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HONOR Note 10 now official with massive 6.95-inch display, gaming focus

The HONOR Note 10 has a stacked spec sheet, but the massive screen, battery, and gaming features are the real talking points.
By
July 31, 2018
The HONOR Note 10.
TL;DR
  • The HONOR Note 10 has been launched in China, packing flagship specs and a large, 5,000mAh battery.
  • Honor’s new device also stands out thanks to its gigantic, 6.95-inch AMOLED screen.
  • The new phone offers a performance mode, which is activated via a hardware key.

It’s been two years since the last HONOR Note device was launched, but fans can now look forward to another massive phablet from the HUAWEI sub-brand with the HONOR Note 10, which was announced in China today.

The HONOR Note 10 packs flagship-level horsepower thanks to a Kirin 970 chipset, 6GB to 8GB of RAM, and 64GB or 128GB of expandable storage. The brand seems to be targeting the gaming market too, owing to the use of “liquid cooling” to keep the internals from running hot.

The gaming focus extends further than the cooling method, as the phone has a dedicated turbo key to enable a performance mode. And yes, HUAWEI’s much-hyped GPU Turbo enhancement for better gaming performance is also here.

Read: HONOR 10 review — Reflections of a flagship

But the phone’s biggest selling point (quite literally) is the 6.95-inch display (full HD+ AMOLED, 18.5:9), which is drifting incredibly close to full-blown tablet territory. The display size suggests HONOR is hoping to attract users who might want a little more power than the likes of the similarly large Mi Max 3.

The large screen means a large body, and a large body generally means a big battery. The HONOR Note 10 doesn’t disappoint here either, packing a 5,000mAh cell that should deliver two days of solid usage without much of a sweat. The phablet supports fast charging (5V/4.5A) to full capacity in 1.7 hours, according to HONOR.

What else does it have?

The HONOR Note 10 has some solid camera credentials too, serving up a 24MP monochrome and 16MP RGB camera pairing (f/1.8) and a 13MP f/2.0 selfie shooter. The phone also supports smart scene recognition and so-called “AI stablization” for night mode shots.

Then again, if “AI stabilization” is anything like the P20 series, it’s just a fancy term for accurate image stacking and stitching. Those hoping for proper optical image stabilization are out of luck too, so you’d better just hold your phone as still as possible.

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Other noteworthy features include a rear fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 4.2 (instead of Bluetooth 5.0), NFC, reverse charging, hybrid SIM slots, and EMUI 8.2 atop Android 8.1 Oreo.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a water-resistant body, headphone jack, or wireless charging support. At least one or two of these features would’ve been welcome, but having all three absent is a bitter pill to swallow. Then again, the device doesn’t have traditional flagship-level pricing…

You can expect to pay 2,799 yuan (~$410) for the 6GB/64GB model, 3,199 yuan (~$468) for the 6GB/128GB variant, and 3,599 yuan (~$527) for the 8GB/128GB version. There’s no word on a global release or regional pricing just yet, but previous HONOR Note phones have made it out of the brand’s home nation before, so there’s a good chance we’ll hear more in the coming weeks/months.

What do you make of the HONOR Note 10? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.