Since its return to India, Honor has introduced a smartphone—the Honor 200 Pro—that genuinely competes with other value flagship devices targeting enthusiasts.
Smartphones in this price range strive to offer a comprehensive package, yet many fall short, especially in the camera department. Honor, however, has placed a significant emphasis on this feature with the 200 Pro.
Having used the Honor 200 Pro for a little over two weeks, here are my experiences with the device.
Similar form factor, different looks
The phone looks distinctive with its unique-looking camera island. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
It’s almost difficult to identify a smartphone from the front these days, as most Android phones look the same. However, the Honor 200 Pro stands out. Its pill-shaped cutout at the top of the quad-curved display resembles the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, and the oval-shaped camera island helps it stand out from the crowd of circular or rectangular camera designs.
The Ocean Cyan variant of the Honor 200 Pro has a distinctive pattern on the back made of glass. However, the phone is slippery, and the frame is made out of plastic, whereas a metal mid-frame would have made it even more premium, like most phones of this class.
Honor Magic Capsule. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Like most modern smartphones, it has a stereo speaker setup that gets fairly loud, especially at 200 per cent volume. It also has a USB-C port supporting USB 2.0 speed data transfer and HD audio output.
An eye-friendly quad-curved display
The display is bright, vivid, and fast. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Honor 200 Pro has a best-in-class 6.78-inch quad-curved display, a treat to the eyes. It has all the credentials of a good display that we come to expect – a 120Hz refresh rate, 1.5K resolution, and 10-bit colour output. What sets this display apart is its 3840Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, reducing eye strain compared to lower PWM dimming displays.
With a peak brightness of up to 4,000 nits in HDR mode, the display remains clear even under direct sunlight. At night, the high PWM dimming minimises eye strain, even at low brightness. The display is Amazon HDR and Netflix HDR certified, and it can stream HDR content on YouTube. Overall, the Honor 200 Pro offers an exceptional display, especially for fans of curved screens.
A professional camera phone
The phone has two three cameras at the back and two at the front. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Honor 200 Pro is one of the best camera-centric phones in its class, featuring three 50 MP cameras—two at the back with a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and one at the front accompanied by a 2 MP depth sensor.
Honor has partnered with Harcourt, a London-based studio known for portrait photography, and this collaboration is evident in the camera outputs. Whether you are capturing humans, animals, or plants, portrait shots in all three modes––monochrome, natural, and vibrant––are sharp and detailed. The natural mode produces colour-accurate pictures, while the vibrant mode enhances saturation for a more dramatic effect, making images pop.
However, in extremely low-light situations, the phone struggles to capture details, particularly in human subjects, where skin appears soft and lacks detail when zoomed in.
The Honor 200 Pro’s fast shutter speed is excellent for capturing fast-moving subjects. It also supports up to 4K video recording with stabilisation, making it a well-rounded camera phone.
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 1. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 2. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 3. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 4. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 5. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 6. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Honor 200 Pro camera sample 7. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Bloatware-free software and excellent performance
The phone runs on Android 14. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Honor 200 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal storage. Scoring nearly 1.5 million on Antutu, it matches the power of other flagship Android phones. From daily tasks to heavy gaming, the Honor 200 Pro handles everything with ease. During my testing, even after over an hour of continuous CoD: Mobile gameplay, the phone only got slightly warm.
It runs on Android 14-based MagicOS 8, a highly customized Android OS with a bit of a learning curve. Thankfully, unlike most Chinese smartphones, it comes free of bloatware apps, except for Google and Honor apps.
A battery that can last all-day
The phone supports fast wired and wireless charging. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Honor 200 Pro has a big 5,200 mAh battery with support for fast 100W wired and 66W wireless charging. Using the bundled charger, the device can be fully charged in under 40 minutes, and on a full charge, it can last for an entire day for most users. However, avid gamers might have to refill the battery by the end of the day. The combination of a large battery and fast charging makes the Honor 200 Pro a battery champ.
Get this one for its cameras
One of the best camera phones in the segment. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
The Honor 200 Pro is a well-balanced mid-tier phone with very minor flaws. However, if there is one reason to get this phone over the competition, then it has to be the performance of its cameras. The processor, display, and battery can be considered bonus features.
| Honor 200 Pro | |
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent camera performance, especially in portrait mode |
Slippery design, plastic frame feels less premium |
| Eye-friendly quad-curved display with high PWM dimming |
Low-light photography could be improved |
| Powerful performance with Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 |
MagicOS 8 has a slight learning curve |
| Long-lasting battery with fast wired and wireless charging |
No charger included in the box |
|
Bloatware-free software experience |
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