Huawei Honor 3X review: video, photos, specifications and reviews |

The mobile technology market is literally overflowing with smartphones of different price categories and from different manufacturers. Here you

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But that’s why our wonderful website exists, to simplify your choice with detailed reviews. Today's article is dedicated to the “former” flagship - Huawei Honor 3X . What is it and is it worth your attention?

Equipment

We received a model for review in packaging intended for the native market, as evidenced by the abundance of hieroglyphs. In it we found: a smartphone with a protective film glued to the screen, a charger with an output current of 1A and a USB cable. It is possible that the configuration and box of serial devices will differ.

Design and ergonomics

The appearance of HUAWEI Honor 3X is simple, typical of modern smartphones. Most of the front panel is occupied by the display, above it there is a thin speaker grid, the manufacturer’s logo, a front camera and a set of sensors. A bright indicator of missed events is hidden under a translucent white panel; while it is turned off, it is difficult to suspect its presence. Below the screen are the touch keys “Back”, “Home” and “Menu”; they have a dim backlight, so they don’t interfere when working in the dark. A long press on “Home” brings up Google Now, “Menu” brings up a list of recently running applications.

The case is framed by a plastic frame, stylized as metal. On the right are a paired volume key and a power button, on top is a mini-jack connector, on the bottom is Micro-USB and a microphone hole, the left side is left empty. The back cover is made of lacquered plastic with a pattern in the form of longitudinal stripes. It has a slightly protruding camera lens, a flash, a second microphone, a speaker and logos. It is attached to the body with many small latches, and there is a small recess near the speaker that allows you to remove it. Under it there is a removable battery, slots for mini-SIM and micro-SIM cards and memory cards. They cannot be replaced without removing the battery.

Despite the collapsible design, the body is tightly assembled, there are no backlashes or creaks, and it is practically impossible to twist.

Although the design of the smartphone is dominated by straight lines, it fits well in the hand. This is facilitated by the smoothed corners and slight rounding of the back cover. When holding the smartphone with your left hand, your index or middle finger rests exactly on the power key; if you hold it with your right, your thumb will be on the volume key (if you have a medium or large palm), you will need to bend it slightly to turn on the screen. Personally, for me, it is more convenient to place the power key above the volume key or placing them on different sides, but this is more a matter of habit.

The glossy cover hides fingerprints and minor scratches well, but the smartphone is slippery and accidental falls are possible. In general, the ergonomics of the smartphone are at a good level, it could be improved due to thinner screen frames, and comments can be attributed to personal preferences.

First impressions and appearance

Huawei Honor 3X (G750D) comes in a nice turquoise box. After opening it, the device itself naturally catches your eye. Also inside the box you will find a power adapter, a headset and a USB-MicroUSB cable - everything is the same as in

one fruit company

of people.

Honor 3X is big. It fits in your hand like a lampshade, and the diagonal of the display is not far behind them - it is five and a half inches. It's scary to think that just a few years ago the HTC HD2 with a 4.3-inch screen seemed like this very lampshade. Using a medium-sized smartphone with one hand does not pose any particular difficulties.

The gadget looks good, even interesting. The front surface, as it happens, is almost completely occupied by the display, and on it you will also find a speaker covered with a metal grille, a front camera, a light sensor and three standard keys for an Android smartphone: “Back”, “Home” and “Menu”. The side edges of the device are framed by a plastic edging “metal-like” - it looks decent, I would like to believe that it will not wear out over time.

As for the connectors and keys, here, again, everything is pretty standard: on the top edge there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack, on the bottom there is a MicroUSB jack and a microphone, on the left you won’t find anything, and on the right the manufacturer placed volume rocker and power key. The latter are located slightly lower than usual.

The back edge is also made of plastic. On the lid you can see a pattern of vertical stripes; it’s all covered with transparent varnish. On the white model, fingerprints are practically invisible, but I think on the black version everything will not be so clear. On the back of the gadget there is a camera, flash, a second microphone for noise reduction and a multimedia speaker.

There are no questions about the assembly - nothing is loose, does not creak or rattle anywhere, the smartphone passed the “curl” test with dignity.

