Always wanted a smartphone brand that uses similar higher-end tech-specs but will always have lower prices? Well, you're not alone and you're here for that reason to check out our review on the honor View10. Priced at RM2099, this is an incredibly affordable flagship due to the fact that it shares similar specifications with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. So if you're curious to know how it performs, read more below!
Design - A robust build
Flagship designs usually go for the premium look but not so much for the View10, as it is targetted as the millennials or the younger generation. It looks naturally stylish, very fashionably trendy especially for the Red Crush model but we only got the black one as the review unit. That being said, the metal back design is quite robust in a sense that once you look at it, you instantly know that it's an honor smartphone. The dual rear camera bump which we think should definitely get some protection though, thankfully, the box comes with a transparent casing so that is covered at least.
On the front, it's obviously using an 18:9 screen-to-body ratio and although it may not look like it - the top and bottom space are actually a bit narrow, most smartphones don't do this and they usually leave a lot of space for those areas. The home button at the front also works as a fingerprint sensor and it works the same as the Huawei P10 home button, enabling you to navigate and do certain commands like go to the home screen and so forth. It should be noted that the display is using LTPS IPS LCD, which explains the price but there is no effect to the colour contrast performance.
Sideview with the volume and power buttons, the dual rear camera bump looks rather distracting (#justsaying)
Ah, much better with the protective casing
Speaker grill, USB Type-C port and headphone, there's an infrar-red sensor on top of the phone
There's your hybrid dual SIM card tray
Tech-Specs and features - Fun, convenient, customizable and more
Here are the specifications for the honor View10:
- Kirin 970 chipset with Neural-Network Processing Unit (NPU), octa-core ARM Cortex CPU, a Mali-G72 12-core GPU
- 6GB of RAM
- 128GB internal storage (UFS 2.1, expandable memory available up to 256GB microSD card)
- Measures 157 x 74.98 x 6.97mm
- 5.99-inch FHD+ display (18:9 aspect ratio)
- Dual rear 20MP + 16MP camera (f/1.8, IPS, PDFA), 13MP front camera (f/1.7)
- Features Fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock, SuperCharge technology, hybrid SIM slot, Game Suite, AR Lens, A.I. translator, USB Type-C,
- Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, aptX connectivity, VoLTE connectivity
- EMUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo
- 3750mAh battery
Due to its Huawei roots, nearly everything the Mate 10 Pro has, the View10 has as well, except perhaps the IP67 water and dust resistance or Easy Projection. It features the latest Kirin 970 A.I. processor, 6GB + 128GB memory capacity, but it has some additional features such as having an expandable storage up to 256GB worth of space, a pair of 16MP + 20MP camera sensors on the back, a bigger 13MP front camera, a Game Suite for gaming and AR Lens for the selfie lovers.
The familiar honor camera user interface, here you can see the mode scenery changes accordingly
With an A.I. processor and NPU on board, the View10 is capable of recognizing various scenes from the camera intelligently just like the Mate 10 series. Alternatively, if you want to take full control of the photo, there's the manual mode too and in terms of functionality, it's quite comparable to an entry-level DSLR so that's one way of shooting great outdoor pictures without carrying a heavy camera around.
Meanwhile, the AR Lens is another way for selfie lovers to have fun by adding AR masks over your face, it can also "transport" you to another place such as Paris for fun but at the end of the day, that's just about it. On the other hand, the Beauty Mode on this phone is not bad, photo quality seems natural and not too digitalized.
So camera functions are good and fun as expected, but what we are really impressed with are the fingerprint and face unlock feature. Sure, all new Android phones have Face Unlock nowadays, but what you probably didn't know is that it adds a privacy lock. For example, when you receive a message notification, the message won't be displayed before being scanned by your face. Yup, your friends and family can never read incoming BFF embarrassing messages anymore on the home screen without your permission.
One of the camera features that allows colour selection, quite cool
A.I. translation works, you can also choose to download foreign languages. Currently, it supports 21 languages including Mandarin, Italian, Korean, Bahasa Malaysia, English and many more
Look at the top left corner - VoLTE support!
Customization at your control
This is the setting page for you to learn and customize the gesture modes
Face Unlock and Twin App setting
Performance - On top of its game
Thanks to the Mali G72 MP12 GPU, performance is just as good as we expected. According to the GeekBench 4.1 scores, it has 1917 points for single-core performance and 6713 points for multi-core performance, so if you're wondering what do the numbers mean, it just means the View10 is not a flagship pushover. Its 3DMark score is just fine, at least the image processor runs smoothly. With this, it shouldn't be a problem when you play highly intense graphical games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne or Arena of Valor.
Geekbench score for single and multi-core
3DMark score
Battery chart
Regarding battery life, it's one of the View10's strongest points as it manage to maintain 71% within 11 hours of testing. Are we exaggerating? Well, that's what our boy, Jim said, we also have the battery chart (above) to prove it too. But anyway, the point is that it can easily last more than a day. Also, the SuperCharge technology allows the phone to charge from 40% to 100% in between 40 minutes to an hour, and that's super fast. Heat is still present when gaming, but still tolerable.
Connectivity is stable, as we tried its VoLTE quality and it was pretty clear with no buzzing or delayed sound. Video recording is alright, there's no Optical Image Stabilizer so best to use a tripod or gimbal for recording. On the other hand, its camera performance is top notch which is expected, although the camera still relies on the software for the bokeh effects, the result doesn't look fake at all. Check out the photo samples below and you be the judge!
Bokeh mode, auto mode, the colour on the petal is deep
Another bokeh mode, you can see how 'natural' it looks
A low-light environment, not too much noise seen
Panorama mode
Wide shot, auto mode
Dark cloudy day
Even from afar, the colour contrast is displayed nicely
Selfie mode before bokeh mode
Selfie mode with bokeh mode
Medium shot, auto mode
Medium shot with bokeh mode
Another selfie shot
Conclusion – Definitely a good buy
All in all, the View10 is seriously a value-for-money flagship. At just RM2099, it possesses nearly all the top quality features that we want - a fairly nice trendy design (that Crush Red model), great cameras and gaming performance, the convenient privacy feature with the Face Unlock, amazing battery life and recharging technology.
On the other hand, it doesn't completely manage to perform equally with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro as it lacks features like Easy Projection and IP67 water and dust resistance. That being said, most young and trendy users probably won't actually need or use these features that much, so it should be great for gamers and those who want an intelligent camera experience.
There is one competitor for this, though, and that will be the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 (RM2199) or Mi 6 (RM1899) both of which are great phones too. However, the Mi Mix 2 does not have a dual camera (if that's what you want), but other than that, these phones are more or less similar, so, at this point it really depends on your preference. Maybe you can use our comparison tool here to assist you.
So now that you know how satisfied are we with the View10, are you planning to get one? Thanks for reading our reviews as always, and stay tuned for more future gadget reviews at TechNave.com.
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