HONOR 7A brings 18:9 display, dual-cameras to the masses (Update: Coming to UK with single-camera)

Update (04/16): HONOR has launched the HONOR 7A in the U.K. priced at £139.99 (~$199). The budget device will retail via the HiHONOR store, Argos, John Lewis, Carphone Warehouse, and Three sometime in May.

The U.K. version is the 2GB model which, unlike the variant HONOR is pushing in China, only features a single 13MP camera. Instead, HONOR has launched the 7A alongside the slightly more expensive HONOR 7C which sports a 13MP + 2MP camera module.

Elsewhere, the 7A is identical to its Chinese counterpart and features an elongated 5.7-inch FullView display, face unlock, speakers which can hit up to 88db, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 SoC. U.K. buyers will be able to pick up the HONOR 6A successor in Blue or Black.

Previous coverage (04/02): HUAWEI’s flagship devices might dominate the tech headlines, but its budget phones are exponentially more popular, offering plenty of features for the money. Now, the firm’s HONOR sub-brand has revealed the HONOR 7A, essentially a cut-price version of the already cheap P Smart.

For one, you’re looking at a 5.7-inch 1440×720 display complete with 18:9 screen ratio (as opposed to the P Smart’s much sharper but still tall 5.65-inch 2160×1080 screen). Then there’s the 13MP+2MP f/2.2 rear camera pairing and 8MP f/2.0 selfie shooter, being near-identical to the P Smart once again.

The dual-camera setup means you have features like simulated aperture adjustment, allowing you to tinker with depth of field effects. Meanwhile, the firm is claiming advanced facial recognition via the front camera, but I doubt it’s more secure than Apple’s sensor-laden Face ID.

Nevertheless, the HONOR 7A looks like a solid low-end buy, offering a somewhat old, but still capable Snapdragon 430 chipset, 2GB or 3GB RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a rear fingerprint scanner and a solid but not huge 3000mAh battery.

In the software department, you’re looking at Android Oreo and HUAWEI’s EMUI 8.0 skin.

There are notable compromises though, such as microUSB instead of USB Type-C — but at least it still has a 3.5mm audio jack. Then again, the HONOR 7A starts at RMB 799 ($127 as a straight conversion) for the 2GB/32GB variant. For that price, I’d probably put up with microUSB.

Of course, HUAWEI/HONOR isn’t the first brand to offer an 18:9 display and dual cameras at such a cheap price tag. We’ve seen efforts from the likes of Ulefone and Leagoo, but the Chinese colossus is certainly one of the first major brands to step into this arena.