Screen

The HUAWEI G750D has a 5.5-inch display, the resolution of the IPS matrix is ​​1280x720 pixels, there is no air gap between the glass and the matrix. The minimum brightness is 12.71 cd/m², the average is 193 cd/m², the maximum is 385.27 cd/m², the contrast is 1751:1. The automatic brightness adjustment range is the same as when setting brightness manually. Other brightness levels: 25% – 95.55 cd/m², 51% – 200 cd/m², 65% – 255 cd/m², 75% – 293.7 cd/m². Brightness changes linearly.

The calibration of the matrix is ​​performed at an average level, only the color gamut and temperature are close to normal values, the rest deviate noticeably from the reference ones.

In real life, the display looks good, both in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles. The screen resolution is quite sufficient for such a screen diagonal, the pixels are almost invisible. In contrast to the average objective indicators, there is a high-quality oleophobic coating and the ability to work with the screen with gloves. The finger glides perfectly over the glass; in order to remove fingerprints, you just need to wipe it on clothes or a special cloth once, and the increased sensitivity of the touch layer is such that you can work with it without any problems both in thick fabric gloves and leather ones. Due to the large diagonal, the display is easy to read in bright sunlight. It is possible to adjust the color temperature.

In general, the screen looks good in terms of all its characteristics; the less-than-ideal calibration is compensated by other advantages.

Operating system and shell

The smartphone runs Android 4.2.2 OS with Emotion UI 2.0 graphical shell. The shell did not receive any significant changes compared to previous versions; the icons and the status bar with switches changed slightly; a simple screen mode appeared to make it easier for older people or users who have not previously encountered such devices to use the smartphone. In addition, there is a one-handed control mode, when turned on, the keyboard for typing and the dialer are docked to the edge of the screen. The “Themes” application now has an “Online” tab that allows you to download additional themes if you are not satisfied with the set of preinstalled ones.

Among the built-in applications, it is worth noting the Swype keyboard, which is preinstalled as the default text input method, and “Phone Manager” - in it you can configure power consumption modes, program operation, their startup, access to the notification line, etc.

In general, the shell is quite convenient, looks nice, in its capabilities it resembles Lenovo Launcher and Mi Launcher, but there is a lack of gestures, which are especially useful if the screen diagonal exceeds five inches.

⇡#Technical characteristics

Calls and multimedia

The operation of two SIM cards is implemented on the basis of one radio module - both cards are available in standby mode; during a conversation, the second card is turned off. Traditionally, in the settings the default card operation parameters are set; the dialer and SMS have separate call and message keys for different cards, which is quite convenient. You cannot assign separate ringtones and messages to different SIM cards.

The volume of the ringing and conversational speakers is slightly above average; in a noisy environment it may not be enough. The sound from both speakers is clear and pleasant, without distortion. Considering its size and weight, the vibration alert is relatively powerful. When talking in hands-free mode, the speaker volume is enough for comfortable communication, but the sensitivity of the microphone in this mode is not high, you have to raise your voice, under normal conditions there are no problems with this. During a call, you can quickly access your notes to jot down some important information. Recording a conversation is not provided by standard means.

According to subjective feelings, compared to smartphones on previous generations of MediaTek chipsets, the quality of music playback in headphones has improved slightly, but the maximum volume is low; in most cases, a volume level close to the maximum was comfortable. There is a built-in DTS equalizer with several presets that works in players, games for headphones and external speakers.

The built-in video player of Honor 3X plays videos in popular formats, except for AC3 audio tracks. The smartphone copes well with 4K video playback; this still remains the prerogative of devices with top-end SoCs from Qualcomm.

