedYes, Front MountedYes, Rear Mounted

For more details on these new Huawei smartphones, check out our article, Huawei P20, P20 Pro + P20 Lite Smartphones Revealed!

 

Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Price & Availability

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These smartphones were officially launched in Paris on 27 March 2018, but will only be available in Malaysia on 6 April 2018 at these price points.

Huawei Malaysia is offering a free set of Bluetooth earphones and a Huawei VIP card, with every purchase of the Huawei P20 Pro or P20 smartphone, as well as a limited number of Canon printers.

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Huawei P20, P20 Pro + P20 Lite Smartphones Revealed!

Huawei waited for the big Samsung Galaxy S9 launch to blow over before they launched their new flagship Huawei P20 family of smartphones.

Do the new P20 and P20 Pro smartphones have the chops to take on Apple and Samsung? And what do the rumours say about the upcoming P20 Lite? Read on and find out!

 

The Three P20 Models

Huawei will eventually launch three  P20 – the P20 Pro, the P20, and the P20 Lite. In the Paris launch, Huawei only announced the P20 and P20 Pro, leaving the P20 Lite for a later launch.

The Huawei P20 Pro

The P20 Pro has a 6.1″ OLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2240 pixels. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core SoC, with 6 GB of LPDDR4 memory128 GB of internal storage, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

The front camera has a 24 MP sensor, with f/2.0 lens. The “killer feature” is its Leica-branded triple lens camera, which is made up of a high-resolution dual-lens camera, and a separate telephoto camera.

The high-resolution dual-lens camera pairs a 40 MP RGB camera with f/1.8 lens, with a 20 MP monochrome camera with f/1.6 lens. The separate 8 MP RGB camera with f/2.4 telephotos lens is capable of 3X optical zoom, and 5X hybrid zoom.

The Huawei P20

The regular P20 has a 5.8″ IPS display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2244 pixels. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core SoC, with 4 GB of LPDDR4 memory, 128 GB of internal storage, and a 3,400 mAh battery.

It has a 24 MP front camera as well, but only a Leica-branded dual-lens main camera. The dual-lens camera pairs a 12 MP RGB sensor with a f/1.8 lens, with a 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens. This camera is supported by laser autofocus, and a dual-tone LED flash.

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The Huawei P20 Lite (Nova 3e)

The P20 Lite has a 5.8″ IPS display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2244 pixels. It is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 659 octa-core SoC, with 4 GB of LPDDR3 memory, 64 GB of internal storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

It has the same front and rear camera setup as the regular P20, but lacks the laser autofocus, and only has a single LED flash. The dual-lens camera also lacks the Leica branding.

Next Page > Specifications, Price, Availability + P20 Lite Bonus

 

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Huawei P20 Specifications

SpecificationsHuawei P20 ProHuawei P20Huawei P20 Lite
Display6.1" Full HD+ OLED display
- 1080 x 2240 pixels (408 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels (428 ppi)
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
5.8" Full HD+ IPS display
- 1080 x 2244 pixels
- 18.7:9 aspect ratio
Operating SystemAndroid 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1
System PlatformHiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 970HiSilicon Kirin 659
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
i7 co-processor + NPU
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (2.36 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.7 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-G72 MP12 (850 MHz)ARM Mali-T830 (900 MHz)
Memory6 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR44 GB LPDDR3
Storage128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
128 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
64 GB internal storage
microSD card (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens24 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraTriple-lens Leica 40 MP camera system
- 40 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- 8 MP RGB sensor with f/2.4 telephoto lens
- 3x lossless zoom + 5X hybrid zoom
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens Leica camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
Dual-lens camera
- 12 MP RGB sensor with f/1.8 lens
- 20 MP monochrome sensor with f/1.6 lens
- laser auto-focus
- dual tone LED flash
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band)
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
USB 2.0 Type C
GPSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASSYes, AGPS, GLONASS
NFCYesYesYes
Battery4,000 mAh lithium-ion battery3,400 mAh lithium-ion battery3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Colour OptionsCeramic Black / TwilightCeramic Black / TwilightMidnight Black / Klein Blue / Sakura Pink
Fingerprint SensorYes, Front MountedYes, Front MountedYes, Rear Mounted

 

Price & Availability

These smartphones were officially launched on 27 March 2018, at these price points (before tax).

