What is different about the Honor 7, other than just fingerprint recognition and all-metal?

The rapid development of domestic smartphones has made features such as full metal bodies and fingerprint recognition, which were originally only seen on high-end phones, quickly popular in mainstream-priced products.

On the last day of the first half of 2015, the fiercely competitive 2,000 yuan segment of domestic mobile phones welcomed new members. Fingerprint recognition and metal bodies have almost become standard features. Honor 7, which emphasizes "a little different", is the first player to appear on the scene.

The outer packaging is quite thoughtful

When I first got the Honor 7, the outer packaging was definitely the first thing that surprised me. The standing packaging not only looks like a work of art, but the first impression given by the plastic material is definitely not comparable to the yellow paper box like Xiaomi's.

The pull-out packaging opening method is unique, and the various hollow surface texts once again demonstrate that the Honor 7 packaging is made with great care.

The Honor 7 machine itself is placed on the beveled surface of the rectangular packaging. This time we get a gold top-end model with full network support, and the gorgeous outer packaging is also unique to this Honor top-end model.

Of course, such a unique packaging is not just what was said at the press conference. It can be used as a pen holder. After the wires are placed specifically, a part of the packaging structure of the Honor 7 can be used as a charging base for the phone, giving you enough reason not to regard the phone's packaging as a disposable item.

Metal body feels comfortable

The previous Honor 6 double-sided glass design was impressive, and this time the Honor 7 became the first Honor phone with an all-metal body.

The full addition of metal elements makes the 5.2-inch Honor 7 feel like a "smaller version of Mate 7". The screen border is very narrow, but after turning on the screen, the black border inside the screen is still slightly wide, just like the Honor 6.

The side frame structure of Honor 7 is quite complex. Unlike most metal phones, it does not simply use double chamfers for the sake of visual effect. Instead, it adds a circle of smooth metal edging around the front. The biggest advantage is that Honor 7 does not cut your hand at all when you hold it.

After adding fingerprint recognition, the back design of Honor 7 is exactly the same as Huawei MATE7. The speaker opening shape at the bottom of the body is the same as that of Huawei P8 launched this year. The Honor gold color of the high-end version is more reddish than the familiar iPhone champagne gold.

Thanks to the curved design, the 8.5mm thick Honor 7 not only fits the palm of your hand, but also looks thinner and lighter than the data suggests. However, it is worth complaining that the joints of the three sections on the back of the body are not handled delicately enough, and the camera is also relatively protruding. Fortunately, the sapphire lens surface can alleviate the wear problem of the protruding lens to a certain extent.

Hardware configuration has been further improved

In terms of hardware parameters, the improvements that Honor 7 users can feel are mainly concentrated in three aspects: processor chip, camera and fingerprint recognition module.

The Honor 7 is equipped with Huawei HiSilicon's latest Kirin 935 processor. The true octa-core architecture of quad-core Cortex-A53 + quad-core Cortex-A57 is consistent with the current benchmark mobile chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. The running score of more than 45,000 points is also in line with the level of flagship phones. With 3GB of RAM and Android 5.0 64-bit operating system, running large games will basically not encounter the common compatibility issues of HiSilicon chips before.

However, the same architecture as the Snapdragon 810, which is known for its fast heating, also means that the heating situation of the Honor 7 is not very optimistic. In particular, the Kirin 935 processor only uses a more conservative 28nm manufacturing process. The back of the all-metal phone heats up quickly when running large-scale games. Less than half an hour after starting "Need for Speed ​​​​17", the drop in the number of frames in the game can clearly feel that the processor is actively reducing the frequency to control the temperature. Fortunately, the large 3100mAh battery still has a good guarantee for battery life. Large-scale games consume about 10% of power in half an hour.

In terms of camera, in addition to the front 800w + rear 2000w combination and the improvement of photo pixels, Honor 7 also tries to play more tricks. For example, in addition to the dual-color temperature flash of the rear camera, a front soft light is added on the front for selfie users.

The way it works is that it stays on all the time when it's started instead of just flashing, and it can indeed provide a certain fill-in-light effect in low-light environments.

iPhone 6

Honor 7

As for the rear 2000w pixel camera, although the number of pixels has been significantly improved, the actual imaging details are not significantly different from the Apple iPhone 6 which uses a mature 800w pixel lens. However, the video can be automatically compressed to less than 20MB during sharing, which is quite convenient for spreading WeChat short videos. The addition of "Streamer Shutter" also allows more ways to play with mobile phone photography.

Like the MATE7, the Honor 7 has the fingerprint recognition module on the back which can be touched by the index finger. The recognition speed and accuracy are at an extremely high level. The recognition and unlocking settings can be achieved without pressing down, reducing the theoretical loss of the movable physical structure.

Most Android phones that support fingerprint functions are now limited to unlocking, while Honor 7 attempts to make the fingerprint recognition module realize more functions. For most users, sliding down to display the notification panel is a very practical function. In addition, you can also answer calls or stop alarms by long pressing.

What can the Zhiling system do?

On the software level, the EMUI 3.1 on the Honor 7 has not changed much, but its built-in Zhiling system is a major new feature. The Honor 7 even has an independent Zhiling key on the side of the body, trying to open up new user needs.

In any state, long press the Zhiling button to wake up the voice recognition. The voice recognition under the Zhiling system not only makes the judgment of semantics more colloquial, but also applies to functions in apps such as Weibo, WeChat, and Didi Taxi.

Double-clicking the Smart Key will turn on scenario intelligence. From the first experience, this function requires a certain learning cost for users. Ultimately, it will be possible to make personalized schedules and travel plans mainly through the text messages in the user's mobile phone.

In general, compared with previous products, the Honor 7 is "a little different" in terms of its all-metal body material, fingerprint recognition, camera, and the Zhiling system that appears as a personal assistant. The product has ushered in an iteration, and in addition to its intuitive appearance, it can be said that a lot of effort has been put into the invisible internal parts.

In particular, the opening up of standardized interfaces including fingerprint recognition and Zhiling system has brought more possibilities for future product experience optimization. Although we are not sure whether some advanced functions are consistent with users' potential needs, facing the future, Honor 7 is at least thinking more.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.