HONOR 200 is the latest addition to HONOR’s smartphone lineup, succeeding the popular HONOR 90. While HONOR skipped the 100 series, the 200 series brings significant upgrades and new features. The HONOR 200 and its more powerful sibling, the HONOR 200 Pro, are set to make a mark in the smartphone market with their advanced camera systems, robust performance, and sleek designs. This review focuses on the HONOR 200, a feature-packed device that promises excellent value for its price.
Unboxing
The HONOR 200 is packed in a sleek and minimalist white box. Upon opening it, you are greeted with the HONOR 200 nestled securely in protective padding. The first thing you’ll notice is the phone’s elegant design and substantial feel, indicating its high build quality.
Inside the box, you’ll find:
- HONOR 200 smartphone
- 100W HONOR SuperCharge adapter
- USB-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Protective case
- Quick start guide
Watch the unboxing short video on the TechKuya channel.
Build Quality and Design
HONOR 200 boasts a premium build quality that feels robust and elegant in hand. The device’s design is sleek and modern, with a symmetrical rear camera layout inspired by Casa Milà’s patio windows.
This geometric design adds a touch of artistry to the phone’s appearance. The HONOR 200 comes in three nature-inspired color options: Moonlight White, Ocean Cyan, and Black. Each color variant has its own unique appeal, with the Ocean Cyan standing out for its vibrant hues reminiscent of the Maldives’ waters, and the Moonlight White capturing the elegance of pristine beach waves.
The phone comes with dual stereo speakers that deliver a rich and immersive audio experience. It also takes in dual nano-SIM cards, however, it does not have an expansion card slot, so users cannot expand storage via microSD cards though it comes with a generous amount of storage at 512 GB.
As an upper mid-range phone, the HONOR 200 lacks a 3.5mm audio jack – just like most phones in that category. This means that users will need to rely on wireless headphones or a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter for wired headphones. The package does not supply one out of the box, but it would have been nice.
Display
HONOR 200 features a stunning 6.78-inch Quad-curved display, which provides an immersive visual experience. The AMOLED panel ensures rich colors and deep blacks, enhancing the overall viewing pleasure. The display supports a peak brightness of 4000 nits, making it easily readable even under direct sunlight.
Additionally, the 120Hz refresh rate offers smooth scrolling and fluid animations, which is particularly beneficial for gaming and video playback.
Eye comfort is a priority, with features like 3840Hz PWM dimming, AI Circadian Night Display, and TÜV Rheinland Flicker-Free Certification ensuring a comfortable viewing experience, even during extended use.
Software and Application Performance
Running on MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14, the HONOR 200 offers a smooth and intuitive user experience. It is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, complemented by 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM models and 512GB of storage in UFS format.
This setup provides ample space for apps, media, and files while ensuring seamless multitasking and gaming performance.
Our internal benchmarks fall slightly above other Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 powered phones, scoring 833k points in AnTuTu whereas the vivo V30 only scored 818k. We would have wanted to test it with virtaul RAM / RAM extension disabled – it’s a shame that there’s no way to disable this in MagicOS.
Benchmark scores
- AnTuTu: 833666
- Passmark: 13367
- PCMark: 13388
Gaming
HONOR 200 is a powerhouse for gaming thanks its powerful, “flagship” (aka upper mid-range) Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset and 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM modules. This combination ensures that the device can handle even the most demanding games with ease.
The 6.78-inch display with its 120Hz refresh rate provides a smooth and immersive gaming experience, while the large 5200mAh battery supports long gaming sessions without frequent recharges. The device also features efficient heat dissipation through its advanced vapor chamber, ensuring that the phone remains cool during intense gaming marathons.
HONOR’s MagicOS 8 comes with a Game Manager, accessible via the settings. This feature allows you to optimize your gaming experience with two settings: Balance and Game mode. Enabling Game mode enhances performance by prioritizing resources for gaming, ensuring minimal interruptions with Do Not Disturb mode, and offering quick access to screen recording, screenshots, and floating apps for multitasking.
