Huawei and its sub-brand Honor had a quite insightful year in 2018. One one hand, we saw Huawei launching new products in the mid-range and premium segment, Honor, has quite active in the budget and mid-budget segment.
Huawei and Honor launched 19 smartphones in the Indian market across different price bands with the lowest model being Honor 7S that was priced at Rs 5999, while the costliest model being Huawei Mate 20 Pro that was introduced at a price point of Rs 69,990.
| Honor Smartphones | ||||||||||
| Honor View 10 | Honor 8X | Honor Play | Honor 7C | Honor 8C | Honor 9N | Honor 9 Lite | Honor 7A | Honor 7S | Honor 10 | |
| Price (Rs) | 29999 | 16999 | 23999 | 9999 | 11999 | 11999 | 10999 | 8999 | 6999 | 32,999 |
| Launch Date | 1/4/2018 | 10/16/2018 | 8/6/2018 | 5/22/2018 | 11/29/2018 | 7/24/2018 | 1/17/2018 | 5/22/2018 | 9/4/2018 | 5/15/2018 |
| Display | 5.99 inches | 6.5 inches | 6.3 inches | 5.99 inches | 6.26 inches | 5.84 inches | 5.65 inches | 5.7 inches | 5.45 inches | 5.84 inches |
| Disp. Resolution | 2160 x 1080 pixels | 2340 x 1080 pixels | 2340 x 1080 pixels | 1440 x 720 pixels | 720 x 1520 pixels | 2280 x 1080 pixels | 2160 x 1080 pixels | 1440 x 720 pixels | 1440 x 720 pixels | 2240 x 1080 pixels |
| Operating System | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 |
| Battery | 3750 mAh | 3650 mAh | 3750 mAh | 3000 mAh | 4000 mAh | 3000 mAh | 3000 mAh | 3000 mAh | 3020 mAh | 3400 mAh |
| Camera | 20 MP | 20MP + 2MP | 16MP + 2MP | 13MP + 2MP | 13MP + 2MP | 16MP + 2MP | 13 MP | 13MP + 2MP | 13 MP | 16MP + 24MP |
| Front Camera | 13 MP | 16 MP | 16 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP | 16 MP | 13 MP | 8 MP | 5 MP | 24 MP |
| Processor | Octa Core 2.4 GHz | Octa Core 2.2 GHz | Octa-core 2.36 GHz | Octa Core 1.8 GHz | Octa Core 1.8 GHz | Octa-core 2.36 GHz | Octa-core 2.36 GHz | Octa Core 1.5 GHz | Quad Core 1.5 GHz | Octa Core 2.4 GHz |
| RAM | 6 GB | 6 GB | 6 GB | 3 GB | 4 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Internal Memory | 128 GB | 64 GB | 64 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 16 GB | 128 GB |
| Expandable Memory | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB |
As per The Mobile Indian survey, the Honor 9N was the most-searched smartphone in the year 2018. The data was compiled using the 2 million visitors from the website. The major highlight of the smartphone was its premium design language along with some different colour options coupled with some good cameras. On the other hand, users also showed some interest in Honor View 10, which was a premium model from the sporting some good camera arsenal and premium design feel.
| Huawei smartphones | |||||
| P20 Pro | Mate 20 Pro | Nova 3 | P20 Lite | Nova 3i | |
| Price (Rs) | 64999 | 69990 | 34999 | 19999 | 20990 |
| Launch Date | 4/24/2018 | 11/27/2018 | 7/26/2018 | 4/24/2018 | 7/26/2018 |
| Display | 6.1 inches | 6.4 inches | 6.3 inches | 5.84 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Disp. Resolution | 2240 x 1080 pixels | 3120 x 1440 pixels | 2340 x 1080 pixels | 2280 x 1080 pixels | 2340 x 1080 pixels |
| Operating System | Android 8.1 | Android 9.0 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 |
| Battery | 4000 mAh | 4200 mAh | 3750 mAh | 3000 mAh | 3340 mAh |
| Camera | 20MP + 40MP + 8MP | 40MP + 20MP + 8MP | 16MP + 24MP | 16MP + 2MP | 16MP + 2MP |
| Front Camera | 24 MP | 24 MP | 24MP + 2MP | 16 MP | 24MP + 2MP |
| Processor | Octa Core 2.4 GHz | Octa Core 2.6 GHz | Octa-core 2.36 GHz | Octa Core 2.36 GHz | Octa Core 2.2 GHz |
| RAM | 6 GB | 6 GB | 6 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Internal Memory | 128 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Expandable Memory | No | No | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB |
The Highs
The major high point for both Huawei and Honor was the uniquely-designed smartphones. In 2018, we saw different smartphone manufacturers opting for a more or less similar design, but Honor and Huawei stood out of the crowd with their design marvels. Secondly, the company introduced some really good models in the mid-range segment with Honor Play being targeted at the gaming community who does not want to spend a fortune on a gaming smartphone.
The Lows
Coming to the lows, Huawei was pretty much silent in terms of aggressively launching smartphones for the Indian market. On the hand, Honor was highly active, which resulted in way too many models at the similar price point. This created some confusion with the customers. Secondly, Huawei was not able to keep up with the likes of Nokia or OnePlus for rolling updates at a regular interval of time.
To know more about TMI Report Card 2018 for Huawei and Honor, watch this video:
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