Phone reviews are almost always hasty affairs.
Thats not to diminish the hard work of so many mobile journalists.
Not for a minute.
Many phone reviewers are excruciatingly meticulous with their coverage, and they provide an important service to consumers.
Will this phone receive timely security and software updates?
Are there any annoying bugs that might crop up in niche situations?
In a few months time, will this phone still be a worthwhile purchase?
Which brings us nicely onto the subject of this article:the Honor 10.
I like the Honor 10.
Not only did it impress upon release, but its also stood tall in the months following.
Thats despite a flood of compelling devices in the same price bracket.
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For example, phones from both Huawei and Honor use the EMUI (formerly Emotion UI) software.
Announced earlier this year in May, the Honor 10 runs Android 8.1 Oreo, paired with EMUI 8.0.
Specs-wise, its no slouch, and offers all the trimmings youd expect from an upper-mid-range phone.
All things considered, these are fairly worthy specs.
Which brings me nicely onto my first point why the Honor 10 is such an endearingly solid phone.
Therefore, when you buy a phone, youve got to verify that itll stand the test of time.
Ive no such concerns for the Honor 10.
Both phones pack the sufficiently meaty Hisilicon Kirin 970 CPU, paired with a respectable 4GB of RAM.
The end result is that the Honor 10 is phenomenally responsive, handling high-definition media and JavaScript-heavy websites.
Pages render supremely quickly.
Its also fabulous for gaming, and you might be assured of a stutter- and lag-free experience.
The Honor 10 was also among the first phones in Honors stable to get Huaweis Turbo GPU software.
Turbo GPU addresses the two biggest bugbears of mobile gaming: speed and battery life.
It actually gets updates!
Ive used Honor phones on and off for the past few years.
Several years later, Im glad to see Honors changed its tune somewhat.
Turbo GPU, for example, came as an OTA (over the air) update.
Theres nothing worse than languishing on an old Android version.
Put simply, its far less complicated.
It does much of the the same stuff.
Where it differs from Huaweis high-end devices is that the Honor 10 does so withfarfewer bells and whistles.
The camera software on the P20 Pro is rightfully complicated.
Its also a lot cheaper, and is aimed at a more mass-market audience.
It therefore makes sense for Honor to strip things down a bit.
The good news is that quality isnt sacrificed.
The Honor 10 primarily excels in daytime shooting.
Expect lush, well-balanced colors, and solid bokeh effects.
My biggest whinge is that nighttime performance is nothing to sing about.
Shots taken under the canopy of night feel muddy and dull.
The fingerprint reader is a hot mess
I really like the Honor 10.
If I didnt, this would be a hugely different piece in tone and content.
That said, I dont think its perfect.
Theres one bit of the phone thats so frustrating, it deserves its own section.
Yes, Im talking about the fingerprint reader.
This is a mixed bag.
On one hand, this move has allowed Honor to achieve a relatively high screen-to-body ratio.
Thats important, especially if you plan to use the Honor 10 for binge-watching Netflix and playingPUBG Mobile.
But the trade-off is that the fingerprint reader is vastly less responsive than youd hope.
The Honor 10 often struggles to read fingerprints, forcing you to give it another spin.
Its slower, too.
Theres a noticeable lag between placing your thumb on the screen, and the phone unlocking.
Under-screen fingerprint readers just arent that good.
Thats why hardly any phone manufacturers have shipped devices with them.
And I get why Honor included an under-screen fingerprint reader in the Honor 10.
I just wish that Honor tried something else.
Who is the Honor 10 for?
Great question, isnt it?
The Honor 10 is a mid-range phone and is priced accordingly.
But I dont want to paint a picture of the Honor 10 as being a poor mans P20.
Thats not the case.
