Head to Head Review: OnePlus 2 VS Huawei Honor 7

The Honor 7 was launched in the region on October 12 and in two short weeks of its presence in the country, has turned several tech journalists and bloggers into fans of the brand. Some of them have even gone as far as pegging it a flagship killer.

And then there are these guys — OnePlus who have actually added the words “2016 Flagship Killer” into the strapline of their latest device — the mysterious OnePlus 2.

I’m not making this up.

We had both the devices in the office recently, so here’s what we think about OnePlus and Honor, red and blue, 7 and 2.

Beg to differ?
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ON THE SURFACE

OnePlus 2

The OnePlus 2 is a solid, good-looking device. With a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display, the device weighs 175g thanks to its lightweight metallic materials. It’s wrapped in an aluminium and magnesium alloy frame with stainless steel accents. One of the best design aspects of the phone is its swappable rear cover — a feature called StyleSwap. The device we got had a Sandstone Black cover that felt like rubberised sandpaper. Others include Bamboo, Rosewood and Kevlar. Around the device are the power and volume buttons on the right, 3.5mm jack on top, profile notification slider on the left, USB-C jack and speaker at the bottom and a fingerprint sensor in front.

Honor 7

Everyone around me who has handled this device agrees that it feels too premium to be a sub-brand of a Chinese manufacturer. Sporting a 5.2-inch Full HD LCD display, the Honor 7 is wrapped in a metallic body with a ceramic blasted finish. The device is about 8.5mm thick and weighs in at 157gm — which is heavy enough to feel quite solid while not worrying if it is too flimsy. Around its edges are the card slots and SmartKey button on the left, charging slot and speakers at the bottom, power and volume keys on the right and the headphone jack and IR blaster at the top.
 

WHAT LIES BENEATH

OnePlus 2

Does the 2016 Flagship Killer have what it takes to slay other flagships? You can be the judge of that. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and an octa-core CPU, and uses its own simplified OxygenOS based on Android 5.1. It runs on a non-removable 3,300mAh battery but does not include a microSD card slot — so expandable memory is out of the question. The cameras are a 13MP rear with dual-LED flash, and a 5MP front. The fingerprint sensor built into its home button allows users to save up to five fingerprints. While the OnePlus 2’s fingerprint sensor is good, when compared to the Honor 7, the 7 is quicker every time.

Honor 7

The 7 runs a 2.2GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 processor with 3GB of RAM powered by a non-removable 3,100mAh battery. The two features that continue to impress me with this device is its camera and hypersensitive fingerprint sensor. The cameras on the device are an unexpected surprise — a 20MP rear and 8MP front-facing camera, each with its own flash for dark late-night photography sessions. The fingerprint sensor is another gem – similar to what is found in its older cousin the Mate S. The device’s fingerprint ID allows you store up to five fingerprints from either hand, while the sensor doubles as a trackpad and shutter button.

Stat-Off

Ranking