Honor 200 Review: The Perfect Balance of Style and Camera

Honor has been spreading its wings in India with a series of launches. The company recently launched the Honor 200 series in the country to expand its portfolio in the mid-range and high-end segment. While the Honor 200 Pro is aimed at the premium segment, it is the Honor 200 that will be the one to take on the real heat in the Indian smartphone market. The company’s latest smartphone is priced at Rs 34,999 for the 8GB + 256GB and Rs 39,999 for the 12GB + 512GB option.

The Honor 200 offers some interesting features and a high-quality design. This time, there is a special focus on the cameras, which were designed in collaboration with Studio Harcourt, a photography studio known for its portraits. Will this be enough to convince users to skip the competition and choose this one? Let’s find out in this review.

Honor 200 Design: Elegant and stylishDimensions – 161.5 x 74.6 x 7.7 mmWeight – 187gColors – Moonlight White and Black

Honor was one of the few brands that took phone design seriously even when it was operating in India before the ban fiasco. Fast forward to today, and you’ll see bits and pieces of the same design philosophy in the Honor 200. The smartphone looks unique and stylish in its price segment. I picked up the Moonlight White variant for review and it looks elegant straight away, which is a rarity in this price segment.

Honor 200 is available in two color versions: Moonlight White and Black.

The wave pattern on the back panel looks quite attractive and the oval camera module adds a little cherry on top. However, the camera module makes the camera wobbly on flat surfaces too. The handset is quite comfortable to hold, although the frame is made of plastic, which is a disappointment.

The handset is slim, measuring 7.7mm thick and weighing 187g, which is comparable to its competitors. The only downside to this design is that it’s quite slippery, so you’ll need a case, especially since it doesn’t come with any official Gorilla Glass protection. You also don’t get any official IP rating, which is a bit of a dealbreaker for me at this price point.

Honor 200 display: clear and vividDisplay – 6.7-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED displayRefresh Rate – Screen refresh rate 120 HzOther Features – 3840Hz PWM dimming, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 4000 nits peak brightness

The latest Honor phone features a quad-curved display and offers sharp and colorful images. You also get 4,000 nits of peak brightness, making it a bright display for outdoor use.

The Honor 200 has an AMOLED display with vivid colors.

The phone offers a 120Hz screen refresh rate, which makes scrolling smooth. The quad-curved screen looks like a premium design while minimizing accidental touches. When it comes to content consumption, you will definitely love this device. While watching “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” on Apple TV+, the color saturation was on point and was not an issue in the darker parts of the show.

The phone also comes with Widevine L1 support along with HDR10+, which means you can watch HDR content on Netflix on this device conveniently. You can get two different modes, Normal and Vivid, to suit your preferences. However, I would suggest you leave the Vivid mode on for the best result.

The handset offers various options to customize your display settings.

Another interesting thing is the Always-On display. The phone has two options for this mode: Full screen and Partial screen. Full screen mode darkens the lock screen version and you get full screen AoD, which is a cool feature.

The phone also has an in-display fingerprint sensor that works well, although it’s positioned a bit lower than I like. You can still choose between animations, which are always a pleasure to use.

Honor 200 Software: Lots of bloatwareSoftware – MagicOS 8.0Version – Android 14Promised updates – 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches

The Honor 200 comes with MagicOS 8.0, based on Android 14. The UI is easy to get used to and offers some good levels of customization and features. The company says it has added a few AI features like Magic Capsule, Magic Portal, Magic Ring, and more. Some of these features are useful, while others feel more like a gadget.

Magic Portal is one of the useful features. This feature basically lets you drag and drop text, photos, and videos from one app to another. For example, you can copy the text you like on Instagram by simply long-pressing the text until you see a blue tint in the corner. Now, simply drag the content to Notes or other apps like Gmail, WhatsApp, Notes, and more. You also have a Favorites place that lets you store all your screenshots and videos and access them anytime.

On the other hand, the Magic Capsule seems to be more of a gimmick here. The company took inspiration from Apple’s Dynamic Island, but forgot to take inspiration from all the features it offers. Music playback and a timer can also be seen in this time. Hopefully, the brand will add more features in the future.

Other than that, the UI offers a good level of customization. On the other hand, the bloatware issue still persists. So you have dual apps for email, gallery, app market, calculator, docs, etc. Fortunately, you don’t get spammy notifications from these apps, which is a blessing in disguise.

