[Review] Honor 8 – Mirror Magic

Battery Life & Conclusion
In the field, the Honor 8’s 3,000mAh battery offered pretty good endurance with moderately heavy usage. With texts, web browsing and social media usage as well as light gaming along with a few calls, it was easily able to last well until sundown. Where it excels is that includes an ROG power-saving mode on top of the usual Ultra Power Saving and Performance modes that offers even exceptionally more battery life than usual. The ROG power-saving mode dials down the resolution of the display from 1080P to 720P, offering significantly more longevity on top of several other battery saving tricks. If you’re away from the mains, this is a real lifesaver and can almost double your usage time and standby time.

While we were not able to experience it during our review period, the Honor 8 will be enjoying a firmware refresh to their latest EMUI 5.0 which comes with a ton of interesting bonuses including improved battery life, the ability to add app drawers and a slight performance boost on top of what the Honor 8 is already capable of.  

The main quibble we have is unfortunately its lustrous mirrored finish; while it is exceptionally beautiful it is also inordinately slippery and a fingerprint magnet to boot. If you aim to acquire this you’ll likely need to get a casing at the same time. The lack of 4K video and OIS isn’t a particularly major omission here on account of the otherwise sound overall camera performance with the phone proving to be a highly capable snapper and adequate for video capture. Quibbles aside, the Honor 8 is an easy recommendation for its price category with good looks, excellent performance and a great camera too for what you pay for.

WHAT WE LIKED Novel and attractive finish, good specifications, great rear camera, ROG mode offers exceptional battery endurance, EMUI 5.0 update
WHAT WE DIDN’T Phone is extremely slippery without a casing, not many accessories out of the box
WE SAY The Honor 8 is a stand-out phone with a unique finish and top-shelf specifications including a great rear camera worthy of a flagship phone but without the commensurate price tag. A very worthy choice for those seeking to get their money’s worth.

Specifications
Price RM1,899
Display 5.2-inch Full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 423ppi
Processor HiSilicon Kirin 950
OS Android 6.0
Memory 4GB RAM/ 64GB built-in storage + microSD card
Camera Dual 12-MP w/ F/2.2 (rear) + 8-MP (front)
Battery 3,000mAh
Size/Weight 145.5 x 71 x 7.5 mm / 153g
*Review unit courtesy of Honor Malaysia