HONOR 200 Pro Review | Geek Lifestyle

Jumping from an already impressive HONOR 200 base model, the Pro version adds just a bit of tweaking to optimize the overall HONOR AI Portrait Engine further. That’s not to take anything away from our experience with the HONOR 200, if anything, we appreciated the base model more because of how little difference it has with the Pro version. You already have a jam-packed experience with the HONOR 200 that the Pro just tweaks it a smidge to give you a more polished output in terms of processing power and main camera.

So, with these minor changes, does it warrant to go the Pro route? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out.

Geek-sthetic

Departing a bit from the glitzy, silver/ chrome design from the HONOR 90, the 200 series took inspiration from nature and the natural progression of waves as their main inspiration. This can be seen at the rear case of the phone. For the HONOR 200 Pro specifically, there’s a clear design break versus that of its HONOR 200 counterpart. This supposedly mimics the sleek natural coastline.

While we appreciate the choice in colors and the vacation-like vibes the phone brings, there seems to be quite a disconnect between this and one of the phone’s more pronounced feature – that of the Camera module and the innovative Harcourt Studio partnership.

If you’re going 1930’s World Cinema Glam, might as well push it further and give the phone a truly luxe vibe reminiscent of Chanel, Dior, or, well, Lagerfeld.

The size bezels are a bit wider than I wanted but then the phone is housing a larger battery this time around.

Binge-Watching Factor

With a large 6.78” curved AMOLED Screen, the HONOR 200 Pro has a large enough screen real estate to house your favorite movies and streaming clips on the go. With a crystal clear display with up to 4000 nits of peak brightness, you should be able to view pretty much anything even on the harshest of lighting conditions.

The HONOR 90 5G introduced us to HONOR’s high PWM dimming technology to help lessen eyestrain and we’re glad to note that the HONOR 200 Series picked that feature up as well with 3840Hz Risk-Free PWM Dimming, Adaptive Dimming, and AI Circadian Night Display. In fact, as expected, HONOR once again received a TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification as well as a  TÜV Rheinland Full Care Display Certification –pretty much ensuring that the brand is thinking of our eyesight as we spend more time with the phone.

Lastly, we’re happy to report that HONOR finally listened to our plea and fitted this HONOR 90 5G successor with stereo speakers. In this day and age, there is absolutely no reason for mid-range smartphones to not have surround speakers anymore. Thanks, HONOR.

The display also supports up to 120Hz refresh rate for smooth navigation around apps and pages – and crucial for more immersive gaming.

Gaming Prowess

The HONOR 200 Pro is powered by a 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 which at this point should be able to run pretty much any modern mobile game you throw at it. The addition of the 12GB RAM + 512GB ROM configuration ensures that you have enough additional power and space to stuff all the gaming apps you want and then some.

We’ve tested it on our usual favorites, and as expected, the phone was able to perform at peak levels. For Genshin Impact, the device puts the game at a medium default setting (which, if you’ve been playing Genshin on your phone means a lot). For Mihoyo’s latest, ZZZ, you can crank the graphics and framerate up and just enjoy the beat-down.

Despite the curved screen, HONOR 200 Pro ensures mistouch prevention when the game manager is turned on. Subtle optimizations can also be made via this unobtrusive floating HUD that you can pull up with a slide of a finger.

Overall, gaming on the HONOR 200 Pro is a no-brainer. Couple this with a large 5200mAh battery, what’s not to like?

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

The main draw of the HONOR 200 Series would be its masterful application of AI filter specifically for Portrait Photography. With the Studio Harcourt partnership, HONOR successfully establishes a very distinct style of AI photography significantly different from the typical Generative AI Photo App that other brands are highlighting. In fact, the HONOR 200’s default Portrait Camera automatically uses Harcourt Studio AI Portrait Mode. There is no way for you to turn this off. Nada. But then why would you want to do that when it can produce images this magnificent?

