HONOR 90 5G Review; Camera-Centric, Screen-Centric, Terrific

HONOR 90 5G Review; Camera-Centric, Screen-Centric, Terrific

INTRODUCTION:

Smartphone brand HONOR has since successfully broken out from its shell as Huawei's sister company, a feat it continues to achieve by launching outstanding offerings one after another.

HONOR 90 5G Review; Camera-Centric, Screen-Centric, Terrific

Following the social media sensation that's the HONOR X9a 5G, HONOR sets off with another 5G smartphone that will surely capture the attention of tech enthusiasts. Why, you ask? Because the new HONOR 90 5G comes with a 200-megapixel camera and a special screen safety feature, you don't know you need. More of these features and the other selling points of the HONOR 90 5G in this review.


DESIGN:

It's a challenge nowadays for smartphone brands to come up with a unique design for a device in order to make it a standout. This seems to be the least of HONOR's concerns, though. Veering away from the common shimmery gradient found on the back part of most smartphones, HONOR flaunted diamond grid patterns on the HONOR 90's rear, further complementing its shiny silver back panel – a combination that's very pleasing to the eyes.

Diamond Silver

Other available colorways for the HONOR 90 5G include Peacock Blue with a splash of greens and yellows in different hues, Emerald Green with an elegant hue of jade, and the classic Midnight Black.

Speaker, USB-C, Microphone, Card Tray

Perhaps one downside of the HONOR 90 5G design is its plastic build. However, despite the smartphone lacking that glass panel, the HONOR 90 5G fits perfectly in the hand and feels solid and sturdy.

Volume Keys and Power Button

Another noteworthy thing about the back part of the HONOR 90 5G is its cameras. Instead of placing the two big circles that carry the triple camera setup plus the LED flash of the smartphone nonchalantly, HONOR made it special with the Moon Phase Ring design. When you look at the cameras from the side, it appears similar to the crescent moon.

Adding to the overall premium-looking physique of the HONOR 90 5G are its rounded edges which give the device a seamless, unibody form.

The HONOR 90 5G package comes with a free transparent jelly case, an ejector tool, a USB-C charging cable, and a power adapter.

Five Features that Make the HONOR 90 5G a 200/10


DISPLAY:

From one unique feature to another – the HONOR 90 5G has a display that's not yet very common among smartphones under its price segment. It's a feature you don't know you need but trust us, it's essential.

6.7-inch 1.5K AMOLED Quad Curved Display

The HONOR 90 5G flaunts a stunning 6.7-inch AMOLED display in 1.5K resolution. With this, you get sharp images, vivid colors, and everything you need for an enjoyable multimedia experience. But this is only some of what the HONOR 90 5G's display has to offer.

HONOR's new mid-range smartphone is the first smartphone in the world to have risk-free dimming eye protection on its screen. You know how when you take a video of a smartphone and its screen flashes waves of black? Apparently, experts say that those are harmful to the eyes. That's what the HONOR 90 5G avoided. The said smartphone has a 3840Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming technology to protect against eye strain and eye fatigue due to prolonged device use. For you to further visualize what we mean, check out the comparison video we recorded here.

Aside from all of these awesome features, the HONOR 90 5G can go as bright as 1600nits. Its screen is tried and tested to be visible enough even when used outdoors and under direct sunlight. Plus, the HONOR 90 5G supports HDR10+ for that leveled-up Netflix and Amazon Prime Video binge-watching experience.

At the top middle part of the HONOR 90 5G's screen is a punch-hole notch for its front camera. Apart from this, you'll get an almost all-screen display with the HONOR 90 5G, as it comes with slim bezels all over.


PERFORMANCE:

The HONOR 90 5G is indeed smooth outside and inside. Carrying a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset combined with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage, every tap and scroll on the HONOR 90 5G is a breeze. We used this smartphone as our main driver for a few days, and we never experienced hiccups and lags, even with multiple apps running in the background at once. This means that the HONOR 90 5G is designed for power users and multitaskers who switch from social media apps to productivity apps to gaming frequently within the day.

There's no issue of overheating, too. The HONOR 90 5G comes with an AI-backed thermal management system that helps the smartphone keep its cool, which based on our experience, does its job well.

