HONOR Play: A Decent Low-priced Gaming Phone (Part 1)

HONOR Play is an inexpensive gaming-focused smartphone that looks good. Moreover, it packs in some serious specifications and performs excellently for the cost. HONOR has a good track record of making affordable, good quality devices. And frankly, HONOR Play is no different.

Unlike many phones that are focused on gaming, HONOR Play really doesn't follow the trend. You won't find sharp angular edges or gaudy LEDs or odd over-the-top design choices. Instead, this is a simple handset that doesn't look inappropriate next to other devices about the same price point. HONOR Play even takes a few cues of design from parent brand Huawei's affordable lineup and older Apple devices.

Because of this, most people wouldn't even realize that the phone was being sold as a gaming phone. Perhaps the only real clue is that the phone has "Play" in its name. Despite all this, even though this is a phone with a sales angle of gaming, it offers an impressive amount of everyday usability and performance.

Considering what is packed inside HONOR Play, the price tag is beginning to become a bit more attractive. It has great specifications for its price. And it's really hard to see where many of corners have been cut.

Design

I immediately thought of Huawei Y9 as soon as I saw HONOR Play. In my opinion, there is definitely a hint of the design. It's good to see and feel a fully aluminum body smartphone when so many smartphones in 2018 are glass-backed slippery handsets. This is not to say that HONOR Play isn't slippery, it certainly is.

It is reassuring on an affordable handset to get a quality feel in the hands. The mid-range price-point has seen a lot of quality phones and HONOR Play is no different.

At 7.5mm, it's not a thick phone in itself, but it has a chunky feel like many of the older iPhone models. There aren't large bezels on the phone. And in my opinion, they are thin enough. But thanks to that HONOR logo embossed under the front glass, the chin is made bigger.

Hardware

The internals of the phone are actually substantial. HONOR Play is equipped with Kirin 970 chipset, which is the very same CPU found in Huawei P20 Pro and HONOR 10. That means really good performance from an early 2018 flagship chip.

It comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded thanks to the inclusion of microSD card. Judging from these inclusions alone, it really could be considered an affordable flagship phone in most regards. When it comes to input ports, you have a headphone port and a USB Type-C charge support.

The speaker is down at the bottom of the edge. Indeed, it's easy to get covered, but when uncovered, it gets loud and has some pretty solid sound.

On the back, there is a dual camera setup alongside a fingerprint reader. One small issue I have is how deeply recessed fingerprint reader feels. Although it's on the smaller side, it's pretty fast. And I really like the little blip sound effect that plinks as you unlock your phone using your finger.

I really favor a slim design and the choice to opt for an aluminum build, something that is apparently less common when Qi wireless charging is slowly becoming standard.