Entry-level Honor Play 8 launched with a water-drop notch

Strengthening its entry-level lineup, Honor has launched yet another affordable smartphone. Dubbed the Honor Play 8, this phone brings some modest features in the budget territory. But this smartphone is not entirely a new device. It’s basically the re-branded version of Honor 8S, which is launching really soon in Nepal.

Overview

As one would expect from an entry-level device, the Honor Play 8 also comes with a plastic back. But unlike the rest, it comes with a dual-tone finish, which gives a unique look to the device. On the display part, the phone gets a 5.71-inch IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution. The display has a tiny notch on top. And this minuscule notch acts as home to the 5 MP front camera. Apart from taking selfies, the front snapper also serves to use the Face Unlock feature. Since the phone doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor, the Face Unlock feature is the bio-metric security feature. Talking about the rear camera, Honor Play 8 gets a 13 MP shooter, which comes with HDR features. The device is powered by a Quad-core MediaTek Helio A22 processor, paired with 2 GB of RAM. You also get 32 GB of onboard memory on the phone, which is expandable up to 512 GB via a dedicated microSD card slot. Software-wise, the phone runs on Android Pie out of the box. Honor has also added its own custom skin EMUI 9 on top. There's also a 3020 mAh battery included. However, there is no fast charging support.

Honor Play 8 specifications:

• Display: 5.71-inch LCD IPS display
• Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1520 pixels), 19:9 aspect ratio @ 295PPI
• Chipset: MediaTek Helio A22
• CPU: Quad-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53
• GPU: PowerVR GE8320
• OS & UI: Android Pie (v9.0) with EMUI 9 on the top
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 32GB, up to 512TB expandable storage (Dedicated SD card slot)
• Rear Camera: 13MP, f/1.8, LED flash
• Front Camera: 5MP, f/2.2
• Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity
• Battery: 3,020mAh; Uses Micro USB Port
• Colors: Blue, Black

Honor Play 8 Price & Availability

This device debuted in Russia a few months back. The device was priced at RUB 8,490 ($130/€120) at that time. But this time, the Chinese smartphone maker launched the device at an aggressive price in its home nation. The price of the device has been set at CNY 599 (~ $87). And the device is already up for purchase in China. The device is available for purchase at Vmall, TMall, JD and Suning, and on other retail stores as well.