Introduction
The Honor View 10's launch is a significant one in Honor's history. It was known as Honor's V-series and it was only available in China. Honor's rebranding to "View" series comes at the same time as the company's decision to launch the smartphone outside of China as a high-value or bang-for-buck smartphone.
In the past couple of iterations, the V-series held specs that nearly mirrored Huawei's most recent Mate-series model. For example, the Honor V9 had specifications that were identical to the Huawei Mate 9 Pro like the CPU and RAM size. The Honor View 10 is on the same boat in this regard - it has similar hardware to the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
The thing about the Mate 10 Pro and the Honor View 10 is that they serve different segments of the market. The Mate 10 Pro is the premium offering while the View 10 is more of a 'bang-for-buck" choice. In fact, we feel that the Honor View 10 offers an additional tier to the Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. Unlike the Mate 10 Pro, the View 10 has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and expandable memory, all of which the Mate 10 Pro forgoes.
Huawei Honor View 10 specs:
- Build: Plastic frame, metal back
- Body: Metal unibody, 2.5D glass on front
- Screen: 5.99" (18:9) IPS LCD, 1080p+ (403 ppi); ____WHAT KIND OF GLASS?___
- Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 970, Octa-core (4x2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A53), Mali-G72 MP12 GPU
- Memory: 64GB + 4/6GB RAM or 128GB + 6GB RAM, Expandable via microSD on hybrid tray
- Camera: Dual: 16MP (f/1.8) + 20 MP, phase detection autofocus, 2160p @ 30fps
- Selfie cam: 13MP (f/2.0)
- OS: Android 8.0 Oreo with Huawei EMUI 8.0 + AI features
- Battery: 3,750 mAh non-removable, Huawei Super Charger (5V @ 4.5A)
- Connectivity: Hybrid Dual Nano-SIM (hybrid microSD slot); OTG USB 2.0, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2
- Misc: IR Blaster, front-mounted fingerprint with gesture navigation
Of course, the Mate 10 Pro has the Leica branded cameras, premium hardware construction, and is sealed for water-resistance (all of which the View 10 lacks). Of course, each of these models offers something different and each has its drawbacks and compromises. So, why would anyone choose the Mate 10 Pro over the View 10? By the end of the review, you'll have an answer.
Official press images in Navy Blue
Mate 10 aside, the View 10 is really pushing what a phone of this price can offer. It's definitely rubbing shoulders with the likes of other smartphones in this price range like the OnePlus 5T and the Essential PH-1. It looks like Honor has really crammed a lot of value into this guy, let's dig into the phone's packaging.
Unboxing
We received a European unit from our friends at Honor and it certainly is a step up from Honor's usual bright-teal colored packaging. This box is a very dark navy blue color, likely to represent our blue model. We're not sure if the black version would come with a black box, but we'd imagine that's the case.
Sliding off the lid, we are greeted with the phone itself. Underneath this compartment is a pack of documentation, a clear gel case (which is always welcome), and a SIM tool. Under that is the Huawei Super Charge adapter - more on this in the battery section of the Lab Tests page, and a USB-C to USB-A cable for transferring data to/from a PC. Note that you will need this cable for full charging speeds, so take good care of it.
On the next page we'll take a look at the phone's hardware itself.
Design
The Honor View 10 has a nice and sturdy metal construction. The design has been pretty much overused by this point: an integrated metal body and frame build with rounded corners and antenna lines along the edges. In fact, this is the design used by the phone's direct competitor, the OnePlus 5T, complete with the position of the dual-cameras.
The Honor View 10 isn't technically a metal "unibody" since the backing and the frame are two separate pieces, but the seam isn't too noticeable because it is hidden right under the frame's beveled edge. This is actually an interesting approach to the tired design. The frame reinforces the backing of the View 10, unlike a traditional metal unibody, which might dent easily.
Despite this, the Honor View 10 barely budges under pressure. The phone has very little flex and is as sturdy as a rock. Unfortunately, we did hear rattling in the camera housing, but that's not a terrible concern considering there is no optical image stabilization. We'd assume this rattle is due to the phone being an early reviewer's unit.
