Honor started out as a humble Huawei subsidiary, but it has since proven that it can stand on its own two feet following the 2020 split-up. The company ison a path to growthin all the markets it sells its products in. From all I can say about the Honor 90, the company’s latest midrange flagship phone, this positive trajectory should only continue.
The Honor 90 represents the latest entry to Honor’s “premium-mid range” lineup, as the company calls its Honor N series. Like last year’sHonor 70, the phone pairs high-end looks and materials with a few standout hardware features and otherwise well-balanced compromises. This is supposed to give you a device at an enticing price point of £450 that doesn’t cut too many noticeable corners.
Availability and pricing
The Honor 90 was first launched in China at the end of May and is now making its way to multiple European markets, including the UK. Like other Honor products, we don’t expect an official US launch, though you might be able to import it some time down the line. In the UK, the Honor 90 starts at £450 in its entry-level configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and £500 for its 12+512GB variant. It’s right up there with the Google Pixel 7a in the UK, which naturally makes the two fierce contenders for thebest budget phonesin the country.
Hardware, design, and display
Right off the bat, it’s clear that the Honor 90 is an intricately designed phone that’s easy to hold in one hand. Its smooth curves and corners help keep its dimensions manageable, with the curved screen giving you more display viewing real estate than otherwise possible — though personally, I’m still a fan of flat screens that don’t catch as many reflections in the edges and corners. Like its flagship phones from the last few years, the Honor 90 is supposed to have a quad-curved display, and this time around, you can tell more easily, particularly at the top.
The display curves ever so slightly, making for an even more pronounced all-screen experience. Combined with its intricate colors, particularly on the white model with its jewelry-like ornaments on the back (fittingly named “Diamond Silver”), it feels much more premium than the Google Pixel 7a — though obviously, you need to be a fan of this kind of design, and there is only so much Honor can do to hide the fact that the back is made of plastic. There are also simpler frosted green and glossy black colorways, with the latter feeling particularly cheap due to the way it collects fingerprints.
Another way the Honor 90 wants to differentiate itself from the competition at the price point is via ultra-fast Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming on its display. Rather than adjusting the light illuminated by individual OLED pixels, phone screens usually start flickering at very high frequencies at low brightness levels, which you can’t perceive as they stay dark for a very short duration. However, this method can still lead to excessive eye strain for some people, even if it’s almost impossible to put your finger on it.
Honor promises to fix the problem to an extent with an even faster flickering method, going up to a 3840Hz PWM dimming frequency. This is the highest frequency rate Honor has added to its phones yet, surpassing even the flagshipHonor Magic 5 Pro, which has a dimming rate of 2160Hz.
As for further hard numbers, we’re looking at a 2664x1200 120Hz display that stretches 6.7 inches diagonally, reaching a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. It’s HDR 10+ certified, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video support on board out of the box. A Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition is serving CPU duties, and as mentioned up top, it’s combined with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The battery has a capacity of 5,000mAh and can charge at up to 66W, but there is no wireless charging, which is something that has made it into a lot of devices in this price range by now. Wi-Fi 6, dual SIM 5G, and USB-C are also on board.
Looking at the Honor 90, you’d think it has a triple camera setup, but one of the lenses only serves as a 2 MP depth sensor. The two cameras you’ll use then are the 200MP primary with its 1/1.4-inch sensor and an aperture of f/1.9 and the 12MP ultra wide with f/2.2 that also serves as a macro camera. I haven’t been able to spend much time with the setup just yet.
The 200MP camera should be great for zooming without losing much detail, but it probably can’t compare to a dedicated telephoto like you’d find on flagship phones. It should still be a good stopgap solution in lieu of an optical solution. Historically, cameras with a high MP count like this struggle in low light situations, but only my full review will be able to shine light into this question.
One big bummer is Honor’s weaker-than-average update promise for the new midrange offering. Rather than treating it with the same three Android updates and five years of security patches that the Honor Magic 5 Pro and Magic Vs get, the Honor 90 is only slated to receive two Android updates and three years of security patches. In a world where Samsung consistently offers four major Android updates on its A-series, and even Google goes as far as giving five years of security patches, this just isn’t enough, and frankly makes me question the “premium” part in the “premium-mid range” moniker the phone receives.
Other than that, a final verdict on the software needs some more thorough testing. If other Honor phones are anything to judge by, the Android 13-based MagicOS 7.1 offers a ton of extra goodies like a unique take on first-party widgets, an image-to-text scanning option à la Google Lens, sometimes questionable battery-saving measures, and Honor-specific ecosystem benefits, like its own file and mouse sharing tech across its products.
At the same time, Honor software doesn’t fail to frustrate in other departments, with poor third-party launcher support, the lack of some standard Android features like per-app languages, a questionable system share menu that lacks options compared to the stock version, and some more minor annoyances.
Some of Honor’s products have also struggled with performance issues that stood in contrast to the high-end hardware they were using, but so far, I haven’t noticed any such problems on the Honor 90. This still needs further investigation before I can reach a conclusion, though.
The Honor 90 in its Emerald Green colorway
The Honor 90 is a worthy contender for the midrange crown
The Honor 90 may be in the same price range as the Pixel 7a and theSamsung Galaxy A54, but it’s a different beast altogether with its focus on features first and foremost. If you’re someone who suffers easily from eye fatigue, the high PWM dimming rate may be worth it for you alone. Even if not, the phone offers a great display experience if you’re okay with curved edges. It makes up for potential software shortfalls with a quickly charging battery in a slim profile, which should hopefully help it last longer than many of its competitors when you’re out and about.
The Honor 90 makes clear that there is no perfect phone for everyone — it always depends on what you value more. In that sense, Honor is carving out a niche for itself, focusing on design, performance, and quick charging more than anything. Stay tuned for our full review.
The Honor 90 is the latest budget flagship, offering some of the best hardware at its sub £500 price point. It packs a 200MP camera, some interesting colorways, cruved screen, and more.
