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AT&T’s price increase, Sony, Apple, Samsung, and more! (Podcast #16)

Matt Adams
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Welcome to the AndroidGuys In Brief Podcast. Our aim with this podcast is to update you on all of the important things going on the Android world. Today, Donovan and Andrew discuss a crazy price Sony’s latest phone, Sony possibly pulling out of Africa and the Middle East, AT&T’s deceptive new price hike, Google Assistant possibly coming to feature phones, and Apple and Samsung finally burying the hatchet.

Topics

Read more: Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

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Verizon offering military discounts on Unlimited plans

AndroidGuys
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Verizon today confirmed that it is now offering a military discount on its new Verizon Unlimited rate plans.

Starting from today, active-duty military, reservists, Gold Star families, and veterans can save on any of the Verizon Unlimited plans. Be it for single or multiple lines, qualified consumers can knock at least $15 off their monthly bill.

SEE ALSO: Verizon gives customers new Unlimited options with mix and match plans

Military discounts break down as follows:

  • $15 off one line
  • $35 off two lines
  • $40 off three or more lines

For example, a family of four uses can sign up for the Go Unlimited plan for $30/month per line, saving $40 per month. As a reminder, subscribers can mix and match the rate plans that work best for each user. The discount is applied to the overall bill and is based off of total number of lines.
Also beginning today, and only for a limited time, military families can receive a $200 Mastercard prepaid card when activating on a new line of service. Indeed, you can combine that with the rate plans for added savings.
A military family of four that switches to Verizon gets $40 off the monthly bill and $800 back in the form of a prepaid card.

Amazon enhances tablet line with Show Mode, new Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

AndroidGuys
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Amazon on Thursday announced a couple of new additions to its ever-growing Fire tablet lineup. First up, Show Mode and a new Show Mode Charging Dock, are coming to existing (Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10) tablets. Additionally, Amazon has introduced a new Fire HD 10 Kids Edition tablet.

Show Mode

Show Mode gives tablet users an “immersive hands-free Alexa experience” and allows for full-screen visuals to complement voice responses from Alexa. Ask her to tell you the weather, for instance, and you’ll get nice, easy to read imagery to go with it. You can also have visual assistance with setting timers, checking connected camera feeds, calendar at-a-glance, and more.

Show Mode will be delivered to compatible Fire tablets as a free, over-the-air software update as soon as July 2.

Show Mode Charging Dock

The Show Mode Charging Dock serves as a docking station that also switches the Fire HD tablets into Show Mode. Further, the dock puts the tablets into a comfortable angle which is perfect for counter tops and desks. What’s more, it also charges up the tablet at the same time.

The Show Mode Charging Dock for the Fire HD 8 will retail for $39.99; the Show Mode Charging Dock for the Fire HD 10 will run $54.99. Both are available for pre-order now with shipping starting on July 12.

Promotional Prices and Bundles

As part of an introductory offer, each has been discounted. The Fire HD 8 model is $34.99 while the Fire HD 10 is only $49.99, a savings of $5 off each.

Amazon will also pair the Show Mode Charging Dock with its tablets as part of a discounted bundle. The coupled Fire HD 8 tablet starts at $109.98—a $10 savings and the bundled Fire HD 10 tablet starts at $189.98—a $15 savings.

Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

The new Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is now Amazon’s largest and fastest kids-centric tablet and offers up a 10.1-inch 1080p Full HD screen.

Powered by a quad-core processor, the device gives kids 32GB of internal storage with a microSD expansion card slot for up to 256GB extra space. In other words, plenty of room for games, music, and photos. The battery is slated to deliver up to 10 hours of life per charge.

Not just a powerful hardware experience, the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition also comes with one year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a kid-proof case, and 2-year worry-free guarantee. The total value comes in around $320 but you can purchase it for $199.99.

The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition starts shipping on July 11 in three color options: blue, pink, and yellow. As part of an introductory special, you can buy two of them and save $100 – a 25% discount.

