Honor 8c - user manual, settings, secrets and life hacks

Another Huawei copy appeared in my “test laboratory”. The budget model was released in 2021, but still raises many questions. I will answer the most popular ones, and at the end I will tell you about the interesting features and secrets of Honor 8C (BKK-L21). I will also leave a link to the manufacturer's official instructions. It is usually not included in the box - saving on paper to protect nature. All screenshots were taken on a test unit with Android 8.1 and EMUI 8.2.

Firmware version and other characteristics of the tested copy of Honor 8C

How to reset to factory settings?

There are 3 ways to reset Honor 8C. Make sure to fully charge your phone just in case.

Option 1

Open “Settings”.
Go to the “System” section.
Click on “Restore factory settings”.
We agree to the destruction of all data.
The reset will complete after rebooting.

Option 2

Dial on the phone *#*#2846579#*#*
Select “Restore Factory defaults”. I got a warning that I have a working Google account.
We agree to the destruction of information and reboot.
Reset complete.

When you enter this combination, Honor 8C will automatically go to the service menu
Option 3

In the off state, press and hold the volume up and power buttons for a couple of seconds.
We release “power” after the logo appears on the screen, and continue to hold “plus” until the recovery menu appears.
There we select the second line - “wipe data/factory reset” using the volume buttons and confirm by pressing the power button. You can perform these actions directly by pointing your finger at the screen.
Next, the phone will ask you to write the word “Yes” on the keyboard. Do this and press the “wipe data/factory reset” button.
Click “reboot system now”, the phone should reboot.
Reset is complete.

If all else fails, the only remaining option is to reflash the device.

How to unlock Honor 8C if you forgot your password?

After resetting the settings on phones with Android 8, a menu appears asking you to enter the password for your Google account. Resetting settings does not solve the problem. This technology is called Factory Reset Protection (FRP) and is designed to protect your phone if it is stolen or lost. But what to do if you didn’t lose your phone, but just forgot your password?

I will not describe the entire password reset process in this article. Follow the link and watch the video where an unlock specialist explains how to unlock the Honor 8C password.

How to insert a SIM card?

Honor 8C uses 2 active Nano-SIMs (4FF is the fourth form factor produced since 2012). During a conversation, the second SIM card is deactivated. Additionally, you can add a Micro SD card.

To open the SIM slot, take a paperclip from the box.
Find a small hole on the left side of the phone, insert the injector into it and press lightly.
The SIM card holder will appear from the case and can be pulled out by hand.
Place the SIM card in the tray and push it back into the smartphone.
After a few seconds the network should appear.

It is not necessary to turn off the device for this procedure.

How to connect to a computer?

The procedure is practically no different from any other modern devices.

Take the original Honor 8C USB cable from the box and connect the phone to the computer.
On the smartphone screen, a pop-up window will ask you to choose how to use the device.
Click "File Transfer".
The Windows 10 system will have two removable drives - internal memory and an SD card (if the phone has one).

The smartphone’s memory also contains installation files for the “HiSuite” application, which allows you to set up synchronization if you decide to click on “Photo Transfer” instead of “File Transfer”. They are located in the virtual CD drive, which appears when connected to the computer. You need to activate HDB mode on your phone, which is located in the settings in the “Security and Privacy” section.

Install the HiSuite program on your PC and activate HDB mode on your phone

It is not necessary to install the program if you need, for example, just to look at and copy photos.

Equipment

The Honor Band 5 package is quite simple and contains only three elements: the bracelet itself (the capsule and the strap are one), documentation and a docking station.

There is no charger and to recharge the battery you will need to use the USB port of your computer or “charge” from your phone.

How to charge Honor Band 5

How to connect to TV?

Let's consider connecting Honor 8C to Smart TV.

On a smartphone:

Open Settings.
Go to the "Wireless Networks" section.
Click "Wi-Fi". A list of available networks will open.
Click on the three vertical dots in the top right to open a drop-down menu.
Select "Wi-Fi Direct" to search for available devices.

At this time on TV:

Go to settings.
Open “Network” – “Wi-Fi Direct”.
After finding Honor, select it from the list, make a request and confirm.
The phone is now paired with the TV.

The connection may not work the first time.
However, I don’t know why you might need such a connection. And to transfer the image from the phone screen to the TV, there is a MirrorShare function. The TV must support Miracast technology. Connecting the phone to the TV is done through the “Settings” → “Advanced settings” → “MirrorShare” menu.

