Honor 8C first impressions: Just a chipset upgrade doesn’t cut it

Honor will launch a new mid-range budget smartphone in India on November 29. Honor 8C offers trademark Honor features like a premium design and build, and AI-based cameras. The smartphone however stands out for its processor which is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 632.

Honor 8C is the first smartphone to run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 632 processor. Announced earlier this June at MWC Shanghai, Snapdragon 632 comprises Qualcomm Kyro 250 CPU with eight cores and Adreno 506 GPU for graphics. The mid-range chipset offers up to 40% in performance, and extended battery life.

During my brief usage, I did not face any lags as such but it seemed slightly slow while I was swiping across the phone. Performance of the Honor 8C is something we'll judge on after a thorough use of the smartphone. The 6.26-inch display on the Honor 8C comes with a notch on top. It has a comfortable screen-to-body ratio and I found myself being able to navigate on the phone without much difficulty. Honor 8C offers a screen-to-body ratio of 81.9%.

In terms of display quality, Honor 8C has a resolution of HD+ (720 x 1520 pixels). The display is rather disappointing as it could have offered a much better resolution. Phones like Realme 2 Pro have a Full HD+ display which has become the standard for the mid-range segment.

Moving on to the build of the smartphone, Honor 8C has a plastic body. It however doesn't have a premium look like the Honor 9N or Honor 9 Lite. The smartphone still offers a glossy finish with a reflective glass-like design. It has a compact build and is pretty light on the hands. As mentioned above, the smartphone is handy and easy to use without having to stretch your fingers.

There's a single speaker grille at the bottom along with a USB Type-B port. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located on top. The dual cameras at the back are placed horizontally as seen on the Honor 8X. It doesn't have a metal casing around the sensors which gives it a cleaner look.

For photography, Honor 8C features a combination of 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel rear cameras. Up front, there's an 8-megapixel selfie camera. We tried out the front camera indoors and the selfies turned out pretty good. We've had similar experiences with other Honor smartphones like the 9 Lite and 9N. For those who like cute filters, they can play around with the AR Lens on Honor 8C.

Verdict

The Honor 8C seems to be an important product for he company but it doesn't offer anything new other than the chipset. Its display and design aren't up to the mark as expected from Honor smartphones. An IANS report suggests the Honor 8C will be priced around ₹15,000. If so, then the smartphone will face fierce competition from phones like Realme 2 Pro and the newly launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro.