Huawei Honor 8

[core2slow]

I saw that post too when I had the 7, but funny enough I don't have the same issue. Been running hangout, Viber and whatsapp on my 7 and now 8 and never had any issues with notification with screen off.

A common theme when I see people troubleshooting any issue is to pile on more 3rd party apps, and before you know it, you're introducing a lot more crap that neither help or resolve the issue. Best way to test anything is factory reset and test one app at a time. My phone is rooted and unlocked on stock ROM and have never encounter any major issue like that thus far.

 

[Adam595]

That's good to know. I should probably take your advice when I cba.

 

[Crono]

Just bought one from Best Buy (blue), about to pick it up now. Was torn between getting this, the Axon 7, or the HTC 10. Combination of price and design did it for me, and the specs look pretty good, too. Will post a mini review after I set it up and use it a while, if anyone needs more input.

 

[Crono]

Ran Geekbench 4 pretty much after I got the phone (Kirin 950 was one compelling reason for me to get this phone). Got a score of 1625 single core, 5032 multi-core. Unlocked through official Huawei site, flashed TWRP, installed SuperSU, installed Xposed and a few modules, removed/disabled most of the bloat apps and some Google ones (will probably root uninstall some more stuff later), and installed all my usual apps (about 50 or so).

I also Installed Nova Launcher Prime because I don't like EMUI, and I've recently gotten used to replacing OEM launchers with Nova. Nova is nice and smooth with animations off, too, versus some minor UI hitching with EMUI out of the box on the Honor 8 swiping through the home screens (probably not enough for those used to TouchWiz or other android interfaces to notice, but it's there).

Re-ran Geekbench after that cleanup and setup/personalization:

Geekbench comparison stock and after my setup puts it in Snapdragon 820 territory.
Benchmarks aren't everything especially as manufacturers will cheat ("optimize") of they can, but I'll run more just for the fun of it. Just browsing, installing apps, and multitasking seem to reflect the benched speed of the device, though, so I'm happy so far on that front. But I do need to try some GPU intensive games and benchmarks where it may be lacking.

Other quick impressions:
- The build quality is excellent. The back is practically frictionless (I have a clear TPU case coming in Tuesday to address this) and front and back of the phone is essentially encased in glass, but the sides are a matte finish. I'm being extra careful not to drop it but even light tension on a plugged-in USB C cable is enough to make it slide like it's ice.

- I love this color. The Sapphire Blue is more a subtle gradient of blue to grey on the back, depending on the angle and lighting, while the front has a lighter blue in an almost mirror-like finish. It's not a very vibrant or "really blue", but it's understated and a very elegant design overall.

- The screen is sharp, has very good viewing angles, and good contrast. The colors don't "pop" as much as an AMOLED, but they aren't oversaturated, either.

- Speaker is crisp and gets loud enough playing music. Haven't tested headphones yet.

I also have to take more photos - so far I'm not overly impressed, but it's at least on par with other mid-range phones. Too early to comment on battery life, but I don't use Facebook or other battery hogging apps and I have Amplify installed, so it's likely going to fare well given the capacity (3000mAh).

EDIT: benched internal storage and external card (SanDisk Ultra):

 

[Zaap]

Huawei is looking more and more interesting. Depending on what happens with Samsung and their woes lately, I could see Huawei stepping in and shaking up the market at the high end. From my POV, no one else is making anything that's more interesting, except for Samsung minus their issues.

I read Huawei was in talks last year with wacom to produce a wacom enabled phablet to go up against the Note. Imagine now if they could pull that off. If the Note series completely dies, the niche could be filled with a built in market of Note fans with nowhere to turn except lesser phones from makes that most don't seem to give a good crap anymore what they put out, or are in a position of being loved just for putting out iterative boringness to a starved fanbase. *coff coff iphone coff coff*

A Huawei device as well designed as some of their other models- plus wacom pen, plus removable battery and SD? Freakin' WIN if it could be pulled off. If their attempts last year had been successful, just look at the timing- they could possibly have kicked Samsung's ass in that market niche.

Honor 8 looks interesting, but not as much as the P9.

