Honor 200 Pro Review: A Portrait King with Impressive Camera Performance
The Honor 200 Pro is a powerful contender in the high-midrange price segment. As many of you already know, this smartphone is special for its camera capabilities. It is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, making it a great performer. The display is simply top-notch for its price range, but there are certainly areas for improvement. Let’s dive into the full review.
Despite housing a 5200mAh battery, the device remains impressively slim, weighing just under 200g, which is lighter than many of its competitors, even those with smaller batteries. However, Honor could have opted for a metal body frame instead of plastic, which contributes to the lower weight. The rear panel resembles glass but feels somewhat plastic-like. It features a frosted finish that resists fingerprints, but the camera module’s design may not appeal to everyone. While it showcases some innovation, I personally find its aesthetic less appealing, and the camera bump is noticeably high due to the shared sensor from the flagship Honor Magic 6 Pro.
The device comes with an IP65 rating, and while essential ports are present, it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack. An IR blaster is included, along with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The scanner’s position may feel a bit low for a larger device, but it works perfectly once you get used to it, offering fast and accurate recognition.
Moving on to the camera setup, the rear features three shooters, led by a 50MP main camera (Sony IMX 800), which we also saw in the Honor Magic 6 Pro. Additionally, there is a 50MP telephoto zoom lens with OIS, providing up to 25x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. The front houses two cameras within a small pill-shaped cutout: a 50MP main camera and a 2MP depth sensor. I feel an ultra-wide lens would have been a more practical addition, similar to what we saw in the CV4.
This device truly shines as a camera smartphone. The main camera features an “Authentic Color” mode, which produces vibrant, realistic colors and enhances texture visibility. The highlight and exposure control perform exceptionally well compared to many other smartphones, even in challenging lighting conditions, avoiding excessive highlights or burns in photos. The dynamic range is also impressive.
When it comes to portrait mode, the collaboration with Harcourt Studio stands out. Users can select from three modes: Harcourt Classic, Harcourt Color, and Harcourt Vibrant. I personally favor the Harcourt Classic mode, which captures stunning studio-quality images with high contrast. The Harcourt Color mode offers vibrant images, while the Vibrant mode maintains natural tones with a slight pop, making skin tones look great.
The sharpness and detail in each photo are consistently excellent, capturing textures beautifully without artificial blurring. Even when faced with heavy exposure, the device effectively balances the shot. The portrait capabilities of this smartphone are remarkable; once you try it, you’ll be impressed.
The ultra-wide camera, while not matching the main camera’s detail, still performs decently in good lighting. However, some color distortion and reduced detail in the corners are expected with ultra-wide lenses. In low-light conditions, the ultra-wide camera shows some grain, but the main camera excels in night mode, maintaining good sharpness and detail. The “Authentic Color” mode enhances the output significantly, offering a natural representation of colors.
The 50MP front-facing camera also impresses, providing bright images with good sharpness and detail. In critical outdoor scenarios, the dynamic range is handled quite well. The front camera supports 4K video recording at 30fps, and the main camera can record up to 4K at 60fps, delivering solid stabilization and detail, despite a slight crop.
The Honor 200 Pro runs on MagicOS 8 based on Android 14, featuring various AI capabilities that enhance user experience. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with Adreno 735 graphics. Storage options include 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage, but it lacks a dedicated microSD card slot.
At a price point around ৳65,000, the performance might feel lacking compared to other devices available in the same range. Despite this, the phone delivers solid performance without overheating during regular use or gaming. It handles multitasking well, allowing users to run multiple apps simultaneously without crashes.
In gaming tests, the device showed commendable performance in popular titles like Genshin Impact and PUBG, with smooth gameplay and excellent graphics. The 120Hz high refresh rate enhances the overall experience, making the UI feel incredibly smooth.
In conclusion, if you are looking for a device within the $500-$550 range, especially for its camera capabilities, the Honor 200 Pro is worth considering. Its impressive camera performance will surely satisfy photography enthusiasts.
