Over a month ago, I had fun on one of the best midrange smartphones that I reviewed so far this year which is the Huawei GR5 2017. It came to the point that it became my new main driver based on my daily needs and in a budget (as well as my first try to have a main driver with a Kirin-powered processor) . Two enticing things is the Php 2,000 price drop and the much-expected EMUI 5.0 aka Android 7.0 Nougat that it's smaller brother Huawei GR3 2017 is already have out of the box.
The backstory:
I tapped for the start of this huge 2.54 GB update on around 2 PM yesterday (April 24) in one of coworking spaces in at least 20 mbps speed. From 0 to 39% was quick for around 45 minutes but the pace was slow from 39% to 54% from 2:45 pm to past 5 pm. What a coincidence for me that I finished it in the venue of the Huawei P10 media launch minutes before 8 pm. For sure, the speed of the internet is not the issue as might be the number of users who are also doing that update at the same. In between, I even seeked help on Huawei Mobile PH hotline but good thing, it was already ok. Even some from the Huawei GR5 2017 FB group had this update for around 9 hours. Definitely, patience is a virtue if you want to jump in from EMUI 4.1 to EMUI 5.0. I noticed that before this update with the ending alphanumeric code B360, you will go first on the B160 update which has 305 MB in file size.
The Rundown In Pictures:
What I Noticed:
1. One bug on the B160 update is the delay of FM radio to resume while opening an app on the background. On this EMUI 5.0 update, it is already gone.
2. Multi screen mode is here (even that it was not detailed on the update details). I tried most of the apps like Facebook, Opera Mini, MX Player and Messaging were a-ok
3. Brand-spanking new black color in the background of the pulldown menu plus new, smaller icons which you can add more in a smaller space. The usual functions are still there including the 4G toggle icon and the screen recording function.
3. The app drawer is here.
4. Brand new icons and UI for the camera
5. Unlike in B160 update, there's a bit of delay in opening the filter app on this EMUI 5.0 (hoping for the update)
6. First seen on Huawei P9 (if I am not mistaken on Android 6.0 Marshmallow), you can now have an option to lower the resolution (which based on my looks, it is on 720p)
7. The additions of Huawei Share and Flipboard app (you have an option to uninstall it)
The question remains for me is the battery life as I will test it both on the deafult resolution (at Full HD) and that lower resolution mode as well as my real life battery usage and other possible additions that I might cannot tell for now on this post so stay tuned.
