Phonandroid Honor 10: Prepare yourself, it will hurt!

The Honor 10 was presented on May 15, 2018 at a conference in London. The new top of the range of the brand takes the good ingredients of its big brother the Honor 9. The brand adds the standards of the top of the range of 2018: 18.5: 9 screen with notch and artificial intelligence. The huge surprise comes from the price because it is offered at 399 euros. We had the chance to test the Honor 10 for several days, before its official announcement. Is the smartphone as attractive on a daily basis as on paper? Should the competition be seriously worried? Answer in our comprehensive test!

Honor has succeeded brilliantly in making a name for itself in the French smartphone market. He climbed into the top 5 manufacturers who sell the most smartphones in France (excluding subsidies) in the first quarter of 2018. He is behind Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Wiko. On online sales, Honor is still in the top 3. It is therefore with a certain serenity that the brand was able to present its Honor 10.

Each year the brand's top-of-the-range model is eagerly awaited. And every year Honor manages to surprise. In 2017, the Honor 9 surprised with its high quality glass design and the consistency of its proposal. Without being the most technically impressive smartphone, the Honor 9 could meet 100% of the needs of any user. All for a very contained price.

The Honor 10 is therefore the brand's new ambassador. Its similarities with its big brother are obvious, but Honor has taken care to adapt the set to today's standards. The Honor 10 incorporates a 19:9 format screen with notch, it is compact and very well equipped on paper. And above all, it incorporates artificial intelligence (with a dedicated chip). Honor created a surprise by revealing the price of this Honor 10. At 399 euros, it puts a real slap in the face of the competition. Honor is the only brand to lower the price of its high-end smartphone compared to the 2017 model. Is this felt in use? Answer in our Honor 10 test!

Honor 10 technical sheet

Design

The dress of the Honor 9 won you over? You will love that of the Honor 10. The new top of the range has furnished its wardrobe with four colors: Phantom Blue (our test model), Phantom Green (particularly pretty), the classic Midnight Black and Glacier Gray (rather a sky blue ). All these colors are created in France by a studio that collaborates with Huawei and Honor. Cock-a-doodle Doo !

Honor renews the aluminum + glass combo with a 2.5D rear shell: the lines are curved and dip towards the edges. While rounded, the smartphone shines with its reflections (36 in total) created thanks to its 15 layers of glass and a very precise industrialization process. Honor also told us that this process generated an average loss of 20% on the assembly lines.

You have to admit, the end result is stunning. Depending on the angle the color of the smartphone changes. For example on our Phantom Blue model, the Honor 10 is blue when viewed from the front, but purple when viewed from the side. The other side of the coin, the smartphone is very slippery both in hand and when placed on a flat surface. Several times our test Honor 10 fell from the desk, the coffee table, a sofa or a bedside table. Fortunately, he is very strong and emerges unscathed each time.

If this slippery side does not facilitate handling, the format of the smartphone allows it to be comfortable. The Honor 10 has almost the same dimensions as the Honor 9. It is a little longer (149.6 x 71.2 x 7.7 mm) but it also incorporates a much larger screen. The screen is also the major aesthetic change of this Honor 10. Like many manufacturers, Honor has given in to the temptation of the notch (even if it is possible to remove it). This allows the manufacturer to keep a format almost identical to the Honor 9 but to integrate a large 5.84-inch screen in 19:9 format. Its integration is reminiscent of that of the iPhone X with a small black outline, very thin all around the screen.

However, unlike the iPhone X, the Honor 10 has a thicker band under the screen. Honor houses a brand new particularly original fingerprint reader. It is actually housed under the small glass slab that covers the screen. To the touch, there is no distinction between the screen surface and the fingerprint reader. To achieve this result, the brand had to resort to a new ultrasound technology. The fingerprint reader can not only detect the surface of the finger, but also all the lower layers, invisible to the naked eye. Thus, you can unlock the Honor 10 with a wet, dirty or scratched finger.

