A few days have passed since the Paris presentation of Honor 90 and since then our curiosity about this intriguing mid-range smartphone from Honor has not abandoned us. The new family of smartphones from Honor, consisting of Honor 90 e Honor 90 Litewants, once again, to raise the bar on smartphones in this range by combining performance and design at a price accessible to many. In this Honor 90 review, we’ll find out if the company has once again worked its magic.
Our review of the Honor 90
Despite the “middle-range” categorization this Honor 90 sports some of the features that we find in much more expensive smartphones and at least on paper, more performing. A 6.7″ AMOLED display, a first generation Snapdragon 7 processor, a 200MP camera and a large 5000mAh battery. All this to the interesting price of 449€.
Too good to be true? Let’s find out!
the technical sheet of the Honor 90
- Dimensions: 161,9mm x 7,80mm x 74,1 mm
- Weight: 183g
- Display: AMOLED 6,7″ (2664 × 1200)
- Processor: Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition
- GPU: Adreno 644
- RAM: 8 o 12GB
- Memory: 256 o 512GB
- Rear camera: 200 MP (f/1.9) main lens + 12 MP (f/2.2) ultra wide angle and macro + 2 MP (f/2.4) depth camera
- Front camera: 50 MP (f/2.4)
- Drums: 5000 mAh with support for HONOR 66W SuperCharge charging
Design
The first aspect that catches the eye of the Honor 90 is its own elegant and modern design. The large 6.7″ AMOLED screen extends to the sides of the device, giving the sensation of having a borderless screen. The phone is available in several colors, including Midnight Black, Emerald Green and Diamond Silver. The latter is the version of the Honor 90 that we had for this review and has the most particular pattern, inspired by high fashion and the craftsmanship of luxury jewels. The returned feel is excellent and it is very light and thin, which makes it comfortable to hold and easy to carry.
In the back of the smartphone we also find the double porthole for the cameras defined by Honor as “a double symmetrical ring”, also inspired by the world of jewels. The end result is original but without breaking too much, adapting to the most varied tastes. On the left side we find the power button and volume adjustment while on the lower side we find the audio output, the input for Type-C charging and the trolley capable of accommodating two SIMs. The display houses, in addition to a central notch of the front camera, also a fingerprint sensor to which unlocking through face detection is also added.
Included in the package, in addition to the smartphone, we find an instruction booklet, the pin to open the SIM drawer and a USB / Type-C charging cable. No battery charger.
Technology
The magic of Honor already starts with yours 6.7″ AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and brightness up to 1600 Nits. All this translates into excellent video quality which combined with Dynamic Dimming, guarantees excellent performance and without any disturbance. The display is also certified HDR10+ which will allow you to enjoy entertainment content to the fullest of its potential.
Under the body we find a processor Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 in its version Accelerated Edition which increases the clock frequency (100-200MHz). This is an excellent move that allows you to keep the overall price low compared to the implementation of the latest Snapdragon 8 without sacrificing too much high performance. To support the processor we have up to 12GB in RAM LPDDR5 and up to 512GB of internal memory.
To feed everything we have a 5000mAh battery with HONOR 66W SuperCharge support which offers excellent autonomy that will allow you to arrive comfortably at the end of the day even with excessive use.
Camera compartment
Camera side, we find the best quality Honor in a mid-range smartphone that makes us doubt this categorization once again. L’main lens boasts an impressive 200 Megapixels but this is nothing compared to the actual progress made by the company. In addition to this we find a sensor 12 MP (f/2.2) ultra wide angle and macro and a 2 MP (f/2.4) depth camera. Even photos taken in low light are sharp and detailed, thanks to the image stabilization system. There front camera is 50 MP (f/2.4)more than enough to get quality selfies, even if a certain amount of light is at least required.
video side, this Honor 90 is capable of recording up to 4K at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps with the possibility of switching from one photographic sensor to another during recording. There is no optical stabilization but thanks to the use of AI, it is possible to reduce the noise of the videos or accentuate the sound of the voices. All to bring you the best video quality on a mid-range smartphone.
Our test of the Honor 90
For this review, we tested the Honor 90 for about two weeks during which he joined our smartphone for daily use.
Starting with the design, the smartphone looks excellent, with truly excellent attention to materials and construction. The Diamond Silver design, however refined, did not drive us crazy but this derives from our personal tastes rather than from a manufacturing defect. Overall, however, the smartphone returns a excellent feel and the “curved” style of the display gives it unparalleled handling. Regarding the display, the AMOLED quality is simply superior and watching movies, surfing the net or playing games is simply a pleasure for the eyes. In this regard, we have also particularly appreciated some smartphone functions for the well-being of the eyes such as the “Circadian Night Display” which allows you to adjust the brightness automatically depending on the time of day to strain your eyes as little as possible.
All in all, the processor also moves very well and did not make us miss the latest Snapdragon 8. Every application and video game we tried moved in the best way without encountering any bugs or hitches. This is also thanks to MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13 which gave us a simply fluid experience with no slowdowns.
The camera sector is also excellent, which in any situation has given us sharp and spectacular shots. Except perhaps a digital zoom (up to 10x) which reduces the quality too much, selfies, photos and videos not only lived up to it but overall proved to be the best photographic sector in a mid-range smartphone.
The Honor 90 review in a nutshell
L‘Honor 90 made us question its “mid-range” label. It has turned out to be an excellent smartphone for those looking for high performance and cutting-edge technology and the perfect mix of design-quality-performance that we were hoping to encounter. All at a competitive price of €449.
An infallible combination that makes it one of the best mid-range smartphones currently on the market.