The Honor View 10, along with the Honor 7X are the brand's first two smartphones with 18:9 aspect ratio displays. The bezels are kept to a minimum, even with the fingerprint scanner right under the display. Although Honor could have put the fingerprint sensor on the back, it still decided to cram it under the display like it did on the Huawei Mate 10 (non-Pro). This while still keeping the upper and lower bezels as small as possible. We think Honor succeeded here.
Front • Chin
The display itself has rounded corners, which is strange considering neither the Mate 10 devices nor the Honor 7X have them. Let's say that Honor/Huawei appears to be experimenting with the right formula of features to cram into a 6-inch 18:9 phone. Wireless charging is not among any of those things, although, Honor (nor Huawei, for that matter) doesn't even need to bother with wireless charging thanks to its 22.5W Super Charge adapter.
This display's 2.5D glass tucks away nicely into the frame. Honor has not revealed what kind of glass is on the View 10, so we'd recommend you leave on the factory screen protector to prevent the screen from getting scratched. Above the screen is a 13MP camera, proximity and light sensors, and the in-call receiver.
2.5D glass • Forehead
The bottom edge has a 3.5mm headphone jack, in-call mic, and loudspeaker. The phone takes power through Huawei's Super Charge adapter via the USB-C port at the bottom. On either side of the charging port are two torx screws, hinting that the phone may turn out to be easy to repair.
The right edge has three buttons: a power key and a volume rocker. At the top is a noise-cancelling microphone and an IR Blaster, a feature that has receded from smartphones over the past few years. The left edge of the phone is home to a hybrid SIM tray - choose between two lines or one line + expanded storage space.
Bottom • Right • Top • Left
The back of the phone is made of metal and tucks away into the frame, much like how the 2.5D glass does. As previously mentioned, there are antenna lines at the top and bottom of the phone's backside, but that's nothing compared to how much the dual cameras jut out of the back of the phone.
Considering the camera has no image stabilization, perhaps Honor could have tried to make it flush with the phone's body. We can kind of forgive it since Honor graciously included a case with the phone that does help keep the camera away from surfaces.
Back • Dual camera
While we really like the hardware and design, it's nothing revolutionary. It's great that Honor stuck with a well-refined construction rather than a fragile new design with breakable glass on both sides. We also like the blue color option. It's blue all over, including the screen bezels.
On the next page, we'll take a look at some of the lab tests that we run on the phones we review. We'll take a look at the display's brightness and color accuracy, as well as the battery life, audio quality, and loudspeaker volume.
The 6-inch display looks great
Honor included an 18:9 display with FHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,160 px) and it looks pretty good. It has great viewing angles with no color shifting. We kind of wish it packed more pixels, but if it did, then Honor wouldn't be able to offer it for this price. Honor didn't specify which kind of glass the phone uses, so we'd suggest you don't remove the factory-installed screen protector.
When it came to testing, the Honor View 10 did fairly well. The phone was able to reach a great 506 nits of full brightness. This was achieved in Auto mode, however. Switch Auto mode off and the phone will display 453 nits when the brightness meter is cranked up.
Contrast ratio was quite good, too at 1,629:1 - blacks are generally quite dark, but become more noticeable as the screen goes up to its brightest.
As for nighttime use, the Honor View 10 produced very dim lighting at minimum brightness - just 1.5 nits. Granted, you need to set the brightness manually to get this low.
Sunlight legibility was great. The display boosts up in direct sunlight to show what's being displayed as best as possible. Going back to the factory screen protector, we removed ours and the bare glass isn't oleophobic so fingerprints accumulate much more, which obstructs the view of the LCD panel in direct sunlight. No biggie, just keep it clean.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.468 | 640 | 1368 | |
| 0 | 623 | ∞ | |
| 0.032 | 616 | 19250 | |
| 0.373 | 583 | 1563 | |
| 0.399 | 566 | 1419 | |
| 0.397 | 554 | 1395 | |
| 0.311 | 507 | 1629 | |
| 0.308 | 483 | 1568 | |
| 0.278 | 453 | 1629 | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 437 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 432 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 422 | ∞ | |
| 0.002 | 414 | 207000 | |
This display reproduced an average deltaE of 6.2, which isn't terrible, but whites did appear a bit on the cooler side and were generally almost 11 units off. Switching to the "warm" setting in the color temperature option yielded much more accurate results across the board. Whiles were still ever-so-slightly cool but they are now about 5 units cool, meanwhile, the average deltaE dropped to 4.
