Not every smartphone needs flashy features to get the job done. Sometimes, a big battery, a durable design, useful AI features, and dependable performance are enough—and that’s the approach the HONOR 600S takes.
The good news is that the phone delivers a decent everyday experience, living up to much of what it promises on paper.
The bigger question is whether that makes it worth buying. Priced at P21,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant and P22,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model, the HONOR 600S faces stiff competition in the midrange segment. Here’s how it fared in our review.
Built to take a beating
The HONOR 600S feels solid at 216.5g and 8.3mm thick. It has some heft to it because of the big battery, but the weight is evenly distributed so it’s still comfortable to hold.
Our review unit is in Misty Purple, which is particularly nice. The color is subtle, which works well for a phone intended for everyday use. It’s not flashy, so it can easily match your fit and everyday carry. Other colors available are Desert Gold and Velvet Black.
The phone features a familiar design, with a large display up front and a clean rear panel. The back is kept simple, with a square camera module in the upper-left corner and the HONOR logo near the bottom left. The side-mounted buttons are easy to reach, while the USB-C port and dual-SIM card slot are located along the bottom edge.
But in our opinion, the most important part of this phone’s design is what’s underneath. The HONOR 600S comes with IP68, IP69, and IP69K protection, along with SGS five-star drop resistance. HONOR also cites protection against drops of up to 2.5 meters.
As your daily driver, the HONOR 600S provides confidence that it can handle normal use and abuse. You don’t have to worry much if you accidentally drop it, expose it to the elements, or toss it into a bag with other things.
Good enough display
The HONOR 600S has a 6.872-inch TFT LCD with a 1592 × 720 HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 1,020 nits HBM brightness.
The pros? The screen is large and bordered by thin bezels, the 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling feel smoother, and the brightness is good enough for most everyday situations.
I rewatched Grimm and Hana-Kimi, and streamed Sinners on this, and the overall experience is enjoyable for the most part, especially because the phone also has dual stereo speakers. They can get pretty loud, though sound quality suffers at higher volumes.
However, if you truly consider it, the HD+ resolution is underwhelming for a screen size this big. Text and fine details lack sharpness, while the TFT LCD panel can’t deliver the deep blacks and punchy contrast of an AMOLED display.
If you’re used to a higher-resolution AMOLED screen, the difference is noticeable. Still, the display gets the job done for casual streaming, app scrolling, and social media browsing.
Decent camera on board
The HONOR 600S has a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, an auxiliary lens, and a 5MP f/2.2 front camera. It’s a modest setup, but it works well enough for everyday photography.
In good lighting, photos have decent detail and natural-looking colors, making them suitable for food shots, quick portraits, and social media posts. Low-light photography and zoom are less impressive, even with Night Mode. The lack of optical image stabilization (OIS) also means you’ll need steady hands to avoid blurry shots.
Videos max out at 1080p at 30fps, which is fine for casual recording, provided the lighting cooperates.
The HONOR 600S makes up for its average camera hardware with interesting software tools. The convenience it offers can be appealing to casual content creators: AI features (we’ll talk about this more later), editing tools, templates, collage and batch editing, and built-in video editor.
Capable everyday phone
Under the hood of the HONOR 600S is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 processor, paired with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 613 GPU. This is an entry-level chipset, so expectations need to be realistic. The phone runs MagicOS 10, which is based on Android 16.
For everyday use, this phone does what it needs to do. Social media, messaging, email, web browsing, streaming, and switching between everyday apps are well within its capabilities.
Go for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage max configuration if you plan to keep a lot of files and apps on the phone. But there’s also an option for a 6GB + 128GB configuration.
Casual games run smoothly, but more demanding titles require you to dial down the graphics. A plus here: the phone did not heat up even when we played and watched for hours.
For security, you can use the fingerprint scanner on the side or opt for face unlock. You can’t go wrong here because both are accurate and fast.
The big battery is the star
If there’s one feature that makes the HONOR 600S genuinely stand out, it’s the massive 8100mAh battery.
Our review unit lasted two days on a single charge with casual use, including social media, video streaming, photography, and light gaming, while staying connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi.
That means less worrying about finding a charger before the day ends.
The phone also supports 45W HONOR SuperCharge. While not the fastest charging solution available, it makes topping up the large battery reasonably convenient.
Unlimited possibilities with AI
HONOR puts a lot of emphasis on AI with the 600S. The phone comes with AI Image-to-Video 2.0, Moving Photo Editing, AI Photos Agent, Magic Color, Magic Pose, and other AI-powered tools.
If you’re into this type of content or find uses for this function, the Image-to-Video 2.0 lets you take a still photo and use AI to turn it into a short video. The phone does not limit you to simply pressing a button and accepting whatever the phone generates. You can use prompts to describe what you want to happen, and reference images to guide the result.
Outputs can be hit or miss, and won’t replace professional editing software, but having generative AI tools at this price point is a welcome bonus for casual creators.
Other useful features include AI editing tools, AI Memory, AI summaries, and Circle to Search. A dedicated AI button also provides quicker access to these functions.
Speed says
The HONOR 600S nails the basics with excellent battery life, durability, reliable everyday performance, useful AI features, and a capable 50MP camera. The 8GB + 256GB configuration also makes it a practical daily driver.
However, its price warrants a closer look at the trade-offs, including the HD+ TFT display, average camera performance, and entry-level chipset.
