Huawei Honor i7 is a nice twist of smartphone camera design


huawei honor i7

Take the Oppo N3 concept and place the camera on a more adjustable stalk and you have what Huawei are calling the new Huawei Honor i7.

Due to TENAA leaks the main surprise of the Huawei Honor i7, that being the camera is places on a adjustable stalk, was spoiled, but yesterday’s release did show us all just how mobile the camera is and how versatile the i7 could be.

Holding the Honor i7 in your hand you would be forgive that the device is just a normal Honor phone. If follows a similar design to the Honor 6+, but on closer inspection you can see that upper bezel has bee reduced slightly thanks to the lack of dedicated front camera.

huawei honor i7

To take selfies then the main 13 mega-pixel camera can be spun up and around to face the front. The concept is similar to the Oppo N3, but this time only a very small portion, enough for the camera and dual LED flash, turns.

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huawei honor i7

If you are worried that the camera looks a little fragile then it might put your mind at ease that Huawei have designed it to withstand forces of 50kg, and guarantee the rotating mechanism for 2 years.

huawei honor i7

Looking past the adjustable camera, the Huawei Honor i7 also features a side mounted fingerprint scanner, 5.2-inch FHD display, and a Snapdragon 616 octacore chipset. The phone also has a 3100Ah battery which should be plenty for a 5.2-inch phone.

There are 3 versions of the phone available. The basic 1599 Yuan model will have 2GB RAM and 16GB memory but will only work for China Mobile networks. A full network model with 2GB RAM and 16GB memory will cost 1699 Yuan, while a 3GB RAM 32GB memory full network version is 1899 Yuan.

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36 Comments

  1. french harp
    August 20, 2015

    dear chinese phone companies, it’s okay to have thick bezels as long as there ain’t no goddamn black bars

    • Robert Kurowski
      August 21, 2015

      With proper theme it might not look that bad. Other than that I agree with you.

    • Fly agaric
      August 21, 2015

      There is a problem with lack of margins, that nobody wants to notice. If you make it completely bezelless and borderrless it will make the screen more exposed to dmg from side hits and it could make make the digitizer get confused while holding your phone.
      Because of that, I’m not surprised that producers don’t want to spend extra money on fighting this problem.

    • Chico Migraña
      August 22, 2015

      Just get a Nubia Z9

  2. The Bastard Christ
    August 21, 2015

    LOL, baaad idea. those things are gonna break easily.

    • Fly agaric
      August 21, 2015

      Exactly, it’s not only not a practical thing, but a curiosity, too.
      Unfortunately, on a very competitive market (like cellphones market is) producers keep looking for something characteristic that will make their phone look unique.
      I would rather want it too be extraordinarily good camera, at very attractive price for a phone, but marketing departments usually prefer gadgets like this. Unfortunately for us – demanding users, this strategy usually works.
      BTW. IMHO, it was a better solution to make the camera the work way its done in Vivo and E7Mini.

  3. french harp
    August 21, 2015

    dear chinese phone companies, it’s okay to have thick bezels as long as there ain’t no goddamn black bars

    • Robert Kurowski
      August 21, 2015

      With proper theme it might not look that bad. Other than that I agree with you.

    • Fly agaric
      August 21, 2015

      There is a problem with lack of margins, that nobody wants to notice. If you make it completely bezelless and borderrless it will make the screen more exposed to dmg from side hits and it could make make the digitizer get confused while holding your phone.
      Because of that, I’m not surprised that producers don’t want to spend extra money on fighting this problem.

    • Ricardo A.
      August 22, 2015

      Just get a Nubia Z9

  4. The Bastard Christ
    August 21, 2015

    LOL, baaad idea. those things are gonna break easily.

    • Fly agaric
      August 21, 2015

      Exactly, it’s not only not a practical thing, but a curiosity, too.
      Unfortunately, on a very competitive market (like cellphones market is) producers keep looking for something characteristic that will make their phone look unique.
      I would rather want it too be extraordinarily good camera, at very attractive price for a phone, but marketing departments usually prefer gadgets like this. Unfortunately for us – demanding users, this strategy usually works.
      BTW. IMHO, it was a better solution to make the camera the work way its done in Vivo and E7Mini.