Color temperature adjustment
We'd personally prefer the more accurate "warm" setting to be able to color-correct images on the go. You can really fine tune the display's temperature to your liking by choosing a point on the color sphere.
Battery life
Disclaimer : We tested battery life on a non-retail European version of the View 10 in the United States on T-Mobile, so a possible network incompatibility can severely affect standby times. We shall update the battery test results once we can test a European unit at our office or once we can get our hands on an American variant in the US.
The Honor View 10 is powered by a large 3,750 mAh battery, which is rechargeable using Huawei's Super Charge adapter. Although the View 10 has internals very similar to the Mate 10 Pro's, it didn't score very close to what we expected.
It could be a combination of the fact that the unit we tested was a European model on an American carrier: T-Mobile. The results we got weren't terrible, but we think they could have been better with such a large battery. Either that, or the display that Honor went with is pretty inefficient.
Once we do get a fully compatible unit, we'll retest and update the scores accordingly.
Huawei's Super Charge adapter charges the phone from a dead battery to 50% in 30 minutes and it never fails to impress us. The only downside is you need to use the included cable to take advantage of the full charging current of 22.5W (5V @ 4.5A). The phone warms a bit while charging, but never too much.
EMUI has always been a great Android skin for managing battery life. The Mate 10 Pro has simplified things for battery management significantly since the days of EMUI 4.0. EMUI will notify you when it detects that an app is using a lot of power and you can go into the battery settings to address that app accordingly.
You can decide which apps are allowed to start themselves, which can be triggered by other apps, and which are allowed to run in the background.
Battery settings • Optimize • Manage power settings per-app
Loudspeaker gets the job done
The Honor View 10 features a single bottom-facing loudspeaker next to its USB-C charging port. In our tests, the loudspeaker scored an overall rating of Good. The Honor 9 that came last year scored just marginally better. While the trebles and higher tones like ringers and notification sounds are plenty loud, mids and lows like spoken word or percussion weren't as strong.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 68.4 | 73.2 | 69.9 | Good | |
| 68.6 | 69.9 | 77.8 | Good | |
| 69.2 | 72.7 | 78.4 | Very Good | |
| 68.5 | 71.7 | 80.3 | Very Good | |
| 68.7 | 73.0 | 79.1 | Very Good | |
| 68.2 | 70.2 | 86.1 | Very Good | |
| 70.1 | 73.8 | 84.2 | Excellent | |
| 73.4 | 72.1 | 84.1 | Excellent | |
| 71.7 | 77.8 | 80.3 | Excellent | |
| 90.6 | 73.7 | 84.0 | Excellent |
Audio output is good, but frequency response lets it down
The Huawei View 10 had mostly excellent readings in the active external amplifier part of our test. Loud and free of distortion accurate its output would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the poor frequency response. It appeared as if the phone had an equalizer applied and all times with no option to switch it off.
Headphones introduced an average amount of stereo crosstalk, but since the frequency response issues persisted the overall output is hardly as accurate as we would have liked. On the upside loudndess stays high, but unless Honor releases a firmware update to address the equalizer issue the View 10 is hardly going to become a favorite among audiophiles.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +4.87, -1.96 | -91.6 | 92.2 | 0.0021 | 0.066 | -94.4 | |
| +4.86, -1.99 | -91.3 | 92.1 | 0.0023 | 0.113 | -52.5 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.1 | 92.2 | 0.0038 | 0.0085 | -90.0 | |
| +0.30, -0.07 | -91.7 | 91.8 | 0.022 | 0.206 | -72.4 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.1 | 92.1 | 0.0020 | 0.0086 | -92.5 | |
| +0.03, -0.03 | -92.5 | 92.5 | 0.0024 | 0.046 | -77.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -93.4 | 93.2 | 0.0025 | 0.012 | -90.8 | |
| +0.20, -0.37 | -93.4 | 93.0 | 0.015 | 0.320 | -55.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0018 | 0.011 | -93.7 | |
| +0.15, -0.09 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0071 | 0.135 | -60.1 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0038 | 0.0072 | -93.5 | |
| +0.31, -0.01 | -93.3 | 93.3 | 0.016 | 0.243 | -63.8 | |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -93.2 | 93.1 | 0.0008 | 0.0069 | -94.2 | |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0057 | 0.051 | -68.1 | |
| +0.05, -0.11 | -94.1 | 94.1 | 0.0017 | 0.0067 | -94.5 | |
| +0.05, -0.02 | -93.7 | 93.8 | 0.0018 | 0.105 | -53.7 |
Honor View 10 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Android Oreo with EMUI 8.0
The View 10 ships with the latest Android Oreo with Huawei's EMUI 8.0 layered over it. The Kirin 970 has a few AI features built-in. These AI features are all automatic, so there is not really a way to adjust or disable the handful of functions.
