Hands-on Review on Quad-Core Huawei U9508

This week, I received my new Huawei Honor 2 Quad-core Android phone from the local handphone shop (MOBYSHOP) and I will be sharing some of my thoughts on this handset. The handset came in a nice white box, reminiscent of the iPhone style of boxing. The model I got was the Huawei Honor 2 U9508, and for this particular set, it came with 1GB RAM instead of the 2GB RAM model. Specifications wise, the rest are the same as what I shared earlier in my post here. By the way, I got this handset for SGD$360, which translates to about USD$290. Prices are set to increase as there was demand for this handset. That’s a sub-$300 handset. Let’s see if this is indeed a good bargain.

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Box is reminiscent of the iPhone style of packaging

Once you have uncovered the top cover, you will be greeted by the handset seated on the first layer of the stack. The handset is very well made, and the edges are smooth and well integrated. When force is applied to the body, there were no perceivable creaks or sounds. If you have noticed, there is a special indicator light (LED) on the face of the phone (red colour in the photo). This is very useful light that can help tell you whether there are any incoming messages waiting to be read. This will reduce the need to turn on the screen to check the notification status.

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As you open the box, you will see the handset seated as first layer

Out of the box, you will get the following:

1) The Huawei U9508 handset

2) Micro-USB cable

3) AC adapter, rated at 5V, 1000mA.

4) White earpiece

5) User Manual and Safety Guide

6) 3.8V battery rated at 2150mAh and typical value of 2230mAh. (I have put it  into the handset in this picture, so you won’t see it here).

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Things you get out of the box

On the front, are the standard back, home and settings soft button (i.e. they are touch-type, and not the push button type). To some extent, this is good, because it means there are no wear and tear on these buttons. On the behind, is the 8 megapixel camera, a BSI full HD capable camera as well as the double LED flash. The back cover is not a smooth plastic, neither is it the super rubbery type of finishing, but somewhere in the middle, which is desirable. The back cover itself does prevent slipping, unlike the smooth poly-carbonate surface which are too smooth for a good feel of the grip. I like the finishing of the back cover.

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On the behind is the 8MP BSI full HD capable camera and double LED flash

When you open up the back cover, the regular SIM slot, micro-SD slot and battery will be uncovered. Overall, I would say this looks like a pretty well made product from Huawei. The two set of holes on the right are the two sets of speakers, providing very loud stereo sounds. Very nice when I take this baby out for a walk or a run using runkeeper.

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The micro-SD slot on the left, SIM slot on the top left-centre, and the battery with the Huawei logo

Ok, let’s move on to the software part of things. The handset came with a default lock screen which allows you to access the common functions directly from the lock screen, namely Phone calls, Messages, Camera or just pure Unlock Screen.

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Once unlocked, you will get to see the home screen.

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Of course, some of these applications were installed by me, but this version which I got, came as the International version, and preloaded with Google Play app store. There is no need to root or install special ROMs in order to get to the Google Play app store. That is a good thing. Operation-wise the feel is that of the screen Android 4.0 operating system.

Since most of the features are quite standard, I will zoom into the few things: first the performance on Android 4.0.4 Ice-cream Sandwich, the GPS performance and the camera photos. Being a photographer, the image cannot be too bad for my taste.

Booking.com

Let’s take a look at the detailed information of the handset below. From the info, it’s a quad-core handset based on the K3V2 chipset. The total RAM is 1GB, and the camera is a 8MP camera, with a front facing camera of 1.2MP.

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Quad-Core ARMv7 Processor
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1GB RAM and 8GB ROM

 

Running Antutu v3 yielded a result of 13,321, which is pretty respectable. It’s on par with the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, and also betters the Asus Transformer Prime. However, it lags behind the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2.

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Score of 13,321 is a respectable and decent result
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On par with some of the big names out there.

 

In terms of the onboard GPS, it performed flawlessly. With the assisted GPS, fix was obtained under 5 seconds, which is very good in my opinion. If you notice, there are two type of GPS system used by this handset, which are the GPS and the GLONASS. This means there will be more satellites to choose from when determining the exact GPS location of the handset. As you can see, the signals received are very good, tested at different time of the day at different locations.

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GPS and GLONASS is a big plus
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Not bad for a $300+ handset

Last but not the least, are the camera functions that the handset provides. I took a few photos during my breakfast, as well as lunch just a few days back, and it performed pretty well. The details were quite well resolved and I am not complaining at all. Here are some of the sample shots taken. You can click on them to see a larger version of the pictures.

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Coffee at Macdonalds. Note the printing dots visible when you close in.
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Hash Brown – Note the texture of the potato captured in this shot
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Special Order
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The focus is on the packaging of the burger, notice the bokeh caused by the DOF and distance.
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A beautiful rose for a secretary in the office. Took the opportunity to shoot. Look at the details of the water droplets on the rose petals in the close up.



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Ramez Sayed
Ramez Sayed
10 years ago

thanks very much for the review 😀 …just a small question can you provide a package of the original pics taken please?

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