 

[core2slow]

Supposedly Kirin 960 will be unveil end of this month and going inside the Mate 9 with octacore containing all Cortex-A73s. Couple of storage/ram options with the high-end being 6/256gb for $700

I think they'll fit the Kirin 960 with a more competitive GPU this time around (vs mali T880 MP4 in the 950/955), but if they continue doing what they're doing, they'll usurp Samsung in no time.

Aside from Apple, Huawei's mobile portfolio is probably one of the best. They focus on their main flagship and trickle down by screen size and range. They don't saturate the market with a bunch of models (cough..samsung..cough) thus neglecting any meaningful OS updates. People are sleeping on them now, but I think they'll crack through to the US consumers within 3yrs.

 

[Crono]

I missed the fact that this phone has an IR blaster. I'm using it with the SURE Universal Remote app. Easiest setup of any remote app or physical universal remote I've used before, it works well with my receiver and set top box. I haven't had IR since my last HTC One. It's a shame it isn't standard on all Android devices.

I also got my case in. Or cases, I should say, as it's a 2 pack. Decent, standard TPU case: snug fit, adds some grip (though really anything is an improvement over smooth glass); protects back, sides, and adds a lip of protection on the front. It won't protect the screen or the top and bottom bezels from an angled impact (may or may not buy a tempered glass screen protector, but I always get bubbles somewhere during application) but it's still fair drop protection over naked.

If someone wants the second case, PM me your address. It should fit in a standard envelope, so I don't mind mailing it in the U.S.

 

[Crono]

Did a few more nearly full cycles of the battery (100% down to 5%). With my mixed, moderate to heavy usage (a lot of internet browsing, podcasts and music via headphones and bluetooth, some video, no gaming) at 40% to 50% brightness, the screen-on time is 5.5 hours at worst (with performance mode enabled in the battery settings) to 7 hours at best. I think it's fair to say most users would get through a work day with this phone without needing to charge it, though exactly how long it lasts depends on how many apps you allow to run in the background. Huawei's rather unusual power consumption firewall is useful, but I think it's something that shouldn't be on by default, even if it does improve battery life - it's just potentially confusing for users who may not be aware how it limits background apps that require syncing, like messaging or email.

Also the phone does charge quickly using higher amperage using the official charger, even if it doesn't use the Quick Charge standard:

Basically it charges at that higher amperage (about 50 percent capacity in 30 minutes), and then charges more slowly later to conserve battery cycles.

Ran more benches. The unsurprising conclusion I'm drawing from them is the CPU is strong, but the GPU is weak. It's CPU is on par with current generation flagships, but the graphics is comparable to a phone from 1-2 years ago. Probably not the best phone for someone looking to get a phone that's futureproof for gaming, but for someone who doesn't game much or only plays casual games on smartphones it's a very good phone for the price.

Vellamo:

Antutu:

3DMark:

GFXBench:

 

[Dannar26]

How is the WiFi and LTE reception?

 

[Rifter]

I really wish they had put a real GPU in this phone, then i would be all over it.

 

[sweenish]

I very much doubt Huawei will be shaking anything up. Not with EMUI, they won't.

 

[Rifter]

I very much doubt Huawei will be shaking anything up. Not with EMUI, they won't.

yeah the first thing i would do would be flash a new rom

 

[Crono]

How is the WiFi and LTE reception?

No problems here thus far on Cricket (AT&T), except at work where I get fairly weak LTE (-114dBm), but that's typical for me regardless of device on GSM networks because of thick walls with poor building penetration. Outside it's consistent and strong.

WiFi reception seems good, too, at least with my ac router. I have to take a look at what the actual signal strength is versus other devices, but not having issues so far is a good sign.

 

[Crono]

I very much doubt Huawei will be shaking anything up. Not with EMUI, they won't.

yeah the first thing i would do would be flash a new rom

As soon as there's a good ROM, I'm flashing it. I have Nova Launcher installed and some Xposed modules enabled, but I want something that skins the settings and notification shade.

In some areas EMUI is okay, as Huawei has managed to add useful settings and customizations, but much of it looks like a dated and poorly implemented iOS clone.
I want the Nougat shade which is more efficient with space. Not a fan of notifications being cut off.

