Exclusive: HONOR 7 to launch for under £200

HUAWEI is set to launch its new affordable HONOR 7 smartphone at an event later this week in London and today, a source at the Chinese company has revealed two crucial pieces of information about the price and launch of the new smartphone.

First, the company is expected to announce on Thursday that its Vmall Official Online Store will be launching in the UK and Europe as HUAWEI explores the possibility of direct consumer sales. Presently, HUAWEI handsets are sold to consumers through carrier partnerships or through third party retailers while its HONOR handsets are available exclusively in Three UK stores or via the HONOR online store.

[related_videos title=”HUAWEI in video” align=”left” type=”custom” videos=”586544,583004,617012,609513,604157,591854″]Secondly, Huawei will celebrate the launch with an exclusive limited offer on its new smartphone. Although the official retail price is yet to be confirmed, our source says that the HONOR 7 will launch for less than £200 on Vmall, with a limited number of units available for a very short period of time. Once the promotion period runs out, the price is likely to rise by around 20-40 percent, making the launch offer very attractive indeed.

Huawei’s HONOR sub-brand has made considerable inroads into the affordable market since its launch in Europe late last year. The HONOR 7 aims to continue this and instead of just being another affordable smartphone, it comes with several features that make it stand out, especially given the launch price.

On the rear, the HONOR 7 sports a 360° fingerprint sensor that can unlock your phone but also supports gestures to lets you perform several tasks. Above that is a new Sony camera with phase detection auto focus and dual LED flash while the entire handset is made of metal (somewhat a rarity for the affordable market). On the left is a unique new smart key that lets you quickly access favourite apps or toggle certain system services.

[related_videos title=”HUAWEI Tour of China 2015″ align=”center” type=”custom” videos=”585103,585035,584626,584624,584625″]Our source at HUAWEI confirms that we’ll hear more about the handset’s retail price and availability on Thursday but it is expected to launch within days of the launch. Comparing the specs and launch price with other rival devices, it’s likely that HUAWEI may have a smash hit on its hands.

Do you plan to buy the all-metal feature-rich HONOR 7 for under £200 when it launches? If not, why not and what would you buy instead? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!