Huawei Honor 7 review: Rags to riches

Web browsers

Like most droids nowadays, the Huawei Honor 7 comes with two browsers to handle your web surfing needs. The stock browser offers largely the same functionality as Google's bundled Chrome browser, but we found the latter to be a more capable performer. Chrome also lets you sign in with your Google account and access open tabs and history from other sessions.

The Stock browser

Apps and more

Perhaps the highlight of Huawei's homebrewed apps is the Phone Manager. It lets you control all sorts of features from call/message privacy and Do Not Disturb settings, to phone optimization and app permissions, to network and battery usage. We've already talked about those in our first software chapter.

The app features a one-touch optimization feature that frees up memory space and gives you settings recommendations for maximum battery performance. It's quite a slick feature that few manufacturers offer.

The Phone Manager app houses many important features under one roof

You do get a proper file explorer too - it has two tabs that divide your content between categories and a file explorer for internal and external storage. The app also handles ZIP and supports batch operations. It comes with a very useful Safe folder, for protected storage. Nice!

The File Manager

Huawei has included some nifty camera features in the Huawei Honor 7, some of which are accessed as individual apps. The Magnifier is especially nifty for looking at stuff up close, while the markedly female-targeted Mirror apps lets you get a quick look at yourself, with included brightness adjustments and zoom options.

The Magnifier and Mirror apps offer some additional camera functionality

There are also the standard issue stuff such as notes, calendar, world clock with stopwatch and timer and a calculator. Nothing really special to point out here.

Notes • Calendar • Clock • Calculator

When it comes to getting around, the Huawei Honor 7 comes with Google Maps and Navigation. The app offers much of the same functionality as its web-based counterpart, although you will need a data connection to take full advantage of the navigation features. Browsing Street view mode with the digital compass enabled is an especially cool trick.

The best part of owning a smartphone is getting new apps, and when it comes to Android, Google Play Store is the best source for getting your fill. From recommendations to top apps, it features a plethora of ways you can find new apps, and installing an app usually only takes a couple of taps.