Hey Explorers!
I know I know, this was supposed to come a long time ago. However, I've had the opportunity to review the HONOR 200 Pro in the last few months and have compiled all my experiences in this in-depth review. Before I get in, I would like to thank the amazing folks at HONOR for giving me this amazing device. And that brings me to the question. Has HONOR managed to crack the upper midrange/budget flagship game with the 200 Pro? Lets find out!
Design, Build and In-Hand Feel
Design is one area where the HONOR 200 Pro shines well. In a world where phones tend to look like carbon copies of each other, the HONOR 200 Pro genuinely feels like a breath of fresh air with its coastline-inspired design. The Cyan Blue colour looks stunning, especially under light. The back's dual-tone finish adds a unique touch to the great design. However, I found it a bit slippery to hold in my hand.
While the build quality is great, based on the first impression of the glass sandwich design, HONOR hasn't specified the kind of protection used here. The frame used to keep the phone together is plastic, which is a sore point considering the price it's sold at.
I’d highly recommend slapping on a case that comes inside the box. Besides that, the device is light yet sturdy, and there’s a slight heft when you hold it in your hand, providing a decent in-hand feel. The handset also comes with an IP65 water resistance rating which is decent but an IP68 rating would have been sweeter. There’s also an IR blaster onboard which works well.
Display
Powering the HONOR 200 Pro is a 6.78-inch, 120Hz, 1.5K resolution OLED display with a peak HDR brightness of 4000 nits. It misses out on LTPO tech though (not a dealbreaker).
Otherwise, my experience with the HONOR 200 Pros display has been great. Its quad-curved display provides a great visual experience with minimal bezels and great colour output. The screen is bright enough outdoors and indoors. A cherry on top is the HDR certifications, both for Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The display on the 200 Pro comes with a suite of protection eatures for your eyes. HONOR has put in a lot of hardware and software features like the 3840Hz PWM dimming, low-level blue light, dynamic dimming and so much more for the display. Its AI Circadian Night Display Feature causes the colour temperature to go warm as the night occurs which works in its favour. Exposure to the display, especially in dark hours had no hassles. Be it day or night the display of the HONOR 200 Pro shines through.
Battery
The HONOR 200 Pro comes with a 5200mAh Silicon Carbon battery which is the first of its kind developed by HONOR to increase capacity without increasing the weight of the device to a certain extent.
In my experience, especially in moderate to high usage, the device lasted me easily for a day. A full charge in the wee hours of the morning lasts well for the entire day. However, battery drains in mobile data usage could be improved. For most users, the battery on the HONOR 200 Pro in my opinion will be sufficient.
In terms of charging, the HONOR 200 Pro supports not only wired (100W) but also wireless (66W) charging. Unfortunately, there isn't an in-box charger. Luckily, I had my dad's 40W Huawei charger lying around and it managed to juice up the device in an hour. Charge it with the 100W adapter though, and expect a full charge in 41 minutes.
Performance
While HONOR doesn't advertise the 200 Pro as a performance-oriented device, it's powered by the flagship grade. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip is powering the device, a slightly detuned version of the flagship 8 Gen 3. Name hierarchy aside, the 8s Gen 3 is an excellent performer on the HONOR 200 Pro. From day-to-day tasks like streaming, and browsing to intense tasks like 4K recording and even gaming, the overall experience on the device has been smooth and flawless. Moreover, temperatures are always kept in check with the device not heating above alarming rates and the cooling happening in an instant due to the well-equipped stainless steel vapour cooling chamber. However, the device does tend to get warm over prolonged use of mobile data.
Camera:
HONOR hasn't held back on the camera front for the 200 Pro. They chose well in terms of borrowing the main 50MP H9000 sensor from the Magic 6 Pro along with a 50MP 2.5x telephoto lens and a 12MP ultrawide. To the front, you get a 50MP sensor paired with a depth sensor in a pill-shaped pinhole.