 

[lopri]

The split notification and settings shortcuts are one of the dumbest features of EMUI. I hope they fix it with the next version of EMUI. My Honor 8 is white and I use it without a case but with a glass screen protector on. I consciously chose white to avoid fingerprints, though I was very intrigued by the blue.

It is my current daily driver, and I have no issue whatsoever to report when it comes to WiFi, LTE, and Bluetooth. Speedtest reports slower speed than Qualcomm modems (about 70% under WiFi), but I do not perceive it during everyday use. It is the first phone in a while I use as a daily driver without root access, thanks to Unicorn (ad blocker) and Yandex browser as well as built-in firewall in EMUI.

The GPU (Mali-T880MP4) is more than adequate for gaming at the phone's resolution (1080p), but I do think the ISP (Image Signal Processor) needs some work. The camera is incapable of shooting 4K video, and I experienced severe battery drain during photo-taking. I experienced a couple of glitches during video playback as well, which is not a significant issue but combined with the camera performance it makes me believe its ISP is not as advanced as Qualcomm's.

 

[quikah]

So is the picture quality really as mediocre as reviews paint it to be? Seems like the camera is always the weak point on these "flagship killers"...

This is perfect size for me, HTC 10 is tempting, but $150-$200 more, cannot decide if it is worth it.

 

[SAWYER]

Buy a used Galaxy S7 edge for 4-something and be done.

 

[quikah]

Buy a used Galaxy S7 edge for 4-something and be done.

S7 edge is too big

I plan to keep for as long as possible so I want to maximize the life by buying new. I am considering regular S7 also, but HTC 10 is cheaper right now new.

 

[SAWYER]

it really isnt very big imo, and once you get used to the size you will not want a smaller phone

 

[Crono]

Heads up for anyone with FRD-L04 Honor 8:
TWRP apparently doesn't work with the latest OTA update. I downloaded the full update (the ~300MB version didn't take), but flashing TWRP failed after that. I'm rootless now.

Also forgot to mention this earlier, but for anyone pre-update and looking to root don't download regular SuperSU, as you'll get stuck in a bootloop. You need the systemless version (in XDA thread).

 

[podspi]

Is your bootloader unlocked? Nice thing about the Honor 8 is the unlockable bootloader, supported by Huawei. I know Huawei is trying to encourage Honor 8 dev, so I doubt the OTA blocks anything.

 

[Crono]

Is your bootloader unlocked? Nice thing about the Honor 8 is the unlockable bootloader, supported by Huawei. I know Huawei is trying to encourage Honor 8 dev, so I doubt the OTA blocks anything.

Yes, it's unlocked, and TWRP was on it before. I don't think Huawei intentionally blocked anything, TWRP just doesn't look like it's compatible with this version (and a few people on XDA said they couldn't get it to work on the FRD-L04 at all).

 

[podspi]

Is your issue getting TWRP working, or getting TWRP to flash the update?

TWRP can flash the full updates only (so if you go to menu, and download full update, it will work - though you'll have to reflash TWRP).


TWRP works 'fine' for me on B150, but yea someone needs to fix it up for FRD-L04. SuperSU flashes fine, but I haven't been able to make a backup. Luckily w/ root Titanium Backup is good enough for me.

 

[Crono]

Is your issue getting TWRP working, or getting TWRP to flash the update?

TWRP can flash the full updates only (so if you go to menu, and download full update, it will work - though you'll have to reflash TWRP).


TWRP works 'fine' for me on B150, but yea someone needs to fix it up for FRD-L04. SuperSU flashes fine, but I haven't been able to make a backup. Luckily w/ root Titanium Backup is good enough for me.

Just realized the bootloader was relocked. Probably after using Huawei eRecovery after accidentally flashing the non-systemless root after update, which put the device in a boot loop. I should have realized that's why flashing TWRP wasn't working.
Not sure how I missed the fact that the unlocked bootloader warning screen wasn't there on boot.

I'll have to unlock again, though I probably won't do it right away because it entails a phone wipe.

 

[podspi]

Haha, no worries, did pretty much the same thing... Great now though!

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