Playing video files

Huawei Honor 3C (H30-U10) smartphone review

Review of the Huawei Honor 3C (2/8Gb) ​​smartphone with WCDMA support. Useful links at the end of the review. (Warning, lots of photos!) Huawei is one of the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers in China. On the Russian market, Huawei presents both its own smartphones and devices that are sold under the Megafon and MTS brands. Meanwhile, as 8-core smartphones are gaining more and more popularity, manufacturers continue to produce devices based on last-generation chips. At the time of writing this review, the Huawei Honor 3C model exists in at least 3 modifications, with different amounts of RAM/built-in memory and support for different communication standards:

1Gb RAM, 4Gb ROM, Without 3G support (H30-T00) 1Gb RAM, 4Gb ROM, With 3G WCDMA support 2Gb RAM, 8Gb ROM, With 3G WCDMA support (H30-U10)

The review will focus on the maximum version 2/8Gb, WCDMA (H30-U10). At the time of writing this review, the price for this model ranges from $205 to $240.

The prcfrog.com store is relatively new. Many who often order smartphones from China are better known to the seller RTDC from aliexpress - they are the same ones, they just opened their own separate website. Prices are approximately at the level of other stores, slightly higher than on aliexpress due to the commission that paypal takes. My choice fell on this store because: they quickly have new products, responsive support, the ability to pay by PayPal, free delivery by Singapore Post, and most importantly - out of all the orders from them, I have never had any problems.

The body of the device is made of plastic. At the moment there is only one version of the coloring: black top, white bottom.

There are no identification marks or inscriptions on the front side. The back cover is glossy, with the inscription honor.

At the bottom of the screen there are three touch buttons, arranged in reverse order, unlike most Chinese smartphones. From left to right: “back”, “home”, “menu”. There is no backlighting of the touch keys. At the top of the screen, to the left of the earpiece, there is a proximity and light sensor. On the right is a 5-megapixel front camera and an LED event indicator.

The dimensions of the smartphone are 139.5 x 71.4, with a thickness of 9.2mm and a weight of 140 grams.

On top there is a 3.5mm headphone jack

On the right side there is a power button and volume rocker

Bottom left is a microUSB connector and microphone

The thickness of the device is not record-breaking, but it fits comfortably in the hand. Today, 5 inches is the most common screen size.

The build quality is average, the lower right corner creaks when pressed (possibly depends on the copy). The equipment is minimal: charger, microUSB - USB cable for connecting to a computer. The headset, film and other delights are, alas, missing.

A high-quality screen is one of the main advantages of this device. The screen resolution is 1280x720 pixels. Huawei 3C uses a high-quality IPS matrix, the screen is made according to the OGS principle, using LTPS (low-temperature polysilicon technology). This technology allows you to achieve higher brightness levels with less power consumption. In fact, the screen has a really excellent brightness reserve: indoors, for comfortable use, you have to set it to almost the minimum; at the maximum level, the image on the screen will be readable in the sun. Black is truly black. At low brightness levels, the dark fill merges with the edge of the screen, looking great. Viewing angles are close to 180 degrees.

The heart of Huawei 3C is a quad-core chip from Mediatek: MTK6582. Some people mistakenly believe that this chip is worse than MTK6589. In fact, the MTK6582 uses a faster Mali-400MP2 video accelerator, which allows it to achieve better results in both synthetic tests and real-world operating conditions. The amount of RAM is 2GB, the MIUI firmware eats up about 550MB. This is not to say that such a volume of RAM is necessary, but it is always nice to have a supply of memory, and not think that some offers may be closed due to a lack of it.

The amount of built-in storage differs in different versions of the device. In my case, this is 8Gb, of which about 5.5Gb is available to the user, the rest of the volume goes to the needs of the operating system. The 32Gb Class 10 card worked without problems, but there is no way to check 64Gb.

The manufacturer claims a 2300mAh battery, which is an average volume by current standards. A larger battery capacity is either installed in a smartphone with a large screen (with the exception of Lenovo P780, JiaYu G4 and several other models). Judging by the tests and real operating time, the battery volume is close to real. Antutu Battery Test showed 461 points. At maximum load, the device operates for about 3-3.5 hours. With an average load, one charge should last for a couple of days. In standby mode, with wi-fi and GPS turned off, the battery charge did not decrease even by %.

There are no complaints about sound quality. Both the conversational and external speakers have a good volume reserve. The headset is not included as standard.