Gaming-wise, the HONOR 90 5G performs decently, even with the highest settings. We even tried opening and playing several resources-heavy games simultaneously and got no issue switching between them. We only hope for stereo speakers, as it settled for mono. So, we advise playing your favorite mobile games and watching videos on mid-settings for better audio outputs, or better yet, using your preferred USB-C wired headset or wireless earphones.

Out of the box, the HONOR 90 5G runs on Android 13 with MagicOS 7.1 on top. The user interface is pretty much straightforward with the usual convenience features.


CAMERAS:

One of the highlights of the HONOR 90 5G is its 200-megapixel camera, which, we're glad to report, is more than what it says on paper. Looking at our sample photos, there's no doubt that the HONOR 90 5G is fantastic at taking snaps both during the day and night.

200MP Triple Camera

There are some minor things that we notice, though, one of which is that at night, there are times that there is a slight delay between taking pictures. Second, even if the camera AI is off, it still automatically switches between lenses when it struggles with focusing. The same is true when it comes to post-processing. It is nothing serious, but we hope HONOR will improve these things in the next software update. Nonetheless, the HONOR 5G offers far more excellent image quality for its price point.

Check out our sample shots on our Facebook page or follow the hashtag #HONOR905GPhotoChallenge for more amazing photos from different bloggers, vloggers, and KOLs.

Videos taken using the HONOR 90 5G are outstanding, too. The smartphone offers a built-in EIS stabilization mode that really works well.

Camera specifications of the HONOR 90 5G include a 200-megapixel ultra-clear camera at f/1.9, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide and macro camera at f/2.2, and a 2-megapixel depth camera at f/2.4. It has up to 10x digital zoom and can take videos at up to 3840x2160 pixels.

50MP Front Camera

Rear camera shooting modes include moving photo, AI photography, super wide angle, aperture, multi-video, night shot, portrait mode, photo, pro mode, video, panorama, HDR, filter, stickers, scan document, high-res, super macro, capture smiles, time-lapse, timer, slow-mo, story, and solo cut.

The moving photo shooting mode is similar to the iPhone's Live Mode. With the HONOR 90 5G, users can also instantly create GIFs without the need for a third-party app.


BATTERY LIFE:

You can spend the whole day out and about with the HONOR 90 5G without worrying whether you'll go home with a dead phone. The HONOR 90 5G's 5000mAh battery is long-lasting at moderate to heavy use. Plus, its 66W fast-charging support manages to refuel the HONOR 90 5G from 5% to 85% in a little over half an hour as long as you use the charger included in the smartphone package.


FINAL VERDICT:

HONOR 90 5G

Needless to say, the HONOR 90 5G is worth your money. Get your hands on this mid-range goodness for P24,990, available at authorized HONOR stores and official online shops.

How much is the HONOR 90 5G price in the Philippines?

• The HONOR 90 5G price in the Philippines is Php24,990.
• HONOR 90 5G on Lazada Philippines
• HONOR 90 5G on Shopee PH.

When will be the HONOR 90 5G available in the Philippines?

• The HONOR 90 5G is now available in the Philippines.

HONOR 90 5G Specifications:

• Dual SIM, dual standby, supports 5G connectivity
• 6.7-inch 1.5K (2664 x 1200 pixels) AMOLED Quad Curved Display, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 3840Hz PWM
• Dimensions: 161.9mm x 74.1mm x 7.8mm
• Weight: 183 grams
• Magic UI 7.1 based on Android 13
• Octa-core (1x2.5GHz Cortex-A710 + 3x2.36GHz Cortex-A710 + 4x1.8GHz Cortex-A510) CPU, Adreno 644 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition 4nm chipset
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB storage, non-expandable
• 200MP f/1.9 PDAF OIS main + 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide and macro + 2MP f/2.4 depth triple rear cameras, 4K video recording at 30fps, gyro-EIS
• 50MP f/2.4 front camera, 4K video recording at 30fps, gyro-EIS
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band
• Bluetooth v5.2
• NFC
• USB 2.0 Type-C with OTG function
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo
• Multimedia Player
• Sensors: fingerprint (optical, under display), light, proximity, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Battery: 5,000mAh non-removable lithium-ion polymer, supports 66W fast wired charging
• Colors: Midnight Black, Emerald Green, Diamond Silver, Peacock Blue
• HONOR 90 5G Price Philippines: Php24,990