Honor had a busy day today announcing first its revolutionary GPU Turbo technology and then releasing its first ever smartphone featuring this tech, the Honor Play. Like the name suggests, the phone relies heavily on this technology to enhance the overall gaming experience of the smartphone user. The basic hardware on the Honor Play is standard flagship stuff, but the underlying technology that powers the device makes it a really good gaming device.
Before we move on to the basic specs details, let’s take a look at what makes the Honor Play special.
The new Honor flagship is basically a gaming centric smartphone. It’s the first Honor device to feature the revolutionary GPU Turbo technology that enhances GPU performance significantly by increasing graphics processing efficiency by up to 60%. This results in better gaming performance than flagships such as the Xiaomi Mi 8, iPhone X, and even the Mi Mix 2S. The company revealed that the phone manages to beat these flagships in terms of frame rate and jitters, thereby giving an enhanced gaming experience on the device.
Further, the phone boasts of 4D gaming experience, powered by the same GPU Turbo technology. 4D gaming is possible because the Honor Play can detect a number of gaming scenes including shots, explosions and quakes. You also get a 3D sound experience, so you’ll be able to clearly locate the angle of firing. The phone also reportedly features a special film on its screen to reduce reflection and improve gaming experience under light. It also features in-game network optimisation which promises seamless shift from Wi-Fi to mobile data in order to ensure uninterrupted gameplay.
Now coming to the standard stuff, the phone has a 6.3-inch FHD+ 2340 x 1080 display with a notch on top. Unlike other Honor flagships, this one features a metal back and U shaped antenna lines. The dual cameras are located on the left side while the fingerprint sensor lies around the centre at the back. There are three color options: Nebula Purple, Aurora Blue, and Midnight Black.
The Honor Play features the Kirin 970 chipset (Mali-G72 MP12) inside in two memory configurations (expandable up to 256GB): 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 64GB. The rear dual camera setup is average, featuring a 16MP f/2.2 primary sensor paired with a 2MP f/2.4 secondary depth sensor with support for AI shooting and AR gestures. On the front, there’s a 16MP f/2.0 sensor for selfies.
The phone has a decent 3750mAh battery inside which should be good enough for a day’s worth of gaming. Other features include Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, and GPS. The phone is running on EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 OS.
Honor Play is cheaper than the flagship Honor 10 model and starts at 1999 Yuan ($312) for the 4GB + 64GB variant. The 6GB + 64GB variant will cost 2399 Yuan ($375). There’s a special Honor Play Cool limited edition with a special back design that retails for 2499 Yuan ($390). The regular editions go on sale on June 11 in China, while the special limited Cool edition will go on sale in July. One more thing, you get a free TPU case inside the box.