BlackBerry Key2 Review: The Keyboard King returns for its crown

Matt Adams
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For years, BlackBerry was the best option for those in business. The physical keyboard and smart software made it a no-brainer for those who just needed to get the job done. But, as we all know, BlackBerry quickly began to fade. It stuck with its own operating system as Android and iOS dominated the landscape. A physical keyboard was no longer the draw that it once was.

BlackBerry was going the way of the dodo.

But, the Canadian company finally bottomed out and changed tactics. It made a great comeback with the Priv and KeyOne since late 2015 and it has embraced Android like few other companies. Using pure Android with some enterprise-focused features added on top made it a compelling option once again.

Now, BlackBerry is back with another installment, the Key2. The device isn’t the showstopper that the Priv or KeyOne were when they hit the market, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The KeyOne was pretty damn good and BlackBerry got the message that it just needed to build on that solid base. And that it did.

We’ve spent the last week with the BlackBerry Key2 and these are our thoughts.

Hardware

If you’ve ever used a BlackBerry device before, you’ll feel at home here. Holding the device in your hands will take you back several years to when BlackBerry dominated the landscape. I initially wondered how I’d take to using the Key2 since I’ve used nothing but metal and glass slabs for the past few years, but it just feels right.

The device is very solid. It features 7000 series aluminum around the edges, a soft touch rubber on the back and a display + keyboard on the front. Overall, it’s one of the best built phones I’ve ever used. It has a completely different feeling but reminds me a lot of the HTC One M7. Everything is where it should be, nothing moves, and I feel like it can take a beating if it needs to.

Ew

The soft touch backing makes life easy. The Key2 isn’t the most ergonomically perfect device, but it’s still pretty easy to hold onto because of that surface. Not only does it make it easier to hold onto but it looks and feels great too. Sure, it’ll still pick up some oils from your fingers, but it is far better than a glass-backed phone in that regard. Plus you don’t need to worry about it shattering if it takes a fall.

The buttons on the side of the device are satisfyingly clicky. BlackBerry is following the trend of adding some texture to the power button and we love it here. Just under the volume rocker and power buttons is a quick action button. This allows you to open an app or perform an action with a simple press. I have mine set to open the camera, but the phone also supports double pressing the power button to open up the camera.

Because it’s 2018 and we have to mention this now, yes, the Key2 does come with a headphone jack. It sits at the top of the device, the perfect place for such a thing. The bottom of the phone holds the USB type-C port and two machined speaker grills. Unfortunately only one of them puts out any sound.

That brings us to one of the big disadvantages of the Key2. It’s just not great for consuming media. The 4.5-inch display is just fine with okay colors and decent brightness. It gets very dark on occasion and can really take you out of what you’re watching. Combined with a just okay display with subpar speakers and this isn’t the first phone we’d grab to watch a TV show or movie on a long flight. We know that this phone is designed for business people in mind, but we’d imagine that those who work in an office like to watch YouTube from time to time too.

Keyboard

So, let’s quit beating around the bush. How’s the keyboard? Well, I wish I could give you a one-word answer but it’s not that simple. What you need to know is that the keyboard is larger on the Key2 than it was on the KeyOne. This makes much more comfortable to type on while only adding a small bit of height to the device. It was a great change.

The keys are clicky and easy to press. We’d understand if they were a little stiffer out of the box, but were pleasantly surprised at how the device already felt broken in the moment we set it up.

You have the full set of keys that you’d expect. But, you also have a Speed Key in the bottom right corner that lets you launch apps or actions by pressing it then a letter. It’s a really smart addition and I’ve found myself using it more and more as time goes on. No longer do I need to hit the multitasking button or go back to the homescreen to find my favorite apps. Two buttons presses and I’m there.

The smart features don’t stop there. There’s a fingerprint scanner in the space bar that gets the job done. It’s not as good as something you’d find on a Huawei device, but it reads accurately and quickly most of the time. You can also set the currency key to perform actions like dropping the notification shade- something that can be quite the task if you have smaller hands.

BlackBerry brought back some of its best keyboard features from the KeyOne too. You can easily scroll through web pages or lists by sliding your thumb up and down the keys in the middle of the keyboard. You can also double tap a key to open up directional keys and scroll through symbol keyboards on screen by tapping the SYM button next to the keyboard.