The device came with the official Emotion UI firmware, without Russian language and without Google Play. If the lack of Russian does not bother you, and you do not have the opportunity to flash your phone, then Google play can be installed as follows:

1) Enable Chinese language in the firmware 2) In the built-in Huawei application store, type “Google” 3) From the search results, select Google play store, with a familiar icon.

At the time of writing, there are at least three multilingual firmware with built-in gapps. One of them is a modified firmware in the SGS4 style, the second is MIUI firmware. All useful links can be found at the end of the review. I tried several firmwares and settled on MIUI 4.2.28 translated by friend Romarik. Among the shortcomings: the camera application is not translated, an error when choosing the color of the LED notification. The 2/8gb model with WCDMA support went on sale not so long ago. Considering the popularity of the Huawei brand, in the very near future we should expect a huge number of custom firmwares for every taste and color, including LeWa OS, beloved by many.

How to enable root on MIUI firmware 1) Find the “Security” shortcut on the desktop 2) Go to “Permissions” 3) Turn on “ROOT Rights” or “Superuser Rights”

Upd: While this review was in the process of writing, a new weekly firmware from MIUI 4.3.9 was released, comrade Romarik promptly translated it and kindly shared it with us. Among the noticed innovations, the camera application has been translated.

I didn’t pay much attention to games, because there are a huge number of reviews of phones based on MTK6589/MTK6582, there will be no differences here. From the tested: Real Racing 3 downloaded and launched without any problems. You can play quite comfortably.

Section 9: Wireless Interfaces.

I would like to immediately draw your attention to the fact that the device has both slots for micro SIM cards. Therefore, if you are waiting for this smartphone and you have a full-size SIM card, you should take care of this in advance. The smartphone has no problems with GPS. A cold start takes about 2-3 minutes. Indoors, near the window, 7 satellites are connected and show positioning accuracy of about 3-4 meters (11-14 feet).

Some sites write that Huawei 3C has a camera from Sony. I can’t confirm or deny, but the quality of the pictures is above average.

Huawei has produced an excellent, no-frills smartphone at an affordable price. 2Gb of RAM will allow you to run a large number of applications simultaneously. Huawei 3C has an excellent quality screen and a good battery. Among the shortcomings, I would note the crude firmware that the phone came with, the lack of Russian language and Google Play. However, this problem is resolved quite quickly.

Pros:

+ High-quality screen + Popular brand (support from the manufacturer and a huge community) + Camera

Minuses:

— Lack of OTG — Lack of backlighting of touch keys — Poor equipment

useful links

Installing custom recovery Topic dedicated to Huawei 3C on the 4pda forum MIUI V5 4.3.9 firmware from Romarik install via custom recovery Samsung UI firmware install via custom recovery Emotion UI firmware with Russian and google play flash via flash tools Chinese site with a huge number of firmwares Original photos Video review from the store

Performance and Memory

HUAWEI Honor 3X is built on the MediaTek MT6592 system-on-chip, the RAM capacity is 2 GB, the built-in memory is 8 GB, there is a slot for MicroSD memory cards. The platform used is the first “true” eight-core processor, energy-efficient Cortex-A7 cores operate at a frequency of 1.7 GHz, graphics subsystem performance has increased due to the use of a more powerful Mali-450 GPU. In synthetic tests, it shows results at the level of last year's flagships (Samsung Galaxy S4 and others).

There are no performance issues during normal use. Desktops scroll smoothly, applications launch quickly, and 2 GB of RAM allows you to keep many applications running. Heavy games, for example, Real Racing 3, Modern Combat 4, Asphalt 8, run without problems. Selecting an external memory card as the default data storage allows you to solve the problem of a small amount of built-in memory. The only complaint is the noticeable heating of the body in the camera area during games, and sometimes without them.

