Honor 70 review

Honor has cut up from former guardian firm Huawei, however the brand new Honor 70 nonetheless looks like a Huawei telephone.

This isn’t a nasty factor. Huawei made a number of the greatest Android telephones of current years earlier than a US commerce ban meant it couldn’t launch new ones with Google providers or the Play Retailer.

Honor’s telephone launch frequency in Europe took a knock however will not be a part of the ban. It has been slowly rebuilding its market presence – and use of Google providers – by releasing wonderful gadgets just like the Magic 4 Professional and now the Honor 70, a mid-range telephone with strong efficiency, nice cameras, and engaging design.

It simply looks like Honor continues to be enjoying it fairly secure the place it must push on and differentiate itself – from present rival producers in addition to the Huawei of previous.

Design & Construct

• Slim and tall
• Eye-catching digital camera design
• Plastic construct

Beginning with the gorgeous seems is pretty much as good a spot as any. The Honor 70 is a head turner in a market the place it’s tough for slab display telephones to face out.

My overview unit got here in a stunning matt inexperienced end that hides fingerprints very effectively, although essentially the most eye-catching model is a shiny silver one with diamond sample on the again. There’s additionally a black one, after all. Although it seems and feels premium, the telephone is constituted of plastic. In a method, I favor this to glass as a result of it’s much less more likely to shatter if dropped, although it does imply it’s extra liable to scratches and guidelines out wi-fi charging.

Two massive round islands stick out the highest left of the telephone and home the triple cameras and flash in a hanging look. The telephone has some textual content on the again with pointless digital camera specs and the required EU commerce script. As all the time, there’s little doubt it’d look slicker with simply the corporate brand.

Many high-end telephones have curved shows, however the mid-range Honor 70 goes for it too. I fairly like curved screens as they make telephones really feel slimmer and narrower within the hand, as is the case right here. The amount rocker and energy button sit on the skinny proper edge, with a USB-C port on the underside subsequent to the SIM tray and one of many stereo audio system.

The opposite is within the earpiece simply above a centrally positioned cut-out selfie digital camera. All these decisions on paper really feel like smartphone 2022 101, however the Honor 70 seems like greater than the sum of its elements. It’s a design I actually dig.

One draw back, robust, is the dearth of waterproofing when for this value I’d anticipate at the very least a splashproof score.

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.67in curved OLED
• 120Hz
• Vivid color replica

The telephone’s 6.67in 1080 x 2400 OLED show could be very massive due to a tall 20:9 facet ratio. I’ve small fingers and located it inconceivable to make use of one-handed for something however pure scrolling or swipe typing at a push. Fortunately the 120Hz refresh charge means such scrolling could be very easy however it’s straightforward to inform this can be a cheaper panel than the costlier Honor Magic 4 Professional or OnePlus 10 Professional.

As with many different curved screens, there’s a trace of darkening as its left and proper sides slope away when viewing vivid content material head-on, however it didn’t spoil my day-to-day use of the telephone. If something, the curves make it simpler to make use of Android again gestures by swiping in from both facet.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Brightness is sweet if beneath the highest ranges of costlier telephones, however I had no bother seeing something in direct daylight, which isn’t all the time the case for a telephone of this value.

Audio from the stereo audio system is firmly center of the highway. They’re wonderful for a couple of YouTube movies and podcasts however you gained’t need to be blasting music or movies for any size of time. The shortage of a headphone jack means you’ll need to plug in with USB-C wired headphones or go wi-fi.

The telephone got here with a pre-installed display protector that I quickly eliminated as a result of it felt low cost and bought scratched very simply.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 778G+ 5G
• 8/12GB RAM
• Poor haptics

The Honor 70 runs the up to date Snapdragon 778+ 5G chipset, a small step up from the 778 utilized in 2021’s Honor 50 (the Honor 60 is MIA).

In my time with the telephone, the chipset is a lot quick sufficient. Apps open shortly and the UI is responsive due to the 8GB RAM (there’s a 12GB mannequin out there in China however not Europe). It chugged marginally when enjoying high-end video games like Name of Obligation Cell, however for most conventional smartphone use – social media, gentle video games, music, images – it’s all you have to. It’s the extent of chip you may anticipate for the worth in 2022.

In Geekbench 5 and GFXBench benchmark assessments, the Honor 70 carried out higher than The Honor 50 or Google Pixel 6a, however marginally beneath older flagship telephones just like the OnePlus 9.

5G connectivity is storming its method down the worth bands to help virtually each new telephone, so that you get that right here too.

Barely disappointing is the vibration haptics, which feels mushy. Keyboard suggestions on cheaper telephones just like the Google Pixel 6a is tight and clipped. Honor’s is buzzy and detracts from the premium really feel of the handset.

On a vivid notice, the in-screen fingerprint sensor is responsive and dependable for unlocking the telephone or verifying your biometrics, however there’s additionally a really zippy face unlock possibility.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Battery Life & Charging

• 4800mAh
• 66W wired charging
• No wi-fi charging

The £399/€469 Nothing Cellphone (1) has ruined my expectations of mid-range telephones by together with wi-fi charging. It’s not right here on the Honor 70, however it’s on hardly some other telephone within the mid-range, so I can’t knock Honor too onerous.

The included wired charger juices the telephone up at a zippy 66W, charging it from empty to 44% in quarter-hour and to 77% in 30.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

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A 4800mAh battery in a mid-range telephone is trigger for celebration. Within the PC Mark battery drain check it lasted 9 hours and 28 minutes, although I discovered real-world battery life to be a lot better than that determine suggests.

The Honor 70 performs very effectively and might simply final a day even with heavy utilization. It should stretch into two days if you’re a light-weight consumer, and you’ll all the time fall again on the quick charging if you could prime up on days the place you’re taking tons of images or utilizing Google Maps to navigate – positive fireplace battery beaters.