I was initially annoyed with the onscreen keyboard when I started using the device, but I can see its usefulness. You’re not going to be able to pack everything you need into the physical keyboard even with long presses and alt keys. BlackBerry captured the best of both worlds here.

Specs

In a previous discussion in our Hot Take podcast, I made the point that it was going to be really hard to recommend the Key2 based on specs alone. The phone is supposed to be priced around $650 but runs a mid-range processor, a 1080p LCD display with an odd aspect ratio, and just didn’t seem very premium. When you have devices like the OnePlus 6 out there for cheaper, it just doesn’t seem like a good buy.

But then I actually used the phone and I’m pretty blown away. We constantly ask ourselves here if we need flagship level processors and the Key2 proves that you don’t. It rocks a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, a sold midrange processor. I’ve never once had this phone lag on me. Granted, I’ve only had it for about a week, but I’ve certainly put it through its paces in that week. I am in love with the performance.

What I’m not in love with is the display. We touched on this a little bit earlier, but it’s just not great. BlackBerry stuck with the same panel as last year and I’m wondering why. It gets just bright enough to use on cloudy days and it feels like it stays too dark too long indoors. It also has an odd 3:2 aspect ratio to fit in the physical keyboard. Watching videos and playing games just aren’t satisfying like on other devices. It just gets the job done and is probably my least favorite thing about the device.

But, my favorite thing about the device is how good the battery life is. Again, we’re taking this with a grain of salt due to our short testing period, but so far it has been fantastic. We’re getting about two days of usage with seven to eight hours of screen on time.

The Key2 has an embedded 3,500 mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0. That means you should get about 50% of your battery back from dead in 35 minutes or so. We’ve yet to be able to test this but will update this section when we’re able to.

Camera

Cameras are another area where we haven’t had enough time to accurately access. We’ll continue our testing as time goes on and update this post as we come to a conclusion.

But for now, we’ll tell you that the Key2 is the first BlackBerry device to feature a dual camera setup. The rear of the device sees a dual 12 MP (f/1.8) + 12 MP (f/2.6) setup. The second lens is used to zoom instead of a monochrome or wide-angle lens as we’ve seen on other devices.

Early picture samples are just okay. There’s nothing too spectacular about the pictures here and we’d suggest looking elsewhere if you really want an out of this world camera. This will get the job done for those quick snaps you put up on social media or snapping a business card. Any more than that might be a bit of a struggle.

Software

The build quality is great and we enjoy the keyboard a lot, but where we really fall in love with the Key2 is the software. It ships with Android 8.1 out of the box with a planned upgrade to Android P. But, there’s no skin to be found. You just get stock Android 8.1 Oreo with a ton of really smart additions.

My favorite of which is the Hub. I monitor a ton of email addresses and social media accounts here at AndroidGuys and I’m now able to keep those separate from my personal emails and messages through the hub. I can switch between Work and Personal profiles to get notifications from email, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, and pretty much any other communications app you can imagine.

BlackBerry also added two features I love to keep your content secure: Private Locker and Privacy Shade. Private Locker only works with a few apps like the camera or Firefox focus, and we’d love to see more added soon. Firefox Focus, for example, can only be accessed by using your fingerprint or password and then deletes your browsing history once you exit. You can also use the locker to store pictures you don’t want to be seen or downloaded files.

Privacy Shade blacks out most of the screen except for where you’re scrolling. This keeps prying eyes off your important content and makes sure your work stays your work. The shade is great, but BlackBerry was smart enough to add quick access to it too. All you have to do is pull down your notification shade and click on the Privacy Shade icon. It’s a really smart implementation that saves time when it counts.

Conclusion

And that’s the story of BlackBerry’s software on the Key2. It’s just smart. You can tell engineers and designers actually sat down and thought about what they were doing here. BB didn’t cram in every single feature it could think of just to sell a few more phones. It picked what it thought would make life easier for someone who doesn’t have time to screw around with their phone during the day.

I liken BlackBerry’s software to poker. It takes a minute to learn and forever to master. There are an insane amount of tricks and shortcuts that I’m still getting used to after a week of use and a reviewer’s guide sitting in front of me with all of them listed.