Hardware aside there's a lot to see on the software front as well. HONOR has collaborated with Harcourt Studio from Paris, France to power their portrait shots. There are three filters to choose from, Vibrant, Authentic and Classic. There are a lot of modes to choose from, making it very versatile. Portraits on the HONOR 200 Pro are superb with excellent edge detection. What makes it even better are the 2 and 2.5x that allow for close-ups and the Harcourt filters that come along. The portraits are incredible and one of the best I've come across on a smartphone.
General photo quality is great in daylight with great detail, colour output and HDR. The zoom range is up to 50x which is great but the most usable pictures happen to come at 10x or under. The telephoto lens also does a great job as well. I do wish the optical zoom range was more. While 2.5x is good, more optical zoom would be sweeter. What's good here is the phone also manages the HDR well in photos with human subjects taken against the light in the foreground and background.
Shots from the 12MP ultrawide are decent with good dynamic range. A better sensor would have meant better sharpness though.
Night shots on the night mode come across well with decent brightness, detail retention and highlights. I didn't find the shots on the ultrawide to be satisfactory here.
The 50MP selfie camera does a great job at taking selfies with accurate skin tones, good edge detection for portraits along with HDR in the background especially with selfies against the light.
Video quality is outstanding on the HONOR 200 Pro. With great stability and accurate colour reproduction. The device can record up to 4K 60FPS on its main and tele lens while the ultrawide and selfie cameras max out at 4K 30FPS. Another great feature here is the ability to record from two lenses simultaneously in the multi-video mode and shift between lenses while recording, making it even easier to record videos from the front/back.
Software:
The HONOR 200 Pro comes with Magic OS 8, based on Android 14 out of the box. To be honest, it did take some getting used to but once you get a hang around things, it's one of the best UIs on a smartphone in my opinion, The design and especially the animations come across very well with great smoothness across menus. The bloatware apps are very few and you can uninstall them for a cleaner experience. And no, there aren't any advertisements unlike other brands here. A majority of the updates pushed to the device have been stable with very few minor bugs.
You have a wide range of customizations to choose from, from lock screen customizations to AOD, fonts, fingerprint animations and more.
Magic OS 8 also comes feature packed with AI-powered features like app suggestions, setting suggestions and the Magic Portal, a feature to help seamlessly share content from one app to another. After a recent software update, the handset also received new features like the AI Magic Eraser for pictures, the ability to take group portraits and face-to-face translation. AI Instant Movie smartly edits your selected videos/pictures into a highlight reel.
General Usage
Call quality on the HONOR 200 Pro has been good. The device comes with support for 5G, and 4G carrier aggregation, it also supports VoWiFI and VoNR calls. The handset also comes with the C1+RF chip for better network reception and transmission over 5G. Mobile data connection on my Vi 4G SIM has been great throughout, in fact getting better range than most devices in low-range locations. The same can also be said for the WiFI connections on the handset, which support up to 5GHz WiFI connections for better speeds.
Haptics are where the HONOR 200 Pro doesn't provide a great experience. The vibration motor could have been better and would have enhanced the usage experience even further. Moreover, there isn't any setting to adjust the intensity of vibration.
Multimedia consumption is a great experience on the HONOR 200 Pro. The already great curved display along with the loud dual stereo speaker setup with crisp audio makes it even better.
Verdict:
HONOR has made a great attempt at making an all-rounder smartphone in the form of the 200 Pro. It excels in the places where my priorities lie like a great combination of powerful performance and camera, along with an equally amazing setup of the display and long-lasting battery life. What could have been better is the frame quality and the haptic feedback of the handset. HONOR has made the right choices in prioritizing the things that are important in a smartphone and the things not so much. Would I recommend it to an everyday user? Considering it is among the best smartphones in its class. Getting it, especially at 45K during the sales would be a great decision.
Pros:
- Extraordinary display
- Dependable performance
- Amazing Camera capabilities
- Multimedia experience
- Battery life
- Haptics
- Build type not specified, plastic frame
- No charger in-box
The HONOR 200 Pro seems like a solid all-rounder, especially with its stunning display, versatile cameras, and dependable performance. The pros definitely outshine the cons, but I agree—the lack of in-box charger and the plastic frame at this price point feel like missed opportunities. Still, for everyday users, this device seems like a fantastic choice. Thanks for sharing your long-term insights! 