  • P20 Pro : € 899 / ~US$ 1,109 / ~RM 4,352
  • P20 : € 649 / ~US$ 805 / ~RM 3,107
  • P20 Lite : € 369 / ~US$ 456 / ~RM 1,786

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More On The P20 Lite

Here are two pictures of the actual P20 Lite smartphone :

Interestingly, the P20 Lite is called the Nova 3e in China. Here is a Chinese Nova 3e smartphone.

Credit : These pictures were obtained and shared by our friend, Joshua from The Ideal Mobile.

Next Page > The Official Press Release + More Photos

 

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The Huawei P20 Press Release

PARIS, March 27, 2018: At an exclusive launch event held today at the iconic Grand Palais, HUAWEI Consumer Business Group unveiled the much-anticipated HUAWEI P20 and P20 Pro. The HUAWEI P20 Pro features the world’s first Leica triple camera and both devices include unprecedented AI advances, combining technology and art to bring to life a groundbreaking smartphone experience.

HUAWEI set new expectations for smartphone photography with the launch of the HUAWEI P9, the first Leica dual camera. With the debut of the HUAWEI P20 Series, HUAWEI makes capturing professional quality images a truly effortless experience for everyone.

Achieving DxOMark’s highest overall scores, the HUAWEI P20 Series includes advanced, intelligent camera systems that bring consumers features that ultimately enhance every part of the smartphone photography experience.

  • An advanced camera system to capture more light, more details and more beauty, featuring a revolutionary Leica triple camera and 5x Hybrid Zoom on the HUAWEI P20 Pro, and a Leica dual camera on the HUAWEI P20;
  • Innovative photography features, including Master AI with AI-driven professional photography and HUAWEI AIS (AI Image Stabilization), a powerful AI stabilization technology;
  • A timeless design with barely-there bezels and all-new gradient colors;
  • Ultimate performance, featuring the NPU on Kirin 970 and EMUI 8.1 based on Android™ 8.1 for a premium and smooth user experience.

An Exquisite Combination of Art and Technology for the Fashion Forward

The HUAWEI P20 Series features a striking, fashion-forward aesthetic. Most notably, the HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro come in all-new, exclusive, fashionable colors, Twilight and Pink Gold, achieved by applying several layers of NCVM* optical coatings underneath the glass back, so light hitting the surface refracts and creates a vivid, yet gradual change of hue. The HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro are also available in Black and Midnight Blue.

The 5.8-inch screen HUAWEI P20 and 6.1-inch screen HUAWEI P20 Pro feature ultra-thin bezels and impressive screen-to-body ratios for better viewing experiences with more on-screen information, whether reading or gaming. The HUAWEI FullView Display seamlessly blends with rounded edges, making the device comfortable to hold.

Inspired by Light and Technology, a Stunning Device Designed for Every Photography Fan

The HUAWEI P20 Series reflects the art of light, with camera features that enhance the smartphone photography experience.

The HUAWEI P20 Pro features a Leica triple camera with the highest total pixel count on a smartphone available in the market – the camera configuration is comprised of a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens. It also features a color temperature sensor for better color reproduction.

With f/1.8, f/1.6 and f/2.4 wide aperture to capture crisp, clear details, the HUAWEI P20 Pro also includes a brand new Leica 3x telephoto (VARIO-SUMMILUX-H 1:1.6-2.4/27-80ASPH) lens for long-range photography of up to 5x Hybrid Zoom. The HUAWEI P20 Pro’s highly sensitive image sensor captures low light photos with up to ISO 102400.

The HUAWEI P20 builds on its predecessor’s foundation with a Leica dual camera featuring a 12MP lens with a pixel size as high as 1.55 μm, and a 20MP monochrome lens, enhancing the HUAWEI P20’s ability to capture photos in low-light settings.

The HUAWEI P20 Series devices support six-axis stabilization and 960fps super slow motion, which is 4x higher than the standard 240fps and captures details that cannot be seen with the naked eye. With Ultra Snapshot mode, the devices can capture an image in as little as 0.3 seconds by just double clicking the down volume button, even from an off screen.

Master AI Photography Experience for Everyone, Everywhere

With the Kirin 970 processor, the HUAWEI P20 Series automatically identifies more than 500 scenarios in 19 categories and selects photography modes and camera settings to deliver incredible, professional-looking images – even for novice photographers.

