The HONOR 200 arrives on Philippine shores alongside the HONOR 200 Pro with a bold promise: to redefine portrait photography on smartphones.

With a camera system co-engineered by Studio Harcourt, the HONOR 200, which is aggressively aggressively priced at P24,999 (around $426), aims to bring professional-grade portraiture directly to your pocket. We’ll delve into the camera capabilities, exploring how well the device delivers on its ambitious claims.

But the camera is just one piece of the puzzle. We’ll also assess the phone’s performance, display, battery life, and overall user experience to determine if it’s a true contender or simply a midranger with a fancy gimmick.

Read our review to find out if the HONOR 200 is a portrait photography powerhouse or just another smartphone chasing trends.

A solid foundation

The HONOR 200 shares a similar design language to its higher-end stablemate, the HONOR 200 Pro, which we previously reviewed. Unlike the Pro variant, though, the standard model has fewer curves, and this is most evident on the front, where the smartphone flaunts a quad-curved display, as opposed to the Pro version’s more aggressively curved panel.

The sides of the HONOR 200 are also flat, lending to a slightly awkward feel as you slide your fingers off the edge of the screen. That said, although we do like the overall ergonomics of the handset, it would have been much better if HONOR opted for a rounded middle frame instead of what we got here. At this price, upgrading the plastic frame to a metal one would have been a solid idea (pun intended), too. There’s no IP rating, and wireless charging isn’t supported either.

Coming in at only 7.7mm and 187 grams, the HONOR 200 is among the slimmest and lightest phones in its class. We could use it one-handed even with the bundled silicone case. This is rare for a device with a pretty generous screen size.

Like the Pro version, the HONOR 200 packs an IR blaster on the top edge, allowing you to ditch the remote clutter and control your home entertainment devices straight from your unit via the preinstalled Smart Remote app (or another similar app). It also boasts a clever stereo-speaker setup. This uses the top speaker and earpiece as a secondary speaker alongside the main one at the bottom, maximizing sound output with strategically placed outlets.

The HONOR 200 offers a fast and accurate under-display fingerprint scanner for quick access. While the placement might lean towards the bottom of the phone, it still delivers a smooth unlocking experience. Face unlock is also on board, courtesy of the front-facing camera. For maximum consistency, especially in low-light situations, the fingerprint reader is likely your best bet. But hey, having options is always a plus!

Pro-grade OLED display

Don’t let the badge fool you: The HONOR 200 actually packs a display that goes toe to toe with its pricier Pro sibling. This smartphone boasts a gorgeous 6.7-inch 1.5K OLED panel that delivers sharp visuals, rich colors, and deep blacks, making it a good candidate for binge-watching sessions and immersive entertainment. The 120Hz refresh rate, meanwhile, ensures buttery-smooth scrolling and system animations.

HONOR says the device’s screen can reach a staggering 4,000 nits of peak brightness for HDR content. In practice, its outdoor visibility is on par with the Pro variant, fairly easy to see under the sun, with a typical brightness value that reaches only a fraction of its maximum brightness for a small display area.

The HONOR 200 offers a range of color-temperature adjustments within the settings to achieve your ideal calibration. This allows for a truly personalized viewing experience — in case you find the display colors a bit too warm or cool out of the box.

You get three refresh-rate options: Dynamic, High, and Standard. Dynamic mode intelligently adjusts between 60Hz and 120Hz based on the app, optimizing battery life when displaying static content like images and documents. High mode prioritizes smoothness by forcing 120Hz whenever possible, ideal for users who crave the most fluid visuals. Take note that while the display can indeed run at 120Hz, all the games we tested were capped at 60 fps, likely due to hardware limitations. Finally, Standard mode sticks to 60Hz for maximum battery efficiency.

The HONOR 200 arrives with HDR10 support and Google’s Widevine L1 certification to guarantee flawless HDR playback on popular streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube — a rarity even in this price segment. But that’s not all. The display settings include a Video Enhancer option that automatically boosts color and contrast for full-screen videos across various platforms, including YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, and Facebook.

In a nutshell, the HONOR 200’s panel delivers a flagship-caliber viewing experience without the flagship price tag. From its vibrant visuals and smooth refresh rate to thoughtful features like high brightness and flicker reduction, the OLED screen is a winner for both entertainment and everyday use.

Portraits with a Parisian flair

The HONOR 200 sports a large pill-shaped camera island at the back with three cameras, none of which, thankfully, are filler sensors that either don’t work on their own or perform too poorly to be usable in any scenario. The main unit at the bottom uses a 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX906 sensor with 50 megapixels and an optically stabilized f/1.95 aperture lens. It’s joined by a 50-megapixel 2.5x telephoto camera with a Sony IMX856 sensor for portraits and zoom shots and a 112-degree ultrawide of the 12-megapixel variety, located at the center.

