After trying Xiaomi’s Pocophone F1, I have had the opportunity to review another smartphone that has been standing up to it, and it is none other than Huawei’s Honor Play. Given that both are smartphones with the best processors on the market and their initial starting price is 329 euros, I will try to make small comparisons and give my opinion on which of the two seems to be the best purchase. I leave you in this link the comparison of the technical sheets of both terminals.
In this case, we have bought the Huawei Honor Play European version (L29) on Gearvita. If you opt for this terminal, I recommend you check which version since the Chinese version does not have as much compatibility with the European 4G frequency bands.
This device comes in a white cardboard box with the name of the terminal in bright blue. On one of the sides is a sticker with the name of the company, the website, the IMEI number, the European conformity seal, and, most importantly, the version and color of the terminal.
Inside is the smartphone in a small translucent bag. Underneath is a small box containing the transparent TPU case, a multilingual user guide, the warranty card, and the pin to access the SIM and microSD tray. Underneath is the 1-meter long USB to USB Type-C cable, the 5V 2A Chinese version power charger, and a white earphone.
I liked finding the transparent cover, and I think it is better quality than the ones that come with Xiaomi smartphones and the Pocophone F1. Mainly because of its hardness and its thickness. It is also detailed, and lately, few manufacturers maintain it to include headphones with the smartphone, even if they are not of excellent quality. I think that on this occasion, despite being a smartphone with a reasonable price, they have taken care of the packaging and accessories—Bravo for Huawei.
Design and Screen
On this occasion, one of its main differences with respect to the Pocophone F1 is that this Honor Play has a design with a metallic finish and is very well cared for. It has a good touch and a curvature that makes it hold better in hand, much better than other smartphones from the company that is made of glass, such as the Honor 9. It has a “unibody” body, so the battery cannot be removed.
This Huawei Honor Play has 74.3 mm long x 157.9 mm high x 7.5 mm thick and weighs 176 grams. The screen is a 6.3-inch IPS LCD with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a good area of 83%, which makes it a standard size and the perfect one from my point of view. The pixel density per inch is 409.
As expected and given its tight price, it is probably not the best screen the manufacturer has, but it is reasonably good. The brightness is adjusted adequately and looks good in very bright conditions—a quality smartphone with a revised price.
Like many high-end smartphones, the front is all screen and has no physical buttons. A “notch” is not as big as those of Xiaomi or the iPhone, where the call speaker is located, with a small notification LED, the selfie camera, and the light sensor on both sides. In the lower frame, you can see how the manufacturer’s mark “Honor” is written.
On the right side is the typical volume up and down button followed by the lock button, all of them in metal. And on the left is the slot to access the nano SIM and microSD card holder.
We find the USB type C plug surrounded by two small screws on the lower side. Just to the right side is the microphone, followed by the speaker. On the left is the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the upper side, there is only the second noise cancellation microphone.
On the left rear of this Honor Play, there is a dual camera and a powerful LED flash just below this sensor. The fingerprint reader is centered, pulling towards the top. I have to say that the speed and accuracy are excellent. I have noticed it at the height of the best fingerprint sensors.
Software
This Huawei Honor Play has the version of Android 8.1 Oreo under a well-known customization layer that works well called EMUI v8.2. Even though for my taste, it lacks certain visual aspects, and it could be a little more functional, EMUI offers a correct and adequate lightness and fluidity to any terminal. For those who do not know this customization layer, I would like to comment that it does not have an application menu, so you will have to have the applications on the windows main pages and organize them by folders. Typically and over time, this manufacturer usually updates its devices to newer operating system versions, so it is expected to update to Android 9.0 Pie and has constant security updates.
The terminal includes all the existing languages, such as Spanish, English, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, etc.
It comes with Google services and the official Play Store app store installed. In addition, the manufacturer has decided to include other Google applications such as Youtube, Drive, Duo, Photos, Maps, Spreadsheets, and others. If these were not enough, Huawei has decided to include many applications and third-party developers, such as Backup, Clone, Recorder, Flashlight, weather, Netflix, and seven more games. Many of these can be uninstalled by dragging them to the recycle bin. I will not list all the applications that come pre-installed, but as a picture worth more than a thousand words, I will leave you below all the “Apps” that you can find.