Dual camera phones are the new stuff you’re going to hear a lot during this year, but Honor has already secured this area with its dual camera smartphones like Honor 8, Honor 6X, and Honor 8 Lite. This year, Honor has launched another dual camera smartphone Honor 8 Pro which is the company’s top-end phone with a whopping 5.7-inch 2K display. Honor has kept the pricing pocket-friendly to take out the flagship competition.
Honor Honor 8 Pro With Cardboard VR
Honor 8 Pro Specifications
- Display: 5.7-inch LTPS LCD display, Quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels | 515 ppi), Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Software: EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat
- Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, on the back, gesture based
- CPU: Up to 2.4 GHz octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor, 16nm Kirin 960 SoC, 64-bit
- GPU: Mali-G71 MP8
- Memory: 6 GB LPDDR4 RAM
- Storage: 128 GB UFS 2.1 internal storage, MicroSD up to 256 GB
- Main Camera: Dual camera (12 MP + 12 MP) f/2.2, dual-tone LED flash, 4K video @30fps, 1080p video @60fps, 720p video @120fps
- Front Camera: 8 MP f/2.0, 720p video @30fps
- Connectivity: USB 2.0 (Type-C), 3.5 mm port, IR Blaster, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS
- Others: Cardboard VR bundled
- Cellular: 4G network, VoLTE-enabled, 2x nano SIM (GSM), MicroSD on SIM2
- Battery: 4,000 mAh Li-Po (non-removable)
- Dimensions: 157 mm x 77.5 mm x 7 mm
- Weight: 184 grams
- Color: Midnight Black, Navy Blue, Pearl White
- Price: ₹29,999
Design, Build and Ergonomics
Honor 8 Pro appears much larger and wider in hands, it features a 5.7-inch display having a Quad HD resolution i.e. 2560 x 1440 pixels. Unlike the Honor 8 and Honor 8 Lite, it has a larger form factor while being as slim as 7 mm. In the generation where Samsung Galaxy S8, iPhone 7 and others come taller in design, Honor 8 Pro feels wider and not as comfortable as those we’ve seen at least I think. It comes in two different colors, Black color, and Navy Blue and this is the Black variant with top specifications.
It boasts of a metallic construction with curvy edges, the screen has thin bezels and is covered with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with a 2.5D curve. I am really missing the glass back as seen on Honor 8, but even though having a metallic design, it still looks great and feels premium. Honor 8 Pro is a flagship, so this is the company’s highest offerings. Inside the box, you will find a DIY Cardboard VR kit with two lenses.
Honor 8 Pro uses the high-end 16nm Kirin 960 octa-core SoC with 8 CPU cores (4x Cortex-A73 and 4x Cortex-A53) clocked at 2.4 GHz maximum. Kirin 960 is also equipped with a powerful Mali-G71 MP8 GPU and 6 GB LPDDR4 RAM. On the storage side, it comes with a 128 GB mammoth storage with MicroSD expandable. There’s integrated LTE Cat. 12/13 modem for faster downloads over 4G network.
And when we are talking about the high-end phones with high-end specifications, what’s not so prominent is their battery life. Honor 8 Pro is backed up with a huge 4,000 mAh battery that can actually survive 2 days straight without the need of charging.
Also, the sides are similar to the Honor 8, the bottom consists of a type-C USB port, loudspeakers that sound really loud, and a 3.5 mm port for earphones. Surprisingly, I found an IR Blaster on the top which comes handy. There are two microphones on the phone, one at the top and another at the bottom.
The Dual 12 MP Camera
If you have been familiar with the HUAWEI P9 and the Honor 8 itself, there’s one pretty much similar thing about these cameras that continues the trend. The dual cameras are able to get you the bokeh effect you see on the professional DSLR cameras. The dual-camera on the Honor 8 Pro does the same.
Honor 8 Pro offers a top-end camera package, equips dual 12 MP + 12 MP camera on the rear side in which one camera captures RGB color and the latter is for Monochrome. With that, the overall image quality improves. The Honor 8 Pro isn’t using the Leica branded camera that was seen on the HUAWEI’s flagships, but they will provide a similar experience overall.
We took some shots and were surprised with its image quality. It is likely going to capture some of the great shots. The camera has a dual-tone LED flash and records 4K videos but the lack of the optical image stabilization will make some marginal compromises if compared to the current competition. Maybe due to its slim construction and the camera didn’t give a hump like the others. The front side camera is 8 MP.
Honor 8 Pro Camera Samples
Honor 8 Pro Runs The Latest EMUI 5.1 (Android 7.0)
Honor 8 Pro adopts the updated EMUI version 5.1 software which is based on the Android 7.0 Nougat. With the new software, we witnessed the native Android N features along with some cool EMUI features like App twin (runs dual apps such as two WhatsApp or two Facebook accounts). The last security patch it has got is dated 5th June 2017.
Early Verdict – Honor’s Pocket-Friendly Powerhouse
Honor 8 Pro’s beautiful 5.7-inch 2K screen, slender design, and long-lasting battery runtimes (4,000 mAh) are enough to fascinate the people. Although the glass back on the Honor 8 is too good to forget, the metallic body and slim design on the Honor 8 Pro feels very premium and cannot be overlooked. The dual 12 MP camera, stuffed with a variety of modes, appears to be quite impressive and offers decent image quality.
On the flipside, rivals like Samsung Galaxy S8 offer a water-proof design as well as high-speed USB 3.1, Gigabit LTE and Bluetooth 5.0 as future-proof connectivity options. Honor 8 Pro, being a top-of-the-line smartphone, is yet to achieve the same. Nevertheless, Honor 8 Pro is an affordable flagship phone and it competes with the OnePlus 5 and the LG G6.
We will share more details about the Honor 8 Pro in the upcoming review.
