Flagship-worthy: Huawei Honor 6 Plus Review

Admittedly, I wasn’t really much of a Huawei fan before, but boy, oh boy, did the Honor 6 Plus turn me into a convert.

Table of Contents

Honor 6 Plus Specifications

Display: 5.5-Inch Full HD IPS Display at 1080 x 1920 pixels

OS: Android 4.4.2 KitKat skinned with EMUI 3.0

Chipset: Hisilicon Kirin 925

Processor: Octa-core (1.8GHz Quad Core Cortex-A15 + 1.3GHz Quad Core Cortex-A7 CPU)

Graphics: Mali-T628 MP4

RAM: 3GB

Internal Storage: 32GB expandable via microSD up to 128GB

Network and Connectivity: 4G/LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and GPRS Networks, Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; NFC and USB OTG Support

SIM/s: Dual SIM (micro + nano)

Camera/s: Dual 8MP rear camera at 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus with dual-LED flash; 8MP front-facing camera

Battery: 3,600mAh

Price: Php 17,490

Design and Build

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The Huawei Honor 6 Plus is huge and hefty, and it’s not a bad thing — far from it in fact, as it makes it feel solid and sturdy. Being a bit bigger than your usual phone, some may have a hard time manipulating it with one hand as there would be a bit of thumb stretching when it comes to texting, but really, it’s not much of an issue when you look at the phone’s build as a whole.

honor6plus-topb

honor6plus-sidec

Its clear glass finish gives it a very premium look, although constant tapping and swiping may get your display smudgy really fast. I tried looking for a case that would remedy that, but I’ve been to a couple of Huawei kiosks and it seems that they’re not yet selling them. I hope they come out with a few soon.

The panels slope to metallic edges that gives it a sense of durability. I’m personally glad that they went with matte instead of chrome, as it adds to its sophistication. On the right edge you’ll find your volume rocker and your power button, as well as trays for your SIM and microSD cards.

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Flip the phone and you’ll see its pride and joy — the dual 8MP camera with dual LED flash. The set-up is very inconspicuous, and it hides the fact that it can outshoot a lot of 13MP cameras out there. More on that later.

Check out more photos of the Huawei Honor 6 Plus in our unboxing article.

Display

The thing I like about the Honor 6 Plus’ display isn’t its thin bezel; it’s how it properly adjusts to just the right about of brightness. It’s the only phone I’ve handled that I didn’t need to tinker the display settings with, and no matter what environment, I still got clear and crisp colors (yes, even under sunlight).

EMUI

honor6plus-emui

Huawei has skinned the Honor 6 Plus with Emotion UI, or EMUI. Now at version 3.0, the EMUI is nothing but buttery smoothness: notifications come in a neat timeline, so you’ll know exactly what you’ve missed, running apps can easily be turned off with its multitasking window, and it comes with a Phone Manager which helps you optimise your phone’s usage. The EMUI does look a whole lot like Xiaomi’s MIUI, right down to theme options, and it seems that this is becoming a running trend among Chinese brands — which isn’t bad at all as it gives users new ways of experiencing Android.

Design-wise, EMUI 3.0 is very neat, with a lot of white and/or blank spaces for the eyes to rest on. Theme elements are very tastefully done that you won’t get the urge to change your wallpaper anytime soon. I especially like the “magazine” lock screen version from the 3D Discover theme, as it shows you a different photo every time you wake your phone up. It’s a simple customization that keeps things interesting.

The EMUI can be a bit of a nag at times, though, especially when reminding you about apps that idle and consume RAM. You always have the option not to be notified, so it’s a minor annoyance.

Performance

With 3GB of RAM and an octa-core processor humming beneath your screen, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Honor 6 Plus gives top-notch performance. Multitasking is a breeze, and there is no lag when switching from one app to another in quick succession. Heavy games such such as Injustice: Gods Among Us, Hungry Shark, and Brave Frontier work without so much of a hiccup.

honor6plus-antutu

Antutu has given the Honor 6 Plus a score of 43,682, out-performing the Samsung Galaxy S5, the LG G3, and the HTC One M8. Considering that the LG G4 has a rating of 49,777, Huawei’s current flagship is really something else.

Cameras

This is where the Honor 6 Plus truly shines. All the hype that Huawei did during the launch is true — 8MP dual camera works wonders. Color reproduction is so close to the actual subjects that it’s hard to believe that this phone sells for less than Php 18,000. Photos are brilliant, sharp, and you won’t even need to worry about not having enough light because the Honor 6 Plus adjusts it for you. Check out some of my shots:

Honor 6 Plus

Honor 6 Plus

Honor 6 Plus

I am thoroughly impressed by how the lenses gather enough light to produce high-quality night shots. All you need is a steady hand or a tripod to capture the city against the darkening dusk:

Honor 6 Plus

Honor 6 Plus

Another great feature of the Honor 6 Plus’ primary camera is wide aperture, which is recommended for subjects that are two meters away from you at the most. It produces wonderful shots with narrower depth of field for better focus on the your subject.

Honor 6 Plus

(1) Regular shot and (2) Wide-aperture shot

The dual LED flash also works great, as it doesn’t wash out the subject, even at close range.

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(1) Wide-aperture shot, low-light; (2) Regular shot, low-light; (3) Regular shot with additional lighting; and (4) Regular shot with flash

The front-facing camera snaps at 8MP, and it produces pretty solid selfies that I can safely say are a great deal better shots of primary cameras of some other phones. Aside from a beautify feature which levels you can adjust, it also comes with a timer, which is pretty helpful when you’re with a group.

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(1) Selfie without Beautify; (2) Selfie with Level 5 Beautify

Battery

The 3,600mAh battery can last a solid 10 hours of regular usage which includes texting, calling, viewing videos, downloading apps, playing games, checking social media accounts, and basically being online the whole time.

Conclusion

I’ve been preaching about the this device the entire time so I’ll make it quick: hands down, the Honor 6 Plus is a great buy. It’s lighting fast, buttery smooth, has great battery time, and has awesome cameras. For Php 17,490 that’s pretty much a steal. I just hope they come out with a case soon.

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