On the right edge Honor has integrated the traditional on/off and volume buttons. In contrast, there is a SIM port (no microSD). Finally on the lower edge Honor has grouped the USB-C port, the speaker and the 3.5 mm jack port. Yippee! On the back Honor has simply integrated the double photo sensor which, in our opinion, protrudes a little too much from the hull.

The design of this Honor 10 is really successful. It shines with a thousand lights, it has an effect, it is elegant and above all it is compact. Of course, it's not perfect, but we forgive its small daily flaws. Fingerprints are, for example, the lot of all glass smartphones. And the slippery side can be immediately corrected with the transparent shell provided in the box. We really loved the work done on the colors and the reflections. Simply magnificent.

Screen

The Honor 10 features a 5.84-inch LCD screen in 19:9 format with Full HD+ definition (2280 x 1080 pixels) or 432 ppi. Without being able to compare with the best on the market, the Honor 10 can boast of having a very nice LCD screen, especially in this price range. The colors are a little cold but they can be adjusted in the settings. On the other hand, the contrasts are very good with a good balance of colors. But it is above all the brightness of this screen that is striking. The Honor 10 is eye-catching and adapts perfectly to ambient light. In direct sunlight the viewing angles are perfectly managed.

You will have noticed that the screen of this Honor 10 has a notch, which is not to everyone's taste. The notch not everyone wants it. Like Huawei, Honor leaves the choice to its users. We can therefore use the Honor 10 with a notch or without. Just go to the settings to clear this notch. A black band then appears at the top of the screen and therefore returns to a more classic display. Everything is more symmetrical but we lose screen surface. Honor at least has the merit of leaving the choice.

Performances

If on the surface the new star of the manufacturer has something to seduce, what about the heart of the beast? Under the hood, the Honor 10 has an in-house Huawei Kirin 970 octa-core processor (4 x 2.36 GHz + 4 x 1.8 GHz). It is backed by 4 GB of RAM and 64 or 128 GB of storage memory. This will undoubtedly be a disappointment for many: the Honor 10 does not include an SD port. But to compensate, Honor has integrated 64 GB directly, believing that this was the minimum required in 2018 to take full advantage of its smartphone. Technically, the Honor 10 therefore has everything to be a very powerful smartphone. Especially since, like the Huawei P20 for example, it incorporates an NPU chip dedicated to artificial intelligence.

If the benchmarks indicate that the Honor 10 is an already very powerful smartphone, it is daily use that makes us realize this. Because the NPU chip “thinks” like a human brain. It does not proceed by simple calculations of algorithms, it is a real cutting-edge technology dedicated to artificial intelligence. It reacts like a human brain, is faster and constantly adapts to the uses of each user.

On a daily basis, the Honor 10 is therefore very pleasant to use. It is not as vigorous as a OnePlus 5T for example or an Honor View 10. But this is not the brand's objective with this model. The Honor 10 should suit all users without trying to be the best on all criteria. For the quest for pure power, you have to turn to the View range. This does not prevent the Honor 10 from being very efficient on a daily basis and for the most demanding uses. Even with greedy 3D games, the Honor 10 keeps pace. On PUBG Mobile, a very poorly optimized game, the Honor 10 rose to the occasion. It tends to heat up slightly but quickly drops in temperature. Honor has therefore succeeded in its bet with the Honor 10: its new top of the range does not need to play whoever has the biggest to meet everyone's needs.

Interface

The Honor 10 integrates Android 8.1 Oreo with the house overlay EMUI 8.1. This is the same software version as the Huawei P20. The aesthetics therefore do not change and EMUI still incorporates as many practical features. Among them eye protection, options for optimizing energy or performance. But the great originality of this Honor 10 is the presence of artificial intelligence. It allows the smartphone to anticipate the needs of the user. Thus we sometimes observe notifications appear to suggest that we activate this or that parameter. The goal is to automate everything for the rest of the user experience.

