The trend for 2017 in smartphones has to be bezel-less phones. Bigwigs like Apple and Samsung have made their presence felt and brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi and Honor aren't holding it back either. Bezel-less is the buzzword and the challenge now is to make it available at an affordable price. Honor with its 7X smartphone, priced at Rs 12,999 looks like it's up for the fight. The Honor 7X is an impressive looking device and is affordably priced as well. Sounds like a complete package, doesn't it? We spent some time using the smartphone to see whether the device lives up to what it promises:
Design
The Honor 7X features an 18:9 ratio full HD (2160x1080) display and looks impressive. Following in the footsteps of the Honor 8 ProXiaomi
The power button and the volume button are both located on the right side while the SIM card slot is on the left. The thin bezel at the bottom has the Honor branding and the top houses the front camera with the earpiece. The rear is home to the fingerprint scanner and dual cameras while the headphone jack is located at the bottom rim next to the microUSB charging port. Honor with the 7X has clearly got a good-looking smartphone on its hands. It's an area where the brand has consistently improved and Honor 7X is a testament to that.
Specifications and Performance
The Honor 7X runs on Android 7.0 Nougat based on EMUI 5.1 and is powered by the company's Kirin 659 16nm octa-core processor. It boasts of 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. When it comes to performance, the smartphone delivers it seamlessly - be it multitasking or playing games, the Honor 7X handled it without any glitches.
We tried out some games like the Immortals and the Justice League to name a few. The 18:9 ratio display enhances the overall experience while reproducing sharp and vibrant colours. At no point, does the any frame freeze or suffers from any other issue. The one area where we were disappointed was that the device tended to warm a little but only when you put it for charge. We ran some benchmark tests and it scored 823 on single core and a total of 3222 on multi-core. On AnTuTu it scored 51873 which is pretty decent for a device in this price category.
The UI comes with handy features like split-screen view and a multipurpose fingerprint sensor. Swiping through pictures, taking pictures and even answering calls are very convenient. One of the standout feature of the device is its 3340mAH battery. Though we were slightly surprised by not seeing a USB Type C port on the Honor 7X. Nevertheless, even with heavy usage, the battery easily lasts a full day and saves you the hassle of carrying a power bank.
Honor 7X packs in a dual rear camera set up which includes a 16MP and 2MP sensor. For the selfie brigade, there is a 8MP snapper at the front. It does seem like that the brand was in a rush to push out the dual camera set up as the unconventional combination of a 16MP camera and a 2MP camera might not be the smartest move. It's evident in the images that we took with the device. We noticed that images got saturated and while using the depth of field mode, pictures looked somewhat artificial. The front camera, on the other hand, delivers reasonably good performance. The images are clear enough when clicked in well-lit conditions but the performance under low light conditions deteriorates significantly. However, it does get the job done. Overall, the cameras on Honor X are just about satisfactory and we've definitely seen better ones on other budget smartphones.
Having said that, the camera comes in with a lot of features like any other smartphone camera would. Apart from the basic Pro modes, it also has the Document scan feature. While it definitely is a convenient thing to have, but it basically just takes the picture of the document and aligns it at the right angle, so the result might not be as crisp and sharp as you'd expect. The depth of field mode lets you set the aperture as per your preference but usually it still blurs out the edges of the subject unnecessarily.
What we did notice while using the camera was that every time you try to use a third-party app like Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook or open the camera in Instagram, it tends to get a little slow. It takes a couple of seconds for the camera to open and start functioning, but it is something that a software update can perhaps fix.
We have reviewed other Honor phones in the past and camera is one department they've always excelled in. For instance, the Honor 8 and the 8 Pro both have solid cameras. It is true that they belong to a different price category altogether but it would be great if even a portion of that camera technology had been implemented in the budget segment.
Verdict
If you can look past the camera capabilities of the Honor 7X, then it certainly is a good option for customers looking for a smartphone in this price category. It's a good looking device which delivers more than satisfactory performance. Throw in a full HD bezel-less display and a good battery life and you get a smartphone that certainly won't disappoint you. However, if camera is a decisive factor in your buying decision, there are options from brands like Motorola, Xiaomi and Oppo which you can look at. Still, if Honor is your preferred brand then you might consider the Honor 9i as well.
Design
The Honor 7X features an 18:9 ratio full HD (2160x1080) display and looks impressive. Following in the footsteps of the Honor 8 ProXiaomi
The power button and the volume button are both located on the right side while the SIM card slot is on the left. The thin bezel at the bottom has the Honor branding and the top houses the front camera with the earpiece. The rear is home to the fingerprint scanner and dual cameras while the headphone jack is located at the bottom rim next to the microUSB charging port. Honor with the 7X has clearly got a good-looking smartphone on its hands. It's an area where the brand has consistently improved and Honor 7X is a testament to that.
Specifications and Performance
The Honor 7X runs on Android 7.0 Nougat based on EMUI 5.1 and is powered by the company's Kirin 659 16nm octa-core processor. It boasts of 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. When it comes to performance, the smartphone delivers it seamlessly - be it multitasking or playing games, the Honor 7X handled it without any glitches.
We tried out some games like the Immortals and the Justice League to name a few. The 18:9 ratio display enhances the overall experience while reproducing sharp and vibrant colours. At no point, does the any frame freeze or suffers from any other issue. The one area where we were disappointed was that the device tended to warm a little but only when you put it for charge. We ran some benchmark tests and it scored 823 on single core and a total of 3222 on multi-core. On AnTuTu it scored 51873 which is pretty decent for a device in this price category.
The UI comes with handy features like split-screen view and a multipurpose fingerprint sensor. Swiping through pictures, taking pictures and even answering calls are very convenient. One of the standout feature of the device is its 3340mAH battery. Though we were slightly surprised by not seeing a USB Type C port on the Honor 7X. Nevertheless, even with heavy usage, the battery easily lasts a full day and saves you the hassle of carrying a power bank.
Honor 7X packs in a dual rear camera set up which includes a 16MP and 2MP sensor. For the selfie brigade, there is a 8MP snapper at the front. It does seem like that the brand was in a rush to push out the dual camera set up as the unconventional combination of a 16MP camera and a 2MP camera might not be the smartest move. It's evident in the images that we took with the device. We noticed that images got saturated and while using the depth of field mode, pictures looked somewhat artificial. The front camera, on the other hand, delivers reasonably good performance. The images are clear enough when clicked in well-lit conditions but the performance under low light conditions deteriorates significantly. However, it does get the job done. Overall, the cameras on Honor X are just about satisfactory and we've definitely seen better ones on other budget smartphones.
Having said that, the camera comes in with a lot of features like any other smartphone camera would. Apart from the basic Pro modes, it also has the Document scan feature. While it definitely is a convenient thing to have, but it basically just takes the picture of the document and aligns it at the right angle, so the result might not be as crisp and sharp as you'd expect. The depth of field mode lets you set the aperture as per your preference but usually it still blurs out the edges of the subject unnecessarily.
What we did notice while using the camera was that every time you try to use a third-party app like Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook or open the camera in Instagram, it tends to get a little slow. It takes a couple of seconds for the camera to open and start functioning, but it is something that a software update can perhaps fix.
Verdict
If you can look past the camera capabilities of the Honor 7X, then it certainly is a good option for customers looking for a smartphone in this price category. It's a good looking device which delivers more than satisfactory performance. Throw in a full HD bezel-less display and a good battery life and you get a smartphone that certainly won't disappoint you. However, if camera is a decisive factor in your buying decision, there are options from brands like Motorola, Xiaomi and Oppo which you can look at. Still, if Honor is your preferred brand then you might consider the Honor 9i as well.
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