Honor 200 Pro Review: New Flagship Killer?

Chinese language tech firm Honor is making a reputation for itself in Europe.

A string of high-profile launches within the continent has established it as a go-to model for high-end smartphones, with the Magic 6 Professional its finest effort but.

Nevertheless, what when you don’t need to spend 4 figures on a tool however nonetheless desire a top-tier expertise?

That’s the place the Honor 200 Professional is available in. It’s considerably cheaper than the Magic 6 Professional, however doesn’t look to be a lot of a downgrade on paper. Nevertheless, after every week of utilizing it as my principal cellphone, some potential dealbreakers have emerged.

The Honor 200 Professional has robust competitors within the flagship cellphone market.

Design & Construct

• Premium, glass-backed construct
• Uncommon rear design
• IP65 water and mud resistance

Aesthetically, the Honor 200 Professional seems to be very completely different to the Magic 6 Professional, although that’s not essentially a nasty factor.

As an alternative of an enormous digital camera module dominating the again of the cellphone, the 200 Professional’s oval-shaped housing isn’t fairly as imposing.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

It’s nonetheless removed from refined, although. Honor needs the design of the 200 Professional to depart you in little doubt that digital camera efficiency is a high precedence. I simply want it didn’t accumulate fingerprint smudges so simply, one thing the remainder of the again of the cellphone manages to keep away from. 

Whereas nonetheless glass, the two-tone matt coating shimmers attractively because it catches the sunshine. The color I’ve examined has been dubbed ‘Ocean Cyan’, which explains why the sample on a lot of the cellphone seems to mimic waves.

Personally, I actually like the best way it seems to be, although black and white fashions are additionally obtainable when you’d slightly have one thing extra muted.  

Whatever the mannequin you select, there isn’t a lot grip, so watch out when it’s in your pocket or on a desk. An answer to that is the clear silicone case supplied within the field, however you lose the premium feel and look.

It’s a disgrace, because the cellphone feels comparatively robust and sturdy and not using a case, regardless of lacking out on the Magic 6 Professional’s robust ‘NanoCrystal Defend’ glass on the entrance.

The one exception is its water and mud resistance, with the IP65 ranking which means it’s solely rated to outlive low-pressure jets of water, slightly than the submersion (as much as 1.5m for up 30 minutes) afforded by IP68. It’s a transparent step down.

One other factor that’s down is the load, although it is a welcome change. At 199g, it’s noticeably lighter than the Magic 6 Professional (224g), but in addition most flagships with a display as giant because the 6.78-inch panel right here. It definitely doesn’t overwhelm your pocket or bag to the identical extent.

The entrance of the cellphone seems to be completely unremarkable, although the 2 sensors on the high of the show trace at what they’re able to. 

Bodily buttons on the aluminium sides are clicky and responsive, whereas a good vibration motor ensures the digital equivalents really feel impressively reasonable. A little bit little bit of haptic suggestions goes a good distance.

And on the backside, you get the standard USB-C port, as is proven under.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Display & Audio system

• 6.78-inch Full HD+ OLED
• 120Hz, however no LTPO
• Twin stereo audio system

Honor is aware of easy methods to make an important show, and that’s no completely different on the 200 Professional. 

It’s a 6.7-inch OLED panel, full with a beneficiant 2700 x 1224 (Full HD+) decision that makes content material look clear and crisp. And as is normally the case with OLED, you’ll be able to count on wealthy, vibrant colors and deep blacks.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

You additionally get a silky-smooth 120Hz refresh charge, albeit with out the LTPO tech that may enable it to robotically regulate right down to 1Hz (when not required) to avoid wasting battery life. As an alternative, you’ll be able to select between 60-, 120Hz or a ‘Dynamic’ mode that switches between them. You even have the choice to decide on which apps get entry to the excessive refresh charge, which is a pleasant contact.

Importantly, I additionally had no difficulty with outside visibility, even on a brilliant sunny day. The Honor 200 Professional reached 544 nits in my testing, which is above common.

Whereas there’s been a current development in the direction of flat cellphone shows, Honor continues to go for a curved model. It makes the cellphone extra snug to carry and use one-handed, so I choose it, although this received’t be to everybody’s tastes.

Nevertheless, I’d suggest eradicating the pre-applied display protector, which affected the smoothness of scrolling and felt low-cost.

Just like the Magic 6 Professional, the Honor 200 Professional has an in-display fingerprint sensor. All the pieces I mentioned about it there nonetheless applies right here: a smaller goal space than I’d like, however sooner and extra dependable than most I’ve examined.

Nevertheless, in contrast to that handset, the 200 Professional misses out on the 3D Time-of-Flight sensor for Face ID-style unlocking and authentication. As an alternative, you’ll need to make do with the identical fundamental model we see on nearly all Android telephones, which I wouldn’t suggest.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

When it comes to audio, you get stereo audio system, with the standard mixture of 1 principal speaker and earpiece. The sound produced is impressively punchy, with a ‘200% excessive quantity mode’ avoiding audible distortions regardless of getting very loud.

