HONOR Philippines has finally launched the highly anticipated HONOR 90 5G. This all-new midrange device packs some serious flagship vibes, what with its 200MP rear camera, improved Portrait system, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted features, and get this—the world’s first zero flicker display on a smartphone.
HONOR also equipped this device with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen1 Accelerated Edition 5G, along with huge RAM and ROM.
What’s more impressive is that all these monster features can be had for under P30,000.
Is it worth the spend? We took the HONOR 90 5G for a spin to check.
Design & construction
Our review unit in Midnight Black flaunts a glossy, ceramic finish that looks really timeless and elegant. However, it can be a fingerprint magnet, so we recommend using the bundled jelly case.
Other color options are Diamond Silver, which has a striking diamond grip pattern, and Emerald Green, which has a smooth frosty texture.
At 7.8mm, the 90 5G is slim and stylish. It’s light to hold at 183 grams but still feels solid in the hands.
The rear camera system has a “Mirror Luna” design, which looks elegant and fascinating. Inspired by the different moon phases, it features circles and ellipses that overlap each other.
The buttons and ports are easily accessible. You have the USB-C port at the bottom flanked on both sides with loudspeakers. The volume keys and power buttons are on the right side of the device.
Display & audio
One big reason why the HONOR 90 5G looks sleek is its quad-curved floating display. The glass panel curves toward the sides, creating an illusion of water on the brink of spilling. Apart from looking gorgeous, this also provides a more expansive real estate.
Of course, the technologies here are very much a factor in the elevated viewing experience. The 6.7-inch AMOLED screen has up to 2664 x 12005 resolution and can display 1.07 billion colors and 100% DCI-P3 color space. Images always appear vibrant, and the text look crisp at all times.
Readability isn’t a problem in this smartphone as it features 1,600nits peak HDR brightness. The content on the screen remains clear even under harsh lighting. Additionally, the screen has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz that you can adjust depending on your current tasks. It can go up to provide buttery smooth visuals when playing games and can intelligently decrease when you’re just reading or browsing.
If you spend long hours on your smartphone, here’s something you’ll love: the HONOR 90 5G comes equipped with 3840Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming technology. What it does is maintain a flicker-free display even in low brightness, which is more comfortable and less straining for the eyes. Oh, and it is also TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free-certified.
Watch the world’s first Zero Flicker display in action below:
For those who love watching content, this phone boasts Amazon Prime Video HDR and Netflix HDR certifications. This simply means it enhances the colors and brightness of the screen when playing videos, ensuring that every scene in your favorite series and movies come to life. The audio system is also decent and complements the gorgeous display.
Camera
We loved using the HONOR 90 5G for taking pictures. It has a triple-camera rear system composed of a 200MP main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide and macro lens, and a 2MP depth camera.
The large main sensor captures a lot of details and provides good low-light performance. The resulting photos are vibrant and detailed and the colors pop.
We also tried the improved Portrait mode, supported by the 2MP depth lens. The resulting pictures are clear and the bokeh appears natural. The 2x zoom function is a great addition to the portrait mode. We prefer the resulting images with the 2x zoom on as it offers better framing and focus on the subject.
Meanwhile, the ultrawide and macro lens allows for flexibility. You can easily switch between taking expansive landscape photos and close-up detailed pictures.
Flip to the front and you get a 50MP selfie camera. Like the rear, images come out with lots of details and are great in terms of quality. The default beautification mode takes time to get used to, but you can easily adjust that to your preferred settings.
Here are some photos we took using the HONOR 90 5G:
HONOR also equipped the 90 5G with AI capabilities. With the AI Video Enhancement turned on, the camera can recognize the scene and recommend the best settings to use so you can shoot videos right away and expect quality footage. There’s also AI-powered noise reduction so you can get clearer audio to go with your clips.
Performance
The HONOR 90 5G delivers supercharged performance thanks to the 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen1 Accelerated Edition 5G processor. We never experienced any lags or delays, even when multiple apps are open simultaneously or when playing graphic-intensive games. The phone also doesn’t heat up that much when in use.
Out of the box, this device runs the latest HONOR MagicOS 7.1, which is based on Android 13. The user experience is smooth and offers a lot of additional functions and customization options. Some of these features are HONOR Share, which allows quick file sharing between this phone and a PC, and Magic Text, which you can use to capture text in photos and make it editable.
It also comes equipped with 12GB of RAM and 512GB Super Storage—more than enough to store your files and support your favorite apps.
Battery life is also impressive. On standby and with Wi-Fi connection always on, the phone only spent around 20% power in three days. For basic use, this phone lasted several days of use. Throw in several hours of gaming or watching content and we still got one whole day before needing to charge again.
Juicing up isn’t a problem either. With the 66W SuperCharge technology, the 5000mAh battery can go from under 5% to around 45% in just 15 minutes.
Pricing & availability
The HONOR 90 5G retails for P24,990 and is now available for pre-order until August 25 on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
Those who pre-order will get a free JBL Flip 6 worth P7,499 until supplies last.
Speed says
The HONOR 90 5G delivers monster specs for a phone with a sub-P30K price. This phone is a beauty with its slim Quad-Curve form factor, Mirror Luna camera design, and floating display. But it’s a beast in terms of performance and industry-leading features, such as its Zero Flicker display, 200MP camera, and massive battery.
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