Honor 200 Pro review – Make it snappy, kid

8.1 Shot-taker

The Honor 200 Pro skirts the boundary between mid-range and flagship. Its crisp, vivid display is impressive although there's plenty of competition in this segment. But that's where the 200 Pro's camera array comes in. Mobile content creators of any description will find a lot to love here.

• Design 7.5
• Performance 8
• Battery 8.5
• Camera 8.5
• Value 8
• User Ratings (2 Votes) 8.7

The Honor 200 Pro arrives as the beefed-up sibling of the Honor 200 and 200 Lite. It’s the biggest of the three and has a larger screen to show for it. It also receives upgrades to its camera sensor and processor.

The 200 series is Honor’s latest entry to its number series, the Chinese smartphone producer’s photo- and videography-centered line, and follows on from last year’s well-performing Honor 90. Let’s take a look at how much it improves on its predecessors, and what these improvements entail.

Badge of Honor

The Honor 200 Pro is 2cm bigger than the 200. The coastline-inspired back panel is nice enough, but looks and feels like standard plastic. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in its durability and we expected a bit more at this price point. Paired with the sharply curved oval camera bump, it creates an odd aesthetic that visually undersells the 200 Pro. Curved bezels help add an air of sophistication, though.

Upfront is a scene-stealing 6.78in AMOLED screen with a 1,224 x 2,700px resolution, a claimed maximum peak brightness of 4,000 nits, and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The faux-metal edge initially looks nice, but that fades after the first few scratches, which didn’t take long. Whether you’re streaming content like Netflix or playing back videos you’ve shot, the visuals are crisp and the colours are vivid. Though elegant, the curved screen can feel like you’re losing viewable pixels at times. Its high responsiveness helps mitigate these problems.

The 200 Pro also features what Honor calls Magic Capsule, an idea it ‘borrowed’ from the iPhone 14 Pro. Proprietary apps like the timer and voice recorder, as well as some third-party apps like YouTube or Spotify, will show up as an easy-to-access notification around the pill-shaped front-facing camera island when they’re running in the background. This forms part of Honor’s AI smarts in its MagicOS-flavoured Android-based operating system.

A zoomer’s camera

Honor’s marketing for the 200 series targets content creators, photographers, and videographers so considerable effort has been made to that effect. The Honor 200 Pro has a triple camera array, comprising a 50MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

With the 200 Pro, Honor seems to be putting most of its eggs in the portrait basket. A partnership with the iconic Studio Harcourt means the Honor 200 and 200 Pro do their best to mimic the look and feel of portrait shots from the Parisian studio with three lighting effects – Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Colour, and Harcourt Classic. Which, if your shots are set up to take advantage of them, can make a big difference.

That being said, it can still struggle with motion and blur which doesn’t make it ideal for dynamic environments where you only have one chance to get a good snap. Boosted by an HDR algorithm, the front camera takes great nighttime shots, recreating detailed light and colour even on a darker skin tone. And if any photobombers sneak in, there are a few AI-powered editing tools to tweak your shots after you’ve taken them.

The 50MP selfie camera and the ability to shoot up to 4K footage at 30fps, also deserve a mention and make the Honor 200 Pro a versatile mid-level phone camera for vlogs and selfies or amateur videography in general.

Deeper than wrap

When it comes to performance, lag is not an issue with the Honor 200 Pro. It runs on the back of a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor which is paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of non-expandable storage. The chip, beyond supporting beefier hardware, is optimised for AI features in software and photography, with a slight boost to audio and network quality.

The GPU gets an upgrade, too, making the 200 Pro capable of handling most processor-heavy tasks. And while it may pick up a bit of heat after 40+ minutes of heavy use, its vapour chamber cooling system is up to the task of steering that heat away from your hands.

The Honor 200 Pro’s 5,200mAh Silicon-carbon battery is more efficient than the standard Lithium-ion cell. This also enables its 100W SuperCharge function, allowing you to charge to 60% in only about 15 minutes, and a full charge in a little more than 40.

A full charge can last you a full day with regular use at a high brightness, and the battery saver options can stretch you even further if you’re in a pinch. Although, you may notice some slowness creep in. The Honor 200 Pro also adds a wireless charging feature for up to 66W of cable-less juice, provided you can find a fast enough wireless charger.

Honor 200 Pro verdict

How much of an improvement is the Honor 200 Pro?  Considering the upgrade in display, camera, and processing power, it’s a pretty notable one. The larger, high-resolution AMOLED screen offers vibrant colors and an immersive viewing experience. The camera system is versatile enough and well-suited for content creators and selfie enthusiasts while the Studio Harcourt modes add some professional-looking filters to play with.

Anyone looking for a smartphone with a capable camera that won’t throw them into financial despair, and that is still powerful enough to handle anything else you throw at it without balking, should take a look at the Honor 200 Pro. It’s every bit as capable as the Honor 90 and boasts enough new stuff to make the R15,000 asking price seem reasonable.