Honor Play Specs Pricing Pros & Cons Unveiled

Overview of the Honor Play

The Honor Play is a smartphone that offers a balance of performance and affordability, making it an appealing choice for users seeking a capable device without breaking the bank. Released in August 2018, the phone has been known for its high-quality display, efficient performance, and gaming optimizations, thanks to the inclusion of the Kirin 970 chipset.

Design and Build

Featuring a sleek design with dimensions of 157.9 x 74.3 x 7.5 mm and weighing 176 grams, the Honor Play offers a comfortable and solid feel in hand. The build features a glass front combined with an aluminum back and frame, providing durability and a premium appearance. The device supports a Hybrid Dual SIM configuration, allowing users to utilize two Nano-SIM cards or one SIM card and a microSD card for additional storage.

Display

The Honor Play boasts a 6.3-inch IPS LCD screen, which covers approximately 83% of the front face of the phone, enhancing its visual appeal with an immersive display experience. With a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, the device delivers sharp and vivid visuals that are particularly noticeable when viewing multimedia content or playing games.

Performance

Under the hood, the Honor Play is powered by the Kirin 970 chipset, built on a 10nm architecture. The Octa-core CPU consists of four Cortex-A73 cores running at 2.4 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8 GHz, teamed with a Mali-G72 MP12 GPU. This configuration is optimized for performance-intensive tasks, including gaming and multitasking, making the Honor Play a competitive device in its segment.

The smartphone was initially launched with Android 8.1 Oreo and is upgradable to Android 9.0 Pie, customized with Huawei's EMUI 9.1 interface. This software combination provides a smooth user experience with additional features and customization options.

Camera Capabilities

The Honor Play is equipped with a dual-camera setup on the back, comprising a 16 MP primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2 MP depth sensor for creating portrait effects. The rear cameras support LED flash, HDR, and panorama modes, providing versatility for photography enthusiasts. The rear camera setup also offers video recording in 4K at 30fps and 1080p at various frame rates, including a gyro-EIS feature for stabilized video captures.

For selfies and video calls, the device includes a 16 MP front camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The front camera captures detailed selfies and supports 1080p video recording at 30fps.

Battery and Charging

The Honor Play houses a non-removable Li-Po 3750 mAh battery. With 18W wired charging support, users can quickly replenish the battery, ensuring that the phone remains ready for use throughout the day. The battery performance has been noted as reliable, achieving an endurance rating of 94 hours, indicating substantial longevity even with intensive use.

Storage and Memory

The device offers multiple storage configurations: 64GB with 4GB RAM, 64GB with 6GB RAM, and 128GB with 6GB RAM. Additionally, users can expand storage via microSDXC, utilizing the shared SIM slot. This flexibility ensures that users have ample space for apps, media files, and more.

Network and Connectivity

The Honor Play supports a comprehensive range of connectivity options, including GSM, CDMA, HSPA, and LTE, with specific bands available for global use. Users can enjoy swift download speeds of up to HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps and LTE Cat16 1024/150 Mbps.

For wireless connectivity, the phone includes Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC (market dependent). The device is also equipped with a USB Type-C 2.0 port for charging and data transfer.

Additional Features

The Honor Play includes a range of sensors, such as a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. These sensors enable an intuitive user experience and enhance security.

The phone also features a loudspeaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack, ensuring versatile audio options for different user preferences.

Price and Availability

Upon release, the Honor Play was priced at around 250 EUR, positioning it as a competitive option in the mid-range market segment. The device is available in several attractive colors, including Midnight Black, Navy Blue, Violet, Player Edition Red, and Player Edition Black.

Performance Benchmarks

In terms of performance benchmarks, the Honor Play scored impressively in various tests: AnTuTu scored 204876 (v7) and 238754 (v8), while GeekBench recorded 6696 (v4.4) and 1647 (v5.1). The phone also demonstrated a GFXBench onscreen performance of 21fps (ES 3.1), highlighting its capability in handling graphics-intensive tasks efficiently.

Conclusion

The Honor Play stands out as a well-rounded smartphone that balances performance, functionality, and affordability. With its robust hardware, capable camera system, and efficient battery life, it appeals to a wide range of users, particularly those who enjoy mobile gaming. As a mid-range device, it continues to offer significant value years after its initial release.