Honor is a familiar brand for Indians. But those keeping an eye on the smartphone market here might have noticed that the brand Honor was missing in action for a while. But it is back now and trying again to get similar mindshare and market share that it used to have earlier. Will it succeed? Only time will tell. But if next year we are calling the comeback of Honor a success, chances are we will be crediting the Honor 200 Pro and the Honor 200 for it. These two Honor phones were launched in India in July. And after spending a fair amount of time with them, India Today Tech can say as part of this Honor 200 Pro and the Honor 200 review that the two phones are not only priced well but they offer a lot of hardware and features for their respective price. In other words, the Honor 200 and the Honor 200 Pro are competent phones.
That is not to say that they are niggle-free. They are not. By no measure they are perfect. There are aspects that could have been better. Yet, brand Honor: a big thumbs up for the effort that Honor 200 and the Honor 200 Pro make in an attempt to woo users.
A quick look at specs shows that Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro are thoroughly modern 2024 phones. Both devices feature AMOLED displays with up to 120hz refresh rate. The Honor 200 is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, while the Honor 200 Pro uses the more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. Both phones also claim to offer great mobile photography with advanced triple camera systems, including portrait modes – in our tests we found it to be impressive – which are co-engineered with Studio Harcourt. Under the hood, both house a 5200mAh battery, supported by Honor’s 100W Super Fast Charge – although the company doesn’t ship a charger in the box. The phones run on MagicOS 8.0 software, which offers a bunch of AI features and customisation options for more personalised experience.
Even the price is fairly on the point. The Honor 200 price in India starts from Rs 34,999 while the Honor 200 Pro has a starting price of Rs 57,999, which is quite a decent price for a phone with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.
Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro design and display
Design is – obviously – one of the most significant features that smartphone buyers look for. And rightly so, given that smartphones are a part of our daily lives. They need to vibe with the vibes of their users. To ensure that the Honor 200 phones have something special, Honor has put in some design elements inspired by Gaudi’s Casa Mila. That’s a hyperbole, of course, because it is difficult to bring design elements of Casa Mila to a phone’s design. But probably what I think by this claim of Honor is that there are some curves and flowing lines in the design of the Honor 200 phones. This is evident in the camera modules. Unlike the dual camera island of the Honor 90, the Honor 200 series features a large, oval-shaped camera island with a slightly curved metallic border, inspired by Spanish architecture to add an aesthetic touch.
I am reviewing the white colour variant of the Honor 200, which has a marble-like finish on the back with a metallic frame. The camera island houses three cameras. The device looks premium and lightweight, but the marble-like texture makes it a bit slippery.
However, the Honor 200 Pro offers a better grip and has subtler design elements. For instance, in the green colour variant I am reviewing, the Honor 200 Pro has a wave-like finish with a curved design around the camera island, which has a smoother, shiny finish. The Pro version also sports a metallic frame. The design is surely nice but I found the Pro version to be on the heavier side. Although it’s just 200 grams, it just feels a bit weighty.
On the front, the Honor 200 has a 6.7-inch AMOLED Quad-curved Display, while the Honor 200 Pro uses a 6.78-inch AMOLED Quad-curved Floating Display. Floating Display means a curved screen. Both phones have thin bezels. The Honor 200 has a pinhole cutout for the selfie camera, while the Pro variant has two front cameras in a pill-shaped cutout.
I like the display on both phones. The Honor 200 display is vibrant, crisp, and offers very good viewing angles. I watched a lot of videos and played several games, and I never felt the display showed any saturated colours. It also offers up to a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling smooth.
The Honor 200 Pro, on the other hand, features what Honor calls a Floating Display. It looks really slick. Also, the quality of the panel is noticeably better. I found the Honor 200 Pro display more fluid. It just flows while scrolling without any jitters. The brightness is good on both phones, both in dimly lit rooms and under the midday sun.
All in all, both devices come with an attractive design and sturdy build, although the Pro variant feels a bit heavy. The displays on both phones are smooth and vibrant, with sharp resolution. At their respective price points, I find the displays in the Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro to be among the better ones.
Honor 200 and 200 Pro performance
Both the Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro offer reliable performance with their respective chipsets. On both devices, I watched a lot of videos, streamed movies, scrolled through social media, and even played games, and not once did I face any lag on either phone. Given that the Honor 200 Pro comes with a more powerful display, playing demanding games like BGMI on high settings was a better experience. However, the gaming experience on the more affordable Honor 200 was still decent, considering its price range. I also didn’t face any heating issues with either phone in extended use or while charging.
Just to put some numbers to the performance of the Honor 200 Pro I ran GeekBench 6. The Honor 200 Pro got 1426 points in the single-core test while in multi-core it scored 3617.
