At first glance, Huawei’s Honor 3C smartphone looks a lot like any other midrange phone with a not-so-huge display and a lean design. However, things change when you hold the phone and actually start using it. Honor 3C surprised me with its ergonomics and user-friendly design. Its plastic back cover is silky-smooth and will let you hold the phone without feeling any weight at all while watching movies.
Multi-tasking: With a 2GB memory, the Honor 3C works extremely fast for a mid-range phone. You can easily switch over between heavy apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook, without having to patiently wait for a new app to rise from its sleep. Opening new files within apps, typing and uploading photos or songs won’t stretch the phone’s limits either. The RAM works with an ARM 1.3GHz quad-core processor, which is excellent at multi-tasking and in terms of performance, but not as much in terms of graphics. Even though the phone might be able to handle HD gaming and heavy gaming apps, seasoned gamers won’t find it as much fun as they would on a premium smartphone.CaMera: Honor 3C’s 5MP front camera worked really well when I tried out Skype on the phone. My face on the screen appeared bright and didn’t blur out too often. On the other hand, while the 8MP rear camera did fine in bright sunlight, its ability to recognise faces or take perfect shots in low-light conditions is suspect. For an 8MP camera, we’ve seen better.
Display: The phone’s display is perfect for those who chose to buy a smartphone for its price. At five inches, it provides enough surface area for users to navigate and place their apps; and a 294ppi resolution is the best in its class, surpassing the likes of Moto E, Zenfone 4, ZTE Blade L2 and Nokia Lumia 630, which are all priced similarly.
storage: The Honor 3C’s internal storage stalls at a disappointing 8GB, which means you’ll get to use around 5GB at best — a situation where you would need to transfer your photos, music and videos almost every week to free up space for new content. However, you’ll get to add an extra 32GB via a microSD slot, which should offer some breathing space for those who hate to delete their movies and TV series.
Battery: A 2,300 mAh battery seems enough for a mid-range phone that won’t have to support hi-res displays or fuelguzzling apps and features. However, the Honor 3C could have done better with the battery. The phone’s charge usually dries up overnight, leaving you with around 60 per cent charge in the morning. There’s also no feature in the phone that would let you close down active programmes, giving you a helpless feeling while you watch your phone die.
We would love the phone to come up with new battery saving features or even wireless charging that would let us keep the phone alive for longer hours while on the go. I’m sure Huawei would be working into this feature in the follow-up phone.
overall value-for-Money: Honor 3C — in spite of certain limitations in terms of camera, storage, battery and graphics — will be an excellent phone in its price range, owing to its user-friendliness and ease of usage. The phone hardly keeps you waiting for anything and can be a longterm companion given Huawei keeps offering periodic updates to keep it young.