Huawei Honor 7X review

The competition

The Honor 7X came out of this review looking pretty good and understandably so. It is a solid mid-range handset, with a solid build and dependable overall performance. However, slapping on a universal recommendation for it turned out to be less than straight-forward.

Currently, the Honor 7X is retailing for vastly different prices in various markets. The US has a killer deal at just $200, while most of Europe can only hope to realistically snatch one up for as low as €250-€300.

There are a few devices with screens with tall aspect ratios to potentially consider around the €250 - €300 mark, especially if you are willing to import from China. The vivo V7 and V7+, depending on your size preference, are two of those. Both offer subjectively better performance, but do so with other trade-offs, like a lower resolution display, and a single camera setup.

Mostly the same can be said about the Oppo F5. It does have a brighter f/1.8 lens on its main camera, which does mean slightly better night-time performance. Then again, our F5 review unit had notable focusing issues, which might still be an unpleasant reality to deal with.

For a more Western-friendly, "name brand" with the modern tall screen, there is the LG Q6. While a good choice overall, it is notably smaller, with its 5.5-inch display diagonal.

vivo V7+ • Oppo F5 • LG Q6 • Xiaomi Mi A1 • Xiaomi Mi Max 2

Dropping the tall screen aspect display from the requirements list, ushers in a few more interesting options. The Xiaomi Mi A1 is an excellent all-round device - powerful enough, battery-efficient, well-built and a pretty well-equipped for trendy portrait photography. Plus, there is the added allure of Android One and quick updates.

And finally, for the phablet-enthusiasts, there is the Mi Max 2, also courtesy of Xiaomi. Standing tall and wide at 6.44 inches, it will never leave you short of screen real-estate, or battery, for that matter.

The verdict

Frankly, if you are looking for a trendy new ultra-wide phone, without breaking the bank, it is hard to beat Honor's value proposition on the 7X. Circling back to the earlier financial aspect of things, however, there is a major asterisk here. Checking some of the other options we listed on your local market is a good idea. If nothing else, look around for the Huawei Mate 10 Lite, since many carrier, especially across Europe are offering it with a subsidised price, which might even the price of the two.

Pros

• Solid build quality
• Great ultra-wide display
• Solid battery life
• Dependable overall performance
• Flexible and feature-rich EMUI 5.1 android ROM
• Nice all-round camera experience with nice portrait shots, plenty of modes and advanced manual controls available
• Fast and accurate fingerprint reader

Cons

• No NFC or 5GHz Wi-Fi Support
• No fast charging

All things considered, the Honor 7X is a solid, all-round device, even if, admittedly, a pretty boring and uninspired one. It's a safe, dependable and financially sound choice. One that doesn't promise anything more than what it can deliver but one that delivers just enough to pass as one of our recommendations of the season.