While EMUI is one of the more heavily customized Android skins, we like how fluid and snappy it feels. While it does not behave quite like stock Android, there is a lot to like but also some minor details that may be an annoyance to some.
Out of the box, there is no app drawer on the Honor View 10. However, you may choose to enable it in the Display settings. There is also a handy search feature, which can be accessed by flicking down on any empty area of any home screen.
Home screen 1 • Home screen 2 • Home options • Search • Enable drawer
EMUI has something called Magazine lock screen which rotates through a bunch of wallpapers so you see a different one every time you fire up the display. There are a few themes to choose from with the option to change the icons, the skin, and wallpaper.
EMUI offers plenty of customization and features like face unlock, smart rotation, and lift to wake. Although, EMUI does come with its quirks.
From the Phone Manager app, you can access shortcuts to storage cleanup, battery settings, blocked numbers, Virus scan powered by Avast, and mobile data usage. The View 10 also includes an IR blaster, a feature that Samsung and LG used to include in their smartphones. It can control thousands of TVs, receivers, and even AC units.
Lock screen • Theme chooser • Theme elements • Phone Manager • Smart Remote
The notification shade is pretty much a standard affair. There's a brightness bar with an Auto toggle - pull down again for more toggles. Huawei's own Music app is here and offers a way to listen to stored MP3s. Huawei's Health app is also pre-installed. It offers Google Fit syncing and step counting.
Notification shade • Quick settings • Music directory • Now Playing • Huawei Health
There's a file manager app and a note-taking app. There is an abundance of replacements for these in the Play Store, however.
Files • Notes
Multitasking is pretty standard. Tap-holding the Recents key will let you activate split screen.
Recent apps • Split screen
There are a few nice security options on the View 10. Aside from the usual fingerprint authentication, you can opt for facial recognition. This works quite quickly and will even wake the phone when you lift it to your face. There is even a Smart lock screen notification feature which will only let the registered face see new notifications on the lock screen.
Related to this feature is Smart rotation, which will watch for your face's orientation before rotating the display such as when you're lying on your side and the phone is turned sideways. There's also Private Space, a separate secure area of the phone which can be accessed by unlocking the phone with a particular finger.
Enrolling a fingerprint • Face unlock • Smart lock screen notifications • Private Space
Finally, the Honor View 10 comes with SwiftKey pre-installed as the default input method. It offers multi-lingual typing, gesture input, and vast customization settings.
Kirin 970 CPU is a beast
Honor decided to go with Huawei's newest high-end processor for the View 10. The Kirin 970 is a very capable processor built on the 10nm process, just like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and the Apple A11 chip. This positions the Honor View 10 pretty high up in terms of performance and we're putting it up against other phones with high-end CPUs.
Like the other 10nm process chips available on the market, the Kirin 970 is an octa-core CPU with four Cortex A73 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and four 1.8GHz A53 cores. The phone is paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM depending on the market.
Huawei made a big deal about the Kirin 970's NPU (Neural processing unit) which is dedicated to processing images, natural language for translation, and for detecting camera scenes (among other things). This small portion of the CPU is able to process specific tasks more efficiently, thresholds are adjusted in the software as necessary depending on the inputs and desired outputs and voila, AI. That's the gist of it, anyway. The NPU works for certain things but not for CPU-intensive things like playing games or editing a video on your phone, so let's see how the Kirin 970 would do in this regard.
