Chinese handset giant Honor has plans to bring at least two of its devices – the Honor 7X and Honor View 10 – the market in the U.S. at some point later in 2018. That’s according to the company’s President, George Zhao, who used the platform provided by Honor’s CES 2018 press conference to make the announcement. However, consumers within the country will probably not see either of those devices appearing at their carrier’s retail locations or online commercial hubs anytime soon. That’s somewhat unfortunate, especially for consumers within the country who depend on carrier leasing or monthly payment options to pick up new smartphones, but it shouldn’t really be too surprising.
According to Zhao, Honor is not willing to cater to the requirements often imposed by carriers on device manufacturers. Instead, he continued, the company wants to commit itself to customers, first and foremost, which is a common sentiment among China-based device manufacturers. The executive did say the company would be interested in working with a cell service provider in the states on equal terms but also didn’t outline any specifics with regard to network compatibility or when, if ever, talks would begin with U.S. carriers. Until those talks begin, the company will sell the devices directly to consumers via its official website. Meanwhile, the push into the U.S. is part of a larger goal set by Honor. The company -which is already positioned at number 2 in China, where 88-percent of its sales are generated – wants to generate half of its sales outside of its home country by 2020.
As to the devices themselves, the Honor 7X is a strong 5.93-inch contender in the lower-middle Android price spectrum – at around $200 – with a screen resolution of 2160 x 1080 and relatively tiny bezels. That hardware, meanwhile, is driven by a Huawei-made octa-core Kirin 659 SoC, backed up by 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. That’s running Android Nougat out-of-the-box and powered by a 3340mAh battery. On the other hand, Honor’s View 10 is the company’s flagship offering, which only just became available in the U.K. last month at a price of around $607. Some of the premium device’s specs include a 5.99-inch display and a top-of-the-line Huawei-built Kirin 970 SoC, which is backed by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of microSD-expandable storage. Its dual-camera main shooter setup includes both a 16-megapixel sensor and a 20-megapixel sensor. That’s all powered along by Android 8.0 Oreo and a 3750mAh battery.