It appears Honor received’t cease till it has a telephone representing each incremental worth level as much as £400 (round $550/AU$720). The Honor 7S has arrived to anchor a variety that features the Honor 7A, the Honor 7X and the Honor 7C.

Coming into the market at simply £99 (round $130 / AU$180, however not at present obtainable within the US or Australia), the Honor 7S appears to be like to strip issues again even additional than the £140 / $185 / AU$250 Honor 7A did.

On condition that we criticized that handset for slicing just a little too deep in its bid for cut price standing, it’s fascinating to see how a lot additional the Huawei sub-brand can go.

In fact, the Honor 7S isn’t alone in making an attempt to create a usable smartphone for thus little cash. Only in the near past we’ve seen Vodafone make one other creditable effort to do one thing alongside these strains with the Vodafone Smart N9 – and really practically getting away with it.

Sadly, the Honor 7S doesn’t get wherever close to as near hitting its goal. Identical to with the 7A, we’ve got to query whether or not low-cost equates with good worth right here.

• Would not dwell as much as claims of clearer calls
• Has a stylish 18:9 show

That tiny price ticket could be the primary story, however Honor clearly needs the Honor 7S to make itself heard. Fairly actually, in reality.

The Honor 7S net web page leads with the heading, ‘View extra, hear clearer’. The latter portion of that quote is a reference to the telephone’s actually named Bigger Receiver Quantity characteristic.

Apparently, the Honor 7S will present clearer listening in noisy environments, and can regulate the quantity of the decision in response to your atmosphere. In apply, we couldn’t inform a lot of a distinction to every other low-cost telephone.

Calls appeared a lot loud sufficient, sure, however not noticeably completely different from different handsets at and round this worth. Certainly, on the different finish of our calls, we had complaints that the decision high quality was just a little off, and that it appeared like we had put them on loudspeaker.

That is removed from a scientific take a look at, in fact, and we will’t rule out community points right here. However the primary level to notice is that Honor’s claims of boosted audio don’t maintain an terrible lot of sensible weight.

As for the ‘view extra’ facet of the headline, it is a reference to the Honor 7S’s FullView Show. We’ve seen loads of front-filling 18:9 facet ratio shows additional up the smartphone meals chain, however they’re additionally beginning to seep into the decrease finish of the market.

The remainder of the Honor 7 vary has the same characteristic, nevertheless it’s not precisely distinctive across the £100/$130 mark both. The aforementioned Vodafone Sensible N9 additionally packs an expansive 18:9 show.

Nonetheless, there stay loads of telephones that launch with chunky borders, and whereas the Honor 7S is hardly bezel-less, its roughly 73% screen-to-body ratio is nothing to be sniffed at.

Design

• Strong all-plastic construct
• Lack of fingerprint sensor is a significant omission

Honor has caught with the same design method to the costlier Honor 7A for the Honor 7S. Which means a reasonably bland slab of plastic with a deep metallic shade of blue chosen for the again and (fortunately non-reflective) sides. It additionally is available in black or gold.

The entrance of the telephone is an all-glass affair, with a black border surrounding the show. As already talked about, it’s not what you’d name a bezel-less design, however the telephone’s brow and chin aren’t too distinguished.

This actually isn’t a good-looking telephone, however neither is it garish or cheesy wanting. That’s about all you possibly can ask for in such an affordable smartphone. The surprisingly sharp Vodafone Sensible N9 is the exception that proves the rule right here.

Extra essential than the appears to be like of such a telephone is the way it feels and handles, and on that entrance we’ve got no qualms in any way. Honor is aware of tips on how to construct stable on a funds by now, and the 7S is essentially freed from creak and flex.

There’s a pleasant weight of 142g to the telephone, which stops it from feeling too fly-away or disposable. Regardless of this, it’s completely straightforward to carry in a single hand, because of dimensions of 146.5 x 70.9mm and a thickness of eight.3mm, which isn’t far off the iPhone X.

The facet buttons are clicky and straightforward sufficient to find, although we’d have appreciated some form of texture to the facility button to assist differentiate it from the quantity rocker.

There are two exterior design omissions that allow you to know in no unsure phrases that that is an ultra-cheap smartphone, and a kind of is probably deadly right here in 2018. There’s no fingerprint scanner.

We’ve certainly gotten to the purpose now the place biometric entry is predicted, even on the decrease finish of the market. Each the getting older Wileyfox Swift 2 and the brand new Vodafone Sensible N9 have one, to call simply two equally priced examples.

Possibly we burn by way of too many telephones, however we discovered that switching to the Honor 7S required a significant rewiring of the mind. Even after spending a while with the telephone, we frequently observed a slight pause in our psychological processing once we picked it up and fished round for an unlock mechanism.

We’re used to with the ability to unlock our telephones securely with a contact or a glance now, and having that taken away appears like a significant step backwards. That’s not even to say the implications for cellular funds. Coupled with an absence of NFC, Google Pay is a no-no.

The opposite exterior omission right here is USB-C. The trendy reversible connection commonplace has been bypassed in favor of the older micro USB commonplace, although that is nonetheless fairly frequent in cheaper telephones.

Display

• Vibrant 5.45-inch FullView show
• 720 x 1440 decision

The Honor 7S is one other funds telephone to obtain the FullView show remedy. Which means it has been stretched out to an 18:9 facet ratio slightly than the extra conventional 16:9.

We’ll focus on what this implies in media phrases just a little later (spoiler alert: not as a lot as you’d suppose), however the true goal of those longer screens is to enhance the screen-to-body ratio of the telephone.

Within the outdated days, a 5.5-inch telephone could be a pocket-filling monstrosity. Right here within the 18:9 period with taller and slimmer screens, they’re way more wieldy, and the Honor 7S isn’t any completely different.

The display screen itself is a 5.45-inch LCD with a 720 x 1440 decision. That equates to 720p, with the additional pixels accounting for the additional peak.

No, it’s not the best decision for a display screen of this dimension. We might have a lot most well-liked 1080p. However in a telephone of this worth, it’s kind of to be anticipated. 

Each the aforementioned Wileyfox Swift 2 and the Sensible N9 go along with 720p, so it’s clearly a little bit of a pink line when you’re searching for to construct a balanced £100/$130 smartphone.

It’s a wonderfully acceptable compromise too, because it seems. The Honor 7S show clearly isn’t the very best display screen we’ve ever seen, nevertheless it’s fairly balanced, not too washed out, and it will get good and vibrant.

The display screen is a lot sharp sufficient for sensible day after day duties too. Net searching – arguably the very best all-round take a look at for such issues – is completely nice, although you do discover the relative lack of pixels in thumbnail photographs and smaller textual content.