Overall the AI ​​is not visible but we still feel its presence. It allows for example to take advantage of a very efficient and very fast facial recognition system. In addition to this method, the Honor 10 also incorporates a unique fingerprint reader on the market. This ultrasonic sensor is confusing when setting up. We are used to putting our finger on the fingerprint reader. But here, for it to work perfectly, you have to press it. It should be noted, however, that the fingerprint reader is a little difficult to use on a daily basis. We often have to try several times to unlock the Honor 10. The fingerprint sensor seems to be a bit too small.

For the rest, the experience is fluid, the options are practical, the interface very intuitive. If you want to know more about all the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence on an Honor smartphone, I invite you to read our complete test of the Honor View 10, the first smartphone in the range to integrate such technology.

Network and GPS

The Honor 10 is category 4G compatible… with all French frequency bands. We tested it on the Orange network in Amiens, Paris, Deauville, in the countryside, on the motorway and in the train. The hook is always very fast and the sound during conversations is very clear. For internet use, the smartphone is again very responsive. We made the same observation for WiFi connections. It must be said that the Honor 10 integrates WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz/5GHz. Even the GPS, sometimes a little finicky on some models, proved to be efficient. The precise location appeared in less than 2 seconds. Both for car and pedestrian guidance, the Honor 10 is a reliable companion.

Autonomy

The Honor 10 is equipped with a 3400 mAh battery. We re-read the technical sheet several times before believing it. We are still wondering: how did Honor manage to integrate such a battery into such a compact smartphone? Unsurprisingly, the autonomy of the Honor 10 is excellent. First thanks to the capacity of its battery but also thanks to the optimization of Android 8.1 Oreo and EMUI 8.1. Artificial intelligence also improves battery life over time.

So at the start of our test, the Honor 10 lasted a day and a half at most for intensive use, which is already very good. After three weeks of testing, the artificial intelligence had learned from my habits and allowed me to exceed the day and a half for the same use. An excellent performance then.

Add to that the in-house fast charging system, the Huawei Supercharge, and you have the jackpot. In 25 minutes the Honor 10 gains 50% autonomy. It's about as fast as OnePlus' still unbeatable Dash Charge. In the field of autonomy, the Honor 10 will suit the most active users.

Audio

We can't say that the Honor 10 shines in the field of audio. With its single speaker located on the lower edge of the smartphone, the smartphone struggles to deliver powerful and quality sound. Very quickly, we perceive distortions when we increase the volume. No need to reach heights for the ears to start to suffer. At 60-70%, saturation is heard. Honor would have had every interest in reducing the power of the maximum volume to enjoy cleaner sound. If you don't push the sound to the peaks, you quickly get used to the loudspeaker with relatively clean highs and balanced mids. The bass, on the other hand, is too discreet.

With headphones, the audio experience makes a lot more sense. The sound is more balanced, the bass more audible. The good news is that a 3.5mm jack port is present. Note also that the Honor 10 is Bluetooth 4.2 compatible for lovers of wireless accessories.

Honor 10 camera

Photography has always been one of the central elements of Honor's high-end models. To honor its reputation, the brand has integrated everything it knows how to do best in this field. The Honor 10 is equipped with a dual 24 MP (monochrome) + 16 MP (RGB) photo sensor with a lens opening at f/1.8. The brand's objective with this Honor 10 is the same as Huawei's with its P20: take effortless photos with almost professional quality.

For this, Honor relies on artificial intelligence and the new NPU chip. Compared to the Honor View 10, the AI ​​has been further improved. The Honor 10 is able to recognize up to 22 objects in real time and adapt its settings to more than 500 scenarios. The big novelty is image segmentation: the AI ​​recognizes several elements in the photo and optimizes the settings for each element. Let's take the example of a photo of a small dish eaten on the beach: the AI ​​will optimize the settings for the dish, but also for the blue sky, for the sun and for the sea. Each element will be optimized to offer the best possible result. To top it off, the artificial intelligence can turn into a real assistant since it detects the horizon line and helps you correct your framing.

