First impressions of the Honor Holly – a new contender for the ultra-budget crown

The next model from the Honor family in line for a detailed review goes by the name Holly. It is far more affordable that previous offerings. After a brief period of use, we are ready to share our first impressions of the device. You can expect the review soon.

You can tell by the appearance of Honor Holly that you’re dealing with a more budget-oriented smartphone. We’re talking about the slightly thicker bezels around the screen and the shiny plastic back. The rounded edges are reminiscent of an affordable Galaxy model. Fortunately, we didn’t come across any squeaks or dents that usually go hand-in-hand with models from this price range. Holly fits comfortably in your hand. Both the rear panel and battery can be removed. You’ll have to do that in order to use the two microSIM slots and the microSD slot.

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Speaking of memory, we were happy to see that there is 16GB of space available, but of course, some of it is occupied by the operating system and the pre-installed apps. Still, it is common practice for smartphones in this price range (and even some from up top) to have only 8GB of internal memory.

The popular MediaTek MT6582 (4-core, 1.20GHz, Cortex-A7) is in charge of performance. A while back we were used to seeing it under the lids of smartphones from the mid-range, but now it seems to have found its proper place. The good news is that the device offers relatively smooth operation and so far we haven’t experienced any lag.

Processor_Phone_v2

Once again, all of the available applications can be found on the home screen. There is no internal menu, similar to iOS and most of Lenovo’s models. The user interface is also nice. It shakes up the classic Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS appearance and adds some useful applications like WPS Office, for example. The settings menu is also different – it offers colorful icons.

We can’t overstate how central price is for this model. The package of an 8MP rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and modes like HDR, Panorama, and the rather extensive list of settings is a luxury for this price range. We took some photos and you can expect a post about them pretty soon. Still,don’t raise your expectations too much – the difference in quality, compared to some high-end models, is easily noticeable.

The battery has a capacity of 2000 mAh, but we don’t have anything special to say about that at this stage. We’ve started testing it, so stay tuned for some results.
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Specs sheet

U19

OSAndroid v4.4.2 (KitKat)
CPUMediaTek MT6582 (4-core,1.20GHz, Cortex-A7)
RAM1GB RAM
Internal memory16GB
GPUMali-400MP2
Display5-inchIPS LCD capacitive display with resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels
ConnectivityBluetooth v4.0, A2DP, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, A-GPS
Cameras8-MP with autofocus and LED flash (rear), 2MP (front)
Additional
  • dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
  • microSD memory card slot (up to 32GB)
  • microUSB v2.0
  • built-in speaker
  • 3.5 mm audio jack
  • FM radio
  • accelerometer
  • proximity sensor
Battery2000 mAh
Dimensions72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4 mm
Weight156 grams

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