Some are pretty standard like double clicking the power button to open the camera, but others aren’t. You can assign pretty much any physical key a shortcut. The notification shade drops with a press of the currency key. You can open up app widgets with just a swipe of an icon. And that’s just scratching the surface.

The BlackBerry Key2 isn’t going to be the phone for everyone. BlackBerry knows this and it’s not trying to be. It is targetting a small segment of Android users that want a physical keyboard and smart software features to make their jobs easier. I love the laser focus on that goal. If you work in sales, marketing, or other related jobs, this is absolutely the phone for you.

If you’re not that person, you might want to pass. The software additions will largely be lost on you and the media viewing experience is just not great.

As we grow more and more attached to our phones each day, it’s important to have one that matches what you really want to do with it. If Netflix or YouTube are among your most used apps, maybe grab something else.

But it’s a powerful too for those its designed for. I’m still asking myself if I’m a faster typer with a physical keyboard. While that’s up for debate, what isn’t is that I’m much more accurate.

The feeling of physical keys is so satisfying that I absolutely love to type here. I will intentionally pick up my phone to respond to messages instead of using the keyboard on my desk. It’s that much fun.

Verizon Prepaid tempts customers with double data promotion

AndroidGuys
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Verizon is, for a limited time, offering its potential prepaid subscribers an offer that’s rather hard to refuse. Starting from today, those who sign up for Verizon Prepaid can receive double the normal data allotment. Indeed, this means twice as much data for your money.

For the time being, anyone who activates a new line on Verizon Prepaid will get double the data. This is for single line and family accounts as well.

During the limited time offer Verizon Prepaid plans shake out to the following options.

Verizon Prepaid Plans

  • $30/month for 1GB
  • $40/month for 6GB
  • $50/month for 14GB
  • $60/month for 20GB

The $75 option remains untouched as it allows for unlimited high speed data. All Verizon Prepaid plans include unlimited talk and text in the US as well as unlimited text to 200+ international destinations, and mobile hotspot. The $60 and $75 plans allow for unlimited talk to Canada and Mexico, too.

It’s worth noting that Verizon Prepaid customers receive unlimited data; each plan includes a specific, allotted amount of 4G LTE speeds. Hit the threshold in a given month and you’ll end up with throttled speeds for the remainder of the bill cycle.

Those who sign up for the promotional rate plan will be able to keep it just so long as they stay active.

As a reminder, customers can also mix and match prepaid plans for multi-line accounts. Much like it does for its recently introduced Unlimited data plans, users can pick the rate plan that fits their respective data needs.

It’s not immediately certain how long the promotional plan will last so be sure to sign up soon. If interested in signing up, or simply learning more, head into your local Verizon store or visit verizonwireless.com/prepaid.

Which budget big-battery phone is for you? Nokia 2.1 vs Moto G6 Play

Alexandra Arici
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HMD Global unveiled the 2018 version of the Nokia 6 earlier this year and now it’s doing the same for its budget lineup. So say hello to the Nokia 2.1, Nokia 3.1 and the Nokia 5.1, which come with key updates to make them competitive in the second half of 2018.

While HDM hasn’t revealed the availability details just yet, we’ll have to assume that only the Nokia 2.1 will be offered in the US. That’s because HDM announced the pricing of the Nokia 3.1 and Nokia 5.1 in Euros and the pricing of the Nokia 2.1 in US dollars.

The Nokia 2.1 is part of the Android Go initiative and includes a big-battery, which will certainly make it attractive to customers on the budget.

But HMD is not the only one who recently unveiled an affordable big-battery phone. Motorola launched the Moto G6 Play not so long ago. S which one is the better alternative? Keep reading to find out.

On the outside

The Nokia 2.1 comes with a polycarbonate design that is largely identical to last year’s model. It also includes a more spacious 5.5-inch IPS LCD display (upgraded from 5-inch) with 720p resolution. You get the standard 16:9 aspect ratio here.