The same thing needs to be enabled on the TV. With this method, the image and sound from the phone are duplicated on the TV screen. Supported by TVs with Android version 4 and higher.

Expert opinion

Egor Razumny

I can assemble and disassemble computers, laptops, tablets, phones. Sometimes successfully. I have mastered the skills of diagnosing breakdowns using Google and Yandex.

I tried to display a photo from my smartphone gallery. Strangely, the image seemed to be trying to adjust itself every couple of seconds. That is, there was a characteristic ripple. I haven't tested the videos. I would be glad to receive feedback from users, I would like to know if it’s just me or everyone who has this problem.

Can it connect to other phones?

By following the instructions, you can connect the smart bracelet to any phone. But to work with such smartphones, you will also need to download and install the Huawei Wear utility. You can find it in the Google Play market.

After installing Huawei Wear, you need to open the program and follow further instructions: confirm the user agreement, register and provide your own data, including weight and height. Then you need to connect the wireless connection and find Honor Band 4 in the list that opens. To complete pairing, press the corresponding button on the bracelet.

How to use the second camera?

The main role of the dual camera on Honor 8C is to create a bokeh effect or blur the background.

Launch the Camera app and select Aperture from the list of possible shooting options. The background will blur a little and it will feel like you are shooting with a professional camera.

To change the depth of field after shooting, click on the icon with the aperture blades and adjust the position of the slider to your liking.

This is not a real aperture, like on cameras, but a virtual one

You can also reconfigure the focus. To do this, click on some other object that is out of focus in the photo. After finishing editing, do not forget to save the result.

Depth of field is also used in portrait mode.

Replacing the screen yourself or in the service

Briefly, the process of disassembling and replacing the Honor 8C display looks like this:

Using a mediator, cut the glue between the frame and the glass, peel off the cover and find the fingerprint scanner cable, unclench the clamp and pull it out. After this, you can remove the cover completely. Next, release the clamps of all the cables that are in front of your eyes (antennas, display matrix, battery, buttons, touchscreen, front camera, two main ones and the bottom board cable). Afterwards, unclip the motherboard from the case and peel off the battery with the bottom board. Use a separator to heat the screen matrix, disconnect the spare parts from the matrix, and glue the new display (already with glass) onto the case and fix it for a day, then assemble it.

If this all sounds confusing, watch the video:

The approximate price of such a procedure at a service center is 700-3000 rubles, depending on the origin of the screen and what exactly needs to be changed - the entire display module, touchscreen or glass. Not every master will undertake to replace them individually - the equipment for gluing a touchscreen to a display is expensive and requires experience.

Connecting Honor Band 5 to your phone

Are you wondering how to connect Honor Band 5? The fitness watch connects to your mobile phone via Bluetooth. Before this, you need to download a separate Huawei Health program. Open the App Gallery or App Store. Download the application depending on the operating system and install it on your phone. Before doing this, free up your mobile memory. When the installation is complete, click on the “Open” button. Confirm the terms and proceed further. Be sure to allow access for the “Health” section. Now the user needs to enter basic data. In a separate line, enter your date of birth, height and weight. Don't forget to indicate your gender. These data will help clearly show the quality of health. If you want an in-depth analysis, please fill out all lines.

Instructions

Pairing Honor Band 5 is quite simple. To do this, use the instructions:

Launch the Health utility and activate Bluetooth on your smartphone.
On the main screen, add a fitness bracelet.
Click on the line with Honor Bend 5.
Find the line called “Pairing”.
We confirm the parameters, determine the geolocation and synchronize the data.
At the end of the page, click on confirmation of the operation.
Checking the connection.

Why live broadcast on Instagram does not work on Honor and Huawei: reasons and what to do?

The device is customizable to personal needs. In the Settings folder, define the settings. To check your sleep, use the Huawei TruSleep utility. Using the option you can find out the quality of your sleep. This will help improve your performance.

Tracker Running Edition Suitable for active people. With this option you can control the kilocalories burned and monitor your training time. Do fitness classes and stay active. Notifications notify you of incoming SMS and calls. Stay connected no matter where your phone is.

How to distribute the Internet from your phone?

