We have repeatedly discussed devices that have successfully launched on the market. However, it is difficult to predict whether a particular model will remain at the pinnacle of popularity, as the market is constantly evolving, and manufacturers engage in fierce competition to capture consumer interest by offering discounts or adding unique features to their devices. In the case of the new Honor 90, we are confident that the model can compete with other phones at the same price point and even surpass them in appearance. What is behind such confidence? Read on to find out!
The testing of Honor products has been on our website for quite some time, and we eagerly await the latest news. It’s worth noting that the company officially returned to some European markets less than a year ago. This happened after the “separation” from HUAWEI – the Chinese brand, which fell under sanctions, sold the Honor brand to another corporation, allowing Honor smartphones to easily use Google services. There are even conspiracy theories suggesting that the companies did not actually split and continue to work together, as evidenced by very similar software, for example.
In any case, it can be said that Honor offers successful models, especially in the “above-average” price segment. For a reasonable price, we get excellent smartphones with strong technical characteristics, as demonstrated, for example, by the HONOR Magic5 Lite. Sometimes it even seems that Honor is engaged in “dumping,” offering successful smartphones at a reduced price specifically to gain popularity and trust among potential buyers. This is what happened with the Honor 90.
At the time of this review, the price of the smartphone ranges from $520 to ∼$580 depending on the configuration.
We believe that the Honor 90 at around $520 is a great model and a full-fledged flagship killer. It has an excellent screen, high-quality cameras, a powerful chipset, great software, a powerful battery, and an expressive design.
Read also: HONOR Magic5 Lite Review: Nice Mid-range Device
I find the accessories very modest – besides the phone itself, the box contains a cable, documentation, and a SIM card tray ejection tool. Interestingly, in other countries, a case is included in the package, there’s even a space for it in the box, but unfortunately not here. However, it would have been appropriate to include a case to safely use the phone and protect its glossy back from dirt. Also missing is the charger. But this contributes to the lowered price.
We recommend purchasing a universal charger with a power rating of at least 65W to fully utilize the benefits of fast charging, or opting for the official option from Honor. Either way, it won’t come cheap. Of course, you can use any simple charger you have from previous gadgets, but you won’t experience the full potential of the 66W fast charging. It’s also worth noting that the included cable is Type-C to Type-A. A protective film applied to the screen at the factory is also part of the package.
We have two color options available for the gadget: green and black (there is also an interesting white version and Peacock Blue, added later, but not available on all markets).
We received a smartphone for review in a glossy black design. It looks classic and elegant. The entire front panel is covered by a curved screen, which makes the bezels disappear, and the display becomes more user-friendly.
It’s worth noting that the screen is curved not only on the left and right sides but also at the top and bottom. This makes navigation smooth, as fingers glide effortlessly across the display.
On the right side, there are standard power and volume buttons, while the fingerprint scanner is integrated directly into the screen. The left side of the device is empty. At the bottom, we see the SIM card tray and speaker grill openings. The buttons on the sides of the device are quite thin but easy to use.
The device’s body is made of plastic, which gives a sense of cheapness, but the plastic is of good quality, resembling metal in appearance and color. The edges are rounded.
Moving on to the back panel – I liked the design, despite the unconventional camera placement. The back panel is made of glass and is as curved as the screen. The black color shimmers in the sunlight, and the smartphone looks almost graphite.
However, it is worth noting that without a case, these glossy backs quickly gather dust and fingerprints – that’s why I complained about the lack of a case included. The Honor 90 in green has a rough matte back panel, so this issue does not apply to it.
The camera modules resemble two large robot eyes, which is unusual, and frankly speaking, not everyone will like this look. To me, it seems a bit strange.
The smartphone lacks any degree of protection, not even from splashes. However, if you look at the SIM card tray, there is a rubber seal, so perhaps there is some basic protection after all, although it’s not certified.
Read also: HONOR X8a Review: 100MP camera and powerful battery
The Honor 90 stands out not only for its advanced features, which we’ll discuss in detail below, but also for its excellent design. The slim body, high-quality materials, and neat assembly make a good impression.