Honor 200 Performance: Decent for Everyday UseProcessor – Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3Memory – up to 12 GB (LPDDR5)Storage – up to 512GB (UFS 2.2)

The Honor 200 offers decent hardware for the price. The phone is equipped with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor found in the Vivo V30, OnePlus Nord CE4, Motorola Edge 50 Pro, and others. However, considering the competition at this price, the phone’s performance is slightly below average, as you can see in this synthetic benchmark comparison:

BenchmarkHonor 200Motorola Edge 50 ProOppo Reno 12 ProRealme GT6TGeekbench 6 Single Core1145114210131843Geekbench 6 Multi-Core3304312429384756AnTuTu v10821 670818 387619 1491 462 980PCMark Work 3.012 72313 73012 80619 5173DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGLMaximum utilizationMaximum utilization5180Maximum utilizationSlingshot 3DMMaximum utilization83936606Maximum utilization3DM Wild Life591753943170Maximum utilization3DM Wild Life Unlimited60435457316211481GFXBench T-Rex601165960GFXBench Manhattan 3.159614960GFXBench Car Chase38322960

In everyday use, you won’t encounter any issues or delays. Even with demanding tasks, the phone doesn’t limit you too much, which is a good thing.

As for gaming, you can play most of the regular games on this device without much stress. I played Call of Duty: Mobile with the default graphics and frame rate settings of High and Very High respectively. Even with Very High Quality and maximum frame rate, I didn’t notice any drop in frame rate. However, the phone did get a bit warm around the camera module. But it wasn’t to an alarming level.

Honor 200 Cameras: Almost Top of the LineRear – 50MP Sony IMX906 image sensor with f/1.95 aperture + 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera + 50MP Sony IMX856 2.5x portrait image sensorFront – 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 sensor with f/2.1 aperture

Cameras are probably its biggest strength. The Honor 200 has an interesting camera setup that includes everything you need in a good camera-centric smartphone.

Honor 200 photo examples with 2x Daylight (top), Ultra Wide (middle), and Normal (bottom). (Tap to expand)

In daylight conditions, the phone takes excellent photos with good dynamic range and vibrant colors. The photos were sharp and detailed, although colors were slightly oversaturated in some cases. However, the ultra-wide-angle lens was a letdown, as quality was often subpar. Daytime shots do show some loss of detail in the corners.

Sample image from the Honor 200 Portrait camera using the Harcourt Colour (bottom), Harcourt Vibrant (middle), and Harcourt Classic (top) cameras. (Tap to enlarge image)

The star of the show, however, is the portrait sensor. The phone has a Sony IMX856 2.5x portrait sensor that takes really good photos in a variety of lighting conditions. Skin tones were natural and the bokeh worked well. There are also three different Harcourt portrait modes: Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Color, and Harcourt Classic. My favorite was the Classic mode, which delivered really good results in a variety of lighting conditions.

Sample photos taken with Honor 200 camera in low light. (Tap image to enlarge)

Moving on to the Honor 200’s low-light performance, the primary sensor once again does a good job. Noise is kept to a minimum, and the phone is able to retain colors in low light. The ultra-wide angle was once again not up to par, as shots came out less detailed and full of noise.

Honor 200 Battery: Impressive Battery LifeBattery capacity – 5200 mAh (silicon-carbon)Wired charging – SuperCharge 100WCharger – 100W (not included)

The Honor 200 is one of the few smartphones on the market that offers a silicon-carbon battery. Silicon-carbon batteries tend to hold higher energy density and take up less space compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. The result is a slimmer form factor while maintaining high battery capacity, which is the case with this device.

The Honor 200 has a 5200mAh battery with 100W fast charging support.

With normal usage, the phone easily lasted a full day with an average screen on time of 6 hours. In our battery loop test, the phone lasted for 28 hours and 27 minutes, which was quite impressive. It also supports 100W fast charging. However, you have to buy the charger separately. We tested the charging speed using a 68W fast charger. The phone was charged to 37 percent in 15 minutes, 70 percent in 30 minutes, and fully in 49 minutes.

Honor 200 Judgment

The Honor 200 is a good package if you are looking for a premium camera phone in the mid-range price range. The phone has a sleek and lightweight design that looks unique. The display is clear and good for consuming content. However, the camera takes centre stage here and delivers good results with its primary sensor and portrait camera, although the same cannot be said about the wide-angle sensor. The performance is decent and you won’t have any issues during day-to-day usage.

However, the phone has stiff competition in the form of the Realme GT 6T, Motorola Edge 50 Pro, OnePlus Nord 4, Oppo Reno 12 Pro, and more. So, if you are thinking of buying a camera-centric smartphone that offers consistent performance, you may want to consider the Honor 200.

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