Nokia 2.1

Now, if you want the modern 18:9 tall and lean design, you will have to opt for the Moto G6 Play, which is made of a shiny plastic resin.  The handset offers a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display with 720 x 1440 resolution.

Unlike the Nokia 2.1, the Moto G6 Play also has a fingerprint scanner mounted on the back and has a water-repellent coating that protects the phone from accidental splashes.

On the inside

This year HMD has upgraded the Nokia 2.1 to a more current Snapdragon 425 processor. This is a quad-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz.

The phone ships out with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage (up to 128GB), but luckily HMD has decided to adopt Android Go for the Nokia 2.1. So besides a slimmed-down OS, you’ll also get special lite versions of Google’s major apps installed by default including Gmail, Assistant and YouTube. This means you should have more free storage.

Nokia 2.1

The Moto G6 Play, on the other hand, relies on a Snapdragon 427 which is also a 1.4GHz octa-core processor. It’s sold with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage (up to 128GB).

Both phones are on par when it comes to battery, their major highlight. It’s a 4,000 mAh unit that should be able to offer an extensive battery life.

Moto G6 Play

The Moto G6 Play launched with Android 8.0 Oreo on board, while the Nokia 2.1 ships with Android 8.1 Oreo (Go Edition). Nokia promises the phone will get timely updates, as part of the Android Go initiative. But Motorola is also known for offering pretty fast updates.

The Moto G6 Play has Dolby Audio, while the Nokia 2.1 comes with front-facing stereo speakers. Both include a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Cameras

The Nokia 2.1 is pretty basic when it comes to photography. It bundles an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and LED flash. On the front, it has a 5-megapixel selfie snapper. While unimpressive, the two cameras will be able to get the job done when needed.

Nokia 2.1

The Moto G6 Play does a little bit better in this department, as it employs the services of a primary 13-megapixel camera with f/2.0, PDAF and LED flash. An 8-megapixel self-portrait camera resides on the front.

Pricing

The Moto G6 Play is currently available in the US from Boost Mobile for $129.99. As for the Nokia 2.1, you will be able to get it starting this July for $115.

Moto G6 Play

The difference in pricing is meager, but the Moto G6 Play has an 18:9 aspect ratio display, fingerprint scanner, more RAM and storage and better cameras. On the other side of the coin, the Nokia 2.1 runs a light-weight version of Android and offers front-facing stereo speakers.

Samsung will make the Galaxy Note 9 official on August 9th

Andrew Myrick
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In a rather surprising move, Samsung has started rolling out invitations for an Unpacked event on August 9th. The reason for the surprise is because this is likely the launch event for the Galaxy Note 9.

Previous iterations were also unveiled in August, but none were revealed this early.

As for the invitation, Samsung shows off what appears to be an S Pen and it’s button. But the  unique yellow/gold color of the S Pen is interesting combined with the dark blue background.

The event will be held on August 9th in New York City. However, for those who can’t attend the Unpacked event, Samsung will be live-streaming the event online.

READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Rumors

As for what to expect, the Snapdragon 845 will be at the helm combined with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The display is likely to measure in at around 6.4-inches, and will be a Super AMOLED panel.

For the past few years, Samsung hopefuls have been looking for a bigger battery. The wait be over with the Note 9 as rumors claim we could see either a 3850mAh or 4000mAh option.

Other than great hardware, Samsung is known for providing one of the best camera modules on the market. It’s extremely likely that we will see the same sensors featured on the Galaxy S9.

That means dual–12MP sensors with a variable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture in the primary lens. Also, we’ll likely see a secondary 12MP telephoto sensor on the Note 9.

One of the biggest and best features of Samsung’s Note lineup is the S Pen. We are sure that improvements are on the way, but rumors suggest that the pen will include some Bluetooth technology.

We will have to wait and see what Samsung has been working on and the wait is almost over. In the meantime, let us know what you think about the Note 9 and if you are looking to get one.

Honor View10 Review: The budget flagship king?

Matt Adams
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If you’re looking for a premium smartphone in 2018, you have two choices.  You can walk into a carrier store and throw down $800+ on a name you know like Samsung, LG, or Apple. Or, you can save a bit of dough, go with someone you may not have heard of and reap the rewards.

