HONOR Philippines recently unveiled its latest mid-range phone under its Number series with the HONOR 200 Series comprising of two models – HONOR 200 and HONOR 200 Pro 5G.
Dubbed as the brand’s AI Portrait Master, the HONOR 200 Series focuses more on the camera-centric users as the phone integrates with Studio Hartcourt-theme photos, one of the prestigious studio institutions in Paris. The HONOR 200 series are also equipped with spec-wised features from the chipset, software, display and battery.
For our review, we will be checking out the HONOR 200, the base model of the series. Let’s dwell more into its features.
Price and Availability
The official price of the HONOR 200 Series are as follows – HONOR 200 PHP24,999 and HONOR 200 Pro 5G PHP29,999
Both models of the HONOR 200 series are now available in all HONOR Experience stores nationwide, HONOR Experience kiosks, and official HONOR online stores on Lazada https://bit.ly/Laz_H200Series_PR, Shopee https://bit.ly/Shop_H200Series_PR, and Tiktok Shop https://bit.ly/TikTok_H200_PR.
The HONOR 200 is also available at Home Credit for as low as Php 1,619/month you can inquire now via: https://bit.ly/HONORPH_HomeCredit.
Unboxing
The packaging of the HONOR 200 is clad in an all-white box made of thick cardboard type material in a matte finish. There’s no printed image of the product but you’ll see a HONOR logo printed in a silver-bronze foil on each side of the box.
As you open the box, the HONOR 200 unit will be the first one you’ll see, so I would suggest to open the box very slowly to prevent the phone from falling.
Upon opening the box, the first thing you’ll find is the HONOR 200 unit placed inside its very own plastic tray. We would suggest you handle the box with care to prevent the phone from falling.
Underneath the phone is another separate compartment box and an inner tray that holds the other included accessories.
Everything you will get out of the packaging box are as follows:
- HONOR 200 Unit
- SIM Ejector Tool
- Clear Protective Case
- USB-A to USB-C Cable
- 100W Power Adapter
- Quick Start Guide
- Warranty Card
There’s also a screen protector for the display that’s already pre-applied on the phone.
Design
The HONOR 200 is available in three colors to suit user preferences, you may opt for the Moonlight White, Emerald Green, or our review unit in classic Black.
It weighs 187 grams, including the battery, and has a slim profile with a thickness of 7.7mm, a height of 161.5mm, and a width of 74.6mm.
The black color of the curved back panel has a matte finish that can help hide fingerprint marks but it also comes with a transparent protective jelly case to add more protection on the phone.
The camera module has an oval shaped design taking inspiration in the form of Antoni Gaudi’s “Casa Mila”, a modernist building in Barcelona, known for its asymmetrical curve and oval design seen from the inside and outside. The triple camera lenses and LED flash is positioned like a cross pattern with each encased in a stylish etched ring, it is then covered with glass.
At the bottom, you’ll see an HONOR logo, AI Matrix Camera branding, and certifications marks.
Both the curved back and front panels are seamlessly sandwiched within a tough aluminum frame to make it sleek as well as feel and look premium.
On the left-side edge, you have the volume rockers and power/sleep button.
The right-side edge is completely clean.
The SIM card tray, microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille at the bottom edge,
The top edge holds another speaker grille, secondary microphone, and an IR blaster to control your smart devices.
The front has slim bezels all around the display with an equal-depth quad-curved screen design and a punch hole style front camera. The display is made even durable using Aluminosilicate Glass material able to resist scratches and impacts.
For me, I usually prefer flat displays, but with the very thin screen bezels and smooth curved display of the HONOR 200, it won me over.
Display
Users will surely love the display of the HONOR 200, the AMOLED panel on this curved screen is sharp, bright, and a vibrant color reproduction.
It has a 6.7-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2664 x 1200 pixels, pixel density of 435ppi, and a maximum refresh rate up to 120Hz.
With the adaptive refresh rate feature, the screen can dynamically shift between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what you’re viewing to conserve on battery.
Indoor usage the display is already amazing at its regular peak brightness, and if you go out it can go up to 4000 nits enough to be seen even under direct sunlight.
It has a wide aspect ratio of 19.98:9, which is still enjoyable for watching videos despite the short black bars seen on the sides. Playing games on this size however, takes much more advantage from this aspect ratio.
The screen has eye comfort features reducing eye strain and low flicker regardless the level of brightness.
It boasts a higher PWM dimming rate of 3840Hz, AI Circadian Night display that automatically adjust the screen temperature, dark mode, and eBook mode.
You are assured that these eye health features really work, as the phone received a TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification.
Performance
The HONOR 200 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 octa-core processor with clock speeds up to 2.63GHz paired with an Adreno 720 for its GPU.
