5 Reasons to stay away from Honor 20 Series

An update to this story has been published here.

Honor is a sub-brand of Huawei. Huawei has recently been banned by USA and all American companies and a few European companies have decided not to do any business with Huawei. Honor being a sub-brand of Huawei, the ban applies to Honor as well. The future of Honor and Huawei is not certain. There have been no official statements from Huawei. But Huawei is a large organization which has a deep-rooted history. Their product line is not limited to Mobile phones. They have their influence reaching far and wide across the consumer and enterprise technology spectrum. But when the cloud of uncertainty is looming over the head, Honor has launched three mobile across different budget segments in India. Honor 20, Honor 20i and Honor 20 Pro have been launched in India as a part of the new Honor 20 series.

We are not going to discuss or review the Honor 20 series mobile, but I will tell you 5 reasons to stay away from them in the current scenario. Here is why you must stay away from any of these mobiles in the Honor 20 series.

1. Year old processor

Honor and Huawei mobiles are either powered by Hisilicon Kirin 980 or 710 processor. These are their own processors. They have used 3rd party processors on their mobile in past, but in the current scenario, even if they want to, they won‘t be able to use Snapdragon or Mediatek, as these brands have severed their ties with Huawei. Kirin 980 and 710 are good processors, but they are out-dated. These processors have been used by all Huawei/Honor mobiles across multiple price bands. There won’t be any significant difference in performance between 48 Honor / Huawei mobiles in the market that are powered by 980 processor. So what edge does your new Honor 20 pro have, in the performance department? 59 Honor / Huawei mobiles are powered by Kirin 710, why should you buy the Honor 20i?

2. No Android Updates?

As of May 2019, Huawei will keep sending updates to Honor and Huawei mobiles for 3 months. This is due to a temporary relaxation of the ban by Google. Even if you buy the mobile today and Honor gives you monthly security patches, you are covered for the next 3 months and nothing beyond that is sure.

3. Lack of support from Google

Google has clearly stated that they are not going to work with Huawei or Honor. The current devices were designed and developed before the ban and this could be the last mobile we see from Honor to be running on Android. We hear rumors about Huawei working on their own OS. But many have tried and failed in the past, to create their own mobile OS ecosystem. So no big hopes there. If you buy the Honor 20 series and if the device shows up any issues that need Google support, to be fixed, consider it gone in the wind.

4. Resale and after sales service

If you are planning to sell the mobile after a while, you would find no takers and if you find anyone willing to buy a mobile whose OS is not supported by Google, it would sell at scrap value. Also, Huawei and Honor has a wide network of third party service centers across the country. With their dwindling fund, due to the ban, there is a high possibility that these service centers could be closed down.

5. Better Options available

It is not that Honor has launched a mobile with features not found anywhere or with cut-throat competitive pricing. At their price Honor 20 directly competes with Oneplus 7, Redmi K20 or the Asus Zenfone 6Z. Honor 20 Pro competes with Oneplus 7 Pro and Honor 20i competes with Redmi Note 7 Pro and Realme 3 Pro. All of the alternatives have a killer camera and performance. When you match Honor 20 series with any of these competitors head to head, Honor does not stand a chance. Yes, they have good camera and unique design. But you are not going to buy a mobile only for its camera. You would be looking out for an all round performer and a hassle-free ownership, which the others can give you from day one.

I would have recommended Honor 20 Series, if there has not been a ban from Google. Every other company that has banned Google can be replaced by an alternate partner. But you just cannot launch an Android phone without support from Google. This situation can change. Huawei is a larger than imagined brand. They would have some kind of strategy to come out of this mess. But they must have deferred the launch of the 20 Series until the mess is cleaned up. Until then, I would recommend you put your purchasing decisions on hold, if you are a Honor Fan, if not you have better alternatives.