As you may have seen, the honor 7 made its high profile debut in London at the end of August. The most premium model in the honor range has finally made its way to Malaysia. Packing an all-new look, impressive hardware and enhanced features, the honor 7 is priced just right at RM1,399.
At the launch, Huawei announced that the honor 7 has been a hit in markets it has launched in so far. In China, 200,000 units of honor 7 sold online in just two minutes.
The honor brand is a sub-brand under the Huawei umbrella, catered to the internet generation and primarily sold online. honor devices are generally more affordable compared to main Huawei devices. However, the lines are rapidly blurring in terms of design, build and overall packaging of honor devices as shown with the impressively built honor 7.
A metal honor? Done.
Gone is the glass-polycarbonate exterior of previous honor smartphones. For the first time ever, a full metal unibody treated to a pleasing air-brushed finish with a ceramic coating is used. There’s chamfered edges with an overall minimalist, svelte look. You wanted premium? You got it.
The all-metal exterior houses a bright 5.2-inch Full HD IPS-Neo display, with an ultra-thin bezel. This helps make the overall size smaller than it should, making it a better fit in the hand. The back is also slightly curved to make it more comfortable to hold.
On the right side, there’s a power button and volume rocker, placed conveniently for your thumb. There’s a special ‘Smart Key’ on the left that can be used to trigger numerous features and tasks. This can be customised to your preference.
An infrared blaster sits alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack is located at the top, while on the flipside there are stereo speaker grills and a micro-USB charge port.
On the back, the honor 7 boasts ‘Smart Fingerprint’ – a superfast fingerprint sensor for rapid fingerprint authentication. This world’s first frame-free fingerprint scanner allows for 360-degree fingerprint scanning. It’s claimed to be able to scan in half a second. The reader also supports numerous tasks including capturing photos, answering calls and muting alarms.
Taking photos to the next level
The honor 7 is the first in its stable to get a double digit camera sensor. The massive Sony-sourced 20MP f/2.0 unit coupled with honor’s own PDAF fast-focusing technology is bound to give other high-end flagships a run for the money. Autofocus is killer-fast, an instant 0.1 seconds. The sapphire lens is scratch-resistant, ensuring durability and peace of mind.
At the front, it gets an 8MP f/2.4 shooter with LED soft flash. Beautiful selfies… guaranteed!
Kirin does it faster
Underneath its sexy exterior, the honor 7 hides a powerhouse of a processor – the octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 mated to 3GB RAM. The new chipset is powerful yet energy efficient, and will ensure great battery life and low heat dissipation. 16GB of storage comes standard, and you can expand up to 128GB via microSD.
In terms of connectivity, the honor 7 is a dual-SIM, dual-LTE device, featuring Huawei’s Signal+ technology and sports a smart dual-antenna design.
Ensuring all-day battery life is a large 3,100mAh battery that supports reverse and quick-charging. Get from 0-50% in just 30 minutes.
On the software side of things, honor 7 runs EMUI 3.1 on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. The device supports a plethora of gesture and motion controls including the unique Knuckle Sense, first seen on the kick-ass Huawei P8. Double tap your knuckle on the screen to take a snapshot, use it to crop and doodle. Hey, knuckles can be creative tools too!
Pricing and availability
The honor 7 retails at RM1,399 (including GST) and is available for pre-register for interest from 22-27 September 2015. Two colour options are available – Mystery Grey or Fantasy Silver. Actual sales of the device begin on 28 September, in conjunction with the epic #MyCyberSale.
Sold exclusively via Vmall.my, buyers will also get a free RM50 voucher and a 6-month 1-to-1 swap warranty, covering also accidental screen cracks. Also, for the first 1,000 customers who pre-order, Vmall is throwing in a free 32GB microSD card.
Initial impressions
This isn’t the honor that you’ve come to know (and love). No longer is there the familiar glass-plastic combination. In its place, a premium feel metal finish and hardware to worry even devices higher up the smartphone ladder. It’s no surprise that the smartphone has done amazingly well in China and other markets, looking at its impressive spec sheet and killer pricing.
This might just be THE device to consider for less than RM1,500. Good job, Huawei.
Check out the video highlights from the launch:
https://youtu.be/gVwUQgKfp-k