It has 12GB of RAM and a large internal storage of 512GB enough to load more apps, photos, and videos.
The HONOR RAM Turbo can enhance the phone’s memory by up to an extra 12GB of virtual RAM, giving you a total of 24GB of RAM.
Here’s the benchmark scores we got for the HONOR 200.
- GeekBench 6 CPU: 1152 Single Core / 3337 Multi-Core
- GeekBench 6 GPU: 3614
- CPDT: 482.92 MB/s Write, 564.68 MB/s Read
- 3DMark: 5947 (35.62 fps)
- PCMark: 13417 Work 3.0 Performance Score
Qualcomm has managed to pair a nice combination of chipsets and efficiency with the 7 Gen 3 processor. It is enough to handle pretty much anything even intense 3D heavy graphic games.
In everyday use, the HONOR 200 performs very well as it feels fast, smooth, and the apps open quickly. There’s no lags even if you have lots of apps that are left open or on standby.
If you’re gaming for long hours with max graphic settings or all-day multitasking on the phone, don’t worry as the HONOR 200 is equipped with an all-range Cooling System 2.0 feature efficiently dissipate heat at an area of 34696mm and utilizes a large stainless steel biomimetic VC ensuring continuous optimal performance.
The HONOR 200’s dual stereo speakers which are well positioned at the top and bottom of the device deliver a balanced audio quality. This audio setup on the phone offers a more immersive sound experience compared to phones with bottom-firing speakers. So far the sound quality is loud, vocals are clear, and there’s enough bass going out of it.
For biometrics and security, the phone has a face recognition and an in-display fingerprint scanner located at the bottom center of the screen. You also can set the regular screen lock with a 4-digit PIN, custom PIN, Pattern, and Password. Some extra features on the biometrics is setting your preferred fingerprint animation if you want a more different unlock simulation and a face recognition with a mask. So far, unlocking the phone using both biometrics are fast and it only takes a minute to register.
It has an array of connectivity features like Bluetooth 5.3, OTG, Wi-Fi direct, infrared remote control, and NFC which is very useful as recently GCash has rolled out its Tap To Pay services using this short-range wireless technology.
Camera
The cameras on the HONOR 200 is one of the standout features for this new model.
The HONOR 200 is equipped with a triple camera setup comprising of a 50MP main camera with an aperture of f/1.95, secondary lens is a 50MP telephoto camera with an aperture of f/2.4 aperture and a 12MP Ultra wide camera with an aperture of f/2.2 for the third lens.
The camera has optical image stabilization (OIS) to lessen shaky hands for a steady video recordings.
For videos, the best thing on the HONOR 200 cameras are both rear and front cameras can record resolutions at 4K, 1080p, and 720p. The 1080p and 720p has available frame rate at 30fps and 60fps, but the 4K can go to 30fps only.
The camera app is very straightforward and the functions are well placed for easy accees. Above the viewfinder you can select the qr code, flash, AI scene, HDR, color filter, and settings.
The color filter offers three options – Natural, Vibrant and Authentic which I liked the most giving my photos more punchier colors and contrast.
I would prefer replacing the qr code with the aspect ratio option for me to easily change the size I want for my photos.
Shooting modes you can switch back and forth instantly ready for use are the Aperture, Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, and Multi-Video.
You have an extra 10 more shooting modes with Pro, Slow-Mo, Panorama, Time-Lapse, Watermark, Super Macro, High-Res, Solo Cut, Story, and Scan Document.
The zoom switch slider offers four dedicated zoom levels, you have a 0.6x for wide shots, 1x, 2x, and 2.5x, which is ideal for portrait shots.
Sharing our sample photos captured using the HONOR 200.
0.6x Photo mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
1x Photo mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
2x Photo mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
1x Photo mode, Indoor, Sunny Weather
0.6x Photo mode, Indoor, Low Lighting
1x Photo mode (Close Up), Indoor, Ambient Lighting
1x Portrait mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
1x Photo mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
0.8x Selfie, Indoor, Ambient Lighting
If you’re a portrait enthusiast, the HONOR 200 comes with a new Harcourt Studio Portrait filter on the camera app that can turn your photos to professional-level quality. This collaboration with a renowned photography studio house in Paris brings studio-like lighting and effects directly to your smartphone. It offers three Harcourt lighting effects with the Classic, Colour, and Vibrant.
I personally prefer the Classic mode, which produces elegant, timeless black-and-white images, a staple of Harcourt’s studio style portraits. The Harcourt Classic filter differs significantly from standard black-and-white color filters, offering richer blacks and greater detail. With the proper lighting, users can create stunning monochrome portraits.
The Harcourt Studio Portrait filter can also be used to capture other subjects, just let your creativity flow.
