Honor 200 Pro Review: A Premium Smartphone with a Focus on Photography, but Not Without Its Flaws
Honor’s return to the Indian smartphone market has been marked by a string of compelling devices, each offering unique features and capable cameras. The Honor 200 Pro, priced at Rs 57,999 for its sole variant with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, aims to capture the premium segment with a sophisticated design, pro-grade cameras, and flagship specifications. But does it have what it takes to stand out in a crowded market filled with established contenders like Samsung and Apple? Let’s dive deep into the Honor 200 Pro’s strengths and weaknesses to see if it lives up to the hype.
Honor 200 Pro Design: Premium and Sleek, But IP Rating Falls Short
Honor knows how to design smartphones. Past efforts have showcased unique designs, and the Honor 200 Pro continues this trend. Available in Black and Ocean Cyan, the device boasts a captivating wavy texture finish on the rear panel inspired by natural coastlines. The velvety finish, while undeniably attractive, makes the phone quite slippery, making a case a wise investment. The large, pill-shaped camera module houses the phone’s impressive camera capabilities, adding to the overall premium aesthetic.
With an 8.2mm thickness and weighing 199 grams, the Honor 200 Pro feels comfortable in hand. The weight is well distributed, ensuring prolonged usage remains pleasant. However, the phone’s IP65 rating is disappointing, given that competitors offer IP68 or IP69 ratings even in lower price brackets.
Honor 200 Pro Display: A Vibrant 120Hz AMOLED Powerhouse, Lacking Only Protection
The Honor 200 Pro showcases a stunning 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED curved display offering a bezel-less experience and a vibrant, colorful canvas. It supports Widevine L1 and HDR10+, allowing you to enjoy immersive HDR content across streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Videos, and YouTube. The 120Hz screen refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling and a fluid experience.
The display boasts 4,000nits of peak brightness, making it highly usable even in outdoor conditions, and offers customization options like Natural and Vivid color modes, a Video enhancer to boost video quality, and Circadian Night Display to automatically adjust color temperature.
While the in-display fingerprint sensor works reliably, its location feels a bit low. However, the option to select from various animations adds a fun touch. A notable drawback is the lack of any Corning or other display protection, making a screen protector essential.
Honor 200 Pro Software: MagicOS 8.0 & Android 14, But Bloatware Is a Concern
The Honor 200 Pro runs MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14. The user interface is intuitive and offers good customization with features like Magic Capsule, Magic Portal, and Magic Ring, but the software unfortunately falls prey to a common issue: bloatware. While the company promises 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches, the presence of unnecessary pre-installed apps can be frustrating.
Honor 200 Pro Performance: Flagship Power, but Benchmark Scores Lag Behind the Competition
Equipped with the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, 12GB (LPDDR5X) RAM, and 512GB (UFS 3.1) storage, the Honor 200 Pro delivers incredibly smooth day-to-day performance. Demanding tasks present no issues, and throttling is minimal.
However, while synthetic benchmarks reveal impressive results, they fall slightly short compared to competitors like the OnePlus 12, Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, and iQOO 12.
Benchmark Scores Comparison:
| Benchmark | Honor 200 Pro | OnePlus 12 |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu v10 | 1,193,736 | 1,629,220 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 15,114 | 12,728 |
| Geekbench 6 Single Core | 1423 | 1,005 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi Core | 4216 | 4,902 |
| 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Slingshot | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 8413 | 18022 |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 60 | 60 |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 60 | 60 |
| GFXBench Car Chase | 60 | 60 |
Honor 200 Pro Cameras: A Portrait Masterpiece, but Other Lenses Fall Short
The camera system is undoubtedly the Honor 200 Pro’s crowning achievement, with a strong focus on portrait photography. A partnership with Studio Harcourt, a renowned French photography studio celebrated for its portraits, adds a touch of prestige.
The camera setup consists of:
Rear:
- 50-megapixel OmniVision OV50H sensor with f/1.9 aperture
- 12-megapixel Ultra-Wide Camera
- 50-megapixel Sony IMX856 2.5x portrait sensor
- Front:
- 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 sensor with f/2.1 aperture
The 2.5x portrait sensor delivers excellent detail and natural bokeh effects in both daylight and low-light scenarios. The skin tones are accurately rendered, avoiding oversaturated results.
Three Harcourt modes are available: Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Color, and Harcourt Classic. The Harcourt Classic mode excels in black-and-white portraits, offering studio-quality results.
Daylight photography is consistently impressive, capturing punchy, detailed colors and balancing exposure effectively. The ultrawide camera, while not as consistent as the primary sensor, still produces balanced colors but exhibits some edge distortion.
Low-light performance sees the primary sensor excel with minimal noise and impressive color preservation. However, the ultrawide camera struggles, producing less detailed and noisy shots.
Honor 200 Pro Battery: Solid Battery Life, but No Fast Charger in Box?
The Honor 200 Pro features a 5,200mAh battery, offering impressive endurance. Casual to moderate usage can extend the battery life to almost two days, while heavy usage still allows for a full day of battery backup.
Battery Loop Test: 26 hours
While the phone supports 100W fast charging, a significant drawback is the absence of a charger in the box. The 66W wireless charging support is also present, but the wireless charger is not available in India.
Charging speeds are impressive: 33 percent in 15 minutes, 65 percent in 30 minutes, and fully charged in one hour.
Honor 200 Pro Verdict: A Strong Contender, but Faces Stiff Competition
The Honor 200 Pro represents Honor’s strongest attempt to conquer the premium segment. Its sleek design, vibrant display, powerful performance, and exceptional portrait photography make it a compelling option. However, it faces stiff competition from devices like the iQOO 12, OnePlus 12, Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, and even the Xiaomi 14 Civi, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
The Honor 200 Pro excels in portrait photography, but other lenses fall short. Bloatware remains a concern, and the lack of a fast charger is a major disappointment. Overall, while the phone boasts impressive features, it’s crucial to consider these drawbacks and weigh them against the strengths before making a decision.
