Several weeks after the Honor 90 Lite, Honor has finally formalized the arrival in France of the “standard” model of its “90” range. The Honor 90 is an ambitious smartphone with a balanced technical sheet, powered by a customized version of the Snapdrahon 7 Gen 1. But its main argument remains its main photo sensor with a definition of 200 megapixels. Offered at 599 euros, it will be on sale from July 19, 2023. And pre-orders have already started.
It’s no surprise: Honor made it official today, Thursday, July 6, 2023the arrival in France of its “premium mid-range” flagship, the Honor 90. Unsurprisingly for four reasons. First, the smartphone was launched in late May in China. Then because its predecessor, the Honor 70 benefited from a European launch. In addition, the Honor 90 Lite has already been marketed in France since June 20. It thus serves as an introduction to its big brother, of course. Finally, the brand has widely discussed the arrival of the phone on social networks.
Read also – Vivo launches the V29 Lite in Europe, a complete and elegant smartphone at 350 €
The Honor 90 therefore arrives in France. Its price is 599 euros (excluding promotion and pre-order). There is only one configuration. It comes with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The telephone therefore undergoes a increase of 50 euros, since the Honor 70 was offered from 549 euros. But the configuration of the Honor 90 is much more generous than that of the Honor 70. The Honor 90 is much more interesting than even the best version of the Honor 70 which was also sold at 599 euros. Inflation is therefore largely justified.
The Honor 90 is more expensive, but it is justified
Another reason for this price increase is the improvement of the rest of the technical sheet, of course. We have already covered all the important elements of it at the end of May. Here’s a reminder for the few latecomers:
- Screen AMOLED 120Hz Full HD+ 6.7 inches
- Qualcomm processor Snapdragon 7 Gen 1
- 12 GB RAM
- 512 GB of storage
- Battery 5000mAh 66 watt fast charge compatible
- Fingerprint reader under the screen
- WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
- Android 13 and Magic OS 7.1
Thanks to the French launch, we learn some additional information. First on the screen. It is curved on all four sides. It takes advantage of many technologies integrated into the screen of the Magic5 Pro, in particular all functions related to eyestrain such as circadian display, dynamic gradation, HDR upscaling of standard quality sources, or HDR10+ and HDR Netflix certification.
On the technical platform side, we find a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, the SoC which replaced the Snapdragon 778G in the catalog of the Californian founder. We would have clearly preferred a newer Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2. But the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is already a good component, engraved in 4 nm at Samsung and whose frequency can go up to 2.4 GHz for the most powerful core. It is powered by a 200 mAh battery that is more generous than that of the Honor 70. For charging, the powers accepted remain the same.
The Honor 90 has a 200 megapixel photo sensor
We must turn to the side of the photo for the most significant changes between the Honor 70 and the Honor 90. The number of sensors does not change: 3 at the back and 1 at the front. But three of them are changed. And these are the three most important. Here is an overview of this configuration:
- Main: photo sensor 200 megapixelslens opening at f/1.9, phase detection autofocus
- Panorama: sensor 12 megapixelslens opening at f/2.2, autofocus with contrast measurement, 112° angle of view
- Calculation of distances: 2 megapixel sensor, lens opening at f/2.4
- selfie: sensor 50 megapixelslens opening at f/2.4
The main sensor therefore goes from 50 megapixels to 200 megapixels. Without optical zoom, this sensor promises digital zoom full of details thanks to its very high definition. By default, it produces 12.5 megapixel photos, combining 16 pixels into a coarse 2.24 microns. Still no optical stabilization here, it’s a shame. The ultra wide-angle goes the opposite way: it goes from 50 megapixels to 12 megapixels. The objective is to provide as much brightness as possible. With its autofocus, it also performs macros. The selfie sensor goes from 32 to 50 megapixels, offering the possibility of film in 4K. Honor accompanies these changes with some new software functions: dynamic photos (response to Live Photos from Apple), HDR video mode or even multi-video mode.
The first grip of the Honor 90 is good
Last important point missing from the official technical sheet: the Honor 90 will benefit from two Android updates (thus including Android 14 and Android 15), as well as 3 years of security updates. We expect a little more from Honor on this point, because the vast majority of manufacturers are increasing the duration of technical support for their phones, especially in the premium segments where the Honor 90 is located.
We had the opportunity to take control of the smartphone in preview. And it is clear that it benefits from modern and practical ergonomics. The design of the photo module is slightly different from that of the Honor 70. But it remains close enough to be easy to recognize, especially by fans of the brand. We did not have the opportunity to carry out all our benchmarks and our measurements on this model. And we can’t wait to experience the performance of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 which will be tested for the first time in our columns.
The Honor 90 is available in three colors: black, white and green/blue (the color depends on the angle). The black is very shiny and retains fingerprints a lot. The blue is slightly iridescent (a bit like Oppo’s Reno). And white is clearly the most interesting, with a diamond texture. The grip of the smartphone is good, thanks to this curved screen which thins the product without reducing the display space. We will publish in July a complete test which will confirm (or not) this first positive impression.
