OK...pretty meaningless headline, because we don't know numbers. But it seems clear that Huawei's hope of breaking into the European smartphone market in a big way may be actually happening with its Honor 7.
The Chinese company released the device in its homeland a few weeks ago and it proved incredibly popular.
Last week, it was officially launched in Europe...and it sold out within a day (we're presuming Huawei had more than half a dozen in stock).
On the face of it, it's not surprising: the Honor 7 has very high-end specs for a phone costing £249.99.
Last weekend, the company had a £40-off offer on its Euro order website and it says that offer will return, probably on Fridays, for the next few weeks.
Most people who bagged the bargain have been told they'll have to wait three to four weeks for more stock to arrive.
And the reason for its popularity?
It's got a 5.2" Full HD Gorilla glass screen and a premium aluminium casing. Add to that a 20MP Sony back camera and an 8MP front camera with flash, a powerful 2.2GHz Cortex processor, Android Lollipop, 16GB internal storage with a microSD slot that supports 128GB, and a big 3,100mAh battery that should easily see most users through two days without the need to recharge.
RAM is 3GB, which should take care of smooth multitasking and heavy gaming.
It's got 4G/LTE which works on all UK networks.
There's also a fingerprint sensor on the back that also doubles as a scroll trackpad, and a nifty "smart button" on the side that can be set to open various apps and settings with one or two or three presses and a long press. A nice touch with the fingerprint sensor is touching it will not only unlock the phone, it also wakes it up from sleep all with one touch.
We've only had a short play with the phone (yup, we're on preorder too) but it certainly flew through tasks and felt like a quality, high-end device.
You can order the Honor 7 in grey or white (no gold as yet) from Huawei's Euro website, where the supply is being handled by Expansys. The company is promising "quick and reliable after sales service", something that's sadly missing from some other Chinese brands selling direct to Europe.
Huawei says the phone will eventually also be on sale at other outlets, including Amazon and Clove, in the UK.
Huawei has been around in the UK market for some years, mainly on the 3 network and it's got a reputation for solid, if a bit dull, low-end smartphones.
It believes the Honor 7 will pave the way for it to break into the mid to high range.
And with the price it's put on this device, it may be right.
The Chinese manufacturer will take another step to the mainstream later this year: Google has chosen Huawei to produce the next Nexus smartphone and it'll be interesting to see how much the new Nexus resembles the Honor 7. Probably quite a lot.
With apologies to Steve Jobs, here's Huawei's very cheesy UK launch event for the Honor 7. It goes on and on for nearly an hour, so second video is an excellent review of the phone from Android Authority.
Comments