In addition, HUAWEI AIS steadies handheld night shots for incredible long exposure images without a tripod. Brand new to HUAWEI’s advanced camera system is 4D predictive focus. In this mode, the camera predicts moving objects and focuses on them with extreme efficiency to capture minute details of objects in motion.

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In addition, the HUAWEI P20 Series features AI-Assisted Composition, providing intelligent suggestions to frame group shots and landscapes.

The HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro feature a 24MP selfie camera** with AI beautification and 3D portrait lighting – the result is beautiful selfies with healthy-looking skin tone adjustments, delicately outlined facial details and realistic 3D feature enhancements.

Additionally, the HUAWEI HiAI Ecosystem enhances a variety of app experiences. For instance, the HUAWEI P20 Series includes on-device Prisma processing, which supports real-time filter recommendations based on scene and object recognition – the calculation speed is three to four times that of the cloud version.

In partnership with Google, the HUAWEI P20 Series supports Google ARCore delivering advanced AR capabilities.

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The honor View10 Preview, Price & Specifications Revealed!

Right after honor launched the honor 7X FullView Display smartphone, they gave us an in-depth preview of their first AI smartphone – the honor View10 (also known as the honor V10). Check out their 26-minute long presentation, and see for yourself what you can expect from the honor View10 AI smartphone!

Updated @ 2018-01-05 : Added the retail price, and pre-order offer for the honor View10.

Originally posted @ 2017-12-19


 

The honor View10 AI Smartphone

As honor’s first AI smartphone, the honor View10 boasts a plethora of AI functionality, or so the marketing pitch goes. First and foremost, it is powered by the Kirin 970 SoC  – the first to have a dedicated NPU (find out how fast it is!).

The Kirin 970 with its dedicated NPU is what enables its AI functionality, delivering 25X better neural processing performance at 1/50th the power consumption of a traditional CPU. Let’s take a look at its key features.

AI Camera

Photos taken with the honor View10 will be adjusted automatically to create a final output that looks like they were taken professionally. In addition to recognising the subject in focus, it has the ability to intelligently recognise up to 13 different scenes.

AI Motion Detection

The main camera also has the capability to predict motion in order to improve the focusing response. This allows it to better capture moving subjects with less motion blur.

AI Front Camera

The front camera uses the machine learning results from millions of portraits to improve the look of the portraits you take. It also attempts to intelligently adjust the brightness of the front flash to better capture your selfie without overblowing the highlights.

NPU Driven Translation

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The honor View10 comes with NPU driven translation, running on Microsoft Translator, and powered by the Kirin 970 NPU. It allows you to take a picture of foreign words and have it translated into your language of choice.

AI Gaming

The honor View10 will intelligently adjust graphics settings and system resources for better gaming performance.

Sync Play

Using NFC Connect, multiple devices can be linked as mobile speakers, delivering synchronised surround music. Note that these devices must support honor Sync Play.

 

The honor View10 Specifications

Specificationshonor View10
Display5.99" FullView Display
- 1080 x 2160 pixels
- 18:9 aspect ratio, 402 ppi
BuildAluminium body with front glass
Operating SystemAndroid 8.0
PlatformHiSilicon Kirin 970
Processor4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores (2.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.8 GHz)
Graphics ProcessorARM Mali-G72 MP12
Memory4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
Storage64 / 128 GB internal flash storage
microSD card slot (up to 256 GB)
Front Camera13 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens
Rear CameraDual-Lens Camera System
- 20 MP main camera with PDAF and f/1.8 lens
- 16 MP sensor with f/1.8 lens
Battery3,750 mAh LiPo battery (non-removable)
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual-band)
Bluetooth 4.2
USB 2.0 Type C
Size74.98 mm wide
157.0 mm tall
6.97 mm thick
Weight172 g
Available ColoursNavy Blue / Midnight Black / Beach Gold / Aurora Blue / Charm Red

 

The honor View10 Price & Availability

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The honor View10 will be made available in Malaysia on 12 January 2018, with pre-orders beginning on 8 January. It will be offered in only two colours – Aurora Blue and Midnight Black.

