HONOR 90 5G Mobile Gaming Test | High-octane, no eye strain

The HONOR 90 5G has the optics, the aesthetics, and the power to run all your favorite mobile games.

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After a successful launch complete with all the glamour and fanfare one would expect, the HONOR 90 5G has finally made its way onto Philippine soil. Sporting a 200MP Ultra-Clear Camera along with pristine aesthetics, one would surely speculate on its gaming performance.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, Adreno 644 GPU, and 12 GB of expandable RAM definitely look good on paper, but this still begs the important question: Just how well can it run today’s most demanding games, and for how long before conking out?

WATCH: HONOR 90 5G Unboxing & Impression video.

We went through a few of the most demanding games, played around with their settings, and went wild for as long as we can before our eyes popped out of our faces. Since we’re here to tell the tale, you’ll be pleasantly surprise by the results of this mobile gaming test.

The Games

For our test, we took the top three most demanding games that we’ve come across in our prior reviews. We factored in the game’s file size, the overall graphics, and the pressure it would supposedly put on the chipset and RAM–this includes how smooth it plays in terms of frame rate, and how long it takes between loading screens.

Mobile Legends is a staple for almost every smartphone, and even on budget devices, it runs rather smoothly. If you’re an MLBB fan, you’re good. However, if you’re more of a cultured individual with a crippling gacha addiction, then you’re probably wondering how Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE would fare. Well, for the most part, they install and run without a hitch, at the very least.

As for in-game settings, you’ll only need to play around with good ol’ Genshin Impact. Sadly, you won’t be able to max everything without suffering from frame drops and stutters. Turning off motion blur and keeping your graphics at Low, or at most, Medium will allow you to still run the game at a steady 60 fps.

As for Honkai: Star Rail, you can crank things up to high without any frame drops or noticeable lag. The frame drops on Very High aren’t as egregious compared to Genshin Impact, and you can definitely play the game that way. But if you’re a Kafka main, you want her burst to be as cinematic as possible.

NIKKE has the same issue as before, which doesn’t lie with the graphics or gameplay. In terms of settings, you can go wild and max everything out. Unfortunately, regardless of how you tweak your settings, the loading screens will always take a while to load. So, it’s best to keep everything cranked up so you can enjoy the jiggle physics–I mean, cover-shooting action.

The Display

The HONOR 90 5G sports a 6.7” Quad-curved display AMOLED, flanked by very thin bezels. This is quite the amount of viewing real estate for watching shows, and this carries over to gaming. The peak brightness of 1600 allows you to view your screen in broad daylight, and can adjust dynamically when you’re in pitch darkness–ensuring you won’t go blind. You get a vivid, colorful gaming experience, no matter which genre you step into.

Let’s not forget one of the Honor 90 key highlights for gaming–the Zero-flicker Display with PWM Dimming.

Thanks to the HONOR 90’s impressively high PWM Dimming technology, you can make the most out of the “World’s First Zero-Flicker” screen. If you’re not convinced, we tried it out ourselves. The aforementioned PWM Dimming of the HONOR 90 5G comes in at a whopping 3840Hz–which is bananas for a non-flagship smartphone. It’s also quite helpful in keeping your eyes comfy as we spent just about 4 and a half hours on Honkai: Star Rail and NIKKE without any strain. Those long hours of playing won’t leave you dizzy anymore.

The built-in Game Manager not only contains helpful features such as Mistouch Prevention, Screenshot, and Screen Recording, but you can also adjust the phone’s brightness and choose from a variety of filters depending on the game you’re playing. Now, once you’re in-game, the adjustable 120Hz refresh rate will guarantee a smooth experience. You can feel free to keep it locked at a High 120Hz, or you can switch to Dynamic to conserve battery. Which brings us to our next highlight.

Battery

If your main concern is having enough juice to play your favorite game, the HONOR 90 aims to satisfy. the Equipped with a 5000mAh battery powered by 66W HONOR SuperCharge capability, you can charge up to 20% of the phone in just under 5 mins and 100% of the phone in just under an hour’s time. What’s more, you can tweak the battery settings to optimize your gaming experience even further.

In terms of battery longevity, you won’t be disappointed–even if you’re the type to literally game all day. After two straight hours of Honkai: Star Rail gameplay, we found ourselves at a generous 81%.  About an hour and a half more, we reach the 50% mark. While this was completely on wi-fi, it’s still a good sign when it comes to battery consumption. Results will definitely vary once you decide to hop onto the 5G train, so it’s best to have the charger handy when you’re on the go.

It’s also worth noting that the HONOR 90’s thermals are quite decent. While it won’t stay ice cold while gaming, you most definitely won’t be entering hot plate territory. You get a sufficient amount of warmth after the first 5 to 10 minutes, but it doesn’t go beyond that. Yes, both your eyes and hands are safe.

The Overall Gameplay Experience

As far as gaming goes, you’ll have a good time with the HONOR 90 5G, for as long as you curb your expectations just a bit. Sure, you can’t crank everything up to maximum, and some games might take a while to load compared to others, but then again–this isn’t a gaming phone. It’s decent with mobile games, and absolutely kills in every other aspect. Given the fact that you can run all the new games and play them smoothly, enjoy said games on a sweet, almost bezel-free display, and go for hours without a dead battery or worse, dead eyes, the HONOR 90 5G is a compelling choice if you love all its other qualities–and enjoy a bit of gaming on the side.

If you want to know more about the HONOR 90 5G’s other features, check out our full review.

The HONOR 90 5G is priced at PHP 24,990 with the highest configuration of 12GB/512GB. For more details, do check out HONOR’s official social page and website.

You can also check these helpful links below:

HONOR 90 5G Full Specs:

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition (4 nm)
  • Adreno 644
  • 6.7”AMOLED Quad-Curved Floating Display HDR10+ (2664 x 1200), 120Hz refresh rate
  • 3840Hz PWM Dimming + Dynamic Dimming + Circadian Night Display
  • 12GB RAM (7GB RAM expanded)
  • 512GB Storage
  • 200MP Ultra-Clear Camera, f/1.9, 25mm (wide), 1/1.4 CMOS Sensor
  • 12MP Ultra-wide, f/2.2, 112˚
  • 2MP Depth Camera (f/2.4)
  • 50MP Front-facing camera, ƒ/2.4,  (wide) 110˚
  • 5G, LTE, Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, fingerprint scanner (under display), USB Type-C
  • 5000mAh battery with 66W SuperCharge support
  • Android 13, MagicOS 7.1
  • Midnight Black, Emerald Green, Diamond Silver
  • SRP Php 24,990