Today, we’re talking about one of those less known phone companies, Huawei. Huawei is a Chinese company that produces some of the best phones in the world, even if you don’t know it. Huawei has a sub-brand, named Honor, that focuses on producing value devices. If Huawei is putting out the $800 flagship, Honor is putting out the $500 premium midrange device.

That premium mid-range device is named the Honor View10 and it can be picked up for about $499 here in the US and similar prices in the EU. It features flagship specs, performance, and features- which leaves us wondering why you’d want to grab anything else. Why donate $300 to a huge corporation?

We spent the last four weeks with the Honor View10 and here’s what we found out.

Key Specs

  • Display: 5.99-inch 1080p IPS LCD
  • Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 970
  • GPU: Mali-G72 MP12
  • RAM: 6 GB
  • Storage: 64/128 GB (expandable)
  • Battery: 3,750 mAh
  • Camera: Rear dual 16 MP (f/1.8) + 20 MP Monochrome, front 13 MP (f/2.0)
  • Software: Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.1
  • Headphone jack: Yes0

Hardware

The Honor View10 isn’t following a trend. If every phone out there today is a glass sandwich, the Honor View10 is an aluminum beast. The back of the device is a anodized aluminum with antenna lines tracing the top and bottom. Two big cameras stick out near the top and that’s it besides some branding. While others are focused on the premium look and feel of glass, Honor went with a much more durable material and, for my money, it feels fantastic too. You’ll never need to worry about back glass shattering or dealing with fingerprints here. That gives peace of mind that we haven’t felt for a while.

The front of the device houses a  5.99-inch 1080p IPS LCD panel. Notably, the panel that Honor used has an 18:9 aspect ratio like most phones released today. It gets incredibly bright while maintaining close to true colors. You’re not going to get the massive blown out colors like you’d see on something from Samsung. We do miss the AMOLED technology here, but if Honor is going to with an LCD display, we’re glad they went with a really good one.

While some may lament the lack of a 2K display, I think Honor made the right choice here. Not only does the display look fantastic with no obvious pixels poking out, it saves power. Sure, an AMOLED panel would save more, but by dropping down to a 1080p resolution, the phone doesn’t have to work as hard to power the display. So, not only do you get a quality display, but there are some battery benefits too. That’s a win-win in my book.

Just under the display is something we’re seeing less and less of today: a button. The fingerprint scanner resides just below the display in one of the only instances of an 18:9 display with a physical button on the front. We appreciate what Honor was trying to do here, but playing finger gymnastics to hit the scanner sometimes doesn’t feel great.

That fingerprint scanner isn’t just a scanner, though. Through the software, you can turn on gestures that will allow you to get rid of the software keys and just swipe and tap the scanner to perform your back, home, and multitasking functions. We love it when OEMs add this into a device, but the long and tall nature of the Honor View10 can make it a bit difficult to use. I eventually went back to software keys.

Here’s something that most reviews won’t point out, but the power button and volume keys are awesome. Not only are they placed in a perfect position, but they’re so clicky too. I just love pressing these things and Honor made the power button textured so it’s easy to tell what you’re pressing before you do. It’s a real turnoff when a phone comes with mushy, unsatisfying buttons. Sure, we’d never not recommend a phone for that reason, but it’s little details like this that make it easy to fall in love with this phone.

Internals

The biggest question I get when I tell people about this phone is, where did the cut corners? That’s a fair question because you can’t expect an $800 product for $500. When I tell people to take a guess, they ask if Honor used an older or underpowered processor, that it lacks the RAM and storage of a 2018 flagship, or perhaps doesn’t have great battery life.

They’re always shocked to find out that, amazingly, every word of what they just said was wrong.

The Honor View10 has a HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC. That’s another name that won’t be familiar to the vast majority of consumers out there. The Kirin 970 is Huawei’s own SoC produced in-house and it comes with a Neural Processing Unit (more on that later). It compares favorably to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 2017’s favorite processor.