Starting with GeekBench mulit-core test, the View 10 was well in-line with other Snapdragon 835-powered phones as well as the Exynos-powered Galaxy S8+. The iPhone's A11 chip still takes the cake in this regard despite it only having 6 cores. The Honor 9 was able to keep up with even the Pixel 2 XL considering it has HiSilicon's last-generation Kirin 960.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 8
10214 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
6754 - Huawei Honor View 10
6738 - OnePlus 5T
6701 - Huawei Mate 10
6625 - Essential PH-1
6490 - Honor 9
6457 - Google Pixel 2 XL
6428 - LG V30
6365 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
6234
The single-core benchmark was pretty much the same story, but in a different order. The iPhone still topped the chart while the Honor View 10 scored well.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 8
4234 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
1986 - OnePlus 5T
1960 - Essential PH-1
1928 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
1924 - Google Pixel 2 XL
1915 - Huawei Honor View 10
1902 - LG V30
1901
1882
1876
The Snapdragon 835 and the Exynos 8895 are great with graphics. The View 10 still did well, but here is where we can really tell that the Honor 9 has the last-gen chipset. The Kirin 970's Mali G72 MP12 is a 12-core GPU while the Honor 9's GPU has 8 cores.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
25 - Google Pixel 2 XL
25 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
25 - OnePlus 5T
24 - LG V30
24 - Essential PH-1
24 - Huawei Honor View 10
22 - Huawei Mate 10
21 - Honor 9
15
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
24 - OnePlus 5T
22 - Huawei Honor View 10
20 - Essential PH-1
16 - Honor 9
14 - Huawei Mate 10
13 - LG V30
13 - Google Pixel 2 XL
13 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
13
Antutu encompasses CPU, GPU, and RAM performance into its score and the View 10 did quite well. The View 10 was right there with the OnePlus 5T while the Mate 10, PH-1, V30, and S8+ were in the same pack.
After that, the Pixel 2XL tapers a tad lower toward the Mi Mix 2 and Honor 9's lower scores. None of the phones were still a match for the iPhone 8, which is still the king of benchmarks (aside from the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, of course).
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 8
202645 - OnePlus 5T
179790 - Huawei Honor View 10
178885 - Huawei Mate 10
175426 - Essential PH-1
174652 - LG V30
174330 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
174070 - Google Pixel 2 XL
170407 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
160319 - Honor 9
143583
The Honor View 10 also offers a "Game Suite" app. It detects which apps on the phone are games and allows you to play with gaming options for a smooth gaming experience. You can have all your game shortcuts here for easy access, and you can disable accidental presses of the navigation keys during a game. To go home, you'd need to press the home key three times.
Game Suite
You can also disable notifications and alerts like incoming phone calls, and you can change the phone's performance mode.
The Kirin 970 is a great match for both the Exynos 8895 and the Snapdragon 835. The UI is certainly optimized for this CPU and it just feels lightning fast. The Kirin 970 is a force to be reckoned with and the View 10 is powered by one of the top-performing mobile chips available.
If you like to game or multitask like crazy, the Kirin 970 can handle it with buttery smoothness and without working up a sweat.
Non-Leica dual cameras
The Honor View 10's camera setup consists of two camera sensors: one is a 16MP RGB sensor while the other is a higher resolution 20MP monochrome sensor. On paper, the cameras are similar to the ones on the Huawei Mate 10, save for a couple of differences. Both of the Mate 10 (or Pro)'s sensors are optically stabilized while the View 10's are not.
The Mate 10's cameras are also branded by Leica, one of Huawei's imaging partners. The View 10 does not have this stamp from Leica. Because of this, color tones produced by the View 10 are a bit different from the Mate 10's, whose images have certain characteristics of Leica cameras, most notably, the fuller-looking color tones.
As luck would have it. The View 10's camera has almost all the same shooting modes and features from the Mate 10. You get the same AI scene detection function, monochrome shooting, portrait, and wide aperture mode shooting. It's worth noting that the View 10 can generate a bokeh in two ways: by using data from the second camera (via wide aperture mode) or purely with software (via portrait mode).