The smartphone fits well in the hand, and the skillful placement of buttons and controls allows for easy operation even with one hand. It weighs only 183 grams, which I consider a decent result for such a large screen.
The screen is a Quad-Curved Floating Display with a diagonal of 6.7 inches. The AMOLED technology ensures deep black color, vibrant colors, and wide viewing angles. The resolution is quite high – 2664×1200 pixels, making the images incredibly sharp. Additionally, it boasts 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10+ support, and provides up to 1.07 billion colors.
The maximum brightness reaches 1600 nits, which is sufficient for outdoor use on a sunny day. The screen’s refresh rate goes up to 120 Hz. Additionally, the display features a low flicker level, thanks to the 3840 Hz PWM technology, which helps protect the eyes from fatigue. The panel provides wide viewing angles, high contrast, and color depth for a maximally immersive viewing experience. Impressive indeed!
In the settings, you can choose various screen configuration options: light mode, dark mode, eye protection mode, and e-book mode (which turns the screen monochrome), as well as Always On display. Additionally, you can adjust the text and font size, screen resolution, and enable video enhancements for YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, Facebook. Like most modern smartphones, there are also several refresh rate modes: 60 Hz, 120 Hz, and a dynamic mode where the frequency is selected automatically based on the content type.
Additionally, the Honor 90 features a unique function of automatic screen resolution management. Not only can you manually set the desired resolution by choosing from several options, but the phone can also do this automatically based on the content you are viewing. By default, the resolution is set to 2442×1100 pixels (with very crisp fine elements and fonts), and this is what we used for all our tests.
Read also: HONOR Magic5 Pro review: Like Huawei, but with Google services
The device is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor, an octa-core 64-bit chip manufactured using 4-nanometer technology. This processor stands out for its better power management and lower heat generation. While not a flagship chipset, it comes close to the top tier.
The Honor 90 comes in two memory versions: 8/256 GB and 12/512 GB. While the larger retailers typically offer only the 8/256 GB version, the 12/512 GB version can be found at online stores for a good price. The test model has 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512 GB of internal storage using UFS 3.1 technology.
Overall, the device operates smoothly, indicating the reliability of the components used. It’s an efficient, responsive, and fast smartphone. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 handles multitasking and gaming without any issues. While our model was the 12/512 GB version, we’re confident that the 8/256 GB version performs just as swiftly. Although the device may heat up slightly under heavy loads, I didn’t notice any surface heating during tasks like working with documents or other applications.
If anyone is interested in the numbers, here are the benchmark results:
The Honor 90 is equipped with all the necessary connectivity modules, offering support for Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, dual SIM (with two nanoSIM slots or nanoSIM + eSIM). Additionally, it features GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and QZSS for location services. Contactless payments in stores are also possible through the NFC function.
The smartphone, like all others, offers various unlocking methods – PIN code, facial recognition, fingerprint scanner. The most convenient of these is, of course, the fingerprint scanner, conveniently located on the screen for quick and flawless unlocking. I will compare this solution to when the scanner is in the power button – it’s not always convenient, as inaccurate touches can hinder unlocking the phone.
There’s also the option of face unlock, which works well in any conditions but may lag in low light.
Unfortunately, there were some simplifications made in the audio department. We only have one speaker. It’s a shame that a phone priced at around $520 doesn’t have stereo speakers. The speaker is located at the bottom and sounds average – the sound is okay, but lacks the “wow” factor, and it would have been nice to hear more bass as well. Unfortunately, the built-in sound effects of Honor Histen (again, borrowing the name from Huawei) only work in conjunction with headphones.
Read also: POCO X6 Pro smartphone review: It came to conquer… a niche.
The hero of our review runs on Android 13 with the MagicOS 7.1 overlay. The system is intuitive, so you won’t have to go out of your way to learn new features or get used to them.
The system operates swiftly and smoothly, offering plenty of settings and useful features such as gestures or a side panel for quick access to apps.
User data security is a priority, so MagicOS 7.1 offers advanced data protection features. Users can designate trusted contacts and input medical information.