In Honor 8C this happens the same way as in other phones:

Go to settings, click “More” at the bottom.
Go to “Modem Mode” - “Wi-Fi Access Point”.
Click "Access Point Settings"
Change the encryption type to “WPA2”, create and set a password.
At the top there is a switch that activates the Internet distribution.

Ready! Now you can connect from the created network from other devices.

How to take a screenshot?

The easiest way to take a screenshot on Honor 8C is to simultaneously hold down the “Power” and “Volume -” buttons.

The second option is to move the curtain from top to bottom and click the “Screenshot” icon.

And there is a third, cool option for this model:

Go to “Settings” - “Controls” - “Moves” - “Three-finger screenshot”.

Activate three-finger screenshot on Honor 8c

To take a screenshot, swipe down with three fingers. The picture will be taken and three buttons will appear at the bottom: “Send”, “Edit”, “Long screenshot”. If you click on the last option, you can scroll through, for example, the article in the browser to the end and the phone will take a long photo footcloth.

How to change the font?

In the pre-installed Themes application, all fonts are paid.

The phone cannot accept regular TTF fonts, so a converter is needed.

To change the standard font in the Play Market there is the application “Themes for Huawei and Honor” from gmanrainy by Team MT.

After installation, launch the application and go to the "Fonts" section. Find the one that suits you and click on it.

For example, I'll choose the Oswald font. I click on it, and then on the “Download this font” button.

Once the font is downloaded, your phone will send a notification. Close the program and find the standard Themes application. Open it and click the "Me" button at the bottom right. Go to the "My Text Styles" section. Find the downloaded font and click the "Apply" button.

Now all your text (menu, tray, messages, etc.) will be displayed in a new font.

How to set an alarm

There are two options for setting an alarm on your Watch ES: from the device screen or in the Huawei Health app.

Option one.

Swipe down on the screen to go to quick settings.
Find the alarm icon. Touch it.
On the screen that opens, you can set a new alarm clock, as well as disable/edit/delete an existing one.
You can also click on the gadget button and find the Alarm Clock item in the list.

Option two.

Go to the Huawei Health app on your smartphone.
Go to the Devices section and make sure your watch is connected to your phone.
Tap the name of the watch.
Click on the “Alarm clock” line.
In the window that opens, you can set up a new alarm clock, as well as edit/delete or turn it on/off.

Why is Instagram not supported?

Sometimes resetting Honor 8C to factory settings results in some applications such as AnTuTu, Instagram and many others being “not supported on this device”. This happens, including due to the mistakes of Google and program authors. Wait for the update, contact the application developers via contacts in the Play Market, or do the following:

Go to “Settings” - “Applications and notifications” - “Applications” - “More” - “Show system” - “Google Play Services” - “Storage” - “Manage space” and select “Delete all data”.

Go back two steps, in the upper right corner select “More” - “Uninstall updates”. Also, in the “Memory” section of the “Play Market” application, select “Reset” and remove updates in the same way.

After all the manipulations, reboot your smartphone.

Huawei Health app

This application was created specifically for athletes. You can download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play. To immediately install the software on your device, the user can, after unpacking the smartwatch, scan the QR code in the manual using a special application downloaded to the smartphone in advance. Finally, you must agree to the terms of use, read the privacy requirements and, if you wish, open access to data about the location of the device.

The Huawei Health app allows you to:

create a training schedule and monitor your results;
receive information about sleep quality;
exchange data with other users.

How to clear phone cache?

The standard method for clearing cache on Honor 8C is as follows:

Go to “Settings” - “Memory”.
A window will open showing the user's data, as well as how much space certain sections (for example, images, documents, applications, etc.) take up.
Click the "Clear" button.
A window with memory information will open and items will be scanned for deletion.
Once the scan is complete, click Clean to remove all unnecessary files.

Alternative option through the Recovery menu:

With the phone turned off, press the Power button and Volume up (down or up).

Hold them for 10 seconds.

After launching the Recovery menu, select the line “Wipe cache partition”.

You can also delete the cache of one program:

Open “Settings” - “Applications”.
Select the program, click on the “Memory” line, then “Clear cache”.
After this, the application cache will be deleted.

How to pair with other phones?

“Smart bracelet” connects to various mobile devices. Use on Samsung, Xiaomi or Huawei. Be sure to pair before you begin. For troubleshooting, pay attention to the quick tips.

