Huawei Honor 7 rumored to have two different metal variants

Yet another leak has dropped for Huawei’s upcoming Honor 7 smartphone, which is expected to launch on June 30^th. According to Chinese media, the smartphone will arrive in two variants, each featuring a slightly different body build and internal hardware.

This isn’t the first that we have heard of this rumor. Previous leaks have suggested that the Honor 7 will ship with two models – one premium and one entry level. Originally it had been hinted at that the entry level model would feature 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, while the premium variant would bump this up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The latest leak now says that there will be a slight difference in build materials between the two as well.

The entry level model is expected to have a metal frame with rounded corners, presumably meaning that the back cover will be plastic. However, the premium model is said to come with a full metal build. If true, the two models should help Huawei compete with high-end build materials used by other premium smartphone manufacturers, while still catering to consumers who have become fans of Huawei’s lower cost handsets.

Other expected specifications for the Honor 7 include a Kirin 935 processor, 5-inch 1080p display, 16 megapixel rear camera and 3,280mAh battery, along with a fingerprint scanner and dual-SIM compatibility. Quick-charging technology was also recently rumored to be heading to the handset.

The final retail price is unknown at this point, but is expected to be in the region of 1999 Yuan ($322) for the entry level model, while the premium handset may cost closer to 2699 Yuan ($435).

Hopefully all will be revealed soon, as an announcement is expected tomorrow, June 30^th.

Huawei is looking for Honor 6 Android 5.1 beta testers

Huawei is looking for 100 participants to soak test the company’s upcoming Android 5.1 Lollipop update for its Honor 6 smartphone. Although to be in with a chance to enter the beta, you will have to be a member of its Honor Club.

Fortunately membership is free, all you need is your name and email address. Once registered, Huawei wants you to send them a written email application with a short statement explaining why you should be in the test group. Here’s Huawei’s explanation on how to sign up:

“send us an email with the subject ”Beta Test Honor 6″, your IMEI number and a short statement why you are the appropriate person for the test to myhonor@hihonor.com.”

If you are wondering how to find your IMEI number, type ‘*#06#’ into your dialler.

Entry is open to Huawei customers living in France, Germany and the UK. The applications deadline is June 30^th, leaving just a few days for you to craft your finely worded email. The first 100 applicants to wow Huawei will be notified of their success sometime next week.

We’re not exactly sure what to expect with the Lollipop update for the Honor 6, other than the usual upgrades. But we do know that the update will also include a latest version of Huawei’s EMUI 3.1. The final version of Huawei’s Lollipop for the Honor 6 is expected to rollout across Europe sometime over the summer.

Huawei ships 50 million devices in H1, P8 Max price revealed

Huawei reportedly shipped 50 million handsets in the first half of the year, representing a 46% improvement year-on-year. Last year, the company shipped 34.27 million handsets in the first six months but this year – which has seen the launch of the Huawei P8 flagship amongst other handsets – represents excellent growth for the Chinese manufacturer.

Revenue during the same six month period came to approx. $6.9 billion US dollars but the best is arguably yet to come as the company has also priced its upcoming flagship, the Huawei P8 Max. Announced at the same time as the Huawei P8 in April, the P8 Max is a gargantuan phablet that brings the style of the P8  in a much larger form factor and will cost you $610.

The Huawei P8 Max offers a humongous 6.8 inch Full HD 1080p screen offering 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch. The large screen coupled with a frameless display means Huawei has been able to reduce the amount of bezels and as such, the P8 Max has a very impressive screen-to-body ratio of 74.1 percent. Like the P8, the P8 Max comes with Gorilla Glass 3 to protect against accidental damages and knocks and despite measuring just 6.8mm thick, the P8 Max comes with a 4360 mAh non-removable battery.

The Huawei P8 Max is powered by an octa-core Kirin 935 processor with four cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four more at 1.5GHz. The P8 Max comes with 3GB RAM and 64GB internal storage – there’s no other storage options unlike the P8 which comes in Standard (16GB) and Premium (64GB) variants – while the microSD card can expand the storage by up to 64GB and doubles up as a secondary SIM card slot.

On the back, the P8 Max has a 13MP camera with optical image stabilisation and dual-LED dual tone flash and while the camera is more than capable, the P8 Max doesn’t support 4K video recording (at least not right now). Video recording is capped at Full HD at 30 frames per second while the 5MP front facing camera should be great for selfies. Like the P8, the handset runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with Huawei Emotion UI (EMUI v3.1) but it’s unclear whether it has some of the software issues that plagued the P8.

A teaser for the P8 Max shows a release date of June 26th and also shows the dot matrix case that Huawei announced at the launch of the P8. Just like its younger sibling, the case offers information at a glance but definitely appears to have been inspired by HTC’s Dot View case. Would you use the humongous P8 Max for calls or texts? Let us know your views in the comments below!

Huawei T1 10″ tablet is now even cheaper in the UK

Huawei has been making inroads in Europe this year, with a selection of dedicated European launches and new products coming to the territory. The company‘s 10-inch T1 tablet is now even cheaper in the UK, with no upfront costs and a monthly contract price of just £18.50 per month.

Huawei is touting the moderately sized tablet primarily as a media consumption device, boasting HD video playback and enough processing power for gaming. That’s not FullHD as in 1080p mind you though, the 10-inch IPS LCD display features a modest 1280×800 resolution, but that’s not bad considering the low price point.

Internal hardware wise, the tablet offers a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 SoC combined with 16GB of RAM, which again is suitable for mid-range performance and should handle the display resolution just fine. There’s also a 5MP rear and 2MP front facing camera, 4800mAh battery and 16GB of internal storage plus microSD card slot included, along with Android KitKat for the OS. Perhaps the biggest selling point for this unequivocal mid-ranger is built in 4G LTE connectivity, a feature usually reserved for high-end tablets.

This certainly isn’t the only compelling Huawei device to have make its way to UK shores recently. Back at the start of May Huawei teamed up with Three to sell the Honor 6 Plus for £299 and the company’s latest flagship P8 smartphone launched in the country back in April as well.

The Huawei T1 10 tablet is available in the UK directly from O2 at a now reduced price of £18.50 per month without any upfront costs. Previously the company charge around £30 upfront with a £22.50 monthly contract. Alternatively, you can grab the tablet with a pre-loaded 1GB 4G pay-as-you-go SIM card for £199.99. The T1 10 is only available in white.