Unfortunately, the Harcourt Studio filter is currently available to use on the rear camera; hopefully, future models will include it for front camera use as well.
The HONOR 200 has done very well with its triple camera setup. Both the 50MP main and telephoto cameras are capable of capturing rich, vibrant, and details shots in good lighting conditions and even decent ambient lighting. Low light situation is also good with less noise while the ultra-wide offers standard image quality.
Software
The HONOR 200 comes out of the box with HONOR’s latest operating system with the MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14.
Pre-installed apps include the usual set of Google Tools like Chrome, Gmail, Maps, Meet, and more. There’s also HONOR’s very own proprietary apps, WPS Office, Booking.com, Facebook, Netflix, TikTok, and Trip.com. It still gets less bloatware unlike other phones and apps you don’t need can be uninstalled easily.
The MagicOS 8.0 has incorporated some new features for the HONOR 200 including a Magic Capsule to show key information on the top, Blur Private Info to intelligently hide sensitive information, and gesture support with 3-finger swipe down to save everything (web pages, images, text, etc.) in one folder under HONOR Global Favorites with easy access at the sidebar.
The Magic Portal feature, unveiled during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona, uses AI to understand user messaging and behaviour, and subsequently streamlines complicated tasks into single-step processes. For example, users just need to long-press a message or image and drag it into the Magic Portal on the side, with its AI determining what the appropriate action is.
Battery
The HONOR 200 with a slim form factor was able to snap in a bigger 5,200 mAh battery capacity inside this phone. The battery is made of silicon and carbon, this combination of both materual enables higher energy density, faster charging capabilities, and longer battery lifespan compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Instead of the usual 5,000 mAh battery capacity, HONOR has an additional 200 mAh which provides extra power for longer usage, this is favorable for heavy users.
It charges very quickly, despite having a massive battery capacity, thanks to the included HONOR 100W SuperCharge technology.
A 15 minutes charge boosts the battery to 43 percent instantly, then the next 15 minutes it goes up to 73 percent. It took just 44 minutes for the phone to fully charged from 0 to 100 percent.
The phone showed us an impressive standby time. We left it idle for five days with only minimal use, such as checking my Facebook Messenger, the battery still retained 44 percent charge.
This means it’ll easily get you throughout the day if you’re a heavy user then it could go to a day and a half out of a charge, if you use it sparingly.
Conclusion
The HONOR 200 is a great mid-range phone still at a very reasonable price of PHP24,999. You’re getting almost a flagship level specs which sports an immersive display, stunning design, powerful chipsets, efficient cameras, and good battery life.
I’m optimistic about the Harcourt Studio Portrait filter. Traditionally, capturing black and white portraits required more creativity with the right lighting and posture compared to color photography. So, it’s a new way and challenge for photo enthusiasts using it with the HONOR 200. It would be great if it can also take advantage with the front camera.
In terms of performance, the combined chipsets and hardware of the phone can handle almost a wide range of tasks, from streaming media contents, intense gaming up to demanding work applications. The software is smooth and offers AI capabilities that might be convenient for you.
The HONOR 200 is a great choice for people looking at a smartphone with exceptional camera capabilities plus offering a compelling blend of innovative features and impressive performance.
HONOR 200 – Full Specifications
- PHP24,999
- Moonlight White, Emerald Green, Black
- 5 x 74.6 x 7.7 mm
- 187 g rams (including battery)
- 7-inches FHD+ Display
- AMOLED Panel
- 2664 x 1200 pixels
- 98:9 Aspect Ratio
- 07 Billion Colors
- 4000 nits Peak Brightness
- 435PPI
- Aluminosilicate Glass Material
- Equal-Depth Quad-Curved Screen
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3
- 1×Cortex-A715 2.63GHz + 3×Cortex-A715 2.4GHz + 4×Cortex-A510 1.8GHz
- Adreno 720
- MagicOS 8.0 – Android 14
- 12GB RAM
- 512GB Storage
- 50MP Wide Camera (f/1.95 aperture, OIS)
- 50MP Telephoto Camera (f/2.4 aperture, OIS)
- 12MP Ultra Wide Camera (f/2.2 aperture)
- Rear Video Up to 4K
- 50MP Front Camera (f/2.1 aperture)
- Front Video Up to 4K
- 5200 mAh Battery
- HONOR 100W SuperCharge
- Network: 5G (NR), 4G (LTE TDD/LTE FDD), 3G (WCDMA), 2G (GSM)
- SIM Card 1 (Nano SIM card), SIM Card 2 (eSIM)
- Bluetooth 5.3
- OTG
- Wi-Fi Direct
- GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2×2 MIMO
- Sensors: Gravity, Infrared, Fingerprint, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient Light, NFC, Proximity