Samsung

First, go to the Google Play online store. Download the application of the same name to your smartphone. After that:

open the “Health” utilities;
in the list we look for the item “Sending data;
press the key with o;
We confirm the operation and go to your account.
Read also: Clone application on an Android device: how to create and what is it for?

IPhone

iPhone owners download the program from the AppStore. Open the “Settings and Options” folder. We pair with the widget. We set the data and activate alerts. They are necessary to make work easier.

Xiaomi

If you purchased Xiaomi equipment, then download the program from Huawei. After starting the program, we confirm. Next, fill out the full form and enter information. Try to fill in all the lines. We connect two elements via Bluetooth. In the new list, click on Honor Band 5.

How to remove an icon from the screen?

The Honor 8C operating system does not allow you to remove an icon from the screen without uninstalling the program itself. You can use the Apex or Nova Launcher launchers, as well as special software Hide it Pro or Smart Hide Calculator.

If you don’t want to install third-party programs, there is a built-in solution:

Go to the application panel. Icons of downloaded programs open there.
Go to the "Applications" section.
Open additional options in the upper right corner.
Click "Hide applications".
Next, a list of all utilities available for hiding and blocking will be displayed on the screen. Check or swipe the ones you want to remove from public access.
Once you've completed your selection, click "Done."

Key Features

It cannot be said that Honor Band 5 is the best representative of “smart” watches, but its capabilities are sufficient for most modern users.

Thanks to this device you can:

find out the date and time;
use “smart” and classic alarm clocks;
view new notifications from various applications;
see the name of the caller on the bracelet screen and, if desired, reject the call;
record the number of steps taken, distance, as well as calories burned during normal walking or training (10 different training modes are supported: walking, running, swimming, gym classes);
use a countdown timer and stopwatch;
measure pulse;
measure blood oxygen level SpO2;
measure the duration of sleep, as well as monitor its quality.

Call recording

The trend of banning everything has also reached such a necessary option as recording phone calls. In EMUI 9.1 it seems like this feature is present by default. EMUI 9 also has a built-in call recording application (in the /cust/app folder), but in most regions it is simply blocked. The tested Honor 8C runs on EMUI 8.2. You can install the APK file as an application in the normal way without ADB and root.

Download the APK file from here or here and install it. It would be a good idea to first check the file in VirusTotal. After installation, the program is integrated into the standard “Phone” application. And to enable recording, when starting a conversation or during the process, you need to press the “Record” button, and the corresponding audio file is automatically saved in the folder with recordings of the same application.

In the settings after installing the APK, do not forget to enable the call recording function. The application is not official and you can install it only at your own peril and risk, there may be glitches with the disappearance of the SIM card!

Secrets, hidden functions, features of Honor 8C

Every smartphone has options that you may never know about unless you specifically look for it. Honor 8C is no exception. I'll tell you about some.

System navigation.

To activate the navigation you need, open “Settings” - “System” - “System navigation”.

Double screen.

This feature allows you to work with two applications in split screen mode. To use this feature, click on the recent programs button, where you will see a list of applications running in the background. At the top of each application there will be options to split, block and reject. Click on the first option to automatically split the display and load an app on the first half, then select any app on the second half of the screen.

Automatic resolution reduction.

To activate the feature, go to Settings - Display - Smart Resolution. This will save battery power.

Gestures with a fingerprint scanner.

To enable this feature, go to Settings - Security & Privacy - Fingerprint.

Can be used to answer a call, turn off the alarm, take photos/videos, scroll through photos, open the notification panel.

Screen recording.

The option is built into EMUI. To enable it, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the Screen Recording icon. If the icon is not visible, click on the pencil and drag the icon up to add it to the panel.

Hiding bangs.

It is impossible to completely remove the top cutout; this is a feature of the display. But you can disguise it. To do this, go to “Settings” - “Display” - “Dark area at the top of the screen”.

How to enable health monitoring

With the HONOR Watch ES fitness watch, you can track your health status, including continuous heart rate monitoring, activity reminders, sleep tracking, stress level measurement, blood oxygen saturation detection, and women's cycle.

Go to the Huawei Health app on your smartphone.
Go to the Monitoring tab on the main screen.
If necessary, enable Huawei TruSleep, mobility reminders, continuous heart rate measurement and stress level test.

SpO2 measurement and Women's Health Calendar are launched on the watch: press the side button and find the desired function in the list to use it.