Review of Honor 90 - an inexpensive smartphone with a flagship display and a 200 MP camera
Miscellaneous / / October 02, 2023
The device clearly claims to be the “top in the mid-segment”.
Inexpensive Honor smartphones stand out with their interesting designs and cameras. The manufacturer used the same approach in the main number series, of which the new Honor 90 is a representative. We tested the device in the most common scenarios and found out what the gadget is capable of.
Table of contents
- Specifications
- Design and ergonomics
- Screen
- Performance
- System
- Cameras
- Autonomy and charging
- Results
Specifications
operating system | Android 13, MagicOS 7.1 |
Frame | Plastic |
Screen | AMOLED, 6.7 inches, 2664 × 1200 pixels, 120 Hz, DCI‑P3 coverage, brightness up to 1600 nits |
CPU | Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition (4 nm) |
Memory | 8/12 GB - RAM, 256/512 GB - built-in |
Cameras | Primary: main – 200 MP, f/1.9 with PDAF and OIS; ultra-wide-angle - 12 MP, f/2.2, 112˚, autofocus; depth sensor – 2 MP, f/2.4 Front: 50 MP, f/2.4, 100˚ |
Communications | 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G, Wi‑Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC |
Navigation | GPS/AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo |
Battery | 5,000 mAh; charging - 66 W (wired, including reverse at 5 W) |
Connectors | USB Type-C 2.0 |
Dimensions | 161.9 × 74.1 × 7.8 mm |
Weight | 183 g |
Additionally | Optical fingerprint scanner |
Design and ergonomics
There are several details in the design of a smartphone that can and should immediately make an impression. The first is the tactilely pleasant matte back cover. Although it is made of plastic, it looks very impressive in emerald color.
From different angles, this panel looks different, with color shifts from cold marsh to bright blue interspersed with tiny sparkles.
Also in Russia, the smartphone is available in the “Arctic Ice” color with the texture of frosty patterns on a blue background and in “Midnight Black” - this is a classic black gloss. There is also a white version abroad.
The smartphone's three cameras and flash are combined into two round modules with a chrome frame that matches the color of the body. It resembles glass, but judging by the characteristic chill, it is metal. The modules themselves are thicker than the main part of the body, so the smartphone will “play” on a flat surface. But this is already the norm for modern devices.
The second detail that immediately attracts attention is the display glass. It has small roundings on all four sides. Combined with the very narrow black bezel of the screen, the smartphone feels almost frameless. This effect can be compared to the surface tension of water in an overfilled glass, when the liquid almost overflows.
The frame of the smartphone is glossy and resembles aluminum, but in fact it is plastic. In terms of elements on the ends, everything is quite ascetic: on the right are two narrow buttons, on top is the first microphone, on the bottom is the second, as well as a USB-C port, a tray for two SIM cards and a row of speaker holes.
By the way, there is only one full-fledged speaker here. There is a second one in a narrow slot above the screen for calls, but for multimedia playback and speakerphone, only the one below is used as the sound source. And this can immediately be written down as a disadvantage. Users accustomed to the stereo effect will notice the difference in sound.
At the same time, the smartphone is very thin - only 7.8 mm. Since both the back cover and the glass of the screen have curves, the gadget cannot be called particularly grippy. A cover may be required.
Screen
Under the spectacular curved glass hides a magnificent 6.7-inch AMOLED display, 2,664 × 1,200 pixel resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate with automatic adjustments.
This is a very high-quality matrix with full DCI-P3 gamut coverage, HDR 10+ support, a contrast ratio of 5,000,000: 1 and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. The picture is clear and rich, the colors are pleasant, not at all acidic.
There is no even barely noticeable flicker, since the PWM frequency here is 3840 Hz. There is TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free certification, which confirms the absence of harmful effects on the eyes.
Already out of the box, a film is glued over the display. The finger glides over it well, but given the curves of the glass at the edges, the edge of this film slightly catches the pad. This can be critical with the “Back” navigation swipe, when you need to move your finger exactly from the very edge of the panel. Therefore, I want to remove the film - it will be more convenient without it.
The manufacturer does not specify what kind of glass protects the display. There's probably some kind of proprietary coating here. After 10 days in the pocket with the keys, no visible scratches appeared on the screen. There were also no problems with the optical fingerprint scanner hidden under the panel.
As for the picture settings, there are two tint modes to choose from and a color temperature palette to make the picture warmer or cooler. Always On Display is also supported.
For additional vision protection, there is an e-book mode with monochrome colors and gamma correction in accordance with circadian rhythms. In the latter case, the image will become warmer as the night approaches.
Performance
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition chip is responsible for the performance of the smartphone. Essentially, this is a slightly overclocked version of the basic version of the 4-nanometer Qualcomm processor.
The platform includes eight cores grouped according to a 1 + 3 + 4 scheme: the top ARM Cortex-A710 core with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, three ARM Cortex-A710 with a frequency of 2.36 GHz and four ARM Cortex-A510 with a frequency of 1.8 GHz. Graphics - Adreno 644.
The Accelerated Edition differs from the basic version only by increasing the frequency of the main core from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. In everyday use this is hardly noticeable, but in the “parrots” of the benchmark there is a difference. In the same AnTuTu, the Honor 90 model scores almost 700 thousand points. And, for example, Xiaomi 13 Lite with Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 - 600-650 thousand.
In the throttling test, Honor 90 performed well: the average frequency drop was within 10–15%. In practice, in demanding shooters like Call of Duty: Mobile, sagging is unnoticeable even after half an hour of play. The heating of the case in such sessions was noticeable, but not critical.
