A blend of style and substance
The latest from Huawei is a flagship-quality phone in mid-range, writes Khalid Anzar
The Honor Play is an interesting offering from Huawei in the midrange segment for two reasons. First, priced at ~19,999 for the base model with 4 GB RAM, the phone is the Huawei’ s cheapest device with the company’ s flag ship processor, the Kirin 970, the same System-On-Chip (SOC) that powers the ~60,000 Huawei P20 Pro. Second, it is a smartphone with w hi ch Huawei h as debuted GP U Turbo technology to apparently improve the phone’ s graphic performance. The phone has a premium metallic design and is a power packed device on paper.
Design and display
Most of the current-generation Honor smart phones boast a glass design, but not Honor Play. The phone has a metallic back that may look conventional but is highly usable. The metallic design gives it a solid grip and does away with the need to regularly clean fingerprints. The design looks retro, and yet, premium. Everything, including volume rocker key san deject able SIM tray, fits perfectly. But at 176 grams, it’s a little heavy.
The front is covered by a 6.3- inch full H D+ screen with a notch on top for front camera, notifications LED, ear piece and sensors. The glass on top of the screen is curved from edges that blend seamless ly with the metallic chassis. The display has good colours and contrast, but the brightness is a little weak. The screen is reflective and has satisfactory sunlight legibility.
Performance
The K ir in 970 processor that powers the Honor Play has been around for more than a year and is due for an update. This could be one reason why the company brought it to the mid-range Honor Play, which will compete with Qu al comm Snap dragon 660- based mobile devices. It features GP U Turbo technology for boost in graphic performance.
The phone handles processor-intensive apps without breaking a sweat. But it shares the down sides of other current-generation Huawei devices. The user interface is far from stock. It is loaded with custom is at ion options, and that might not suit everyone. Speaking of audio output, the phone’ s speaker seems a little weak and that isa major down side.
Camera
The Honor Play has an AI-based dual camera set-upon the back and a singular camera sensor on the front. There ar camera features a 16- megapixel primary sensor paired with a 2 MP depth-sensing lens for artificial“bok eh” mode and portrait shots. The front camera also features a 16 MP len sf ors el fies.
As for the image quality, there ar camera takes detailed photographs and also supports electronic image sta bili sat ion( E IS ), along with artificial image sta bili sat ion( A IS ), for stable shots and videos. These features come handy in low-light. The phone also get san AI mode which automatically re cog ni se st he scene and accordingly changes the settings.
The front camera is good for s elfie sand supports portrait mode with lighting effects. The phone’ s cameras are not extraordinary but among thebes tin the mid-range segment.
Verdict
From price to specifications to performance, the Honor Play tic ks all the right boxes. It might not be the best looking smartphone with its metallic build, but has everything else that a flag ship device does.