Camera app
As part of the Kirin 970's AI function mentioned above, the View 10 can detect what kind of scene it is looking at and apply optimal settings for shooting that scene. This is all done in the camera's automatic shooting mode where an icon will show up next to the viewfinder, identifying the kind of scene.
AI Scene detection: Landscape • Foliage
On the left is a column of shooting modes. The View 10 can take motion photos, portraits, and wide-aperture shots. The difference between Portrait and Wide aperture modes are that Portrait modes are pretty much reserved for taking photos of people while Wide aperture mode can be used to shoot anything.
Portrait mode • Wide aperture mode
Also, Wide aperture mode is the only one that lets you refocus after taking the photo - you can't do this with Portrait mode. In addition to blurring the background, portrait mode will also let you apply a beauty filter over a face or faces.
Camera settings
A swipe to the left will show all the modes available: Auto, Pro photo, Video, Pro video, AR lens (fun facial filters), 3D panorama, Monochrome, HDR, Night shot, Panorama, Light painting, Time lapse, Slow-mo, Artist mode, Filter, Watermark, and Document scan.
Camera Samples
We were generally happy with the images we got from the Honor View 10. Dynamic range is pretty good in most situations, but it does show struggling in scenes with lots of shadows such as near the time the sun is setting. Details are aplenty in all kinds of situations and exposure is pretty spot-on in nearly all scenes.
Sample images
There is the occasional photo that appears either too cool or too warm, so while the camera's output is quite good, it is sometimes inconsistent. This is a point we've touched upon with Honor phones in the past.
What we didn't like about the View 10 is how the photos looked when reviewing them on-device. The phone's default display setting is cool-toned so photos viewed on the phone don't look like they represent the scenes shot. They appear oversaturated and far too blueish. We recommend the "warm" color temperature option under the Display setting.
Here are some comparison shots from the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
Shots from Huawei Mate 10 Pro
You can see that the images look pretty similar, but the Mate 10 Pro's photos have deeper colors and superior dynamic range.
HDR
The HDR setting is tucked away in the camera app's shooting modes - EMUI has always done it this way and we wish there would be an HDR setting that is more readily available. Better yet, the Kirin 970's AI should be able to enable HDR mode in situations with highlights too bright or too many shadows.
HDR: Off • On • Off • On
We like the resulting HDR shots, they look natural and retain all the important details of the scene while also retaining accurate color tones.
Monochrome and Zoom
The View 10 does a pretty good job with its 2X zoom. It takes images from both cameras and superimposes them together. This, in combination with the multiple frames the camera captures, reduces noise and retains resolved detail. If you check the pixels up close, you can notice a slight deterioration of detail and some added noise, but posted on social media, chances are you won't be able to tell it was zoomed in digitally.
Monochrome • Auto • 2X Zoom
Monochrome • Auto • 2X Zoom
As far as monochrome shots go, the black and white sensor is used for artistic kinds of shots. In previous Huawei devices, the monochrome sensor produced much better dynamic range than the color images. This is not the case, however, with the View 10. We'd say dynamic range is about the same with either color or monochrome images.
It's worth noting that you could raise shadows (using an editing app like Snapseed) much more easily in a black and white photo - the image won't be deteriorated as much since there is no color to preserve. Finally, we really wish there were manual controls in monochrome mode.
Wide aperture mode
The View 10's dual cameras can create an artificial bokeh. It does a decent job with synthesizing the blue effect around the sunglass emoji and Marv. The effect looks alright, though you can tell by the way that some of the edges have a sort of "glowing" effect between the edge the subject's silhouette and the bokeh.
Wide aperture mode: Off • On f/4 • Off • On f/4
Low light
The View 10 is able to get some pretty nice shots in low light. Without OIS, however, you won't get the same quality of image that we are showing you (we used a tripod). There is also a night shooting mode in the camera app. It takes the guesswork out of deciding which camera settings to use. Though, it does help if you know how to use manual controls to take night shots.