GPS and Wi-Fi work without any complaints. During a “cold” start, the device finds satellites in less than a minute, further search occurs even faster. The data exchange speed on the wireless network is average.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 149.5 x 77.4 x 8.9 mm.
• Weight: 161 g.
• Operating system: Android 4.2.2, Emotion UI 2.0.
• Processor: eight-core, Mediatek MTK6592, 1.7 GHz.
• Graphics: Mali-450 MP.
• Display: IPS, 5.5″, 1280 x 720, 267 ppi.
• Memory: 8 GB, supports MicroSD memory cards up to 32 GB.
• RAM: 2 GB.
• Camera: front – 5 MP, main – 13 MP, FullHD video recording.
• Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0.
• Interface connectors: 3.5 mm headphone jack, MicroUSB.
• Battery: 3000 mAh.

Cameras

The smartphone has two cameras – a 13 MP main camera with autofocus and flash, and a 5 MP front camera. In addition to the standard set of modes and effects for all modern devices, the camera application turned out to be somewhat unusual. The first of them, “Multicourse,” allows you to take some kind of 3D photographs by creating an MPO file. The second is “Exposure Metering”. Here you can separately select the focus point and the area over which the exposure will be measured. This mode can be useful in difficult shooting conditions.

In normal modes the camera is fast, focusing and taking a photo in less than a second, but taking HDR photos takes about five seconds. The quality of photographs depends on lighting conditions. Outdoors in good lighting, the pictures are of high quality, with good detail and correct white balance. In conditions of artificial lighting or lack of it, the amount of noise increases, and the camera may incorrectly determine the white balance.

Examples of photos taken with the HUAWEI Honor 3X camera

Example of Full HD video shot with HUAWEI Honor 3X camera

It is worth mentioning the capabilities of the front camera. Panorama shooting is available (personally, I still don’t understand how they work), there is a “Decoration” mode - it is aimed at hiding skin defects, etc.

Examples of pictures taken with the front camera, an illustration of the “Decoration” mode

Autonomy

Using a removable battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh, the smartphone worked for about a day and a half under average load. It included: several hours of reading and listening to music, synchronizing one Google account, some games and telephone conversations, and other load. For most users, one charge should be enough for a day of reliable operation; this figure may vary depending on the selected power consumption mode, application settings, etc.

It was not possible to conduct an autonomy test using the Antutu Tester program because the test stopped immediately after launch

In reading mode, all wireless communications are disabled, including data transmission on the mobile network, and the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2. When listening to music, automatic data synchronization and data transfer worked. The sound volume in the headphones is at 12 out of 15 possible levels. All music files are in MP3 format, bitrate 320 Kbps. Navigation includes getting directions in the Google Navigation app. The brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, all data communication modules are disabled. When playing a video, data transmission on the mobile network is active, the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, the sound volume in the headphones is at level 12 out of a possible 15. The video file format is MKV, resolution 1024x432 pixels, frame rate 24. Playing video from Youtube was accompanied not only by work on a Wi-Fi network, but also through active data transmission. The display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, the sound volume in the headphones is set to 12 out of 15 possible levels. * - data obtained under similar conditions, but with the brightness set to 50% and possible You can familiarize yourself with the testing methodology in this material

Results

As a result, HUAWEI Honor 3X is a good workhorse. If you need a productive smartphone with a screen diagonal of more than five inches, but you are not yet ready to buy a phablet, you can take a closer look at it, at least because it will cost a little less than its closest competitors from famous manufacturers. On the other hand, the difference between a 5 and 5.5 inch screen is not that big; if you look at such smartphones, the HUAWEI G750D is surrounded by many competitors, the cost and quality of which vary widely. We don’t have a clear answer to the question of why Honor 3X should be preferred, but good performance, overall balance and the presence of small features will not disappoint the buyer.

The product was provided for testing by HUAWEI, https://consumer.huawei.com/ua/

Pros: Performance, cameras, oleophobic screen coating and ability to operate with gloves

Cons: The case heats up, the case is slippery, the screen is not Full HD, weight is 162 grams

Conclusion: A productive smartphone with a large screen and good cameras without critical flaws

Specifications

Chinese all-weather: review and testing of the Huawei Honor 3 smartphone

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Specifications
• Packaging and equipment
• Appearance and design
• Display
• Software and Performance
• Multimedia part
• Wireless Interfaces and Communications
• Battery life
• File system
• Camera
• Comparison with competitors
• Conclusion

Introduction

I won’t talk about the company itself, since my colleagues have already done this before me in other materials (Ascend G700, Ascend D2, Ascend W2). I just want to remind you that this is one of the few companies that independently produces processors for most of its smartphones (HiSilicon Technologies Co is a division of Huawei).

