Honor has formally launched new mid-range telephones in Europe, with the Professional mannequin coming to the area for the primary time.
The Honor 200 (£499.99) and 200 Professional (£699.99) had been each unveiled at an occasion in Paris, becoming a member of the 200 Lite (£279.99), which was already out there.
After all, given the distinct worth factors, there are many variations between them. I’ve been testing the Professional mannequin, which mixes a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset with 6.78-inch 120Hz OLED display screen and 5200mAh battery with 100W quick charging.
Nevertheless, as is the case with so many mid-range and flagship telephones, the cameras are the primary focus. And with 5 lenses and quite a lot of software program modes, there’s loads to speak about. After taking on 100 images utilizing the Honor 200 Professional, listed here are my prime observations.
Take portraits to the subsequent stage
Honor has collaborated with French portrait specialist Studio Harcourt to incorporate its performance straight throughout the digicam app
As soon as you choose portrait mode, you’re given three filters to select from: Harcourt Vibrant (most just like a daily shot), Harcourt Color (with extra muted, hotter tones) and Harcourt Traditional (in black and white).
Alongside what Honor calls its ‘AI Portrait Engine’, the outcomes are spectacular. Even with none portrait experience, I used to be capable of get wonderful, reasonable pictures with out a lot effort. The separation between the topic and background was persistently superb, whereas the flexibility to have the ability to shoot with the two.5x optical telephoto zoom is nice.
Nevertheless, it’s price noting that you would be able to’t modify the extent of background blur after the shot is taken – solely earlier than. Different telephones do provide this function, so it’s a disgrace to not see it right here.
A grasp of low gentle
The Honor 200 Professional takes superb images when there’s loads of gentle (pure or synthetic), but it surely’s arguably much more spectacular when issues get darker.
Initially, I examined it out at nightfall, the place the distinction of darkish shadows and brighter, detailed skies could be a problem for any cellphone. It dealt with it impeccably, producing a shot that’s brimming with element and nonetheless appears to be like very pure.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Even when it was just about darkish, the cellphone illuminated the sky in a extremely enticing approach. It won’t be true to life, however that’s not what I needed from the picture anyway.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
In terms of low gentle, the 200 Professional is undoubtedly up there with the easiest.
Detailed close-up pictures
Apparently, Honor markets the 12Mp rear sensor as each a 2.5x telephoto and a macro lens.
The latter isn’t a precedence for many smartphone photographers, however the close-up pictures the 200 Professional can produce are effectively above common.
I examined it on a number of various kinds of vegetation, and whereas the outcomes weren’t all the time nice, there have been a couple of genuinely wonderful close-up pictures. Honor says you may get detailed photographs from as shut as 2.5cm to your topic, a declare that appears to be correct more often than not.
Nice selfies – with or with out background blur
The scale of the digicam cut-out on the entrance of the 200 Professional will divide opinion, particularly because it lacks the Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor that makes 3D face unlock doable on the Magic 6 Professional.
Nevertheless, Honor has nonetheless put the 200 Professional’s two lenses to good use in terms of selfies. The 50Mp major digicam delivers crisp, well-exposed selfies with usually correct colors, whereas a separate 2Mp depth sensor permits reasonable portrait-style pictures.
There aren’t any Studio Harcourt modes out there right here, however edge detection and background blur are each nonetheless spectacular.
Ultrawide not fairly as much as scratch
Up to now, so superb for the Honor 200 Professional’s cameras. However sadly, there’s nonetheless one factor holding it again: the 12Mp ultrawide.
Like so many telephones, this third lens merely isn’t nearly as good because the 50Mp major and 50Mp telephoto. When evaluating them straight, there’s a noticeable drop-off intimately and color accuracy, whereas publicity additionally proves extra of a problem.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
It’s a disgrace, as the flexibleness of a 112˚ area of view is genuinely helpful in some conditions. However not like the opposite rear cameras, I wouldn’t be assured in persistently taking high-quality images utilizing it.
Total, the Honor 200 Professional is an excellent digicam cellphone, however hasn’t fairly reached the elite stage of some flagships.