In fact, the Honor 10 is an excellent smartphone for photos. In good light conditions, the shots are very detailed, with very good sharpness and controlled contrasts. We particularly appreciated the realism of the colors. The Honor 10 unlike the Huawei P20 does not display very contrasting colors. This is due to the fact that the sensor of the P20 is signed Leica, not that of the Honor 10. We have no complaints about the Honor 10 in good light conditions except for some difficulty to manage the backlights. In these situations the details are missing and the contours are not as precise.

In low light conditions, the quality degrades, just like on any smartphone. Noise and grain appear here and there, but the Honor 10 has the merit of maintaining good color rendering. The whole remains quite realistic, the artificial intelligence optimizing the settings according to the situation. But let's face it, this Honor 10 is still a good notch below the best on the market in this field. But it also costs twice as much. Let's say that in its range it is the best for night shots.

Like most high-end models, the Honor 10 also allows you to photograph portraits. Here again, artificial intelligence works wonders: it recognizes elements such as the “T” of the face or the hair. The contours are really neat and the blur effects very balanced. The portraits are elegant, fine. Note that Honor also offers a self-portrait mode with the 24 MP front camera. This is software processing since there is only one front sensor. It's even possible to switch to Light mode (which is actually the iPhone's Studio mode). This functionality turns out to be quite a gadget. But the front camera is on the other hand very good for self-portraits first, but also for group photos for example.

As always Honor has taken care of its photo interface. The set is very intuitive, ergonomic. The brand offers a whole lot of shooting modes ranging from monochrome to panorama to gourmet mode. Some of them ultimately turn out to be useless since the AI ​​operates the settings alone. For example, for a photo of a dish, there is no need to switch to gourmet mode. The artificial intelligence recognizes that it is a dish and optimizes the settings on its own.

This artificial intelligence, Honor advises to always activate it. Because in the gallery it is possible to see the pictures with and without the AI. On the other hand, when it is deactivated, you can only see the result without AI. We compared several photos and we must admit that this artificial intelligence works wonders. We can say that Honor has won its bet: we take the Honor 10 out of the pocket to shoot at the lift, and we are amazed by the end result.

The Honor 10 is capable of shooting in 4K but we would recommend Full HD at 60 fps instead. In 4K the images are jerky and lack sharpness. It's not bad but we still prefer to lower definition but have more fluidity. Moreover, in Full HD at 60 fps, the image is more stable. Again, there's no optical stabilization, so don't expect results on par with the best on the market, but the Honor 10 again does just fine and will do fine for film some memories.

In terms of photography, the Honor 10 is an excellent smartphone, probably the best for its price. Only the Nokia 7 Plus can boast of standing up to it. But Honor is once again very strong in the field of creativity. And artificial intelligence works wonders. In good light conditions the Honor 10 is amazing. When the light is scarcer, it is less impressive but does quite well. We will note the quality of the portraits which for once is bluffing.

Price and launch date of the Honor 10

The Honor 10 has been available since May 15, 2018, the date of its official announcement at a price of 399 euros (4GB/64GB). The 128 GB version is available at a price of 449 euros only on the official website of the HiHonor brand. It is available in four colors: Phantom Blue (our test version), Phantom Green, Midnight Black and Glacier Gray (only on Fnac.com). As we explain in our article, it is undoubtedly the best quality/price ratio on the market today. We invite you to watch the replay of the Honor 10 presentation conference by clicking on this link.

At this price, the Honor 10 is undoubtedly the big surprise of this first half of 2018. Honor was already used to offering its top of the range at an unbeatable price. But while all manufacturers tend to increase their prices, Honor is the only one to lower the amount of the bill. And we do not even count the launch offers and other promotions that will be made during the year. There is no doubt that this Honor 10 will make an important place on the market in 2018.