Honor 200 Pro 

A Worthy Competitor for the Pixel 8?

Honor is a Huawei offshoot without Huawei’s infamous restrictions. The Honor 200 Pro is one of its recent models that has full support for Google Apps and Services and 5G connectivity. This device comes with some remarkable features such as a triple rear camera setup, dual selfie camera, high-end chipset, curved OLED display, and fast charging.

Unboxing the Honor 200 Pro

The box should also include an adapter power supply alongside the Honor 200 Pro. However, my pre-review sample did not come with the charger. It also comes with a protective case that will keep your phone in pristine condition. Including a case is quite considerate since it ensures that your new phone remains safe from day one.

Design and Build

Weighing just under 200 grams, the Honor 200 Pro is surprisingly light for a flagship device. Its 6.78-inch screen gently curves at all edges like Xiaomi 14 Ultra which minimizes bezel action giving it an elegant look. The only downside to the Moonlight White model is the shiny plastic edging which can be seen as a disappointment at this price point, although it does help prevent smudges and fingerprints. The phone’s oval-shaped camera bump is a distinguishing feature; however, it also makes the phone rattle when placed on any flat surface. Despite its stylish look, it is not completely waterproof but has an IP65 rating for dust and splash resistance thus, it can withstand water exposure to some extent but cannot be submerged.

It has solid construction while maintaining its premium feel in hand despite having a plastic frame. Apart from looking sleek with a matte finish on the rear panel, one will have a good grip minimizing falls during usage. Users have three color options Moonlight White, Cyan, and Black to choose from.

Display

For people who love media or gaming, there’s no doubt about the quality of the 6.78-inch AMOLED display. In its default Vivid mode, it produces vivid images that pop out of the screen. It supports HDR10 streaming platforms such as Netflix and offers 2700×1224 pixels to give you smooth graphics. PWM dimming is one of the eye-protective features that reduce eyestrain over long periods when using this device. The display boasts up to 120Hz refresh rate for supported apps so they always perform smoothly. 

The brightness levels of the screen are impressive so it can be used even in direct sunlight. There is excellent color accuracy, and those who prefer a more muted palette will appreciate the option to switch to a natural color profile. While slightly intrusive, the dual selfie camera cutout is far less so compared to Dynamic Island on iPhones.

Software and Features

On top of Android 14, MagicOS 8.0 powers the Honor 200 Pro giving users of the Magic 6 Pro a familiar experience. The company has not made any official communication about this yet but we can expect approximately four years of Android updates plus five years of security patches. The software is getting better as it becomes more streamlined with features like a customizable control center and stackable widgets. This feature-packed OS includes helpful functions such as easy text sharing through Magic Portal between apps, quick media controls using Magic Capsule, and device connections without interruption via Magic Ring.

MagicOS 8.0 has also reduced some operations such as sliding down the notification bar from anywhere on the screen, split notification and control centers, stackable widgets for a more organized home screen etcetera. You have many customization options you can use for tweaking fonts, themes, or icons that you want for your phone interface.

Audio

The Honor 200 Pro has stereo speakers capable of producing 80 decibels of loud and clear audio. Even at max volume, the quality of sound is not distorted and still keeps good bass response making it a good fit for various media usage scenarios.

The smartphone’s mids and highs are clear, and there is more bass than one would expect from such a phone. Its audio performance makes it an excellent choice for movie watching, gaming, or music listening without requiring external speakers.

Performance

When using the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 to power its operations, everyday tasks as well as intense gaming are handled by the Honor 200 Pro without any problems. In my tests using Genshin Impact on this device, I noticed that even with graphics set to maximum the phone performed smoothly. After long hours of playing games on this phone, it may get a bit warm but that does not affect its performance. The dedicated game mode enhances the gaming experience as it adjusts screen brightness among other things.

While the 8S Gen 3 chipset does not compete with newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processors, it still offers decent performance in most use cases. In benchmarks, it lags behind phones powered by last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen2. But, still, its performance is good enough for gaming and multitasking. The thermal management is fine here: the computer only slightly throttled during long-term testing of your inputs.

Battery Life

This battery has a capacity of 5200mAh and uses silicon carbon technology to ensure that it can deliver long-lasting performance. For one hour of computer games, they have consumed only 15% of the charge, showing that someone who uses such a gadget heavily can go through an entire day with a single charge. In terms of charging speed, there is also fast wired charging at a rate of up to 100W as well as wireless charging, which goes up to 66W.

Another advantage in terms of battery for Honor 200 Pro is their battery optimization plus smart power management features which are useful in increasing battery life. This phone also supports reverse wireless charging enabling you to charge other devices while on the move. As such, this makes the Honor 200 Pro suitable for individuals who are ever on the run.

Camera

The camera system comprises a main lens with a custom large sensor (50 megapixels), a telephoto lens (2.5x zoom with 50 MP sensor), and an autofocus ultra-wide camera (12 MP). Together with Studio Harcourt, Honor has developed Classic, Color, and Vibrant portrait modes. Portraits have good subject detection as well as natural background bokeh; however, occasionally background fails to be blurred when using portrait mode fixable in a future update.

Main Camera: The detail is excellent during the daytime but with good range dynamics and vibrant colors. However, at night, it can easily blow out highlights without the use of a night mode although color saturation remains good in this case. Night modes are recommendable as they restore highlight details.

Telephoto Camera: 2.5x zoom produces outstanding images that have great detail and dynamic range. Highlight clipping is also fixed by the use of night mode at low-light levels.

Ultra-Wide Camera: Good detail and dynamic range in photos captured here often show proper colors highlighting full details on them while increased sharpness and exposure can be obtained using night mode.

Selfie Camera: Among others, The selfie camera has 50MPs and secondary depth sensors that take detailed selfies with skin tones appearing as real. However, for some people, it could present restrictions with respect to its focus that is fixed.

The camera software offers various shooting modes and options which will make the photography experience more exciting for you. AI features help optimize settings for different scenes, while manual controls in Pro mode allow for more creative control. Portrait shots benefit from the Harcourt Studio collaboration, offering professional-grade lighting and effects.

Additional Features

Magic Capsule: Just like iOS’s Dynamic Island, this feature provides useful information through the area surrounding the selfie camera cutout.

Magic Portal: An AI-powered feature that enables you to drag what’s on your screen to fast search, take notes, or for some other reasons. 

Storage Options: However, there is no expandable memory slot through a micro SD card hence it comes in 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1TB versions only.

 IR Blaster: Also allows the smartphone to act as a remote control for TVs among other electronic appliances. 

Software Updates: This ensures that the phone will get four major OS updates and five years of security patches.

Conclusion 

With a price tag of around $800, the Honor 200 Pro is highly recommended since it has solid hardware, amazing battery life, and high-quality cameras. While it may not be as refined as Google’s Pixel experience in terms of software development, the Honor 200 Pro delivers good performance with an alternative look. If you must have the latest flagship phone then consider the Honor 200 Pro among others on the market.