Honor Play launched in India: Price starts at Rs. 19,999
Honor has launched its mid-range Honor Play smartphone in India today. The gaming-centric phone comes at a starting price of Rs. 19,999 and will go on sale today evening via Amazon. The key highlights of the phone include its modern notch-based display, high-end internals, an in-house performance boosting GPU Turbo technology, and a haptic feedback for an immersive gaming experience. Here's our roundup.
Honor Play: Launch offers and availability
Honor Play, available in Midnight Black and Navy Blue color options, costs Rs. 19,999 for the 4GB RAM model, and Rs. 23,999 for the 6GB RAM option. Notably, both variants will go on sale today starting 4pm via Amazon and Honor India e-store. As part of launch offers, there's no-cost EMI offer by Axis Bank while Vodafone is giving 10GB data for 12 months.
Honor Play: At a glance
Up front, the Honor Play sports a notch-based display with a prominent chin - just like the Honor 9N. However, on the back, the Honor Play gets a metallic back, unlike 9N's glass panel. The phone features a 6.3-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) display with a pixel density of 409ppi and a taller aspect ratio of 19.5:9 - thanks to the notch.
For the shutterbugs and selfie lovers
The Honor Play sports a dual rear camera setup comprising a 16-megapixel primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, and a secondary 2-megapixel sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The rear camera comes with phase detection autofocus (PDAF), LED flash and AI-powered features such as Portrait Mode and Scene Recognition. Up front, the phone gets a 16-megapixel f/2.0 sensor with AI Portrait feature and 3D Lighting.
Under the hood
Honor Play is powered by Huawei's flagship HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor, paired with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage (expandable up to 256GB). The phone runs Android Oreo 8.1-based EMUI 8.2 and packs a 3,750mAh battery. Moreover, Honor Play debuts Huawei's GPU Turbo technology that improves graphics performance by 60% and decreases power consumption by 30%.
Honor Play offers '4D gaming experience'
Honor Play comes with an AI feature that recognizes audio and visual effects, in real time, and provides haptic vibrations (smart shock as Honor calls it) for a bomb explosion or a crash or bullets. The phone is also touted to come with 3D Gaming Sound Effect that offers surround sound (but only on wired headsets).
Connectivity options and sensors onboard
In terms of connectivity, the Honor Play supports dual-SIM cards, dual4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/c (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth v4.2, USB Type-C (v2.0), GPS/A-GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board the phone include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