Nestled within the HONOR 200’s screen is a small cutout housing the 50-megapixel selfie camera. This cam sits behind a wide-angle lens for group shots and supports autofocus as well as Portrait mode.

Curiously, the unit has a dedicated Super Macro mode that lets you use the ultrawide camera to take extreme closeups across three focal lengths (0.6x, 1x, and 2x). This is different from the standard Macro mode on the primary camera, which automatically activates when the device detects a close subject. Though we were a bit skeptical at first, Super Macro delivers good results in proper lighting conditions. Closeups shot on the 50-megapixel sensor — when the macro setting is switched on — turned out great as well.

Besides doing solid macro work, the HONOR 200 is a fine point-and-shoot option for everyday use, and you can add your own creative touch with three color filters — Natural, Vibrant, and Authentic. The latter produces punchier images with a subtle vignette effect. Autofocus is generally quick and reliable across all cameras, including the front-facing shooter. While there’s a slight delay when taking photos, it’s not a major issue.

The HONOR 200’s camera truly shines in portrait photography, thanks to a stellar collaboration with the iconic Studio Harcourt Paris. The smartphone’s Harcourt Portrait mode is a genuine highlight, delivering stunning, studio-quality shots with a variety of customizable presets, including Harcourt Classic, which mimics Studio Harcourt’s signature monochrome style.

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Other sample shots

Edge detection is exceptional, ensuring clean subject separation even in challenging lighting conditions. The background blur is convincingly applied, adding depth and drama to every portrait. We took a bunch of portraits under a variety of lighting conditions, and the black-and-white shots came out crisp with character.

Video capabilities are equally impressive. The HONOR 200 can capture smooth, detailed 4K footage at 30fps across its main, ultrawide, and zoom cameras. Selfie enthusiasts will appreciate the option to shoot in 4K/30fps or step down to 1080p/60fps for smoother action.

Promising power

Under the hood, you’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip, a significant upgrade for the midrange segment. This 4nm processor delivers a solid blend of speed and efficiency, thanks to its tri-cluster CPU architecture topped off by a potent Cortex-A715 prime core clocked at 2.63GHz and Qualcomm’s capable Adreno 720 graphics.

Benchmarks paint a promising picture. The HONOR 200 scored a respectable 823,635 on Antutu, and Geekbench 6 results show it holding its own against last year’s flagships with 1,168 single-core and 3,362 multi-core scores. While it doesn’t match the absolute peak performance of the latest Snapdragon 8 series, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 handles everyday tasks and multitasking with ease.

Gamers will find the HONOR 200 capable of handling highly demanding titles like Zenless Zone Zero at medium to high settings. Using the High preset, we managed a solid 45 fps over a 20-minute play session, making for a smooth gaming experience.

The HONOR 200 packs a hefty 5,200mAh silicon-carbon battery, matching the capacity of its Pro sibling. This ample power cell effortlessly handles a full day of heavy use, eliminating the need for constant charging. In our PCMark battery tests, the device delivered a solid 12 hours and 36 minutes of endurance, showcasing its efficient internals. To top things off quickly, the HONOR 200 supports a blazing-fast 100-watt charging using the included power brick, fully replenishing the battery in just 45 minutes.

Final thoughts

The HONOR 200 delivers a compelling package for its P24,999 ($426) asking price. Its quad-curved OLED display, in particular, is a standout, offering a vibrant, high-refresh-rate experience that rivals pricier flagships. It’s basically identical to what the HONOR 200 Pro has, except it flaunts fewer curves on the sides.

The camera system is versatile, delivering great results in Portrait mode and everyday shooting. Performance is impressive, too, thanks to the capable Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset under the hood. The battery life is relatively long, as the 5,200mAh silicon-carbon cell can easily last a full day on a single charge, while HONOR’s 100-watt charging standard offers one of the fastest speeds on any phone regardless of price or class.

Overall, despite its non-Pro moniker, the HONOR 200 is a strong contender in its segment, giving you a lot of value for your money.

Online availability: Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop

HONOR 200 specs

• 6.7-inch OLED display, 1.5K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 4,000 nits peak brightness
• 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 5G chipset
• Adreno 720 GPU
• 12GBGB RAM
• 512GB storage
• Triple 50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultrawide/macro, 50-megapixel telephoto rear cameras
• 50-megapixel front camera
• In-display fingerprint reader
• 5,200mAh battery with 100-watt fast wired charging
• MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14
• Colors: Sky Blue, Coral Pink, Moon Shadow White, Ink Black

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