Cameras & Video

• 54Mp Sony IMX800
• 50Mp ultrawide
• No telephoto
• 32Mp selfie digital camera

The Honor 70 is the primary smartphone to make use of the Sony IMX800 sensor for its essential 54Mp digital camera lens.

What does that imply? Nice images, fortunately. On vivid sunny days, it completely sings, with wonderful color replica, strong dynamic vary, and good element. There’s pretty good color consistency between this essential lens and the 50Mp ultrawide too, which you don’t typically see on telephones at this value.

The ultra-wide can also be used for strong macro photographs. Good one, Honor. Nevertheless, the cameras fare much less effectively in low gentle. Even photographs in shadow somewhat than darkness aren’t rendered precisely, with just a little greying to the general picture. In low gentle photographs indoors that is much more obvious.

On the plus facet, I actually just like the portrait mode on the telephone – assisted by a 2Mp depth sensor – although you’ll most likely need to flip off the annoying magnificence modes which can be on by default.

There’s no telephoto lens, so you should fall again on digital zoom. I didn’t, because it isn’t nice and images find yourself wanting like watercolours whenever you go previous 2x. The 32Mp selfie digital camera is strong for selfies and movies however struggles in direct daylight, as many of those small sensors are likely to.

You possibly can swipe by way of the beneath slideshow to see photos from all of the Honor 70’s lenses.

When {hardware} may be stretched at this value, software program steps in. Honor’s headline digital camera characteristic for the Honor 70 is named solo lower. It makes use of the rear cameras to take a wide-angle panorama video of a scene whereas permitting you to faucet onto an individual within the scene, who’s then tracked in a separate portrait video.

That is displayed on the display in a small window so you may make positive they’re within the body. You possibly can swap to another person half method by way of too.

I didn’t discover a lot use for it, intelligent as it’s, however it may very well be good at youngsters’s performs or at gigs to observe the topic you’re taken with whereas additionally taking in the entire stage, for instance.

Software program & Updates

• Magic UI 6.1 on Android 12
• Solely two years of Android updates
• Three years of safety updates

The Honor 70 has the identical software program appear and feel of a Huawei or Honor telephone from two or so years in the past. It’s principally EMUI, Huawei’s previous software program.

After a couple of days with the telephone, I turned accustomed to it once more, however it does really feel just a little dated. Though it’s working Android 12, the telephone feels extra prefer it’s on Android 10 as a result of Honor hasn’t modified a lot about Magic UI 6.1 or adopted any of Android 12’s cool theming choices or extra trendy design aesthetic.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

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The corporate tells me Magic UI will rebrand to Magic OS with the following model, and it’s promising a visible replace. What would even be good is much less bloatware as you get the likes of Reserving.com, TikTok, Sport of Sultans, Lords Cell and extra – although you may uninstall them, fortuitously.

Honor also needs to work on offering longer software program help. The Honor 70 will get three years of safety updates however solely two Android platform updates. That is a lot lower than Samsung’s 5 years and 4 years respectively, and Honor might want to do higher if it hopes individuals will maintain onto its telephones for longer.

Worth & Availability

The Honor 70 begins at £479.99/€549 for the 8GB RAM mannequin with 128GB of storage. It’s out there in black, silver, or inexperienced from Honor, Argos, Currys, Amazon, and Very.

Should you purchase the telephone earlier than 16 September from a few of these retailers, you may get a free pair of the Honor Earbuds 3 Professional. You may also purchase the Honor 70 instantly from Amazon France, Amazon Spain, and different well-liked European retailers.

An 8/256GB mannequin is out there in black or inexperienced solely by way of operators Three and Vodafone within the UK. In Europe, that model will retail for €599 however neither can be on sale within the US, the place Honor doesn’t function.

It places the Honor 70 in direct competitors with the $449/£399/€459 Pixel 6a, which has Android 13, longer software program help, and a lot better cameras. The £369/€399 OnePlus Nord 2T can also be lower than the 70 with sooner charging and a glass building, however Honor’s telephone has the next refresh charge show.

See extra choices in our greatest mid-range telephone chart.

Verdict

The Honor 70 is an achieved mid-range telephone, a assured step ahead for the corporate after its breakaway from Huawei. With Google providers and apps, a considerate and engaging design, robust efficiency, and good battery life, this is among the higher telephones on this value vary within the UK and Europe – sorry US pals.

It’s onerous to totally suggest it although when the Pixel 6a is cheaper, is equally plastic however has a superlative digital camera arrange and a greater model of Android (with longer help besides), whereas the Nothing Cellphone (1) additionally undercuts the Honor in value too and provides in wi-fi charging.

However with a 120Hz show and superb essential digital camera, the Honor 70 is a strong alternative and takes it to telephones just like the OnePlus Nord 2T – although that telephone can also be cheaper.

If Honor’s subsequent mid-range telephone can enhance the software program promise and shrink the worth, it can have an actual winner on its fingers.

Specs

• Android 12 with Magic UI 6.1
• 6.57in 120Hz curved Full HD+ (2400 0×1080) OLED show
• At all times-on show performance
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ 5G chipset
• 8/12GB RAM
• 256/512GB storage
• 54Mp essential digital camera, f/1.9
• 50Mp ultrawide digital camera, f/2.2
• 2Mp depth sensor, f/2.4
• 32Mp hole-punch entrance digital camera, f/2.4
• USB-C
• Twin SIM
• WiFi 6
• Bluetooth 5.2
• NFC
• 4800mAh battery
• Wired charging as much as 66W
• 178g
• 161.4 x 73.3 x 7.9mm