What's good
- Removable battery
- Crisp, bright display
- Dual SIM support
- Good price
What's bad
- Lackluster camera
- Weak speaker
- Smudge and fingerprint magnet
When it comes to mobile markets, there are few as competitive as the budget market. The Huawei Honor Holly is a new entrant into the fray of who offers the best value. But in an age with ever-increasing specs and a flood of entry-level devices, is there room for another? We’ll sort through the reviews and find out!
At first glance, the Holly is your standard issue budget phone. Its all plastic chassis and wide screen bezels were pointed out by nearly every review. However, reviews also noted that the build, while using basic materials, was sturdy and comfortable to hold.
The phone houses a 5-inch 720p IPS display. Unlike many budget competitors, the screen features no protective treatments or layers. While this leaves the screen prone to scratches or cracking, it has another side effect that Fone Arena was quick to point out. The screen is “very glossy and is prone to fingerprints.” Many reviews noted issues using the phone in direct sunlight due to glare and all reviews complained needing to frequently clean both the screen and glossy plastic case.
Powering the Holly is a quad-core MediaTek processor with 1GB RAM. While it won’t win any benchmark wars, it is in on par, if not slightly better, than many similarly priced handsets. Reviews all noted that intensive gaming wasn’t possible on the phone but that it was very much usable for everyday tasks. NDTV said that as a budget phone, the Honor Holly “doesn't disappoint.”
Reviews were quick to point out that the phone included a nearly unheard of 16GB of internal storage. Add in support for microSD cards up to 32GB in capacity and you have an affordable phone that is ready for all the apps, music, movies and pictures you can throw at it.
Unfortunately, taking pictures with the phone’s 8MP rear camera or 2MP front-facing camera was a hit or miss affair for most reviewers. Fone Arena called the camera’s quality “decent, but not impressive.” According to reviews, low light performance, even with the flash, was weak and color balance issues cropped up in a variety of situations.
A final mark on the perks of the phone is its 2000mAh battery. Coupled with the budget specs of the device, this battery charges quickly while still managing to offer respectable. Tech Magnifier found that “a full charge can easily take you through the day with mixed usage.” Even under heavy usage, such as gaming or HD video streaming, many reviews noted a solid 6 to 7 hours on a single charge.
In all, the dual SIM budget phone has a lot to offer. But will it be enough in a market that is already flooded with similar devices? Gadgets to Use thinks so, stating that it “has got what it takes to grab attention in a fiercely competitive market.”
What the Critics Are Saying...
- Sheldon Pinto, tech2At Rs 8,999 there are clearly no reasons to buy anything else in this price segment. Huawei has impressed us with a good combination of hardware and then added the right mix of software to help push the hardware to its limits. This is indeed a no compromises smartphone. The only drawbacks so far inc...
- Jp_hero, CoolsmartphoneOverall the Honor Holly was a pretty good phone, there isn’t anything massively wrong with the phone, especially for the price of £89. At that price it is firmly in the Moto G and low end Lumia market and I feel it competes admirably. Yes the inclusion of a better display and 4G would ha...
- Corentin Bechade, Digital VersusThe comparisons drawn between the Honor Holly and its predecessor, the 3C, aren't in the former's favour. For a marginally higher cost (and sometimes even at the same price), the 3C offers a better finish and slightly more charming features (note that neither Holly nor 3C offer 4G). Aside from that,...
- Dimitrios Matsoulis , Beta NewsPerformance-wise, the Honor Holly belongs to the medium category. Its most impressive virtue is its ability to deliver snappy operation quite reliably and without any obvious weak points.This is an amazing feat for a device that comes in at just £74.99. Given the impressively favorable perform...
- Sven Kloevekorn, NotebookcheckNot only the low price of Honor's Holly looked good in the test. It was not least the very bright and high-color IPS screen that, unlike the comparable rivals, even features a HD resolution that contributed to this. Although the casing does not really make a high-quality impression, it is well-built...
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Common Questions
We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the Huawei Honor Holly user manual here.
Huawei backs up the Honor Holly with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.
If your Honor Holly has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact Huawei support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find Huawei's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.
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