Honor View 10: Better than its big brother?
The Honor View 10 is considered to be a copy of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. Honor's phone appeared only a short time later at a much more interesting price. But are the voices right? Is the View 10 really a copy of the Mate 10 Pro? I tested both devices over a longer period of time and can say that the comparison is worthwhile.
The Honor View 10 has caused quite a stir. Just two months after the parent company Huawei unveiled its flagship, the Mate 10 Pro, Honor is following suit with the View 10. And it has a lot going for it: although the two devices are very different on the outside, there are a striking number of similarities on the inside
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I first tested the more expensive Huawei Mate 10 Pro, then the Honor View 10, or V10. Now it's time to draw a comparison. Which is the better phone? Which one is more worthwhile?
The Honor View 10 was presented with the Honor 7x in London. Unlike the 7x, the V10 belongs to Honor's V series. The V stands for "View" and, according to Honor, the V series stands for innovative technology and performance.
Similarities between the View 10 and Mate 10 Pro
If you simply look at the two phones, you will notice very little in common at first glance. Most of the identical features are on the inside of the phone. Honor has been allowed to use Huawei's flagship, the Kirin 970, in its flagship. The system-on-a-chip, i.e. the heart of the phone, works just as fast with the Honor as it does with the Mate 10 Pro. Honor has also adopted the fast charging function, which has often saved me from certain battery death.
The most important similarities:
- Kirin 970 system-on-a-chip
- Android 8.0 with Emui 8.0
- Graphics chip Mali-G72 MP12
- 6 GB RAM
- 18:9 aspect ratio and image resolution
- Fast charging function
- Live foreign language translation
- Increased connectivity / clearer phone calls
- Tap function for screenshots
What does the View 10 have that the Mate 10 Pro doesn't?
In general, I like the look of Honour's device better. Maybe because I belong to Honour's target group of young people? The View 10 has a matt metal back. The camera protrudes conspicuously from the casing. However, if you use the phone with the supplied case like I do, this doesn't really bother you. Huawei's Mate 10 Pro has a glossy glass back, which attracts fingerprints and looked very greasy very quickly on my phone. Thanks to the metal unibody of Honors' phone, I don't have the feeling that the front and back would break if I dropped it or that scratches would appear quickly.
On the other hand, the Mate 10 Pro looks more special on the front because it doesn't have a home button. I don't understand why Honor put a home button on the V10. They left it off the Honor 7x. Maybe because the younger generation prefers the fingerprint on the front? I found Huawei's sensor on the back more practical because the phone is relatively large. It's easier to reach the back with my index finger.
Although Honour's phone is significantly cheaper, it has four things that the Mate 10 Pro doesn't have:
- Jack plug
- Home button
- Expandable memory
- Face Unlock
Yes, the Honor V10 comes with a jack plug. I was pleased because I don't like life with a dongle and haven't quite got to grips with Bluetooth yet. The home button, which is also the fingerprint sensor on the front below the display, is very narrow. But it works perfectly and without any noticeable delay.
A shame about the face recognition
Unfortunately, Face Unlock doesn't work as well as the fingerprint. With an update, Honor has equipped the V10 with facial recognition. I am moderately enthusiastic. Very often the phone doesn't recognise my face. It only works if the light is very similar to when I registered my face - then it works great, even if you look at the phone from the side at an angle. But if you're not in the right light, you can forget it. The V10 won't recognise you even if you try several times.
In addition, as soon as you have facial recognition enabled, the phone no longer displays your messages in full on the lock screen by default. With WhatsApp, you will only see that you have received a message, but no preview. Even if you explicitly grant the app permission to display, face recognition does not allow full notifications in lock screen mode. Then the song can no longer be swiped even when listening to music with Spotify. It simply shows that Spotify is playing, otherwise nothing works on the lock screen.
Only if you set it to swipe the screen after unlocking and only then unlock the screen will the notifications be displayed again. However, the authorisation settings in the apps are ignored by Honor.
To me, the Honors concept doesn't make sense here. Why are messages displayed in swipe mode and not in direct mode? Do people who swipe have a different need for privacy than people who unlock directly?
And what does Huawei's phone have that Honor doesn't?
Huawei's phone is significantly more expensive than Honor's View 10, so what justifies the higher price?
The most important components are:
- Leica camera
- IP67 certification
- Stereo sound
- Amoled display
- Larger battery
Apart from the camera, I particularly liked the stereo sound of the speakers and the IP67 certification of the Mate 10 Pro. The sound coming out of the View 10 is quite tinny. And I'm one of those people who likes to listen to music in the shower. Unfortunately, the Honor V10 is not for me. Honor's motto is: "for the brave". But I wasn't brave enough to take the phone into the shower without IP certification. Now I'm back to singing myself. Much to the displeasure of my flatmates.
With Huawei's phone, that wasn't a problem. But I had the View 10 with me when I went skiing, where it got quite cold and came into contact with condensation. That didn't affect the phone at all. Incidentally, the battery held up surprisingly well even in the cold of the Grisons mountains.
I missed the Amoled display on the Honor. But that's complaining on a high level. Honor has installed an LCD display despite the weaker battery. The battery lasted me a good day and a half on average, which is not bad. Nevertheless, the cool Amoled black is missing and the always-on display is also not available from Honor.
The camera comparison
The View 10 has two cameras at the back: one with 16 megapixels and one with 20 megapixels. The Mate 10 Pro has fewer megapixels: 12 and 20. Nevertheless, the Leica camera from Huawei takes better pictures. Especially in poor lighting conditions.
At the latest then you will also notice the lack of image stabilisation on the Honor.
In order to be able to make a proper comparison, I placed both phones and took the pictures with automatic mode, because I was surprised at how the two phones reacted to the poor lighting conditions. I was surprised that Honors Phone set higher ISO values for every picture. Photo expert David says: "That's probably because the lens is less fast."
In the picture from Huawei's phone, the Üetliberg in the background is sharper and the colours appear richer. However, Honour's picture looks brighter than the light actually was when it was taken.
Here you can see the image of Honour's phone in full resolution and here the image of Huawei's phone.
Thanks to the Kirin 970, both phones recognise thirteen scenarios, such as mountains, plants, people, cats and dogs. I quickly tested this in the mountains at minus ten degrees.
Here is the full-resolution image of Honour's phone and here is the image of Huawei's phone.
There was also the matter of the bloatware
With Huawei and Honor, you get bloatware, i.e. apps that are on the mobile by default and unnecessary. With Honor, I particularly noticed the bloatware: A total of six games, as well as the app of a booking portal were on it.
But the apps can all be uninstalled without any problems. Thank you! Because that's not a given.
Nevertheless, evil tongues could claim that Honor is financing the favourable device price with bloatware that they are pushing onto users.
And now? Huawei or Honor?
After testing both phones, I am torn between the two. Huawei's phone convinced me more with its Leica camera and it doesn't have a home button, which is simply cooler and more modern. But the high price makes me have doubts. Honors Phone is much cheaper and has a headphone jack and expandable memory. But no IP certification, no Amoled display and not as outstanding a camera as Huawei's phone.
In the end, the cash-strapped student in me went for the Honor View 10.
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Testing devices and gadgets is my thing. Some experiments lead to interesting insights, others to demolished phones. I’m hooked on series and can’t imagine life without Netflix. In summer, you’ll find me soaking up the sun by the lake or at a music festival.