Despite its official price of 500 Euros and 450 Pounds in Europe, honor is selling the View10 for only RM 2,099 / ~US$ 509 – about 15% cheaper!

honor has a pre-order offer for the first 1,000 units, that will be sold on Lazada, Vmall, Shoppee and 11Street. These pre-order purchases will come with an honor band A2 and a Final Fantasy redemption card.

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How Fast Is The Huawei Kirin 970 NPU?

Arguably the most interesting feature in the Huawei Kirin 970 SoC is its NPU. The Kirin 970 NPU allows for much faster AI processing, with lower power consumption. But just how fast is the Kirin 970 NPU? And does it really matter that the Kirin 970 has an NPU? Read on and find out!

Learn more about the Kirin 970 SoC in The HUAWEI Kirin 970 Deep Dive Tech Report!

 

The Huawei Kirin 970 NPU

The Kirin 970 NPU offers 25X the AI processing performance of the CPU, at half the size. More importantly, it only consumers 1/50 the power of the CPU. It allows the Kirin 970 to recognise about 2005 images per minute, or about 33 per second. That is more than twice as fast as the new Apple iPhone 8 Plus, and 21X faster than the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Here is another video demonstrating how fast the Kirin 970 is compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8+ smartphone in AI image recognition :

Although Huawei is reticent about what apps will actually use the NPU, since it is not an industry-standard implementation (there are none so far). But they revealed that one feature that would use the NPU, and presumably appear in the Huawei Mate 10, is the AI Noise Reduction feature. They promise that it would increase the voice recognition rate from 80% to 92% even with background car noise.

Another feature they showcased was a Samsung Bixby-like app which uses AI algorithms to “guess” the size and weight of a food object, in order to give you an estimate of its caloric content. While this certainly is an interesting use of artificial intelligence, it is far from accurate, as the video shows:

 

Does It Matter?

While the Huawei Kirin 970 NPU speed is impressive, we have to point out that it is a proprietary implementation because there is no industry standard at the moment. Huawei has also stated that the NPU will be restricted to their flagship SoCs, and will not be added to lower-end SoCs.

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In other words, there will be little impetus for developers to spend time and effort to develop apps specifically to make use of the Kirin 970 NPU.

Huawei has offered their HiAI API, as well as the HiKey 970 developer’s kit, so developers can quickly add AI computing capability to their apps. But until there is a substantial number of smartphones with the Kirin 970 NPU, we will not likely see third-party NPU-optimised apps being developed.

The Huawei Mate 10 will definitely ship with some built-in apps to make use of the Kirin 970 NPU, of course. However, it is more than likely they will be the only Kirin 970 NPU-optimised apps most users will be able to enjoy. It will take a few more years before NPU-optimised apps become commonplace.

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The HUAWEI Kirin 970 Deep Dive Tech Report

Huawei is pitching their Kirin 970 SoC ahead of the Huawei Mate 10 launch in Munich on 16 October 2017. This will be their first SoC to include a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). What is an NPU? What other advantages will the new Huawei Kirin 970 bring with it? Let’s take a deep dive into the technical details and find out!

Find out just how fast the Huawei Kirin 970 NPU is at performing AI tasks!

 

The HUAWEI Kirin 970 Deep Dive

Eric Zhou (Huawei Chipset Product Marketing Director) presented this in-depth “deep dive” presentation.

The new Huawei Kirin 970 is an astonishingly small chip. Fabricated on the latest 10 nm process technology, it packs 5.5 million transistors into a square centimeter of silicon. In addition to the NPU, it packs an octa-core processor, and a 12-core GPU with support for LPDDR4X memory.

The Kirin 970 also boasts a slew of improvements in network capabilities like LTE Cat18 for download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps, with 4×4 MIMO, 5CC carrier aggregation and 256-QAM. It will also support dual 4G SIMs with VoLTE, albeit only one can be used for data at any one time.

Although Huawei is reticent about what apps will actually use the NPU, since it is not an industry-standard implementation (there are none so far). But they revealed that one feature that would use the NPU, and presumably appear in the Huawei Mate 10, is the AI Noise Reduction feature. They promise that it would increase the voice recognition rate from 80% to 92% even with background car noise.

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Better Motion Capture

In the photography department, the Huawei Kirin 970 improves the camera response time, auto-focus capability and motion detection speed for better motion capture. It also promises improved noise reduction for low light photography. On the audio front, the Kirin 970 will have a full 32-bit @ 384K audio path for high-definition audio capability.

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