HONOR 90 5G Review | Geek Lifestyle

The HONOR 90 5G is another promising premium mid-ranger, but should you get it?

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In our initial impression of the HONOR 90 5G, HONOR Philippines’ latest addition to HONOR’s growing portfolio of devices, we noted how impressed we were that the brand introduced some industry-first technology on their mid-ranger device (instead of usually reserving them for their more high-end flagship device).

But with this innovation, does the HONOR 90 5G have what it takes to penetrate an already jampacked segment? We’re about to find out.

Geek-sthetics

For starters, the HONOR 90 5G is an absolute banger of a phone design-wise. For the price segment, it’s one of the most beautiful smartphones we’ve seen this year. The sleek, silver chrome rear cover exudes sophisticated luxury while the subtle diamond pattern lends to further enhance the overall aesthetic of the unit. The design blends beautifully well as it cups two Asymetric-designed camera modules inspired by high-end jewelry. Lastly, the entire camera system is arranged in what the brand calls its “Mirror Luna” array featuring overlapping circles and ellipses, inspired by the dynamic beauty of moon phases. Personally, I just love how everything seems to flow in a harmonious way.

While sure, the very glossy back cover tends to attract quite a bit of fingerprint smudges, adding the free soft jelly case the phone comes with doesn’t dull HONOR 90 5G’s luster.

The gorgeous curves on the phone’s edges and its slim profile at just 7.8mm thin lends to the unit’s delicate sophistication – especially when you consider how sleek the screen is.

Binge-watching Factor

As far as displays go, HONOR 90 5G has one of the best displays and display tech’s in the market. The 6.7” Quad-curved display AMOLED lends to very thin bezels giving you more screen real estate for better binge-watching. Aside from having peak brightness of up to 1600 nits so you can easily view your screen in broad daylight, the unit also boasts of the “World’s First Zero-Flicker” screen. This is due to its impressively high PWM Dimming technology. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Dimming simply allows the LED to pulse at a higher rate so you maintain a more comfortable viewing experience as this lessens the strain on the eyes significantly. The PWM Dimming of the HONOR 90 5G is at a whopping 3840Hz.

We tested it side-by-side smartphones of its category and even flagship-level devices and the HONOR 90 5G beats them by a mile.

In fact, DxOmark gave them a superbly high score and ranked them #1 on display for their category.

Want to see the PWM Dimming in action? Check this video out.

So, what does a high PWM Dimming rate mean when it comes to binge-watching? It pretty much means that you can stare at your screen for hours on end without developing significant eyestrain allowing you to watch more of the shows you like.

Aside from this, the HONOR 90 5G has HDR10+ certification from both Amazon Prime Videos and Netflix. So, watching HDR+ vids ensure color accuracy and vividness that the director and producers originally intended for you to see.

The only downside to all of this is the HONOR 90 5G’s speakers. For a mid-ranger phone, we found it odd that the smartphone only holds one speaker setup. It’s 2023, dual stereo speakers should be the norm already. If your hand accidentally cups the rear end of your phone, say goodbye to music and dialogue from whatever it is you’re watching.

Gaming Prowess

For avid mobile gamers, you’d be happy to note that yes, the HONOR 90 5G is a capable-enough smartphone of running your favorite mobile games. The phone houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition enabling it to clock a bit more power than its predecessor. This is further supported by 12GB of RAM (+7GB of VRAM) and up to 512GB of Internal memory.

We tested the phone with our usual roster of games from Asphalt 9, Mobile Legends: Bang-Bang, to our litmus test, Genshin Impact. We also threw in a Honkai Star Rails there.

So far for Asphalt 9, Mobile Legends:Bang-Bang, and Honkai Star Rails, the game performed exceptionally well on high graphic settings. Currently you cannot max the graphic settings for MLBB on the HONOR 90 5G and will cap at High.

For Honkai Star Rails we found that clocking it at High Graphics and 60fps is the most ideal mode if you want robust graphic immersion. Going any higher and you may encounter some stuttering.

For Genshin Impact, the app will default the game to low settings for the phone. We tried to defy and go a level up at medium and while we could freely go around the open world without much trouble, we did encounter a few hiccups during battles. So, keep it at low for now.

Even with the low graphic setting, the images seem to still be vivid enough that it doesn’t dampen the overall immersion.

WATCH: HONOR 90 5G Unboxing & Impression video.

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

One of the main draws of the HONOR 90 5G is its large 200MP shooters. Another first for HONOR’s mid-range phone, I love that we’re getting high-spec’d optics for this category and boy, oh, boy is this a winner. Aside from 200MP, the main camera module consists of 12MP Ultrawide AND macro shooter (f/2.2) as well as a supporting 2MP Depth Sensor (f/2.4).

The configuration of these three allows you take many clear and vivid images regardless of settings. The large 200MP Ultra-Clear Camera (f/1.9) has a large-enough CMOS sensor at 1/1.4-inch. While it may not be the biggest out there in the market, it’s large enough to be able to capture great photos and decent-enough videos (from the phone’s pretty aggressive EIS).

The hi-res mode takes full advantage of the large camera and camera sensor allowing more image data captured with a single click.

And whether you’re shooting during the day or at night, the 16-in-1 pixel binning of the HONOR 90 5G allows that massively increases light information captured in one pixel (equivalent to 2.24μm) to help produce more crisp, vivid images.

For more dramatic shots, take advantage of the HONOR 90 5G’s portrait mode in 1x or 2x zoom mode giving you more framing options. The 2MP depth sensor allows for more natural bokeh and works perfectly well with the smartphone’s portrait mode.

 

 

Of course, the Portrait Mode isn’t fixed on the rear camera module, you can also take advantage of it with the large 50MP Selfie Camera (f/2.4) with a 100° field of angle for wider selfie shots. Check these samples out:

Overall, we’re fairly impressed with the HONOR 90 5G’s optics. While clearly a mid-range setup, the small additions help elevate the experience to almost flagship-level. And for the price-point of this smartphone, this is quite an achievement.

Everyday Reliability

 

Now what good will all of this do if your smartphone can’t keep up with you? Luckily the HONOR 90 5G is equipped with 5000mAh battery with 66W HONOR SuperCharge capability which charges 20% of the phone in just under 5 mins and 100% of the phone in just under an hour’s time.  The smartphone runs on HONOR MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13 and if you’re pairing it with HONOR’s ecosystem allows you to conduct fast and easy file sharing as well as painless cross-device collaboration. This should help improve productivity by a lot especially if you’re the type that runs multiple devices on multiple screens at the same time.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict

The official retail price of the HONOR 90 5G in the Philippines is set at PHP 24,990 with the highest configuration of 12GB/512GB. This makes the device superbly competitive, especially among its peers. A few hiccups aside, it’s hard to get devices that have exceptional optics, powerful internals, and innovative eye protection and screen display at this price point. So, it’s definitely one to consider.

And, in a way, to solve the single-firing speaker of the HONOR 90 5G, HONOR is adding a free JBL Flip 6 Portable Waterproof speakers worth Php 7,499 when you pre-order the units from August 16-25, 2023.

For more details, do check out HONOR’s official social page and website.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on an HONOR 90 5G 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