Honor 7C hands-on: Budget proposition with impressive camera, build quality

Priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 for 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB RAM and storage configurations, the Honor 7C seems to be a great proposition in sub-Rs 12,000 budget smartphone segment

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei on May 22 launched the Honor 7C in India. Priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 for 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB RAM and storage configurations, the smartphone seems to be a great proposition in sub-Rs 12,000 budget segment. At these price tags, the phone would compete with the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (Review), Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Review), Xiaomi Redmi 5 (Review) and Oppo Realme 1 (First Impressions).

The Honor 7C features metallic design, 18:9 aspect ratio screen, Android Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 operating system, Qualcomm 450 processor and face unlocking capabilities. Honor has been using the company’s in-house developed Huawei Kirin system-on-chip (SoC) in almost all the current models. However, the Honor 7C is one of a few Honor-branded smartphones that take power from Qualcomm processors. While the Kirin 659 SoC, which powers most budget Honor devices, seems to have an advantage to have more powerful cores than Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC that powers the Honor 7C, the Qualcomm SoC has better graphic handling capabilities over Kirin 659.

The Honor 7C manages to pull out basic tasks at ease. However, it does feel underpowered, especially while handling processor-intensive tasks such as multitasking and online video streaming. The phone also does warm up; however, the thermals remain under control throughout. Interestingly, the phone handles graphic intensive apps and utilities better than Kirin 659 SoC. The browser-based gameplay is consistent and smooth, app-based video streaming services work satisfactory and games work fine at moderate settings.

Other than processing prowess, the Honor 7C does not bring much of a difference to the table when compared to other Honor smartphones. It sports a 5.99-inch fullHD+ IPS 18:9 aspect ratio screen, which looks bright and colourful, covered under curved glass. The aluminium back feels sturdy and premium. There is a micro-USB charging port on the bottom, coupled with speaker and microphone. Overall, the design looks impressive and has a good feel to it.

In terms of imaging, the Honor 7C sports a 13-megapixel primary sensor, paired with a 2MP depth-sensing lens. There is an 8MP sensor on the front for selfies and face unlock feature. The camera in Honor 7C seems to be among the top performer in the sub-Rs 12,000 segment. It works optimally in all lighting conditions. However, the same cannot be said for videography features and we would keep our verdict reserved for review.