When shooting in the Night mode, the camera needs to be still for up to 15 seconds so the camera can capture all the exposures from the image. Here are a couple of shots at a moderately lit scene.
Low-light: Auto • Night mode • Auto • Night mode
We also tested the Honor View 10 in extreme low-light conditions. We took photos in a neighborhood at midnight and we're happy to say the photos don't look terrible. However, the monochrome photos aren't as exposed as the ones taken with the straight Auto mode. There is definitely a difference between the hardware used on the Mate 10's monochrome setup vs the View 10's.
We took the same low-light scene with Auto, Night mode, and Monochrome mode.
Super low-light: Auto • Night mode • Night mode 100 ISO • Monochrome
The View 10 does very well in low-light, especially in Night mode - the takeaway, of course, is that you'll need to have a tripod handy since we're sure you won't be able to get these results handheld. The camera does a good job of reducing noise, even in more extreme low lighting conditions. While there still are noticeable amounts of noise, we've seen other smartphones do far worse.
Because Night mode takes longer to capture the image, it is much more prone to blurring if anything in the scene is moving. You can tell by the car that moved and the tree branches that rustled in the wind.
Panorama
The View 10's Panorama mode is pretty straightforward. Point to the beginning of the shot and sweep the phone sideways. You can take panoramas with the phone in either a vertical or horizontal position.
Panorama interface
We found that the View 10 reduced the panoramic shots resolution down to 2,304 pixels tall in landscape, and 3,008 pixels tall in portrait orientation.
Panoramic image
By contrast, the default 16MP photo is 3,456 pixels in tall, so panoramic photos end up looking fuzzy and degraded. The panoramas are blended nicely, however.
Good looking selfie camera
The View 10's front-facing 13MP camera took some really nice-looking selfies. The first set of selfies was taken in a shady area, so all the light was softened in Ricky's face. The selfie camera tends to slightly overexpose its subjects in order to soften the skin, which made for some really flattering selfies. If this was the Pixel 2, for instance, Google's HDR+ would be retaining all the details in the face, which may not fly with some people.
Selfie: Auto • Beauty 5/10 • Portrait blur
High-contrast selfie: Auto • Portrait Blur • Portrait Blur + Beauty
While Ricky looks great in these selfies, the background - not so much. The depth of field is pretty narrow so the front camera isn't able to capture details from far away as well as it can catch the ones right in front of it. This was generally the same case with the Mate 10 Pro.
Selfie interface • Choose if you'd like mirrored selfies
Video
We have to start by saying that the Honor View 10 has no stabilization in any of the available video modes. Although there is no optical stabilization, there should at least be some sort of digital stabilization. We really hope this is something that will be addressed in a software update soon after it hits the market.
Although image quality is quite good, we feel that video quality could have been a bit better to match the images.
It is worth noting that the View 10, like Huawei devices, records video in H.265 codec, which may not play nice with some video players or certain video sharing services. Compatibility with H.265 MP4 videos is slowly but surely gaining universal support.
The View 10 can record up to 4K video at 30 frames per second or 1080p video at 60 frames per second. Let's take a look at some samples - image quality varies between shooting modes.
The conventional 1080p @ 30fps mode took video with nice contrast and dynamic range, we also liked that noise was kept to a minimum, even in the sky. What we did notice, however, is a slight flicker in exposure as cars passed by. It's nothing serious, it just means the exposure meter is a little too sensitive.
Otherwise, details are sharp and dynamic range is good. We did think the View 10 rendered overall colors a bit cooler.
When we shot in 60 frames per second, things went downhill. It isn't unusual for smartphone cameras to reduce image quality when shooting in double the frame rate, however, the View 10's drop in quality was pretty bad. It looked like the image was totally out of focus. This isn't a huge deal, unless you shoot video in 60 frames a lot. We'd also imagine this could be addressed via an OTA update.
The 4K sample is where the exposure flicker was most apparent, though this effect was likely amplified from the 1080p video since the 4K version of the scene is cropped in. Details are fairly good and colors are generally the same as 1080p video - cool toned.
As always, you can download video samples directly: 4K@30fps sample here (12s ~ 34MB) / 1080p@30fps sample here (12s ~ 20MB) / 1080p@60fps sample here (14s ~ 20MB).
Competition
Honor has positioned the Honor View 10 as a smartphone that will give you the most for your money. The best way to describe it would be "premium value". There are not too many phones that are in this category: a smartphone with high-end specifications and value-added features in the 500 US Dollar or Euro price-range.
As it stands, there are two major competitors to this smartphone. The OnePlus 5T is the most obvious competitor. With its 8GB of RAM, Snapdragon 835 CPU, and similar screen size and hardware build, the OnePlus 5T is priced identically in Europe and the UK, starting at EUR 499 for the 6GB/64GB model. By contrast, the Honor View 10 only comes in a single 6GB/128GB configuration, and that includes expandable storage.
The View 10 has more features than the OnePlus 5T - an IR blaster, lots of shooting modes like monochrome and light painting, expandable storage, and value-added software features like private space, smart rotation, and lift-to-wake. Of course, these phones have two entirely different software experiences; EMUI and near-stock Android are quite different.
Next up is the Essential PH-1. The phone originally launched as an expensive premium smartphone. But now that it's down to $499, it's quite a proposition. It has an amazing hardware build and unique appearance unlike anything else with its titanium and ceramic build. The PH-1 may not fancy everyone with its UI, which is very close to Stock-Android, but also quite bare-bones.
If you're after something attractive, you may enjoy the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. It's priced around the same as the View 10, though if you're in the States, you'll have to buy an imported one. Otherwise, the Mi Mix 2 has an attractive ceramic backside and near bezel-less display. There's also a high-end Snapdragon 835 CPU inside.
Finally, the HTC U11 is almost a year old by now, but it still holds up as one of the best smartphone cameras of 2017. It retails for a bit more at $650 but you may find a second-hand one for cheaper. The U11's Liquid Glass design is gorgeous and the phone is also waterproof. You also can't beat HTC's USonic earbuds, which sound better than any other bundled earbuds out there.
OnePlus 5T • Essential PH-1 • Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 • HTC U11
Verdict
As smartphones have been rising in price, Honor has taken one of Huawei's best performers: the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and has repackaged it into a more affordable solution. It doesn't have the best display, it isn't waterproof, and it doesn't have a perfect camera. We think if Honor offered this same phone with the hardware design language as the Honor 8/Honor 9, it may have been able to even get away with pricing as high as EUR 600 - just maybe. It's that good.
Pros
- Well-constructed hardware
- Excellent performance and stable software
- Very good cameras
- IR Blaster is a rare feature these days
- Great display with above average sunlight legibility
- Huawei Super Charge always blows us away with how fast it is
Cons
- Cameras stick out despite not having OIS
- No video stabilization (though it may come in a future update)
- Tired hardware design
Honor's V Series was only available in China so this is the first time the company launches the (newly renamed) "View" Series globally. It is even coming to the United States, where Honor has found success with the Honor 5X and 6X, particularly in the unlocked channel, which is a market segment that's slowly growing in the US. This is Honor's second attempt at a more premium device since the Honor 8 back in 2016.
Anyway, this brings us back to the question: Why would someone not just buy a View 10 instead of the Mate 10 Pro? We feel like Huawei perhaps should not have launched two versions of the Mate 10 and just stuck with the Mate 10 Pro. Then the Honor View 10 could have taken the spot of the non-Pro Mate 10.
To add even more confusion, there's a Huawei 10 Lite, which has specifications identical to the much cheaper Honor 7X. Honor and Huawei seem to just be competing with each other, but the companies have been doing this for a while and seem to know which phones to serve in which markets. So the decision will boil down to which Honor or Huawei phones are available in your market.
That still doesn't answer the question because it's one that has a complicated answer. The Honor View 10 exists to get a piece of the market share that the OnePlus 5T dominated seemingly effortlessly, with strong sales even in the US.
Honor needs a strong contender, one that could show off Huawei's in-house AI capabilities while staying on brand and it didn't think that an "Honor 10" was the answer to that. In any case, the Honor View 10 is an excellent value any way you slice it. We'd like to see Honor make noise with the new View Series, we just really wish it didn't have a "me-too" design.
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