Huawei Honor 4C quick Review

Huawei has struck the budget market yet again with two stunning , new devices for almost unreal rates. The two devices, namely the 4C and Bee have been placed under the ‘Honor’ branding, which means you probably won’t see the Huawei badge on these devices as well. The Bee has been priced at a more than modest INR 4999 while its bigger sibling, the 4C has been priced at INR 8999 in India. Huawei has been on quite a roll in the smartphone domain with loads of back to back hit phones, and there are reports that they may even be working on the next big Nexus device. To add to that, Huawei has also maintained its spot in the top 5 smartphone vendors after repeated challenges from the top players as well as local rivals like Xiaomi.

Many companies have been targeting the Indian market off late due to the sheer population of the country. They know that if they strike big in India, they need not worry about sales elsewhere. In order to get to the heavily retail outlet based country, the new players hit the crowd in an altogether new fashion – E-retail Flash sales. The mantra has worked like a charm and as a result, these new players  have scripted a rags to riches story for themselves in the smartphone domain. Coming back to the Honor 4C. The phone is an entry level devices with a lot of promise. The official spec sheet is now Live and while the phones are yet to start mass sales, we can still take a calculated guess as to what the device is all about, and that is exactly what I am going to do today..

Without wasting any more of your time , let me jump right into it. Here are the key features of the new Honor 4C –

Dimensions	143.3 x 71.9 x 8.8 mm
Weight	162 g
Display	5.0 inches (720 x 1280 pixels) | ( 294 ppi )
Camera	13 MP Autofocus (rear) | 5 MP (front)
Hardware	HiSilicon Kirin 620
Battery	Li-Ion 2550 mAh battery
RAM	2 GB RAM
Storage	8 GB internal with microSD, up to 32 GB
Operating System	Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
Durability	–
Colors	White, Black, Gold

Now that we have the key specifications at our disposal, lets take a quick look them in a bit more detail –

• Display – Mid range level devices have started adopting 720p displays, and the Honor 4C is no different. It features a standard 5 inch display with the default 1280 X 720 pixel resolution which together amounts to roughly around 294 ppi. So far, Huawei has not confirmed the inclusion of Gorilla Glass protection , so it is safe to assume that it is not present in the device , leaving it dependent on the screen guard and covers for protection. Due to the highly aggressive pricing, Huawei has not included any extra frills and add ons as far as the display is concerned, but at the same time, they have not compromised on it either. All in all, its a standard issue display package.

• Performance – Huawei has been loyal to his home grown HiSilicon Kirin chipset, and the 4C is no exception . The device features the Kirin 620 chipset which features an Octa Core CPU which clocks 1.2 GHz. This is really good considering the segment it is targetting and I am very sure the customers looking for a budget workhorse won’t be disappointed. The setback though is the OS. The Honor 4C boots Android 4.4.2 KitKat, which means the users will have to get in line and wait for the Lollipop upgrade. Google is set to announce their next OS release at the upcoming I/O conference, so the companies better push their updates faster.  Other than that, there is nothing in the performance area that you can actually complain about.

• Memory and RAM – The memory section a flawless one as well ,with Huawei making sure they stick to the default acceptable specs without adding a lot of extra add ons. That’s probably the reason why they have gone for 8 GB of internal memory and SD card expansion upto 32 GB. Most of them would have preferred 16 GB internal with an expansion upto 64 gig, personally, I would have expected the same, but as I already mentioned – Huawei had to stick to the price level, and any modification in this package would have only led them to charge you a bit more, which would further put it in direct contention with some top notch upper mid range devices, against whom, the Honor 4C would have stood no chance. Therefore, its a fair memory package for the price, and with cloud storage and USB OTG devices now getting more prominence, you should have no worry whatsoever.Huawei has however, added a sweetner in the RAM section. A 2GB RAM is always a welcome feature in a lower mid range device, and the company has done just that. 2 GB RAM means you will get a very clean and hassle free multi tasking experience, if you so desire.

• Camera – The camera package is absolute rocker. You get a 13 MP rear sensor, complete with autofocus and 1080p video recording capability at  30fps.. You also get default camera features like Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR as well.If you are a selfie fan , you won’t be disappointed at all. The 4C features a pretty strong 5MP sensor which has been decked up to record videos at 720p quality, so you can expect some crisp video calling as well.
  Overall, its a camera package you can flaunt, despite the phone itself being a default one.

• Battery – With specs as light as these, the company could have gone for an 1800 mAh battery and still achieved the desired endurance from the device. Huawei instead, have gone for a 2550 mAh battery, to make their device invincible in the endurance segment as far as lower mid range devices go.

All in all, its device you can go for with your eyes closed, if its a budget phone you are looking for. However, if you are ready to put in a few thousand INR more, you could go in for a Zenfone or the ever trustworthy Moto G ,as they are stellar devices as well.