This time, Honor has included dual speakers in both the Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro, and the speakers are loud and crisp in both the base and Pro variants. Even at the maximum volume of 200 per cent, I didn’t find the audio quality to be squeaky, not even in the base variant. In fact, while watching videos, I didn’t feel the need to grab my earbuds, as I was able to hear dialogues clearly. The Pro variant does offer better stereo sound, but the base model was equally impressive.
One week into the use, I got an OS update which installed the latest version of the MagicOS 8 on the two phones. I found the MagicOS 8 capable and useful, particularly with its AI features. Talking of AI features, some of them are really cool. For instance, you can choose from a number of lock screen designs and set your own photo with different clock designs, which adds to the fun. Just like the iPhone, there’s also a drag-and-drop media option and motion-based design changes, which make swiping across the home screen a bit more engaging.
These added personalisation options give users more ways to play around with the device. Oh, and speaking of the iPhone, there’s an option to turn on the swipe-up gesture to see apps, or you can add all apps to the home screen, similar to the iPhone. There’s even a standby mode similar to what we saw in iOS 17 last year.
While discussing the OS, another thing I appreciated is that Honor hasn’t pushed too much bloatware. Though there are some extra apps, they can be uninstalled, even the ones offered by Honor. Some are even useful, like Netflix and Facebook, which I use and didn’t really see as bloatware. It’s good to see that.
Honor 200 and 200 Pro battery life
Both phones in the Honor 200 series come with a 5200mAh battery. The battery offers all-day power, but I would have preferred to see a slightly larger battery in the Pro model, especially since the Pro feels a bit heavier and has a slightly more demanding display.
However, it’s clear that the extra weight is due to the design rather than the battery itself. Nevertheless, both phones provided around 12-13 hours of battery life, depending on usage. In other words both phones are good enough to last full-day on a single charge.
One disappointing aspect, which we also saw with the Honor 90, is the absence of a charger in the box. While the phones support 100W fast charging, you’ll need to purchase Honor’s proprietary charger separately. Now, this isn’t new-phones like the Google Pixel, Apple iPhone, and even Samsung’s high-end models don’t include a charger in the box. But then there are other brands who are still bundling chargers. The phones competing with the Honor 200 Pro, like the Motorola Edge 50 Pro or Xiaomi 14 Civi, do come with chargers, and even phones around Rs 40,000, like the OnePlus 12R, include a 100W charger.
Honor 200 and 200 Pro camera
First, let’s talk about the triple-camera system of the Honor 200. In good lighting conditions, the 50-megapixel main sensor offers rich, detailed photos. However, in low light or gloomy weather, the camera struggles a little with dynamic range. And in portrait mode, under challenging or low-light conditions, the Honor 200 can be a little slow to acquire focus or might even miss it completely.
That said, in good lighting, you can capture really nice photos with the Honor 200, especially with the three Harcourt filters. To see some of these photos, check out image samples. With this phone I enjoyed taking portrait shots and loved the studio-like finish they offered.
Nonetheless, since I was using both the Honor 200 and the Honor 200 Pro, I understandably used the Pro variant more. It also impressed me more, for example its portrait photography mode is fab.
When I compare photos from the two devices, the images from the Honor 200 looked more digital, with a little bit of smoothening and lack of details, whereas the portraits from the Honor 200 Pro felt more like they were taken with a camera that excelled at capturing details.
The front camera is also really good – good on the Honor 200 and even better on the Pro, as it should be.
There are also a bunch of settings in the camera, like the multi-video feature, which is really handy if you’re into vlogging. It allows you to capture yourself with the front camera while simultaneously recording the surroundings with the rear camera. The video quality is good on both the Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro, with good stability, natural colours, and details.
Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro review: Should you buy?
If you’re looking for a good mid-range phone with decent performance, a big battery, a good display, and a really good camera setup, then you should definitely check out the Honor 200. Sure it has a few niggles but overall it is a fairly competent package.
But of the two, understandably, the Honor 200 Pro is truly a “pro” phone – especially in its impressive camera system and portrait photography mode. The filters, in collaboration with Studio Harcourt, truly give users studio-like photographs.
There are some good phones out there in both Rs 40,000 price range and Rs 60,000 price range. Yet, it is good to see that Honor is making a strong statement with the Honor 200 Pro and Honor 200. Both phones not only have top of the line – for their price – chipsets, they also have top class displays and an attractive design. The cameras in both phones do the job well – actually better than that in the Honor 200 Pro – and the software is useful and slick enough. It would have been nice to get a bundled charger with these phones, but even without that the Honor 200 and the Honor 200 Pro look good enough to get some attention from Indian phone users.
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