As with every Huawei review(or just about any Android phone review with a custom UI), the reviewer’s beef can be summed up as "It is different from stock Android, and therefore it is inferior/broken". Just reading the following statement from the above post proves my point: "The software is still very tied to its roots, with loud colors, frosted transparency, extra flair and tweaks galore to the Android interface — all while Android as a whole has toned things back a bit on the design front."
I have been primarily using a Huawei device for half a year now. What he considers bad defaults I find refreshing. I like it when it asks me to allow notifications. I have muted annoying apps like Flipboard. I like it when it tells me to force close Firefox when it is still running in the background. The reviewer obviously has his tastes, but he should be more objective by default(hehe, see what I did there) and just stick to the facts.
Same goes with the Apple-like UI. I have never owned an Apple device so it was jarring at first to use it. But you can easily get used to it. Swiping left to see your apps as opposed to clicking a Drawer icon? Really? That is grounds for a tedious side-rant?
As a side note, I have bought Nova Prime launcher and use it on my Samsung tablet. Compared to EMUI, TouchWiz is much worse, and you can say that the latter is much closer in design aesthetic to "stock android". To each his own.
The reviewer also ought to know that some pre-installed themes cut off icon corners and some do not. But since he’s having a good time with his "the evil of defaults" message, he isn’t bothered to note that as well.
After noting that the "software is still broken", I haven’t actually read any broken software in his review. Just a seething anger against "evil defaults" that the manufacturer has chosen based on their focus groups. Maybe they should add the reviewer to their focus groups and let him decide everything on behalf of the rest of us unwashed consumers.
All in all, this review is really no different from past reviews of Huawei phones on this and other sites. Always a rant against the software, but once you start reading it in depth, you find a mere difference in taste, and not real "broken" software. EMUI(launcher aside) is one of the nicer looking skins out there, I really want to like it. I like the’frosted’ look of everything. But they need to cut out a lot of fat. Task killing apps are a throw back to the gingerbread days. They had their uses then, but they have no place in 2016, especially as a baked in system feature.
I’ve seen so many people review Huawei/Honor phones and focus on the lack of app draw as a reason not to use the phone. I know that they know about launchers, so it’s just lazy thinking on their part. I’m glad this review didn’t fall into that trap, and instead focused on more important annoyances with the software.
I really hope they fix it, Android needs more GOOD manufacturer skins.