HONOR recently launched its latest smartphones, the HONOR 200 and HONOR 200 Pro. While all eyes are on the Pro variant, we’re taking a closer look at the former, which features a bright AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, a 50MP camera, and 100W fast charging.
On paper, everything checks out for a mid-range contender, but is it too good to be true? And is it worth our money? Let’s find out in this review.
Display and Design
The HONOR 200 has a sleek and ergonomic design. Despite the large 5200mAh battery, the phone maintains a slim form factor with a 7.7mm thickness, weighing only 187 g.
Our review unit is in the classic black colorway. Other colors include Emerald Green and Moonlight White. The white variant looks to be the best option, although I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the options.
The phone has a glass front and back with a plastic frame. The back panel has a matte finish with a soft touch and a large oblong camera island. It’s fingerprint-resistant, however, I’m not a fan of the camera bump. I do like the silver trim around it as a tasteful addition.
The HONOR 200 is built around a 6.7-inch display with a 10-bit AMOLED panel surrounded by narrow bezels. HONOR calls this as an “equal-depth quad-curved” screen. It’s not quite a curved display, but it does have a gentle slope on all sides that meets the frame, giving it a somewhat raised aesthetic. The frame also has a matte finish and chamfered edges. The result is a polished and refined look with good ergonomics, a solid hand feel, and a premium build quality.
Back to the display, the screen has a 2664×1200 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, the ability to render more than 1.07 billion colors, and a peak brightness of a blinding 4000 nits. To put that into perspective, 4000 nits is comparable to 4000 lit candles in one square meter.
It also offers several features for eye comfort, such as an industry-leading 3840Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming with TÜV Rheinland flicker-free certification, an AI-controlled color temperature for night viewing, and a hardware level low blue light protection.
Overall, the HONOR 200’s display offers a great viewing experience. It’s quite possibly one the best in the mid-range segment. It’s sharp with punchy colors and deep blacks. Moreover, the high brightness ensures good viewing angles and legibility, even in direct sunlight.
I am disappointed that the phone lacks any form of IP rating. It most likely has some protection from dust and water ingress, but having no certification means there’s a risk of damaging your phone against rain and splashes (and the warranty not being honored).
The volume and power buttons are on the right side. The bottom has the SIM tray, microphone, USB-C port, and one of two speakers. Meanwhile, the top side has another speaker, an IR blaster, and a second microphone.
Cameras
The HONOR 200 is equipped with a triple rear camera setup, consisting of a 50MP Sony IMX906 main camera with OIS; a 50MP telephoto Sony IMX856 camera with 2.5x optical and up to 50x digital zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. It also has a 50MP hole-punch camera in the front for selfies and video calls.
The rear cameras are decent. It can create good image quality in bright lighting conditions. They won’t “wow” you, but you won’t be disappointed either. However, the main camera tends to sometimes over-expose or under-expose an image. Moreover, colors lean toward over-saturation at times, but this, of course, is subjective.
Outdoor and indoor shots have a good amount of detail and dynamic range. The colors look good and the image noise is well controlled.
Low-light shots are also good. It was able to lighten up the scene and retain detail at the expense of sharpness. On the other hand, night mode performed well.
The phone also produced good selfies. It has good skin tones and background separation in portrait mode.
Check out the sample photos below.
Sample Photos
Zoom Sample Photos
Low-light Indoor
Night Mode
Selfies
Performance
The HONOR 200 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor. The 4nm mid-range chip offers up to 15% CPU and 50% GPU performance improvement, and a 20% better power efficiency versus the previous generation chipset.
Our review unit has 12GB of RAM, up to 12GB of extended RAM, and 512GB of storage. It runs on MagicOS 8.0 on top of Android 14. The extended RAM (dubbed HONOR RAM Turbo) is set to 12GB by default.
As for updates, HONOR promised three years of Android updates and four years of security updates for the HONOR 200 Series.
The OS has minimal bloatware and comes with HONOR’s apps and its own App Market. It also has several AI capabilities, such as AI Suggestions which recommends apps based on user habits; Magic Text which allows extraction of text from images and then copying it to another app; and Magic Portal which allows for dragging content to supported apps.
The phone also has the Magic Capsule, which debuted on the Magic6 Pro. It’s similar to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, but shows information on select services, such as during recording, when playing media, or active timers.
Additionally, Widevine L1 is supported, which means FHD content for Netflix, HBO, Disney+, and Prime Video. It can also play HDR content on Netflix. Moreover, watching videos on the phone is so much better thanks to the sound quality of the stereo speakers. They are GOOD. Not only are they loud but they sound rich as well.
As for its performance, the HONOR 200 5G will not disappoint. It is fast and responsive with no lags or stutters. The phone is butter smooth. Apps load quickly and games run without issues.
Moreover, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 offers proper gaming performance. Genshin Impact can run at high graphics settings, but I recommend dialing down the graphics for the best performance. Call of Duty Mobile is also playable with high graphics. It did get warm, but nothing too concerning.
There’s also the Game Center app, which you can use to improve performance and minimize distractions from notifications.
Here are the benchmark scores:
Battery Life and Charging
The HONOR 200 5G has a 5200mAh silicon-carbon battery with a USB-C HONOR SuperCharge charger.
During testing, I got a whole day with moderate to heavy usage that included a mix of YouTube and Netflix, Apple Music, taking photos, and browsing the web. I usually charge in the evening, but this one had enough left for a mid-morning top-up.
The phone supports 100W fast charging. Charging from 20% to 100% took less than 45 minutes. Meanwhile, a 30-minute charge yielded 70%.
Final Remarks
Quite honestly, the HONOR 200 5G is a big surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting to like it, and yet here we are.
For Php 24,999, the phone offers fantastic value. It has a great display, outstanding build quality, smooth performance from the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, a generous 512GB of storage, and 100W fast charging.
The cameras are also decent. They’re not great, but they won’t disappoint either. If I had to nitpick, I’m not a fan of the design. I don’t hate it but the large oval camera island is not doing it for me. Moreover, a lack of an IP rating might be a concern for some.
Overall, the HONOR 200 5G is a strong contender but faces stiff competition in the mid-range segment, which includes the vivo V30 5G, also rocking a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3; the POCO F6 with a more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor; and the OPPO Reno12 with a Mediatek Dimensity 7300-Energy and its AI features. However, the HONOR 200 5G does offer a good, balanced package that’s hard to ignore.
If you’re in the market for a no-nonsense smartphone, the HONOR 200 should definitely be on your list.
Price and Availability
The HONOR 200 5G with 12GB+512GB is priced at Php 24,999. The more powerful HONOR 200 Pro 5G with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor is also available for Php 29,999.
Both are up for pre-order from July 17 to 26, 2024, at any HONOR Experience and Partner Stores, or online on Lazada, Shopee, and Tiktok Shop. Pre-orders will come with a free pair of JBL Soundgear Frames worth Php 9,499.
That’s it for the HONOR 200. Let us know what you think below.
HONOR 200 5G specs
| Display | 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 2664×1200, 120Hz refresh rate, 4000 nits |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB+256GB 12GB+256GB 12GB+512GB |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main, OIS, Sony IMX906 50MP telephoto, Sony IMX856, 2.5x optical, 50x digital zoom 12MP ultra-wide |
| Front Camera | 50MP |
| Network | 5G, 4G LTE, Dual SIM |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, NFC, IR |
| Others | In-display fingerprint scanner, USB-C, stereo speakers, VC cooling |
| OS | MagicOS 8.0, Android 14 |
| Colors | Moonlight White, Emerald Green, Coral Pink, Black |
| Battery | 5200mAh Battery 100W wired fast charging |