In everyday use, the device works very quickly and smoothly in all scenarios, with the exception of photography. Looking ahead, we note that its main camera is 200 megapixels, and each frame is a combination of 16 pixels into one. This process may take a couple of seconds, but occurs in the background. You'll only notice this delay if you review each shot immediately after releasing the shutter.
As for memory, our version has 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal storage. The smartphone is also available with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage. There is no slot for a microSD card, but with such volumes this is a minor omission.
System
The smartphone runs on the latest Android 13 with MagicOS 7.1 shell. There are no difficulties with Google services: everything is available out of the box.
MagicOS 7.1 has a convenient, functional interface with standard adjustments for working screens, large folders with 9 icons and a familiar two-page curtain for notifications and quick settings.
There are not as many pre-installed applications as competitors, but their list is rather strange. In addition to the classics like TikTok and WPS Office, there is, for example, the game “The Great Sultan”. Fortunately, all this can be easily removed.
I would also like to note its own application store and the system’s smart Magic Text function. The latter allows you to recognize and copy text from any images in a standard gallery - it’s convenient to isolate addresses and phone numbers from photos, book titles or other text.
In general, MagicOS 7.1 has nothing to criticize: everything works quickly, smoothly and without any errors. The only thing I would like to find fault with is the minimal customization options. There are no color accents or modern widgets in the shell. And the icons in the themes are similar to each other. I want more variety.
Cameras
The manufacturer made one of the main accents on the camera. The main module here is as much as 200 megapixels with a 1/1.4-inch sensor and f/1.9 aperture. There is phase detection autofocus, but there is no optical stabilization.
By default, when processing a frame, 16 pixels are combined into one, so the final image has a resolution of 12.5 megapixels. Under normal conditions, the picture turns out to be very natural, pleasant, with good details and dynamic range.
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
There is no excessive sharpness or distortion in shades, only sometimes the photos turn out a little warmer, but this is a matter of preference. In any case, there is always the opportunity to adjust the temperature and increase the saturation if you like brighter shots. And the high dynamic range, which is noticeably enhanced by processing algorithms, allows you to take good sunset photos or simply shoot in conditions with sudden changes in lighting.
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with the main camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
At night, the camera clearly lacks optical stabilization. Here, even the grouping of pixels does not allow us to extract the same details as during the day or at least at dusk. But when viewed on a smartphone, the pictures still look very good.
The smartphone does not have a telephoto camera, but the same 200-megapixel sensor allows you to make a good crop, simulating a 2x zoom. You can manually magnify it up to 10 times, but you don’t want to use such a digital zoom: the quality suffers greatly. Below are examples of 2x zoom.
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Regular shooting (×1) Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Zoom (×2). Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Regular shooting (×1) Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Zoom (×2). Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Regular shooting (×1) Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Zoom (×2). Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
The second module of the smartphone is 12 megapixels with wide-angle optics (112˚). It has autofocus and can work in macro mode. The clarity of frames is highly dependent on lighting.
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
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Shooting with a wide-angle camera. Photo: Podvolotsky Victor
The same wide-angle module can be used for macro photography. It will be useful for those who like to photograph flowers, food, pets or various decorations.
The third camera on the smartphone is 2 MP. This is a depth sensor that helps blur the background in pictures and make portraits more expressive.
The selfie module in Honor 50 is installed in the display hole and has a resolution of 50 megapixels. It is complemented by 100˚ optics and allows you to take shots with a normal capture angle and an extended one. I was definitely pleased with this camera.
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Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
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Photo: Victor Podvolotsky / Lifehacker
For lovers of vlogs and video messages, the smartphone offers a multi-video mode - simultaneous shooting on the front and main cameras. Moreover, in this mode you can use zoom - in case you want to show something to someone, accompanying it with your reaction.
Autonomy and charging
The thin body houses a 5,000 mAh battery that supports 66 W wired charging. Replenishing energy from 0 to 20% takes only 5 minutes, and 100% takes approximately 45 minutes.
In terms of battery life, the smartphone was a pleasant surprise. In normal use with a dynamic display frequency, the device worked on average for a day and a half. If you shoot a lot and use the gadget outdoors, where the screen brightness is often turned up to the limit, then there will be one day of daylight, or about 5-6 hours of screen operation. This is a good result considering the high resolution of the display.
What else pleased me was the display of charging power on the screen. Doesn't work with all adapters, but with many. This allows you to understand whether your smartphone can use the adapter from your laptop or some other universal charger that you are used to using. In our case, from the Baseus 65 W GaN adapter, Honor 90 was powered only in 40 W mode. But the supplied adapter delivered all 66 W.
Results
Honor 90 turned out to be not ideal, but in many respects the optimal mid-class smartphone. It has a balanced filling, a capacious battery and a gorgeous display.
In terms of shooting, the device turned out to be universal: a good main module, high resolution also provides 2x zoom, hospital-average width with autofocus and a very decent front camera camera.
With this smartphone, Honor tried to cover the basic needs of users while maintaining a relatively low price. It turned out not without compromises: plastic in the case and a mono speaker. But for many, these disadvantages will be insignificant, especially when the smartphone is always in a case, and headphones are always used for music and video.
With a price of 39,990 rubles, such a smartphone fits well into the so-called golden mean. It can be recommended to those who are already tired of entry-level devices, but are still not ready to buy a flagship.
Advantages
- Spectacular design.
- Great display.
- Large amount of memory.
- Good main camera.
- Gorgeous selfie module.
- Decent autonomy.
- Fast charging.
Flaws
- Plastic case.
- Lack of optical stabilization.
- One speaker.