Overall, the system resembles Huawei’s interface, as mentioned before. The App Market looks like the Huawei AppGallery, Honor Health is a complete analogue of Huawei Health, and Honor ID closely resembles Huawei ID, and so forth. However, since Honor is a separate brand, the smartphone supports all Google services, including, of course, the Play Store and Google Pay.
Read also: POCO M6 Pro Review: Functionality For Decent Price
Get ready for a wave of compliments about the Honor 90. The photos are fantastic! The cameras are impressive! Here’s how the photographic capabilities of our device look:
Thanks to pixel binning technology for better photo quality, we get images with a resolution of 12 MP. If needed, there’s an option to switch to “full size” – the difference is hardly noticeable, and 200 MP resolution files weigh significantly more.
The main lens does a great job – the photos are detailed, colors are vibrant yet natural and well-balanced, even on cloudy days or in poor lighting conditions.
The Honor 90 does not have a dedicated telephoto lens, but the main camera has sufficient resolution for quality digital zoom. In the camera interface, there’s a 2x switch; photos with two times zoom look almost as good as those taken with no zoom (1x).
The larger zoom is also relatively good:
I particularly want to praise the night mode photography – I had mostly successful shots, even in low light conditions – detailed, nearly noise-free, with illuminated elements, and without blurring. However, unfortunately, here we see the effect of the lack of optical stabilization (OIS): to avoid blurriness, you need to hold the phone firmly and steadily.
The wide-angle camera “captures” more in the frame with almost no loss of quality, so I was also satisfied with it.
Moreover, the wide-angle module has autofocus, allowing for quality macro shots (there’s a dedicated “Super Macro” option). Taking close-up shots with the Honor 90 is a real pleasure—you can see every detail, texture of the object, and you don’t have to stand in one place for half an hour to get decent shots.
Moreover, the wide-angle module has autofocus, allowing for quality macro shots (there’s a dedicated “Super Macro” option). Taking close-up shots with the Honor 90 is a real pleasure—you can see every detail, texture of the object, and you don’t have to stand in one place for half an hour to get decent shots.
Usually, on smartphones, you can simply disable this option (and enable it separately if you just want to take macro photos). Unfortunately, in the settings of the Honor 90, I didn’t find anything similar, which can cause some inconvenience.
The phone allows capturing video in impressive 4K resolution but is limited to 30 frames per second – it’s a pity that the option to record at 60 FPS is unavailable. For those who prefer smoother frames (and lighter files), you need to switch to Full HD resolution. Overall, the main camera captures excellent video. The detailing is high, with practically no noise. The colors appear vivid, although they don’t always correspond to reality.
Talking about selfies, they always turned out great for me under any conditions, with no flaws. As soon as you switch to the front camera, the system offers two photo options: “enhanced” and “unchanged”. If you choose one of the options, you can always adjust the settings in the camera app – I took photos in the normal mode because I’m not a fan of beautification, but it’s a good option when you want to look fresher (there are options like a kind of “primer” – skin tone adjustments, don’t overdo it, as the maximum beautifier will just make you look artificial).
The camera app has hardly changed in terms of design. The interface is familiar. You can switch modes using the “carousel”, and additional modes can be found in the “more” submenu. You’ll also find three zoom switches – 0.6 for the ultra-wide, 1x for the main camera, and 2x for zooming using the main camera (the so-called “matrix zoom”).
The Honor 90 is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery, which is standard for this class. The device stands out for its long battery life. I took it to university to analyze charts and take notes, and moreover, the phone was with me constantly – I took photos, snapped selfies, replied to texts, and in between, I watched videos on YouTube and scrolled through TikTok. And with this usage scenario, I managed to get 1.5 days of activity. Overall, not bad – for this, I can commend Honor.
Read also: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE smartphone review: Almost a flagship
The Honor 90 is a strong contender in the price range of around $520. The smartphone will be a good option for those looking for a powerful model with a great display and good cameras at a relatively affordable price. The device has many strengths that will undoubtedly attract users’ attention, but it’s also worth considering some drawbacks.
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