HONOR 90 5G Review – Striking The Perfect Balance For Mid-Range Smartphone
After publishing our unboxing and first impressions, we’re excited to share our full review of the HONOR 90 5G which boasts some of the nifty features such as the world’s first flicker-zero display and a 200-megapixel rear primary camera. Let’s determine if the HONOR 90 5G is a solid choice for your next mid-range smartphone.
Table of Contents
HONOR 90 5G Specifications
| OS: | MagicOS 7.1 – Android 13 |
|---|---|
| Processor: | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition |
| Display: | 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED Display |
| Wireless Connections: | 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS |
| Memory: | 12GB+512GB |
| Connectors: | USB Type-C, OTG |
| Cameras: | Rear Camera: Main – 200MP, f/1.9 Ultrawide – 12MP, f/2.2 Depth – 2MP, f/2.4 Front Camera: 50MP, f/2.4 |
| SIM Card Slots: | Dual SIM (Nano-Sim) + eSIM |
| Battery: | 5,000mAh 66W Wired Charging |
| SRP: | 12GB+512GB – Php 24,990 |
The Design
The HONOR 90 5G instantly catches your attention, especially the Diamond Silver variant. Our review unit is the Emerald Green color which exudes a simple yet classy vibe. The back panel features a smooth frosted texture finish that leaves no fingerprint marks. On the other hand, the Diamond Silver variant and Midnight Black have a glossy mirror finish.
The rear of the phone features a triple camera configuration and an LED flash, arranged in a camera bump. On the front, you’ll find the punch-hole camera in the center.
The curved display and back panel make handling the phone much more comfortable. Additionally, it weighs 185g, which is on the lighter side for a 6.7-inch smartphone.
In terms of buttons and ports, the left side houses the power button and volume rocker. Below, you’ll find the speaker grill, USB Type-C port, microphone hole, and SIM tray that accommodates two nano SIM cards. You can also install an eSIM. The fingerprint scanner is under the display.
The Display and Speakers
The display of the HONOR 90 5G receives a notable upgrade. It now has a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1600nits. It also has a 2664×1200 pixels screen resolution. Aside from the adjustable refresh rate that can be set to dynamic, 120Hz, 90Hz, or 60Hz. There is also an adjustable option for the screen resolution which is not normally seen in a mid-range smartphone but is common on the flagship level. The default is set to Smart Resolution which automatically lowers the resolution to save power but you can manually set it to high, standard, or low.
It has a high PWM dimming display that is 3840Hz PWM Dimming, a great addition as it can reduce stress on your eyes. We made a short video that you can watch as we discuss more about it.
The viewing experience is great. It has a nice viewing angle, the colors are vibrant, and has an inky black display. Aside from that, when viewing it outdoors it has a bright display that is easy to look at. It is really a good display to watch your favorite shows or play your games.
Sadly, the HONOR 90 5G is stuck with a mono speaker similar to its previous generation, the HONOR 70. The down-firing speaker is quite loud and has good clarity but it falls behind when you compare it to smartphones that have dual-firing speakers.
The Performance
The HONOR 90 5G is the first smartphone with a special Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition. It has a faster clock speed compared to the ordinary Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 and it was launched last May 2022. Paired with it is 12GB RAM and 7GB virtual RAM, while its storage comes with a very generous 512GB. With large storage and memory, you can have tons of apps, games, and files installed on your phone. Here are the benchmark results we got from the HONOR 90 5G.
The HONOR 90 5G runs MagicOS 7.1 which is based on Android 13. You will see a fair amount of bloatware that is pre-installed when booted. The HONOR apps that are pre-installed cannot be uninstalled but it doesn’t interfere with your day-to-day use.
Playing games with the HONOR 90 5G handles pretty well. While playing games you can swipe from the upper left corner to reveal Game Manager, which enables you to see the CPU and GPU usage, and an FPS counter. Below it, you can change its performance to balance or game mode that will boost more FPS. There are also options for Do Not Disturb, Mistouch Prevention, Game Filter where you can change its display color, Screenshots, Screen Recording, and Settings. Apps can be launched using the game manager which will appear as a pop-up view. Lastly, you can also adjust its display brightness.
We didn’t encounter any problems when playing low-demanding games like Mobile Legends. On the other hand, playing high-demanding games like Genshin Impact can run on high graphics with 60 FPS, but we noticed the phone stuttering from time to time. To eliminate this, you can simply lower the graphic settings.
The thermal performance of the HONOR 90 5G is quite hot in our CPU stress test benchmark, but it is not the case when we undergo with 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, which a stability score is 98.5%. This trend continues even when playing demanding games like CODM and Genshin Impact. After several minutes of gaming, the back panel does not become uncomfortably hot.
The Camera
The main selling point of the HONOR 90 5G is its main camera. It now has 200 megapixels which is a huge upgrade from 58 megapixels found in the HONOR 70. While we liked the upgrade on the main camera, we were bummed to learn that its ultrawide went down to 12 megapixels from 50 megapixels and still retained its useless 2-megapixel depth camera. As for the front camera, it receives an upgrade from 32 megapixels to 50 megapixels.
We know that megapixel alone is not the way to determine the quality of the pictures but testing it in real life is the way to check its performances. That is why we have this done into an actual test. While taking pictures with the rear main camera 200 megapixels, it pixel binned to 12.39 megapixels.
The rear main camera captures great images in broad daylight. The colors are vibrant, the dynamic range has a decent range, and the images are sharp and on point. It falls apart sometimes when taking pictures in low-light conditions, even if you use the Night mode of the camera app. The details are now on the soft side and the colors are a tad bit on the pale side. There is also an occasional problem with its autofocus, but after a few attempts, it can produce decent snaps.
We took some zoom photos and noticed no degradation in quality even with 2x digital zoom. It can go up to 10x digital zoom but we don’t recommend going that far.
Moving to the ultrawide camera, they managed to process the shots similar to the main camera’s quality but it struggles when you capture photos under low-light conditions. It didn’t brighten the shots and we can see that the noise is crawling to our images.
As for the front camera, it gives you options as it has two different zoom levels. It is a nice feature to have especially when you are taking group shots. The pictures we got are pixel binned to 12.48 megapixels and gave us great details with natural-looking color.
You can record videos up to 4k@30fps, now even with the front camera. Video quality is impressive regardless of lighting conditions, but the stabilization is only electronic, and you can see the processing when recording while moving a lot.
The Battery
The upgrades do not end there. HONOR managed to slightly increase the battery capacity of the HONOR 90 5G. Now with a 5000 mAh battery, the phone can last at least a day even with slightly heavy use. Fast charging is not a problem because HONOR included a 66W charger, which can charge the phone from 0% to 100% in under an hour.
HONOR 90 5G Verdict
The upgrades on the HONOR 90 5G are great additions to this mid-range smartphone. It is a compelling option if you tend to watch content as the display got a useful feature caring for your eyes. If you tend to accumulate files or install many apps, it handles the load with its large storage.
The camera upgrade is great but hopefully, they can update its processing especially when taking low-light conditions. As for its processor, it is not that groundbreaking but at least it’s a tad faster than its previous generation.
Pre-order HONOR 90 5G from August 16-25, 2023 for only Php 24,990 and Get a FREE JBL Flip 6 worth Php 7,499 until supplies last! Link below:
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