It ran Genshin Impact on the highest graphics settings with relative ease. Mobile Legends ran seamlessly with Ultra graphics and Super frame rate enabled. CarX Street, known for its graphic intensity, performed exceptionally well, with the HONOR 200 maintaining top settings without lag.
PUBG Mobile, set to Ultra HDR graphics and maximum frame rate, also delivered a smooth and responsive experience, with responsive gyroscope controls.
WATCH: HONOR 200 gaming review video
Camera
HONOR 200’s camera system is the phone’s standout feature, designed to excel in portrait photography. It boasts a 50MP f/1.95 Sony IMX906 sensor with OIS as its main camera.
It also packs a 50MP Sony IMX 856 Portrait Telephoto lens to ensure clarity and detail for distant subjects, as well as a 12MP ultrawide and macro camera. For selfies, it provides a 50MP front-facing camera.
If you could recall, the HONOR 90 had a really nice macro camera, and the HONOR 200 did not disappoint. Unlike other phones where the macro is almost unusable, we were actually able to capture real, usable macro shots.
The HONOR 200’s camera system is a product of a prestigious collaboration with Studio Harcourt, a legendary French photography studio renowned for its timeless portraiture. Studio Harcourt has a rich history of capturing iconic images of celebrities and cultural figures, known for its meticulous attention to lighting and shadow to create strikingly elegant and dramatic portraits. This expertise in high-quality portraiture has been seamlessly integrated into the HONOR 200, bringing a professional photography experience to the smartphone.
The Harcourt Portrait features on the HONOR 200 leverage advanced AI to emulate the studio’s distinctive style. Users can access these features through the dedicated Harcourt button in the camera’s portrait mode, which offers three unique settings: Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Color, and Harcourt Classic.
- Harcourt Vibrant: This mode captures natural, unfiltered photos that highlight the subject’s true colors and details, making it ideal for everyday photography that still possesses a professional touch.
- Harcourt Color: This setting applies a signature color grading reminiscent of Studio Harcourt’s iconic style, emphasizing the subject by subtly shifting tones and adding vignetting. This effect enhances the subject’s prominence while creating a vintage, cinematic look.
- Harcourt Classic: For those who appreciate black-and-white photography, this mode focuses on textures and contrasts. It brings out fine details and adds depth, making it perfect for creating timeless, high-contrast images that emphasize the subject’s features and expressions.
These Harcourt Portrait modes are powered by HONOR’s AI Portrait Engine, which enhances light and shadow dynamics, optimizes optical effects like bokeh, and provides artistic style enhancements directly within the camera. This AI-driven approach allows users to produce studio-quality portraits effortlessly, replicating the sophisticated techniques used by Studio Harcourt. Whether you’re a professional photographer or an enthusiast, the HONOR 200’s Harcourt Portrait features enable you to capture elegant, high-quality images that reflect the mastery of one of the world’s most esteemed photography studios.
Battery Life
HONOR 200 is equipped with a 5200mAh silicon-carbon battery that ensures long-lasting performance. The device supports 100W wired HONOR SuperCharge, allowing it to reach a full charge quickly and efficiently.
It might be worth noting that the non-Pro variant does not support wireless charging, while the HONOR 200 Pro supports fast wireless charging at 65W which we found impressive.
On this note, we performed some battery life benchmarks and reached a high of 12 hours and 45 minutes with brightness set to 200 nits.
Price and verdict
HONOR 200 is a compelling phone for camera enthusiasts. If the camera hardware were not enough, the AI post-processing features and Harcourt Potrait modes should capture the interest of anyone looking for a quick and easy way to take photos without having to rely on third-party photo and video editing software.
Beyond this, its powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage provide robust performance for everyday tasks and gaming. The 6.78-inch Quad-curved Display offers a visually stunning and immersive experience. The device’s long-lasting battery and fast-charging capabilities further enhance its appeal.
Whether you’re a photography enthusiast, a gamer, or someone who values a premium smartphone experience, the HONOR 200 delivers on all fronts.
WATCH: HONOR 200 review video