Thanks to the Yulmart cybermarket, I got my hands on the Honor 3 model. I must say that this is my first close acquaintance with mobile phones produced by Huawei, so it was very interesting to try out their developments in the field of hardware and software. At the time of testing, the average price of a smartphone was 12,000 rubles, which, at first glance, is quite a lot for a Chinese device with a small screen and not the latest hardware, but the hero of the review has one “ace up his sleeve” - resistance to dust and moisture.

In this price range, the choice of moisture-resistant solutions is quite scarce. If we do not consider older models on Android 2.x, then Huawei Honor 3 “looms” very serious rivals in the form of Sony Xperia ZR, Xperia Z (which can be bought from 13,500 rubles), Lenovo IdeaPhone S750 and (surprise!) “big brother” " - Ascend D2. We will return to the comparison of these devices at the end of the article, but for now you can find out how the manufacturer positions this device.

In support of the device and to emphasize that it is ready for Russian conditions, the company released an original advertising video, which quickly became a hit on the Runet. It would be a shame not to bring it up for those who haven’t seen it yet:

announcements and advertising

2080 Super Gigabyte Gaming OC for 60 rubles.

Compeo.ru - the right comp store without any tricks

RTX 2060 becomes cheaper before the arrival of 3xxx

Ryzen 4000

series included in computers already in Citylink

The price of MSI RTX 2070 has collapsed after the announcement of RTX 3xxx

Core i9 10 series is half the price of the same 9 series

The price of memory has been halved in Regard - it’s more expensive everywhere

And I thought that water-resistant phones are bought mainly by those who like to take long baths. In addition to provocative advertising, the manufacturer notes a powerful 13 MP back-illuminated camera. On the page dedicated to Honor 3, you can see a banner that promises “excellent shooting in low light.” Oh, well, we'll definitely check that out.

Specifications

*
According to the manufacturer.

Let's start with the most unexpected: the phone has one SIM card. In Chinese

smartphone has one SIM card. The device has a K3V2 processor, which will be interesting to compare with MTK6589T, however, judging by the architecture and frequency, the advantage will clearly not be in favor of the latter, and the graphics subsystem will be more powerful. The rest of the characteristics are quite balanced, the only thing that scares me is the thickness of a centimeter.

Huawei Honor 3 is certified to IP57 standard for protection against dust and water. The phone can withstand immersion in fresh water for no more than 30 minutes, to a depth of 1 meter.

Packaging and equipment

Package

The smartphone comes in a small cardboard box.

Its ends are devoid of any useful information, with the exception of a sticker with barcodes.

On the reverse side are the key features of the model and support for DTS Sound.

The device itself lies in a “crib” in a plastic bag.

Underneath is a box with accessories. And there is another small one - with a battery. Almost a nesting doll!

Equipment

• Documentation;
• Warranty card;
• Stereo headset;
• Micro-USB cable;
• Battery;
• Charger;
• Stencil for cutting SIM cards.

The kit cannot be called rich, but everything you need is there.

The characteristics of the charger are standard for solutions of this class.

Output current 1000 mA, voltage 5 volts.

The stereo headset doesn't stand out for its sound quality, but it's fine for conversations in quiet places.

It is equipped with a remote control with a single button.

Appearance and design

Huawei Honor 3 is a representative of a monoblock design.

Initially, a sticker with advertising information is placed on the phone.

There is also a black version.

The design looks slightly outdated - the frames are quite thick (0.5 cm), and the lower part with touch control buttons is too massive.

This time I remembered to take a photo with the display on outside of the screen section so you can see what it will look like.

The back cover is semicircular, so there is no problem with closing the ringing speaker. The device is quite thick, but you can’t call it massive, and it weighs moderately. An interesting point is that the charging connector is located on the top.

The front camera module is neatly placed in the body, the speaker grille is glued in with a minimum gap.