  5. E8hffff
    August 21, 2015

    Where’s all the screams of black borders?

    • Flaat
      August 21, 2015

      “Bezelless design” black borders are allowed. Bezels + borders is a big nono

      • Faux-News
        August 22, 2015

        That bezel on this phone is to protect the screen when placing the phone face down.

    • balcobomber25
      August 22, 2015

      On the Elephone and Zuk stories where they belong. On phones with incredibly thin bezels or no bezels at all you will get that black border.

  6. Luca Valente
    August 21, 2015

    Snapdragon ???? Huawei produced kirin and uses snapdragon…

    • balcobomber25
      August 22, 2015

      They have used SD chips in the past, like the 615 in the P8 Lite. Sometimes it is cheaper for them to buy another brands chip than produce their own. It all depends on the chip, the market its going to sell in, the cost etc.

      • Dante
        August 22, 2015

        The p8 lite is a horrible device compared to its bigger brother in every aspect (including camera build performance etc.) i cant reccomend it to anyone but huawei fans

        • balcobomber25
          August 23, 2015

          I never said it was a good phone just they were using it, the SD615 is a horrible chip period.

          • Dante
            August 23, 2015

            I never said it was a good chipset just they were using it , the Huawei P8 lite is a horrible phone period.

  7. Lars
    August 21, 2015

    I don’t think the camera is such a bad idea tbh. Not a fan of front cams myself as you’re never sure who else is watching. Front facing cams are also lower resolution and as I never use both cams at the same time I would actually prefer a camera like this. Higher quality selfies and a flash at the same time :).

    “… and guarantee the rotating mechanism for 2 years”

    Two years feels a bit short though imo.

  8. E8hffff
    August 21, 2015

    Where’s all the screams of black borders?

    • Flaat
      August 21, 2015

      “Bezelless design” black borders are allowed. Bezels + borders is a big nono

    • balcobomber25
      August 22, 2015

      On the Elephone and Zuk stories where they belong. On phones with incredibly thin bezels or no bezels at all you will get that black border.

    • Faux-News
      August 22, 2015

      That bezel on this phone is to protect the screen when placing the phone face down.

  9. Luca Valente
    August 21, 2015

    Snapdragon ???? Huawei produced kirin and uses snapdragon…

    • balcobomber25
      August 22, 2015

      They have used SD chips in the past, like the 615 in the P8 Lite. Sometimes it is cheaper for them to buy another brands chip than produce their own. It all depends on the chip, the market its going to sell in, the cost etc.

    • Dante
      August 22, 2015

      The p8 lite is a horrible device compared to its bigger brother in every aspect (including camera build performance etc.) i cant reccomend it to anyone but huawei fans

    • balcobomber25
      August 23, 2015

      I never said it was a good phone just they were using it, the SD615 is a horrible chip period.

    • Dante
      August 23, 2015

      I never said it was a good chipset just they were using it , the Huawei P8 lite is a horrible phone period.

  10. Lars
    August 21, 2015

    I don’t think the camera is such a bad idea tbh. Not a fan of front cams myself as you’re never sure who else is watching. Front facing cams are also lower resolution and as I never use both cams at the same time I would actually prefer a camera like this. Higher quality selfies and a flash at the same time :).

    “… and guarantee the rotating mechanism for 2 years”

    Two years feels a bit short though imo.

  11. ufg
    August 22, 2015

    I like this rotating camera better than the Oppo style actually. Less bulky, looks easier to turn, if they ever motorized it it seems a lot cheaper to implement

  12. ufg
    August 22, 2015

    I like this rotating camera better than the Oppo style actually. Less bulky, looks easier to turn, if they ever motorized it it seems a lot cheaper to implement

  13. Mobile_Dom
    August 24, 2015

    one thing i cant seem to find anywhere is whether that is a tap sensor or a swipe sensor, if its a tap sensor thats great, bt my worry is becasue its such a thin device that there just isnt enough space to get enough data and that a swipe may be necessary :/

  14. Mobile_Dom
    August 24, 2015

    one thing i cant seem to find anywhere is whether that is a tap sensor or a swipe sensor, if its a tap sensor thats great, bt my worry is becasue its such a thin device that there just isnt enough space to get enough data and that a swipe may be necessary :/