Huawei has done it once again, releasing a more affordable alternative to its latest flagship smartphone lineup and placing it under the more budget-friendly Honor brand. This time, we’re looking at the newly launched Honor 10.
Make no mistake about it, the Honor 10 is a feature-packed device. A lot of the high-end specifications found on the Huawei P20 series — such as the top-of-the-line Kirin 970 processor, glass and metal body, and latest EMUI 8.1 software (based on Android 8.1 Oreo) — are mostly here.
And yes, there’s a notch on top. It fits inside the 5.84-inch 1080p LCD with a 19:9 screen ratio. Underneath the display is the front-mounted fingerprint sensor, although Huawei’s usual facial recognition feature is available if you prefer that for unlocking your phone.
This being a Huawei device, you can expect the cameras to be great. In this case, there’s a 16- and 24-megapixel combo on the back, with the latter having a monochrome image sensor for sharper photos. Not to be outdone, the selfie shooter is of the 24-megapixel kind, as well. Unfortunately, there’s no Leica branding in sight, which explains why this phone can be sold cheaper, but you do get artificial intelligence in the cameras for smarter scene recognition.

Memory and storage configurations are excellent, with 6GB for the former and a choice between 64GB and 128GB for the latter. And because this is a big phone, a 3400mAh battery is found inside, just like on the P20. What’s extra special is the inclusion of a 3.5mm audio port, something Huawei flagships have given up on since the Mate 10 series.
Pricing starts at CNY 2,599 (US$ 412) for the 6GB memory with 64GB storage variant, and CNY 2,999 (US$ 477) for the model with 128GB of storage (neither of which can be expanded using a microSD card). There’s some difficulty in translating the exact color names to English, but rest assured there are four to choose from: black, gray, purple, and blue.