Honor 6 Plus review

For less than £300 you're getting a really competent device that has impressed me in a number of areas, from the stellar build to the fantastic display. It's not perfect, but if you want a large device without splashing big bucks, the Honor 6 Plus should definitely be on your radar.

We liked

The 1080p, 5.5-inch IPS display is bright, colour rich and accurate. Pixels are nowhere to be seen and it impresses even outdoors. It's also a great size for watching YouTube or Netflix, but this does mean it might be better off kept in your bag than jeans pocket.

A battery that can go for two days without a recharge is always going to win my approval, and it's one of this device's main selling points.

It might look like a bevy of other phones amalgamated into one, but the Honor 6 Plus has enough premium build touches to give it a classy finish.

We disliked

The Emotion UI is a real disappointment; it takes everything great about Android and tries to turn it into something that will appeal to iOS users. Bring back the app drawer, please.

Also, why are we mid-way through 2015 and seeing new phones with an operating system that was superseded more than six months ago? Lollipop is far from perfect, but it's much better than KitKat and we shouldn't have to wait this long to see that update.

Gaming performance clearly could be better, especially if you want to do anything more than play fairly basic titles. Download anything graphically heavy and you'll likely run into some frame-rate issues.

Verdict

Huawei-offshoot Honor's first widely available smartphone has impressed me on numerous occasions over the past few weeks. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to someone who was looking for a well specced phablet for a fair price.

If you've got the pockets for the 5.5-inch screen you'll reap the rewards, whether it's watching videos or replying to emails. Once you're used to it, it's hard going back to a smaller device. It's also hard going back to a phone you have to charge nightly.

The camera isn't going to match the Android top guns, but it's perfectly acceptable and it's nice to see Huawei experimenting with the triple threat of 8MP snappers.