Now, sure, the Kirin 970 isn’t the most powerful SoC out there today, but ask yourself if you heard anyone complain about last years flagship processors. I didn’t think so. The story is the exact same thing here. In my day-to-day usage of the Honor View10, I experienced almost no stuttering at all. That can be the death knell of a great smartphone experience, but interestingly the only time I had problems was in the Google pane to the left of your home screen. Everywhere else was perfect.

We also see a healthy amount of RAM and storage here too. Our review unit has 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. It also includes a hybrid SIM/microSD card tray that allows you to either use two SIM cards or one SIM and one microSD for up to an additional 256 GB of storage. In everyday usage, we saw excellent multitasking with apps that we opened days ago still being held in RAM. The storage obviously speaks for itself, but in a day and age where we’re pinning more music playlists to our phone and saving movies to local storage, it’s always excellent to have more storage than you need.

Battery life is always a concern as we’re getting more demanding applications and always-on services. Luckily, Honor was able to stuff in a 3,750 mAh battery somehow. The phone is still incredibly thin. It measures in at .28 in, leading phones like the LG V30 (.29 in) and Google Pixel 2 XL (.31 in). But, Honor somehow managed to pack in one of the largest batteries on the market today.

Not only is the battery huge, but it charges up quickly too. We depleted the battery on our review unit then charged it for 30 minutes to end up with an impressive 44% of our battery. We repeated this test three times and ended up with 44% twice and 43% once. While not the most scientifically rigorous test, it does indicate that even if you forget to charge your phone overnight, you can throw your phone on the charger while you’re getting ready for work and have enough juice to get through the workday.

We can’t rave enough about how good the battery life on the Honor View10 is. Battery life in phones has been getting better in the last few years, but this phone takes it to a new level. Instead of the standard full day of battery life and three to four hours of screen on time you can expect out of most phones, the Honor View10 can easily get you two days of battery.

Throughout our test period, there was only one day where I needed to charge up before the end of the day and that was because I was watching movies on it all day in the car. You should expect at least six hours of screen on time with decent usage.

Software

The Honor View10 has a software has Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.1 atop. EMUI is one of the heaviest Android skins out there today and might make Android purists recoil a bit. While EMUI isn’t for everyone, it definitely has some strengths that I think get overlooked when people are looking for a new device.

Yes, the skin does feel like Mountain View and Cupertino got drunk one night and had a baby, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Where in past iterations EMUI might have gotten the worst traits of this bastardization, we’ve seen a subtle shift and refinement recently. We still hate some things like the share menu, but there’s more to like here than dislike.

You’ll find a please color pallet that doesn’t mirror stock Android but does incorporate some elements. We see lots of blues and whites here that look pleasing to the eye. If you don’t like what comes on the device, you can easily change it with the included theme app. It isn’t the most powerful theme engine we’ve seen on a device but it should get the job done for most.

We were also pleased by some of the small but smart software additions. Actions like swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen to reveal a toolbar with the flashlight, a calculator and more that feels natural. Additionally, we appreciate the ability to run a second instance of some apps. This comes in handy for monitoring multiple social media accounts, among other things.

Going back to the lockscreen, there’s one more thing we love, and one we miss. First off, we definitely miss the inclusion of an always-on display. The Honor View10 has an IPS LCD display instead of an AMOLED, so we understand why Huawei might have omitted this here. But, we have seen others with LCD displays include this feature and so it might be something Huawei should consider adding later.

Instead of an always-on display, you can enable raise-to-wake the device. Removing the phone from your pocket or picking it up off a table will activate the display and give you a rundown of your notifications and the time. It’s a nice consolation prize if we’re not going to get an always-on display.

Face unlock is becoming a trendy feature with a ton of different device makers adding it into their devices. Huawei has included it with the View10 and has done a great job with it. I generally have issues with Face Unlock with most devices but the Honor View10 recognizes me and unlocks in less than a second.

Camera

We’ve been trained to expect poor cameras on budget devices, but that’s not the case here. We loved our time with the Honor View10 if for no other reason than the pictures we were able to snap.

In well-lit conditions, the Honor View10 can stand up to other cameras on much more expensive phones. While we did some blown out bright spots in extremely bright conditions like our day at the ballpark, these were few and far between. It’s always disappointing to take a bad picture, but even when the Honor View10 fell behind other devices, it did a good job.

