Honor 200 Pro in the test: High-end smartphone with top camera from 699 euros

Smartphones have largely replaced digital cameras. For snapshots on vacation or at social events, you always have a cell phone immediately at hand. On the other hand, smartphones with telephoto lenses are suitable for landscape photos. With the Honor 200 Pro, the Chinese manufacturer is now offering a mobile device for another purpose of photography: portraits.

With the famous Harcourt photo studio in Paris, cameras and software, including AI functions, were optimized specifically for portrait photos. The studio made its name in the 1930s for high-quality portraits of famous people from film, sports and politics. Studio Harcourt’s trademark includes working with shadows to create the most sculptural look. To do this, the studio’s photographers use an elaborate setting that includes carefully selected lighting, makeup and the necessary camera equipment, including post-processing.

The studio’s experience combined with Honor’s know-how went into the development of the 200 Pro. The latest addition to the number series, which is positioned below the flagship of the Magic series, brings other highlights besides the triple camera. This includes the faster Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 – a slightly slimmer version of Qualcomm’s high-end chipset, as well as a stylish design. Is there a successor to the Honor 90 (test report) 699 euros (Coupon code at Alza.de: Honor 100D) Delivers what it promises, testing shows.

The most striking design feature compared to its predecessor is the redesigned triple camera at the back. It is now housed in an oval, black element that is clearly visible. The back made of rough glass is available in two colors: black and white – the second with attractive marbling. Pleasing: Fingerprints are barely visible. The workmanship appears to be of very high quality, only the attached screen protector causes slight bubbles after a while.

The Honor 200 Pro is very thin and light for its large dimensions. It fits well in the hand and is definitely an attention grabber. However, we recommend buying a protective case as the smartphone does not seem to be particularly durable. At least it is not afraid of water, with IP65 certification (splash protection) it can survive at least a glass of water or an accident with rain drops. However, you should not submerge it in water for a longer period of time.

The large OLED display with a diagonal of 6.78 inches is a feast for the eyes. Content is crisp and sharp at 2700 × 1200 pixels, 120Hz ensures smooth image display and brightness is also top-notch. We were able to read the display well even in bright sunlight. Contrasts are well coordinated and colours are powerful, but not unnatural. There is nothing to complain about here.

The Honor 200 Pro uses a triple camera: the main lens (f/​1.9) has a resolution of up to 50 megapixels and, by default, combines four pixels into one, providing photos with 12.5 megapixels. A large sensor with a bright aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS) is used.

The telephoto lens (f/2.4) with OIS also has 50 megapixels with a pixel binning ratio of 4:1. The 12-megapixel wide-angle lens (f/​2.2) also works as a macro lens. A 50-megapixel dual camera is used for selfies, the second lens with 2 megapixels creates depth of field.

Photos taken with the main lens are sharp and look great in both good weather and difficult lighting conditions. Here the Honor 200 Pro can easily keep up with the Honor Magic 6 Pro (test report). Dynamic range as well as image details are very clear. Videos are possible in cinematic quality with 4K resolution at 60 frames per second (fps).

The telephoto lens is also impressive, but can’t match the Magic 6 Pro’s lens. It offers optical zoom up to 2.5x magnification without any significant loss of detail. Digitally amplified, zoom up to 50x is possible, but it’s by no means a lot. Images up to 5x magnification are still usable; if you can live with image noise, 10x zoom is also fine.

The biggest special feature in the Honor 200 Pro is the portrait mode. It uses a telephoto lens at 2x magnification and uses AI functions to recreate studio conditions. In addition to the normal scene, there are also three Studio Harcourt filters to choose from: Dynamic, Color and Classic (black and white). The filters also look great, if you pay attention to perspective, exposure and use makeup, you can actually avoid going to a professional photographer.

The wide-angle lens has a slightly different color tint from the other lenses and leans more towards yellow. Image details are a little less clear, but you can still take good photos. On the other hand, the wide-angle lens is used for close-ups. The camera app software automatically switches here as soon as you are very close to an object.

Selfies are also quite successful; videos with the front lens are possible in Full HD at 60 fps or 4K at 30 fps. The former looks much smoother. The 200 Pro also records a multi-video from both lenses.

For the Honor 200 Pro, Qualcomm relies on the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. The slimmed down version of the current high-end chipset roughly corresponds to the second generation of the series. This means that the 200 Pro is not as powerful as the current flagship smartphone, but it still delivers extremely strong performance. It doesn’t matter if you’re gaming, recording videos in high resolution or consuming media: the Honor 200 Pro always has enough power and always runs smoothly. It scored an impressive 17,300 points on PCMark and a strong 3000 points on 3DMark “Wild Life Extreme”.

The memory is also generous: 512 GB of internal memory and 12 GB of RAM. You can also ignore the fact that there is no option to upgrade using a microSD card. However, the transmission standard of the connection is disappointing: due to USB-C 2.0, wired data transfer takes unnecessarily long. The price should really have been higher – even if other Chinese providers handle it similarly.

However, wireless connectivity is updated with Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, infrared port as well as 5G and Wi-Fi 6. For positioning, the smartphone uses A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo with an accuracy of 3 meters. GPS test.

The Honor 200 Pro runs Android 8 with the Magic OS 14 user interface. It doesn’t have an app drawer as standard and uses Android’s typical gestures. Honor packs a lot of its own apps on the phone as an alternative to Google apps, such as Calendar, Tools and its own Apps Store in addition to the Google Play Store.

At the time of testing, the security patch was from May and is still current. Honor has announced software patches for a period of four years, and there will also be three major Android updates.

For such a thin device, a 5200 mAh battery is a real statement. On the other hand, the result of the PCMark battery test was disappointing at almost 10 hours. Here the flagship has a longer duration. This means that the smartphone will barely be able to get through the day – but there will not be much reserve left.

Another annoyance: like its predecessor, Honor no longer includes a power supply. While the Koreans’ slow charging speeds don’t really matter on Samsung, it’s even more of a problem for the Chinese. Up to 100 watts is possible, which allows for faster charging. But for this you need a special Power supply from Honor Here. Otherwise it won’t load so quickly. Retailers like Honor and Alza are both currently including a power supply worth 50 euros free of charge. The battery then charges in about 30 minutes. With a 66-watt power supply it works in just under 45 minutes. Induction charging up to 66 watts is possible.

The RRP of the Honor 200 Pro is 799 euros. It is worth taking a look at the special offers at the time of launch in the market, as the smartphone costs only Alza 699 euros With coupon code: Honor 100D.Dealer adds a 100-watt power supply.

The Honor 200 Pro is an exciting and very stylish alternative to a flagship smartphone. This makes it one of the contenders for the best smartphone in the upper mid-range. The camera impresses in most applications – especially in portrait photos. The OLED display is also great and the processor is really fast, even if it can’t keep up with the latest generation – but in everyday life, hardly anyone will notice it.

There is room for improvement in terms of battery life, water protection could be better and why a USB-C 2.0 port is used is a mystery to us. For fast charging, a power supply is required, which is not included as standard. However, you often get it free at market launch.

If you’re looking for a fast smartphone and enjoy taking photos, but don’t want to pay the high price of a high-end smartphone, the Honor 200 Pro is an excellent choice.

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