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and 12GB RAM
• Excellent efficiency, together with whereas gaming
• 512GB of non-expandable storage

The Honor 200 Professional is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. It’s a slight step down from the common 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm’s most succesful cellular chipset on the time of writing, however I didn’t discover a distinction and also you most likely received’t both. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Alongside a beneficiant 12GB of RAM, efficiency is superb in all situations. I used the cellphone in the identical method I’d another: internet searching with dozens of open tabs, shortly switching between WhatsApp, Fb Messenger and Gmail to maintain involved with everybody, watching YouTube movies, and taking loads of photographs.

Even with all these apps open on the identical time, the Honor 200 Professional remained {smooth}, responsive and lag-free. A fast scroll of TikTok suggests it’ll be no completely different when you recurrently use social media. 

Nevertheless, you would possibly argue that the majority mid-range and flagship telephones can deal with that, and also you’d most likely be proper. What units the efficiency leaders other than the remaining is doing these demanding duties which require plenty of energy.

Gaming is a chief instance, so I fired up three of probably the most superior video games yow will discover on the Google Play Retailer. Throughout PUBG: Cellular, Genshin Affect and Asphalt 9, gameplay was impressively slick and responsive.

Actually, the one indication that the cellphone was working onerous was that it turned barely heat to the contact. In fact, this can be extra of an element when you’re planning lengthy gaming classes, however the vapour chamber cooling appears to be very efficient.

Honor 200 Professional benchmarks

The one configuration obtainable within the UK affords 512GB of non-expandable storage, however that’ll be loads for most individuals. And 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC imply the 200 Professional is well-equipped on the subject of connectivity.

Cameras

• 50Mp principal and 50Mp 2.5x telephoto
• 12Mp ultrawide/macro
• 50Mp selfie lens with devoted depth sensor

The Honor 200 Professional’s cameras are a step down from the Magic 6 Professional, however there’s nonetheless some spectacular {hardware} on present.

It’s led by a 50Mp, f/1.9 principal rear lens that you simply’ll most likely use more often than not. And mixed with Honor’s picture processing, the outcomes are spectacular.

If the lighting is nice, you’ll be able to count on nice element and dynamic vary in virtually each scenario. It additionally handles publicity very effectively, precisely capturing each brilliant skies and darkish shadows.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Colors are usually barely extra saturated than in actual life, however this implies photographs actually pop and sometimes don’t require any modifying later.

The Magic 6 Professional stays the very best low-light cellphone digital camera I’ve ever used, however the 200 Professional isn’t far behind. Even with out evening mode enabled, it does a superb job of brightening darkish environments with out introducing noise.

You’ll even be utilizing the principle lens for portrait pictures, one thing Honor is pushing closely on the 200 Professional. It’s collaborated with Studio Harcourt, the traditional French pictures studio, to incorporate three portrait modes instantly inside the app: Harcourt Vibrant (brilliant colors), Harcourt Color (extra muted colors) and Harcourt Basic (monochrome).

Nevertheless, whatever the one you select, you’ll be able to look ahead to some glorious portraits. The 200 Professional is superb at edge detection, serving to to create a practical background blur which will be adjusted to your liking earlier than you’re taking the shot (however not after).

Alongside the principle digital camera is a 50Mp, f/2.4 telephoto which affords optical zoom at 2.5x. It really works very effectively for zoom pictures with none seen drop in high quality, whereas photographs as much as round 10x are nonetheless usable. Past that (the cellphone can go as much as 50x digital zoom), issues get very grainy and there’s numerous noise.

The third and last rear lens is primarily a 12Mp ultrawide, however Honor can be advertising and marketing it as a macro digital camera. Sadly, it’s not significantly spectacular for both.

Broad pictures lack plenty of the element and color accuracy of the principle lens and it struggles with publicity. Shut-up macro pictures are higher than on many low-cost telephones however nonetheless lack the element required to make them helpful for most individuals.

On the entrance, a 50Mp lens combines with 2Mp depth sensor for glorious selfies in nearly each setting – whether or not you need background blur or not.

The cameras on the 200 Professional are sturdy in most areas, however the lack of a succesful ultrawide is a evident shortcoming that’s onerous for me to miss. There’s sturdy competitors on this space from the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24, Google Pixel 8 and Xiaomi 14 to call simply three.

When it comes to video, you’ll be able to seize footage as much as 4K at 30fps, although the default 1080p at 30fps nonetheless seems to be respectable. And OIS (optical picture stabilisation) on the principle and telephoto rear lenses means video stays comparatively {smooth}.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5200mAh battery
• 100W wired charging with charger in field
• 66W wi-fi charging

The Honor 200 Professional has a 5200mAh battery. That’s a decrease capability than the 5600mAh cell on the Magic 6 Professional, however greater than the overwhelming majority of Android telephones.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t at all times translate to nice battery life. I’d describe the battery life on the 200 Professional as strong however unspectacular. It’ll get you thru a full day with out difficulty, even when that features numerous excessive brightness, cellular knowledge, location providers and pictures.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Simply don’t count on it to final lengthy into the following day until you’re staying at dwelling and never utilizing it a lot. Equally, an hour or two of gaming could imply you battle to final a full day.

