Honor 90 Review: Ticks several boxes but aces just one

Honor is back in India after around 3 years with the launch of Honor 90 and I must say, what a comeback! This is the company’s first smartphone in India after being separated from Huawei. The new smartphone is launched under the brand HTech which is headed by Realme’s former CEO Madhav Sheth. 

Luxurious exterior  

Honor 90 smartphone looks quite luxurious for a mid-range segment. And not just that, it feels even more premium in hands. It is a very well-constructed device that is just 183 gm in weight and is just 7.8mm in thickness. It has a unique set of camera rings that make it stand apart in a good way.

We received a Diamond Silver colour variant that looks stunning but because of the glossy finish, it is a fingerprint magnet. Moreover, I am not a big fan of glossy finish, so I’d recommend you go for the traditional Emerald Green, if you are looking for matte finish. You will also get a glossy Midnight Black colour option for this device. The company says that Honor 90 comes with a glass back, but it felt like polycarbonate. Hence, you might want to slap on a transparent case to avoid damage. 

The star here is its display. It comes with a beautiful 6.7-inch quad HD curved floating AMOLED display. It has got it all: 1600 nits of peak brightness, 1.5k resolution, support for HDR10+ and a 120Hz refresh rate. And to top it all off, it has received TUV Rehinland flicker free certification as it comes with 3840Hz PWM dimming. This feature minimises strain on your eyes, even when you are using the phone in the dark. 

I honestly enjoyed streaming videos on it, but since it has a single bottom firing speaker and no headphone jack, you will need to connect your Bluetooth earphones with this phone. 

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Performance and Software: Fairly capable 

On the performance side of things, Honor 90 is powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, which is not the best in the segment but definitely not a dealbreaker. It managed to handle day-to-day tasks like scrolling through social media, browsing through long articles, switching between apps lag-free. I didn’t notice any heating issues, but this is not a phone that a heavy gamer might want to buy. 

The smartphone comes with MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13 and yes you will get all the Google apps like YouTube, Gmail, and so on along with Microsoft apps. Unfortunately, you will also get bloatware, just like most of its rivals, but it is minimal this time around, and you can always choose to delete them. MagicOS is really a treat to use as it looks way more polished compared to EMUI that was available on previous Honor phones. 

In terms of battery, Honor 90 managed to house a 5,000 mAh battery that lasted for almost a day. It supports 66W fast charging in India, but the Indian retail unit will only get a 33W charger bundled with the device.

Camera: Hits all the right notes 

As for the camera, the smartphone comes with a 200MP triple rear camera setup. It captured detailed images in broad daylight with good colour accuracy and saturation. The subject separation in portrait images was also quite impressive. The front camera also managed to capture excellent images with sharp details and natural tones. 

When it comes to low light settings, it has room for improvement as it lacked sharpness and colour accuracy that you could expect from phones in this price segment. That being said, the shots are definitely good enough for social media posts. 

Click here to see the camera samples

Verdict: Should you buy it? 

Overall, Honor 90 is a great comeback for Honor in India. The smartphone offers several good features like eye-catching looks, great camera capabilities, good performance and battery life. The area in which it aces is the display, which could be one of the best in the segment. But at Rs 37,999, the smartphone does not make a very compelling case for itself. The smartphone faces heated competition from OnePlus 11R, Nothing Phone (2) and Google Pixel 7A.

Also Read: 

Top camera phones under Rs 20,000 in India: Realme 11 5G, Galaxy M34 5G, Moto G84 and more

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