Huawei Honor 7i with flippable camera goes official

Huawei has just made public its new Honor 7i mid-range handset. The device would be rather boring in terms specifications if it were not for one detail that makes it extremely interesting. That detail is a camera that can be quickly and easily flipped from rear to front in order to take a selfie. A similar technique has already been used by the Oppo N1, but it wasn’t too well received due to rather clunky execution.

The first question that comes to mind when looking at Honor 7i’s flippable camera is: „does this make sense?”. The answer is: „absolutely”. For three main reasons. Firstly, manufacturers always use the better quality sensor and optics on the rear of the phone than on the front. Secondly, using just one camera instead two makes the phone cheaper to build (fewer components, less assembling involved). And thirdly, the space inside the handset can be used for other useful components.

Huawei claims that the camera’s „flipping” mechanism has been designed with both ease of use and durability in mind, and it can withstand at least two years of usage with 132 flips per day. The camera itself uses a 13 MP Sony sensor and an f/2.0 aperture lens with sapphire coating for scratch-protection.

Another noteworthy feature of the new handset is the fingerprint sensor that has been placed on the side, allowing Honor 7i to boast a high screen-to-body ratio.

The rest of Honor 7i’s specifications are as follows: 

• Display: 5.2-inch, FullHD
• CPU: Snapdragon 616
• RAM: 2 GB / 3 GB
• Storage: 16 GB / 32 GB
• Battery: 3100 mAh
• OS: Android Lollipop 

The phone has been launched in China first but it’s also supposed to be available on other markets as well. Pricing for the Chinese version starts at $250. The international versions will probably cost between $300 and $400, depending on RAM and storage size.

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