Honor 10 was launched for the India market at an event in London on Tuesday. The smartphone, which was first launched in China last month and is the new flagship of Huawei's sub-brand Honor, will go on sale exclusively via Flipkart in India from Wednesday. The Honor 10 is powered by Huawei's own HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC that's paired with 6GB of RAM, a dual rear camera setup, a 19:9 FullView display with an iPhone X-like notch, and a 24-megapixel front camera.
The company is touting several AI 2.0-based features, from beautification and face recognition, to UX features in its EMUI 8.1 custom Android ROM that's based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The Honor 10 also sports a gradient colour finish, similar to the Pink Gold and Twilight colour variants we last saw on the flagship-level Huawei P20 Pro and Huawei P20 smartphones.
Honor 10 price in India has been set at Rs. 32,999 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage variant in India - the company has chosen not to launch the 6GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage in the country. It will be available from midnight, Wednesday, May 16 in India, exclusively via Flipkart. The company has also chosen only to launch two colour variants in the country - Midnight Black and Phantom Blue.
The Honor 10 India launch offers include an additional Rs. 5,000 off over the regular exchange value for all Honor smartphones, as well as select other devices. The company is also offering an additional Rs. 3,000 off over regular exchange value for all other devices. Both these exchange offers will be valid from Wednesday, May 16 to Friday, May 18.
Honor is also offering no cost EMI on Bajaj Finserv cards, but this is valid on May 16 only. Buyers on Flipkart will also get a 10 percent instant discount with Axis Bank and debit cards - something that's also applicable on EMI transactions. A Jio offer for Honor 10 buyers was also detailed, with Rs. 1,200 cashback, 100GB additional data, and Rs. 3,300 worth of partner vouchers.
The company also announced that the Honor 10 will also be available to buy via Hi Honor online store in India, with a Rs. 500 coupon being provided on purchase of the smartphone, apart from MobiKwik SuperCash up to Rs. 2,000.
In Europe, the company launched both the 64GB and 128GB storage variants, priced at EUR 399.90 (roughly Rs. 32,300) and EUR 449.90 (roughly Rs. 36,400), while the in the UK, the company launched only the 128GB variant, priced at GBP 399.99 (roughly Rs. 36,800). In Europe and the UK, the smartphone will be bundled with Monster Earphone II with Hi-Res Audio support, and a tailor-made sound profile for the Honor 10.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Honor 10 runs EMUI 8.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. It sports a 5.84-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280) FullView display with a 19:9 aspect ratio, and a 86.2 percent screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by the octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC (four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.36GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.8GHz) coupled with 6GB of RAM.
In terms of optics, the Honor 10 sports a dual rear camera setup, with one 24-megapixel sensor and one 16-megapixel sensor combined with an f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, and AI photography mode that recognises scenes and objects in real-time. The company is called the dual rear camera setup an 'AI Camera', something that is clearly marked on the handset as well. The AI and the setup together facilitate features like 3D Portrait Lighting and HDR. On the front, the smartphone also bears an AI Camera, featuring a 24-megapixel sensor with 1.8-micron pixels and a 3D Portrait Lighting mode.
The Honor 10 features 128GB of inbuilt storage, not expandable via microSD card. Connectivity options on the smartphone include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (dual-band, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board the Honor 10 include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. It bears an Ultrasonic Under Glass fingerprint sensor on the home button. It measures 149.6x71.2x7.7mm and weighs 153 grams. It is powered by a 3400mAh battery.
In terms of audio, the Honor 10 sports a 7.1 multi-channel Hi-Fi audio chip with support for 7-channel sound effects.
Disclosure: Honor sponsored Gadgets 360 correspondent's flights and hotel for the launch event in London.
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