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Jul 15, 2023

Three Important Features That Define The Honor 90

Following on from a launch in China, Honor’s self-titled mid-range handset, the Honor 90, now has an international release. I’ve spent time with the phone that sits alongside the Pixel 7a and Galaxy

Following on from a launch in China, Honor’s self-titled mid-range handset, the Honor 90, now has an international release. I’ve spent time with the phone that sits alongside the Pixel 7a and Galaxy A54, and there are three key features that we need to talk about.

Honor 90

Let’s start with the screen because Honor has put a lot of effort into this. While the headline numbers suggest the main camera is the big draw, for me, the screen is the true champion.

The 6.7 inch display has a variable refresh rate for the screen, passing the expected 90 Hz at this price to reach 120 Hz. It’s also bright, with HDR video supporting 1600 nits of brightness. In fact, much of the screen’s turning feels like it was geared towards streaming services and using the Honor 90 for the last bright and vivid blockbuster (all fitting the bright and vivid OLED display). It’s a shame that a single mono speaker is deemed enough for the audio, although the more polite users will be on earbuds or headphones.

Honotr has also continued its push to have the screen react to environmental conditions, with PWM to reduce flickering of the screen when your brightness is set low and altering the blue light level of the screen to match the consumers’ circadian rhythm of night and day.

Honor 90

The big ticket item that is instantly recognisable for most consumers is the 200-megapixel camera. It’s backed up by a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensing camera. Throw in an LED flash, and you have four apertures, curiously grouped into pairs in two separate camera islands. It’s a curious look, and while it does stand out, part of me wonders why Honor has not continued to use the large round camera island seen in the Magic5 Pro.

While you can switch the settings to get a 200-megapixel image, regular photos are taken at 12 megapixels, with the extra information captured used in Honor’s post-processing to generate the best image possible. That software works well in a wide range of conditions. The handset does not have optical image stabilisation, which means that in lower light levels, you’re going to need to hold the camera incredibly steady to get the best shots.

Honor 90

The software mostly compensates for this but with a light touch. Honor has (at least in the global version reviewed here) tended away from the pop of vivid colours towards a more natural look. Photos don’t jump out of the screen, but they do feel like a better reproduction of what you would have seen when taking the picture.

The Honor 90 captures real-life scenes quickly and accurately for a mid-range camera. There’s nothing gimmicky here; it just takes nice pictures.

Honor 90

The Honor 90 packs a 5000 mAh battery in the slim case, offering great endurance. This will easily hold up for a full day of use (assuming you don’t do anything intensive like four hours of Genshin Impact). It’s backed up by fast charging at 66W through the supplied adaptor. That offers empty to 70 per cent in around thirty minutes.

The handset does not have wireless charging. Personally, this is one of the options that I would consider as a personal requirement, but that’s not a universal desire, so this omission likely has little impact on the target market.

Honor 90

Of course, there are compromises to reach the attractive price of £449 in the UK. Using the Snapdragon 7 series in this handset makes sense, but the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is an uprated version of the 2022 release. If you are looking for a mid-range where performance is the critical factor, rather than the camera and display, then the Honor 90 is not for you.

Longevity in the modern smartphone market has to take on board the software updates and security patches that a manufacturer will offer. The Honor 90 offers just two major Android updates. With the handset shipping late in Android 13’s life cycle, this amounts to three years at best. Compared to compatriots like Google’s Pixel 7A and Samsung’s Galaxy A54, the Honor 90 falls short.

Finally, and perhaps the one that is the biggest flag to be aware of, is that the handset does not have an IP rating. That doesn’t mean the handset will stop working at the slightest look of any water, but it does mean that any immersion will be risky at best. With no indication of any toughened glass over the screen, there’s a solid argument to always use a protective case - thankfully, like most of Honor’s handsets, a clear TPU case can be found in the retail box.

Honor 90

Honor has delivered a fashionable phone, which has prioritised the display and the camera, and wrapped it around a battery that offers more than enough power to run from waking up to falling asleep during a hefty day. The lack of an IP rating stands out, as does the lower number of Android updates compared to the competition. The £449 price tag makes it competitive, but only if Honor’s priorities match yours.

Disclaimer: Honor supplied an Honor 90 for review purposes...