Within the PCMark battery check, its rating of 10 hours and quarter-hour was barely above common, however a good distance in need of the very best battery life telephones.

Charging is spectacular, although. The 200 Professional can cost at as much as 100W, with the required charger included within the field.

I noticed the cellphone go from 0-45% in quarter-hour, with a full battery taking between 45 and 50 minutes. Not absolutely the quickest on the market, however not far off and far faster than the likes of Samsung, Google and Apple.

As a bonus, you additionally get Qi wi-fi charging at as much as 66W, although you will want to purchase a suitable charger. 

Software program & Apps

• MagicOS 8.0 over Android
• A number of Apple-inspired options
• 3 years OS updates, 4 years safety

The 200 Professional runs Honor’s MagicOS 8.0 software program, which is predicated on Android 14 however seems to be and performs fairly otherwise.

Actually, there are just a few options that you simply’ll solely discover on Honor telephones. The primary is ‘Magic Capsule’, a blatant copy of the iPhone’s ‘Dynamic Island’ that makes use of software program to broaden the pill-shaped entrance digital camera module to show helpful info.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Honor might be accused of a scarcity of originality right here, however I discovered the Magic Capsule very helpful nonetheless. For audio controls and keeping track of timers, it beats having to swipe down the short settings menu each time.

The latter is thought right here because the ‘Management Middle’, one other signal that the 200 Professional has been closely impressed by Apple. The splitting of this and notifications (accessible by a swipe down from the opposite facet) is precisely the identical as on the iPhone, although I don’t thoughts it in any respect.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

One other defining characteristic of MagicOS 8.0 is ‘Magic Portal’, which helps you to drag and drop textual content and pictures between supported apps. The method of shifting an tackle from Gmail to Google Maps was completely seamless, eliminating the copy and pasting you’d normally need to do.

Magic Ring is what you would possibly consider as Honor’s ecosystem options, permitting you to maneuver info between Honor units or use your cellphone as a webcam to your pill or laptop computer.

Sadly, the principle drawback with the Magic 200 Professional stays bloatware. Dozens of additional apps are pre-installed if you arrange the cellphone and never all will be eliminated. It takes ages to get the cellphone trying and performing the best way you prefer it, even when you’ve transferred your knowledge from one other Android cellphone.

In my Magic 6 Professional, I praised Honor’s improved dedication to 4 main OS updates and 5 years of safety updates, however the 200 Professional isn’t fairly nearly as good. On the model obtainable within the UK and Europe, it’s providing three main Android updates and 4 years of safety updates.

As a reminder, you get 7 years of every with high Samsung and Google telephones.

Worth & Availability

At launch, the Honor 200 Professional prices £699.99. Pre-orders can be stay by way of the Honor web site within the UK on 21 June, forward of the cellphone being launched on 28 June.

It should even be obtainable on contract at Three from 28 June, plus “different key UK operators sooner or later”.

Nevertheless, as with all Honor telephones, it’s not obtainable within the US until you need to threat making an attempt to import one.

For every thing you’re getting right here, it’s not unfairly priced. However the Google Pixel 8 (from £699) and OnePlus 12R (from £649) each supply a greater all-round expertise for most individuals.

Do you have to purchase the Honor 200 Professional?

Probably, however solely in case you have a really particular set of necessities.

In order for you premium {hardware} however don’t need to pay the worth of a fully-fledged flagship, it’s a good selection. Whereas not the very best round, the efficiency, show, battery life and charging are all very spectacular – in some circumstances outpacing huge identify rivals.

Digital camera efficiency is usually good, although it’s let down in some key areas. And the mix of cluttered software program and common assist is disappointing.

The Honor 200 Professional remains to be an excellent cellphone, nevertheless it’s not an important one. And that’s what’s required to get my advice at this worth.

Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset  
• 12GB RAM 
• 512GB inside storage 
• 6.78-inch, 2700 x 1224 OLED show, 120Hz 
• 50Mp, f/1.9 principal digital camera with OIS  
• 50Mp, f/2.4 2.5x telephoto digital camera with OIS
• 12Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide digital camera
• 50Mp, f/2.1 front-facing digital camera with 2Mp depth sensor  
• 5200mAh battery  
• 100W wired charging  
• 66W Qi wi-fi charging  
• 5W reverse wi-fi charging
• 5G  
• Twin stereo audio system  
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.3 
• NFC  
• IP65 water and mud resistance  
• Magic OS 8.0 (based mostly on Android 14)  
• 163.3 x 75.2 x 8.2 mm
• 199g