Honor introduces two affordable mid-range Android-driven phones
Huawei sold its former sub-unit Honor in 2020 after U.S. restrictions started to make the company a shadow of what it once was. That's not to say that Huawei isn't on the rebound after developing its own HarmonyOS operating system and the Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem. The Mate 50 Pro proved to be one of the best handsets of 2022 (even though it was not able to connect to 5G signals).
Huawei committed a selfless act when it sold Honor for the equivalent of $15 billion. The U.S. restrictions against Huawei also applied to Honor as long as the latter lived under Huawei's roof. And while this was the case, Honor was having issues obtaining chips and it could not use the Google Mobile Services (GMS) version of Android.
So by letting go of Honor, not only did Huawei take in a bundle of cash to offset some of its lost sales, but it also gave Honor the freedom to use its U.S. supply chain. After the sale, Honor was no longer guilty by association.
The Honor Play 7T includes virtual RAM which uses storage to hike the amount of memory from 8GB to 13GB
By May 2021, Honor was letting the world know that the Honor 50 line was going to use Google Mobile Services and that is exactly what happened. And now Honor has a couple of mid-range phones that it is introducing today, the Honor Play 7T and Play 7T Pro. Both are powered by MediaTek's Dimensity 6020 SoC. The two handsets each come with a 50MP sensor backing the primary camera along with a 2MP depth sensor. And the pair have Magic UI 6.1, based on Android 12, pre-installed, and the two phones support 5G connectivity.
Both phones have a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 3.5mm earphone jack. While the earphone jacks have been going the way of the dinosaur, you can occasionally find it still around on mid-range phones like these two.
Features found in the Honor Play 7T including the 6000mAh battery, virtual RAM, and more
The Honor Play 7T gets a 6.74-inch IPS LCD screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, an FHD+ resolution, and a waterdrop notch that houses the 5MP front-facing camera. The device carries a whopping 6000mAh battery that charges at 22.5W. The Play 7T Pro is equipped with a 6.7-inch LTPS LCD screen with a punch-hole for the 8MP front-facing camera. The display also sports a 90Hz refresh rate and an FHD+ resolution. The 4000mAh battery on the Play 7T Pro might have a lower capacity than the one on the Play 7T but it charges faster at 40W.
The Honor Play 7T
Let's look at the color options, shall we? The Honor Play 7T will be available in titanium silver, blue and black colors. The model with 8GB of RAM paired with 128GB of storage is tagged at CNY 1,099 (the equivalent of $160). The model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will cost you CNY 1,299 ($189).
Open sales of the two mid-rangers begin on April 6th
And Honor's smart storage technology allows you to expand the amount of RAM on the Honor Play 7T from 8GB to 13GB. This uses virtual RAM taken from the excess storage on the device. This is found on the Honor Play 7T only and is not offered on the Honor Play 7T Pro.
The Honor Play 7T Pro
The Honor Play 7T Pro can be purchased in silver, green and black colors. The unit carrying 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage is priced at CNY 1,499 ($218). Need more storage? For CNY 1,699 ($247) you can get the Honor Play 7T Pro with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Both new Honor Play 7T series phones are already listed on Honor’s online store in China. April 6th is when open sales will begin.
Features for the Honor Play 7T Pro
If you live in the U.S., you can find Honor phones for sale on eBay although the pricing might not be to your liking.
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