In 2016, Huawei managed to find the winning formula of the smartphone in the Honor 5C, and the 6A model should not destroy what was achieved. This is still a neat, compact 5-inch device with a first-class metal case and worthy specifications worth 8,990 rubles. Of course, in 2017, the Honor 6A smartphone is opposed by other budget models, such as the Nokia 5 and Moto G5. In other words, the phone maintains the balance of a restrainedly impressive predecessor, but this time it will face tougher opposition. According to reviews, the Huawei Honor 6 A smartphone lacks some key features, which in a sense makes it worse than the 5C, but its versatility and general ease of use guarantee that it will become a reasonable investment.
Belt tightening
Huawei's goal seems to have been to make the Honor 6A look and function like a phone that costs a lot more. In the process of cutting some functions to reduce the cost of the device, many had to sacrifice, but the result was satisfactory.
According to reviews, the 16-GB smartphone Huawei Honor 6 A is distinguished by the presence of a metal case, a camera with fast focusing, a long-lasting battery and a more powerful processor than last year's 5C. All these are characteristics borrowed from higher-end phones. Otherwise, Honor retained Huawei's EMUI user interface. This shell is neat and aimed at the level of intuitiveness of Apple iOS.
However, some of the features were sacrificed to create a cheaper product, and such a decision seems dubious. For example, the size and resolution of the display has been cut. In addition, there is no fingerprint scanner or NFC, which means that Android Pay is not working, and you will have to use a PIN code each time to protect the phone properly. These features quickly become integral components even in this price range, and all competing models from Moto G5 to Vodafone Smart N8 are equipped with a fast fingerprint sensor.
Design
The manufacturer’s claim that the smartphone has a metal case is a bit insincere. In fact (like the Moto G5), a metal back panel is offered covering almost the same area as the front display. It is surrounded by a plastic frame painted the color of a more expensive material. The effect is pleasant, but since the palm and fingers mostly come in contact with the side surfaces, the result is not very good. Nevertheless, according to reviews, the smartphone Huawei Honor 6 A does not look and does not feel sticky, and it has something from a restrained design, which the manufacturer aimed for.
This is a well-made phone, without claims to originality, which is probably required by most users who buy models of this price range.
The same balance can be seen in its size. With dimensions of 143.7 x 71 x 8.2 mm and a weight of 143 g, the phone just as conveniently lies in your pocket as it is in your hand, without showing the fragility that some cheap models suffer.
Display
The manufacturer made an interesting decision to get away from the 5.2-inch IPS-screen with a resolution of 1080p Honor 5C, which became one of the distinguishing features of last year's model. In its place is a 5 ”720p-display of a smaller size and, most importantly, with fewer pixels. In this regard, according to the owners, the Honor 6 A loses a bit to the Moto G5 with its 5-inch 1080p panel.
The rest do not have to complain about the smartphone screen. Reducing the size masks a lower resolution, the brightness level is sufficient, and the colors are saturated. Viewing angles are also good, as expected from the IPS display. Of course, it is not as good for media or web content as its predecessor. One can only guess why the manufacturer made such a decision. Probably, this compromise allowed Huawei to equip the smartphone with a more powerful (and more expensive) chipset, and this undoubtedly contributed to an increase in battery life.
User interface
The smartphone is running Android 7.0, which is no longer the latest version of the popular mobile OS, but still remains the latest version on most phones. However, more important for everyday experience is the functionality of the Emotion user interface, which is installed on top of the operating system. The Huawei app is traditionally considered a bit heavy. It often seems that the Chinese manufacturer, using the capabilities of Android, tried to create its own version of iOS. Therefore, the end result is worse than the original operating systems, but not so bad, especially for novice users.
EMUI 5.1 offers a neat and welcoming experience with far fewer distractions and bumps than before. The user interface is not as sophisticated as the original Android or higher-class add-ons (for example, HTC), but it does not matter for the main audience of the model. He continues the tradition of eliminating the application folder, which has become common among many companies. On the one hand, this eliminates the additional menu level that you have to deal with, but on the other hand, there is no default application organization system.
Software
All installed software is scattered across various home pages (which can be personalized through a specialized store) without any order, so you will have to drag them to a more logical place and possibly group them in folders. The lock screen sorts through high-quality (and rather random) photos of coffee cups, buildings, and flowers, and the icons and fonts are simple and easy to read.
It takes longer than usual to get used to the EMUI 5.1 lock context menu, which seems to mimic the role of the iOS 10 control center. When you go up to the bottom of the lock page, you can open a small overlay containing a series of useful shortcuts, such as a flashlight, calculator, and timer. Although users rate this feature positively, it contradicts the multi-year gesture of unlocking Android phones. Therefore, the context menu often opens when a simple transition to the home page was required. The positive thing is to get rid of the annoying need to enter a password during the unlock phase.
As for the preinstalled "load" software, here, according to reviews, the Honor 6 A smartphone is relatively restrained. This time there are no pre-installed games, and existing applications cover the most necessary - email, notes, music, video and calendar. In addition, the Health program has been installed, which automatically calculates steps during the day, and also allows you to configure individual training plans. Huawei is one of the largest and best manufacturers of Android Wear smart watches, so there is a certain logic to enable this application - even if most will not use it.
Movies, music and games
Given the modest screen size, reviews on the 16-GB Huawei Honor 6 A do not recommend it for intensive multimedia viewing, but it is capable of doing this job. The video here does not shine because of the maximum resolution of 720p in a 5-inch window and only the average maximum brightness. But at least the colors are pretty accurate.
