With its stunning design and impressive photo capabilities, the HONOR 200 is perfect for mobile photography enthusiasts who want professional-looking captures without breaking the bank. The HONOR 200 also pleasantly surprised me with its display and battery performance, making it a well-rounded phone. However, power users and gamers should look elsewhere. The OnePlus Nord 4, POCO F6, and Realme GT 6T are better suited for those needs. Meanwhile, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro offers more premium features such as wireless charging and an IP68 rating.
After the launch of the HONOR 90 and HONOR X9B and the lukewarm reception they’ve received, HONOR Tech is bringing in the big guns to India. They have expanded their portfolio with two camera-centric devices, the HONOR 200 and HONOR 200 Pro. I got the former for review, and the device immediately stood out because of its sophisticated design and lightweight build. The phone promises top-notch camera performance thanks to its triple camera setup. These cameras have been co-engineered with Studio Harcourt, a photography studio in Paris known for its black-and-white portrait chops.
The HONOR 200 goes up against a fair number of competitors, the fiercest being the recently launched Motorola Edge 50 Pro (review). Will the phone rapture Indian audiences with its photography chops? Or will it be dismissed as a one-trick pony? Let’s try and gauge that through my detailed HONOR 200 review.
HONOR 200 Review: Build and Design
There’s no denying that the HONOR 200 is a stunning phone. The subtle wave design and smooth matte finish on the rear panel stand out. The design is understated and elegant, a rarity in the mob of colourful phones the mid-range segment boasts. The oval-shaped camera module looks tasteful to me, but some find it a bit too jarring. And finally, the HONOR branding on the bottom left doesn’t look obtrusive.
Looks aside, the HONOR 200 features a plastic frame, which is disappointing since the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, which has a cheaper price tag, has an aluminium frame. The buttons feel a bit squishy and the in-display fingerprint sensor is placed far too low on the screen. There’s also no official IP rating, which feels criminal at a starting price of ₹34,999.
As for the in-hand feel, the phone is comfortable to hold. It is slim at just 7.7 mm and lightweight at 187 g. The rear panel is a bit slippery, so it may be wise to use the phone with a case. Especially since the display and back glass have no official Gorilla Glass protection.
HONOR 200 Review: Display
The HONOR 200 has a gorgeous display. It is a 6.7-inch quad-curved AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate and 1.5K resolution. The display boasts a rated peak brightness of 4,000 nits but of course, that number is only achieved by a few pixels on the screen when playing HDR content. There’s 3,840 Hz PWM dimming support as well, which is helpful to keep your eye health in check when watching the display in dim light.
I enjoyed consuming content on the HONOR 200’s display. The quad curve screen gave it an oomph factor while minimising the issue of false touches. HDR10+ is supported too, and the content looks rich, vivid, and crisp. The colours are close to natural with a slight boost to the reds. The brightness levels on High Brightness Mode touched 1,246 nits in our testing, which means screen legibility is not an issue even on the sunniest of days.
The phone is equipped with powerful dual stereo speakers, but there’s no Dolby Atmos support. Audio still sounds loud and rich though, which enhances the content consumption experience exponentially. All in all, I give the display and speakers on the HONOR 200 a huge thumbs up.
HONOR 200 Review: Performance, UI, and Digit AI-Q Score
The HONOR 200 is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset which is paired with up to 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 512 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Yes, UFS 2.2. Naturally, the data storage speeds are sluggish even when compared to cheaper phones such as the OnePlus Nord 4 (review) and Realme GT 6T (review). In the PCMark Storage Test, the phone got a sequential read speed of only 780 Mbps and a sequential write speed of 792 Mbps. So, apps open slower and the data transfer speeds suffer.
The chipset is not the greatest performer in this price range though. In synthetic benchmarks such as AnTuTu, GeekBench, and PCMark, the HONOR 200 lagged behind the OnePlus Nord 4 and Realme GT 6T, but it beat the Motorola Edge 50 Pro in AnTuTu and GeekBench. The phone doesn’t throttle excessively too, which is a good thing.
In GPU benchmarks, the HONOR 200 took the lead over the Motorola Edge 50 Pro in most tests but, it obviously lagged behind performance powerhouses like the Realme GT 6T. Real-world gaming performance is decent. I got an average frame rate of 55 FPS on Medium graphics in Call of Duty: Mobile. Day-to-day usage performance is satisfactory with the smooth 120 Hz refresh rate keeping things looking buttery smooth.
