Honor 8 Pro review: Screentrooper

Final words

So, a sub-flagship from a sub-brand or an affordable alternative that's attractive and capable enough?

The best chipset of the house and a high-res screen, backed by the latest Android, certainly help the Honor 8 Pro live up to its name. Not only does it look the part but it sure can act like a pro too - even if it's not quite Leica pro.

By the way, don't let the name fool you, the Pro is not a mere sequel of the Honor 8. We've come to take the premium design and build for granted in the Honor line but the Honor 8 Pro also manages to deliver flagship-worthy specs and performance.

We've already seen this dual-camera setup is inherited but even without Leica's touch, the Honor 8 Pro's imaging skills are well above average.

The QHD screen is not only a confidence-booster but the Chinese are probably getting ready to relaunch their VR challenge, which sort of flopped after the announcement of the VR headset for the P9.

Okay, Huawei wasn't quite ready then and probably still isn't but the cardboard thingy is the right way to keep the Honor 8 Pro in the game and in the public eye. The experience is frankly far from compelling but the DIY headset does the job.

Honor 8 Pro key test findings

• Premium build and design, great handling, slim profile and sleek looks.
• The fingerprint scanner has class-leading speed and accuracy
• The LTPS IPS LCD screen has great punch, superb contrast, and brightness. Less than stellar color accuracy, but excellent sunlight legibility for an LCD unit.
• The Honor 8 Pro delivers solid battery life with an endurance rating of 77 hours.
• EMUI is a functional Android overlay, even if it has its quirks. Huawei has worked a lot on polishing single-handed operation, and it shows. It is filled to the brim with features and you can pretty much tweak every aspect of the UI, including enabling an app drawer. The default app package is a little heavy on bloatware.
• The Kirin 960 chipset offers class-leading CPU and GPU performance. The GPU is a bit power-hungry and does run a bit hot, but there are no noticeable consequences to the actual gaming experience.
• The single speaker scored a Very Good mark in loudness. The audio output over the 3.5mm jack is nicely clean with average loudness.
• The multimedia package gets the job done - the gallery benefits from the new Discover tab with GoPro-made Highlights, the image editor is powerful. The music app looks good and works well, but fails to offer an equalizer. There is a DTS headphones enhancement, though.
• Still images show mature processing with accurate colors, high detail level, and great dynamic range. The monochrome camera takes these up another notch (sans the colors, obviously). Lossless zoom works pretty well, but we wouldn't push it past 2x.
• Great color and monochrome still images with high dynamic range, excellent contrast, and accurate colors. One of the best implementations of the variable aperture mode with quite a few creative filters. Good low-light images, and excellent long exposure photos.
• Good regular selfies, but the colors came out somewhat dull.
• 4K videos are very detailed, if a little noisy, but the h.265 codec makes for problematic sharing. The 1080p footage is nothing special. The dynamic range on both is just average.

Huawei will probably market the Honor 8 Pro as a flagship, especially in places where the P10's and the Mate 9 will not stand in the way. A hefty price tag north of €500 certainly points in that direction but the Honor 8 Pro may still be competitive.

The Leica co-branded headliners such as the P10 Plus, Mate 9 and the Mate 9 Pro all cost more than the Honor 8 Pro. Even the older P9 Plus, which has the first-gen dual camera setup and inferior hardware, is more expensive.

Huawei P10 Plus • Huawei Mate 9 • Huawei Mate 9 Pro • Huawei P9 Plus

Some of the competing flagship phablets will not be easily ruled out though. The Galaxy S8 is the current leader in design, screen and hardware, while the LG G6 offers a different take on the dual-camera. The Xperia XZ Premium will flaunt a 4K display - and all of the above are water-proof. Again, those are not the best match, but the Honor 8 Pro is a potential alternative in terms of price to performance.

Samsung Galaxy S8 • LG G6 • Sony Xperia XZ Premium

The Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus may be able to match, if not beat, the Honor 8 Pro for pure processing power and performance. Inferior design and camera quality are the points against though. The OnePlus 3T easily pulls a doozy, but can't match the imaging experience and display resolution. There is also the Meizu Pro 6 Plus, which righted a lot of the Pro 6 wrongs, and can win you over with an OIS camera and 3D Touch display.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus • OnePlus 3T • Meizu Pro 6 Plus

Anyway, everyone can do their own math based on the local pricing, carrier subsidies and availability. The Honor 8 Pro is a very capable phone that confidently steps into flagship territory knowing it can be more than just a pretty face. Now, how much it'll last is a different question but there is honor in both victory and defeat.