Where the phone struggles is in very poorly lit situations. Low-light photography is a challenge for almost every device maker, but Huawei chose to not include optical image stabilization in the View10. This hurts low-light performance and video camera stability and it showed in our low-light shots. You can still get usable pictures, and you’ll have more success if you know what you’re doing in Photoshop, but we were disappointed.

We mentioned the Neural Processing Unit earlier, and the camera is where we see that used the most. Huawei says that the NPU helps capture pictures faster and create better pictures in the process. It also helps with real-time text translation in apps like the Microsoft Translator app. Since it’s impossible to turn the NPU off, we can’t test how it really functions, but it’s handy to have none-the-less.

A.I. is a huge buzzword right now Huawei is solidly on that bandwagon. While we can’t remember a time where we picked up our phone and were wowed by the A.I. capabilities, we do have hope for the future. Right now this feels like an answer to a problem we never had, but we can definitely see the potential of the technology. Huawei might be in the driver seat by including the NPU in their SoC.

Only time will tell.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to love about the Honor View10. It’s incredibly well built, there are some great software features, and camera performance is pretty decent. Sure, there are things we feel that are missing or could be improved but since there are no perfect phones on the market today, you could say that about anything.

The Honor View10 is one of the first phones that I don’t feel like I need a case for. The body is fantastic and I honestly feel like if I get some scrapes, dents, or scratches that it’ll add to the character of the phone. In an age where we try to keep something looking pristine and perfect, this is a fantastic departure from the norm.

My big question is how the software will age over time. Huawei has been in the limelight in 2018 a few times and most of them weren’t positive. A potential carrier deal with AT&T and Verizon for the Mate 10 Pro fell through because of pressure from Congress. Even now, Capitol Hill is probing the relationship between Google and Huawei.

To recommend this device is to go in knowing that Huawei may pull out of the country altogether at some point. While the US Government seems to favor protectionism in the new administration, Chinese companies could feel the heat more than ever. If you don’t think it could happen, just ask ZTE.

What does that mean for the future of Chinese phones like the Honor View10? We could see a future where the device sees no software updates because the mess going on right now.

But for the device strictly by itself, we love it. It feels fantastic in the hand, performs like a champ, and you don’t have to pay flagship prices. If you’re comfortable with an uncertain future, we recommend it.

Read next: HUAWEI Watch 2 Classic Review

Instagram Video Chat slides into your DMs

AndroidGuys
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In what seems like an almost weekly occurrence, Instagram has rolled out another new feature. Today finds us learning about Instagram Video Chat, a service that lets users directly communicate with one another via live video.

Video chat appears as a new icon inside of your Direct Message threads and hands you off to one-on-one conversations. Make that one-on-three as the app allows for group chats of up to four users.

Of course, being Instagram, you get camera effects to make things fun, too. They’re somewhat limited at the outset, and geared more toward developers at this stage, but several are available.

Don’t Miss: How to mute accounts on Instagram

The developers did give access to stars and influencers like Ariana Grande, NBA, and Buzzfeed. In turn, they each created or helped to design unique and interactive effects so you’ll find fun stuff inside of Instagram.

It’s not all just Instagram Video Chat, either. Rounding out the latest update, Instagram says it has improved the Explore section of the app. Inside users will find more personalized channels and topics based on interests and hashtags.

Also, you can browse through interests by swiping entire grids; scrolling up brings about deeper dives into a topic. These new features are hitting both the Android and iOS versions of the Instagram app immediately.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and S10, Xiaomi Mi Max 3 Pro, and LG V35 (Podcast #16)

Matt Adams
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Welcome to the AndroidGuys In Brief Podcast. Our aim with this podcast is to update you on all of the important things going on the Android world. Today, Matt and Scott sit down to discuss leaks around the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the Xioami Mi Max 3 and Mi Max 3 Pro. They also touch on the imminent release of the unlocked LG V35 and a possible trio of Samsung Galaxy S10 devices.

Topics

Don’t Miss

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