The UI, however, is not my favourite. While bloatware is not too excessive, the font, spacing of text and style looks a bit dated. Honor has promised three years of software updates, and four years of security patches though, which is a bit above average.
As for AI, there is a lot of AI processing behind the scenes working on camera and display quality improvements, however, features like AI Magic Eraser and AI Cutout that is available on many phones at a similar price, are missing on the HONOR 200. The NPU in the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset is decent for on-device processing. It scored 23/100 in our Digit AI-Q tests.
The cameras are top-notch
If you want a camera-centric smartphone under ₹35,000 in India, the HONOR 200 is a no-brainer. It has one of the best camera setups for this price, with a 50 MP Sony IMX906 primary camera, a 50 MP Sony IMX856 telephoto lens, and a 12 MP ultrawide camera that doubles as a macro lens. Plus, the selfie camera is top-notch, with a solid 50 MP sensor.
The primary 50 MP camera on the HONOR 200 captures excellent daylight photos with good dynamic range and vibrant colours. While the camera tends to slightly oversaturate colours for a more social-media-ready look, the results don’t appear too artificial. Detail retention is impressive, with minimal noise in daylight shots.
The 50 MP telephoto lens offers 2.5x optical zoom, maintaining excellent colour consistency with the primary camera. Photos are detailed without being oversharpened, which is a plus.
The HONOR 200 truly shines in portrait photography. Thanks to its collaboration with Studio Harcourt, the phone delivers spectacular portraits in all three Harcourt modes. My favourite is Harcourt Colour, which gives photos a dramatic look. Skin tones are nearly neutral, although there’s a slight smoothing effect, more noticeable in low light.
The 12 MP ultrawide shooter disappoints. There’s a loss of detail in the corners even in daylight and low-light ultrawide photos have a lot of noise and artefacts.
In low light conditions, the primary camera excels. Photos are rich in detail in both shadows and highlights, though the sky can look a bit unnatural due to the phone’s tendency to brighten low-light shots significantly.
Selfies are good, but they tend to look like they have a filter applied, even with Beauty Mode turned off. Personally, I prefer the Motorola Edge 50 Pro for more natural-looking selfies. Despite this, the HONOR 200 stands out as my top pick for a camera phone under ₹35,000, particularly for its unmatched portrait photography capabilities.
Is the battery life any good?
The HONOR 200 is the first phone I’ve tested with a silicon-carbon battery, replacing the usual lithium-ion ones found in smartphones. Silicon-carbon batteries offer a higher energy density, allowing manufacturers to either boost capacity in the same space or make devices slimmer without losing capacity. HONOR chose the latter, fitting a 5,200 mAh battery into a slim 7.7 mm body.
The battery performance is impressive in daily use. I consistently got 8 to 10 hours of screen-on time. In our 4K video loop test, the phone lasted an impressive 18 hours and 12 minutes. If battery life is a priority, the HONOR 200 outperforms the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, POCO F6, and OnePlus Nord 4, making it a great choice for power users.
The phone supports 100 W charging, but unfortunately, HONOR decided to exclude the charger from the retail box. Nevertheless, the phone charges from 0 to 100 per cent in just 26 minutes, which is very fast.
Should you buy the HONOR 200?
With its stunning design and impressive photo capabilities, the HONOR 200 is perfect for mobile photography enthusiasts who want professional-looking captures without breaking the bank. The HONOR 200 also pleasantly surprised me with its display and battery performance, making it a well-rounded phone. However, power users and gamers should look elsewhere. The OnePlus Nord 4, POCO F6, and Realme GT 6T are better suited for those needs. Meanwhile, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro offers more premium features such as wireless charging and an IP68 rating. Overall, the HONOR 200 has carved out a nice niche for itself in the crowded mid-to-high-range smartphone market and is my top pick for anyone looking for a capable camera phone under ₹35,000.
HONOR 200 5G Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | 23 Jul, 2024 |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
Storage
256 GB
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Battery capacity (mAh)
5200
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Rear Camera Megapixel
50 + 50 + 12
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Screen size (in inches)
6.7
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Dhriti Datta
Perpetually sporting a death stare, this one can be seen tinkering around with her smartphone which she holds more dear than life itself and stuffing her face with copious amounts of bacon. View Full Profile