HONOR takes the distinct photography style of Studio Harcourt and mimics everything from lighting, image separation, background diffusion, skin enhancement, tint, and total image post-processing that the art studio is known for and jampacks this all in a few microseconds to produce professional-looking images worthy, perhaps, of luxury magazine editorials.

There are 3 filter modes in HONOR 200 Series’ Portrait Mode: Harcourt Classic which elevates black and white studio photography to 1930’s glamshot era; Harcourt Color which adds a distinc color tincture to produce vintage-looking images with modern sensibilities; and Harcourt Vibrant which just elevates and pronounces colors further.

The best part with this AI Portrait filter is that it tends to be less gimmicky and trendy –creating a timeless filter application that we can see be continued way past the GenAI era of 2024. It also gives the brand a distinct artistic point of view that people can easily rally behind with. For the few weeks that we’ve been testing the HONOR 200 and HONOR 200 Pro we cannot help but take as much photos as we can in Portrait Mode even if we’re shooting landscape and otherwise mundane things.

Suffice to say that even if you’re not shooting with the Portrait Mode on, the HONOR 200 Pro is a very capable phone to take everyday photos and videos with considering the hardware upgrades that the unit had versus its predecessors. The HONOR 200 Pro is equipped with with a 50MP Main Shooter with a large 1/1.35” Super Dynamic H9000 Sensor, a 50MP Sony IMX 856 Telephoto Camera and a 12MP Ultrawide Macro Camera. Both the Main camera and Telephoto lens has OIS+EIS stabilization to help steady your photos during more challenging shooting environment.

For those that still require the use of a selfie-cam, the HONOR 200 Pro is equipped with a large 50MP front-facing Portrait camera. And before you ask, no, the Harcourt Studio AI Mode only works on the rear camera. Here’s hoping that this can be improved for succeeding installments.

Ultimately, the Studio Harcourt partnership is such an inspired move from the brand that this might just be our favorite mobile photography innovation for 2024. Personally, I’m hoping that they can expand the Harcourt Studio Filter to video format. Bringing that level of gorgeous details to the video front is going to another game-changer moment for HONOR. Here’s hoping they do that!

Everyday Reliability

As previously mentioned, the HONOR 200 Pro rocks a large 5200mAh silicon-carbon battery with a fast 100W HONOR SuperCharge capabilities. The 5200mAh alone already surpasses baseline industry standard and the inclusion of the 100W charger means you’re pretty much assured round-the-clock power for your device.

The HONOR 200 Pro runs on the AI-powered MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14 out of the box. This gives your phone a little bit of intuitive optimizations especially in the file/ photo sharing aspect of things. The HONOR Magic Portal is a quick tab menu of your social apps for when you want to share your Glamorous Hardcourt Portrait Photos instantaneously or if you want to conduct image search via Google Images.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict

The HONOR 200 Pro is a refreshing take on how AI support is implemented on a smartphone as well as a fitting introduction of what we hope is a long-term partnership with Studio Harcourt. It’s about time that HONOR establishes their own brand in the mobile photography race and the Harcourt Studio Portrait AI is a visually strong representation of the brand’s focus and tenacity in the race.

The HONOR 200 Pro is competitively priced at just Php 29,999 – a wizardry in pricing as the India counterpart is about 10k more expensive (Rs 57,999 or Php 40,428 converted). With a pricing strategy such as this, it seems the brand doesn’t care if they lose revenue, at least for the Pro model, as long as more Filipinos can get their hands on a superior mid-range device with strong AI-capabilities.

Aside from the usual Home Credit, Bank Promos, and Online-platform discounts, you can also get a free JBL SoundGear Frames worth Php 9,499 when you pre-order any of the HONOR 200 devices from July 17 to July 26, 2024. This promo is until supplies last, so best to pre-order one now if you want to get your hands on this nifty freebie.

We’ll definitely spend more time with the HONOR 200 and HONOR 200 Pro. Stay tuned to UnGeek for more stories on this.