Games on this display are going well, but you can get the best experience in the same price category (for example, a 5 ”1080p Moto G5 display). However, the effectiveness in this regard is decent. Games like Guns of Boom, Gear.Club, and Xenowerk work well, while they are graphically rich and fast 3D games.
In both types of visual media, the lower speaker of the Honor 6 A, according to reviews, offers at best a basic audio output. In fairness, users did not expect more from a smartphone in this price range.
In addition, the top panel of the phone has a 3.5 mm jack, which is absent in modern high-end devices. Of course, he will be in demand in case of listening to music. Honor has included its own audio player, which works well and accompanies illustration playback and allows the installation of neat widgets. The Google Play Music program is also preinstalled, which offers excellent opportunities for streaming music if you do not have a subscription to Spotify or similar services.
If we talk about the amount of storage, then the user gets not very generous, but corresponding to competitors 16 GB, of which only 10 GB is available. Therefore, the microSD slot will certainly come in handy, which will expand the ROM to 128 GB. An alternative could be the acquisition of Huawei Honor 6 C. Reviews note that this model has twice as much ROM (32 GB), 3 GB of RAM and a more powerful 1.4-GHz 4-core Snapdragon 435 processor.
Performance
One of the main improvements in Honor 6 A is called the replacement of the original Kirin processor with the Snapdragon 430 chip. Although this is a budget chip, it has sufficient power and is widely used by other market participants, including the Moto G5 and Nokia 5. Supported by 2 GB CPU RAM in all directions provides decent performance. Enumeration of home screens and menus is quite smooth, although users have observed a few minor delays and pauses.
More important is application performance, which is consistently confident. If for Kirin it was possible to find a program (often a game) that worked less optimally or was subject to unusual crashes, then the Snapdragon 430 is more popular, so the software is usually optimized for it.
Geekbench 4 ratings are in line with expectations. The average multi-core test result is 2594 points, which is slightly higher than the Moto G5 (2377) and the same as that of Wileyfox Swift 2 (2545), also running on the Snapdragon 430.
Battery life
Reviews of the Honor 6 A phone testify to its high endurance. It will be appreciated by those for whom the duration between recharges is more important than performance or screen resolution. Its 3020 mAh battery is large enough for a model of this size and capabilities. There are flagship Android smartphones with much clearer displays and more powerful chipsets in which smaller batteries are installed (for example, Samsung Galaxy S8).
Last year’s model, the battery also had a little less than 3000 mAh, despite the fact that it had a large screen with a large number of pixels.
According to the manufacturer, the smartphone provides 12 hours of HD video playback. It is not clear for what conditions these calculations are valid, but users confirm the positive results of launching a 90-minute cyclic video with a resolution of 720p with full screen brightness and with notifications turned on. In such conditions, the smartphone uses 19% of the total battery charge. Wileyfox Swift 2, for example, loses 32%, and Moto G5 - 22%, so this is a positive result.
Perhaps the most impressive is the performance of the battery under gaming load. Playing 15 minutes Guns of Boom consumes only 3% of battery power. Under the same conditions, Wileyfox Spark X eats up 7% of its energy supply.
In general, this is a phone that, with a moderate load, will last longer than one day and can last long enough to eliminate the need to find an outlet. Interestingly, the battery will begin to lose its efficiency after only 800 cycles, which is actually equivalent to more than 2 years of work of the smartphone.
Camera
The Honor 6 A smartphone, according to reviews, is capable of capturing remarkably strong photos, especially considering its budget price, although it will require ideal conditions. It is equipped with a 13-megapixel sensor, and the addition of phase-detection autofocus ensures that it will quickly sharpen the subject. According to the manufacturer, this process takes just 0.5 seconds.
However, the camera still needs to be helped frequently with a finger to set the appropriate focal point and the images do not remain blurry.
When the sensor focuses on the subject, you can get really clear and bright images. In the case of well-lit close-ups, the phone is able to reproduce pleasant bokeh, like high-end DSLR cameras.
Nevertheless, the camera suffers from the usual problems of budget models - low quality images in low light conditions and insufficient dynamic range.
Photographing under suboptimal lighting (from a room on a bright day or a street scene at night) leads to a lot of noise and insufficient detail. As for the dynamic range, when shooting in the park on a sunny day, according to reviews, the 16-GB Honor 6 A shoots very well, but the areas in which the sun shines are completely devoid of detail.
Selfie lovers get a 5-megapixel front camera, which is only suitable for posting pictures on social networks.
The fact that the smartphone is able to take high quality pictures of any kind is commendable. True, this is not the only budget phone that is capable of this, but there are still a lot of those that cannot do this.
The Honor 6 Plus dual camera is praised more by the reviews - in low light conditions, it produces incomparably better pictures.
Conclusion
The Honor 6 A is called a worthy smartphone, although not an impressive choice for casual users who want to spend a small amount on their phone. It has basic build quality, entry-level performance and a competitive camera, which is difficult to achieve in this price category. The battery life is especially impressive, and Huawei’s latest EMUI offers one of the most convenient add-ons for Android, which not everyone will like, however.
Unfortunately, the manufacturer had to cut back on functionality by reducing the resolution to 720p and abandoning the fingerprint scanner. This makes the Moto G5 an overall better choice. Even the older Huawei Honor 6 Plus model is praised for its 5.5 ”1080p display.
It will be useful for novice users to consider purchasing the Honor 6A. This is a flawless, well-made phone that does not require too much attention and performs basic functions well. His camera is capable of taking great pictures if the right lighting conditions are ensured. However, for those who consume a lot of media content, and for those who want to make mobile payments, more advanced and more fully functional phones are available for the same money.