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Confirmed: HONOR Play gaming phone getting a global launch in August
- The HONOR Play gaming phone will be launching outside China, the company has said.
- HONOR is eyeing a global launch around the end of August, although it didn’t name specific markets.
- The new phone will be duking it out against gaming-focused offerings from Xiaomi, nubia, and ASUS.
The HONOR Play is the latest gaming-focused smartphone to be revealed this year, joining a host of rival devices. Chinese users are first in line to get the phone but the HUAWEI sub-brand has just confirmed that a wider launch is indeed on the cards.
A PR manager with HONOR told us to expect a global launch “around the end of August.” The HONOR representative emphasized that a specific launch date hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Read more: HONOR 10 review — Reflections of a flagship
HONOR didn’t reveal any particular launch markets, but the brand is available in the likes of Europe, the Middle East, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region at large.
The news means you obviously won’t need to import the HONOR Play from China. But it also represents a major entrant in the burgeoning gaming smartphone market. The HONOR sub-brand in general is well-known for making extremely capable phones at a cheaper price, and the HONOR Play is no exception.
For a starting price of 1,999 yuan (~$312), you’ll get a top-flight HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, a 3,750mAh battery, and a 6.3-inch full HD+ screen. As for photography, the phone is equipped with a 16MP+2MP dual camera setup and 16MP selfie snapper.
HONOR has also played up two features, in the form of GPU Turbo for smoother performance and “4D” haptic feedback.
Plenty of competition against HONOR Play
The HONOR handset will be up against three new gaming-focused smartphones, in the form of the Xiaomi Black Shark, nubia REDMAGIC, and ASUS ROG Phone.
Xiaomi’s phone starts at 2,999 yuan (~$479), giving you a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, and a 4,000mAh battery. Meanwhile, the REDMAGIC’s cheapest variant has a promotional price of $399 (it’s expected to retail for $529 thereafter), delivering an older Snapdragon 835 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 3,800mAh battery.
We don’t know what price tag the ROG Phone will have, but the entry-level model offers a higher clocked Snapdragon 845 chipset, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 4,000mAh battery, and AirTrigger haptic feedback sensors that can be used as shoulder buttons. I doubt Asus will launch the phone for less than $500 though; it looks like the most innovative phone of the lot.
Nevertheless, if you need flagship power on a budget for your PUBG Mobile sessions, the HONOR Play is certainly worth considering.