London just saw the European launch of the Honor 7, Chinese smartphone maker Honor’s new affordable flagship.
The offshoot of telecoms giant Huawei calls itself a digital native-driven smartphone brand focused on bringing low cost, but solidly-specced smartphones to market. The company’s president George Zhao spoke at length on how it’s making a concerted effort to listen to its fans and users and in turn give its customers a voice.
Whether you take that as straight up marketing buzz or otherwise, the company has some impressive sales numbers to back up its success already. As of today, the brand has already reached 78 countries, sold over 40 million devices and made $5 billion in sales revenue. Not bad for a company that launched just two years ago.
The Honor 7 already made its debut in China earlier this year, shifting 200,000 units in the first two minutes after launch but only now is it arriving in markets including the UK.
Hardware-wise, users can expect a 5.2-inch Full HD LCD, massive 20 and 8-megapixel rear and front cameras, a fingerprint sensor for unlocking and answering calls, and a capacious 3100mAh battery. The aluminium frame (which comes in two colours – Fantasy Silver and Mystery Grey) also houses what Honor calls a Smart Key, which lets users configure a specific phone function with a single, double or long-press.
A 2.2GHz/1.5GHz Kirin 936 64-bit octa-core processor runs the show inside, backed up by 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to an additional 128GB. Forgo the SD card and the second slot can take an additional SIM too. Connectivity includes optional dual SIM 4G, an IR blaster, fast charging and even reverse charging.
VMall (short for virtual mall) also launched at the event, bringing Huawei/Honor’s online store to nine European countries including the UK. As part of an introductory offer newcomers who sign up right now can also nab discount coupons for the first month in €30 and €50 values depending on the device or product they’re looking to purchase.
The Honor 7 is set to come to the UK on August 31st, exclusively through VMall and although the phone is priced at a respectable £249.99 outright, the aforementioned €50 coupon can be used at launch to get additional money off at launch.
The unnamed wearable
Honor’s ‘one more thing’ moment came when it also produced an as yet unnamed wearable. Whilst specs are slim on the ground the device appears to feature a monochrome OLED circular display, silicone straps in black, white or khaki and a button-free body. Along with step and sleep tracking, the smartwatch packs IP68 dust and water proofing, call and message alerts and three day battery life.
Referring back to the company’s connection to its fans, Honor is giving people the opportunity to name the wearable, with the creator of the winning name gaining access to a treasure trove of Honor devices launched between now and 2020 along with a trip to celebrate one of its launches in China.
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