Review-of-HONOR-400-in-the-UAE
HONOR 400
Summary
The HONOR 400 was tested for over 25 days and performed excellently. It boasts the best features of Android 15 and AI Google Veo 2. The device comes with 12GB RAM, 12GB RAM Plus, and 512GB storage, making it a versatile option for professionals, gamers, vloggers, photographers, and videographers alike.
Introduction
HONOR, as a brand, has been gaining popularity among mobile users. The brand is known for providing the best features in line with market requirements at reasonable prices. The brand’s flagship mobile, Magic 7 Pro, has been rated as one of the best cameras for a mobile phone in the Android market and surpasses the latest Apple phone as well. HONOR has been collaborating with Google on AI and has been incorporating the latest technology into its phones. The HONOR 400 series smartphones are the first phones to receive the Google VEO feature “Image to Video” and have been popular among consumers. The 400 series consists of HONOR 400 and HONOR 400 Pro smartphones.
I received the HONOR 400 smartphone for review, so please read the full review in detail.
The Review
Design & Specification
The HONOR 400 measures 156.5 x 74.6 x 7.3 mm (Model No—DNY-NX9) and weighs 184 grams. It has a 6.55″ AMOLED display. The HONOR front display is protected by chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass—a durable, scratch-resistant layer. The body of the HONOR 400 features flat sides, a sleek metal frame, and a glass front and back. The back panel features a non-smudging surface. The review we received is Desert Gold.
HONOR 400 display has a resolution of 2736×1264 pixels. It has ~460 density with a 120Hz refresh rate, is HDR10+ certified, and is 5000 nits (peak). The device features a 19.5:9 ratio with a screen-to-body ratio of ~90.3%.
HONOR 400 Primary Camera details
The HONOR 400 features dual cameras: a 200MP primary camera and a 12MP secondary camera. It has autofocus, OIS, and gyro-EIS. It supports resolutions of up to 16384×12288 pixels and 3840×2160 pixels for video. The camera has a 30x digital zoom.
HONOR 400 Selfie Camera details
The HONOR 400 features a single 50.0 MP camera. It has autofocus and gyro-EIS. It supports video resolutions of up to 3840 x 2160 pixels and image resolutions of up to 8192 x 6144 pixels.
Body Details
The right side of the body features volume rockers and a power button, which also serves as the Gemini Voice (voice assistant). The left side is clean with no interaction. The bottom features a dual-SIM card tray and a USB Type-C port, which also includes a microphone and speaker. On the top side are a mic, an earpiece, and a speaker grill, which doubles as a speaker when the phone is held horizontally.
The phones come with NFC and support Google Pay, as well as NFC Membership cards. The device does not support Wireless Charging and features a 6000 mAh battery.
Testing the Cameras
When I received the HONOR 400 smartphone, I used it to click images in daylight and shoot pictures and videos at night.
The HONOR 400 performs well with the help of AI. The colours of the images were great, and the selfies were good. There are four modes: 4x, 2x, 1x, and wide-angle 0.6. The wide-angle lens is decent and captures quite a lot, including subjects in the distance and even those in close-ups. The camera has instant face detection and focus. You can click a selfie, a motion image, or a video.
You can use a timer to click a snap and switch to flash mode, brightening the screen as much as possible. Under shooting mode, you can click images and videos by pressing the volume button, voice commands, floating shutter button and showing your palm (hand gestures). The selfie camera has video gyro-EIS stabilisation. The front camera can shoot videos at 4 K (30/60 fps) and 1080p (30/60 fps).
Testing the Primary Triple Camera
Let’s discuss the primary camera, which features a dual-lens setup. The main cameras of the HONOR 400 performed excellently with few issues.
I reviewed the device in broad daylight and at night and tested it in low-light areas, as the camera supports very low-light exposure. The AI technology and effects corrected and produced higher-quality images, as the lens is relatively small compared to those of a professional digital camera with a larger lens.
The primary camera can record 4K video at 30 fps (7680 x 4320), as well as 240 fps and 120 fps slow-motion footage at 1080p. It supports HDR10+ recording, features a digital zoom of up to 30x, and captures 50MP still photos with a 0.6 to 4x zoom. The primary camera sensor captured the images and reproduced them with vibrant colours.
Under the photo and video mode, you have presets of 0.6, 1x, 2x and 4x. Under the video mode, you have a super steady ON/OFF mode, which allows you to record in QHD and FHD modes, supporting 60 fps and 30 fps. The Still and Video can be shot in 9:16, 4:3 and 1:1 ratios. The camera clicks 50 MP, which clicks 16384×12288p.
While clicking images in low-light areas, the primary camera, whether in night mode or normal mode, focuses quite well and captures a good amount of light from the camera sensor. The images were taken in an area with very little light, and the image taken with the camera shows the area and the subject, which is a plant. However, I could not say that the image had excellent quality, as it contained a lot of noise. I encountered a slight issue with the focus sharpness while taking photos of the flowers.
I have tried to click the flowers in the house from various distances, but I encountered problems with achieving a perfectly sharp image, especially when I attempted to crop the image. Even the image in the macro shot was not very sharp.
The primary camera performed very well during the daytime, and with AI, the colours were vibrant and clear.
The HONOR 400 comes with a Harcourt preset, which provides a ready-to-use colour LUT and setting. This allows you to click images like a professional photographer with little knowledge of lighting and angles.
The camera also has additional settings under “More,” where you can select Aperture mode, Movie mode, which provides a specific colour tone to the video, Slow-Motion, Panorama, Light Painting, Lapse, Sticker, Super Macro, and High-Res.
You can create multi-video and story content, which is great for vlogging. Stage mode helps control the light setting and stabilises the camera lens for better and sharper image and video quality, and it supports scanning documents.
Overall, I am impressed with the camera’s output, colours, and accuracy of the portrait mode, although the image was slightly less sharp.
Testing the front (Selfie) Camera
The HONOR 400 features a single 50.0 MP camera. The focus capture of the selfie camera was excellent. Even when taking a selfie in sunlight, the camera adjusted the lighting conditions to provide a well-lit image with my face visible. The selfie camera includes beautify mode, background blur, and preset LUT colour styles for enhanced image aesthetics in various lighting and shooting conditions.
It offers eight filter modes that adjust facial contours, including big eyes, slim jawline, skin smoothing, brightening, toning, touch-up, smaller nose, and a trimmer face.
You can capture selfies in night, portrait, and standard photo modes with focal length options of 0.8x and 1x for wider shots.
Selfie Video Modes
Shoot crisp 4K or 1080p selfie videos at 30 FPS with built-in beautify mode and six unique real-time video filters. The selfie camera supports wide-angle lenses with 0.5x and 1x focal lengths, making it ideal for group shots and scenic vlogs. For low-light Selfie photography, the camera adjusts the lighting using the screen brightness. The 3D camera provides focus and, most importantly, security for face unlocking, which is supposed to be more secure than the bare single-camera face unlock.
The colour, lighting, and sharpness of the selfie image were excellent, and even when testing the selfie video against the sun, the camera produced terrific results.
HONOR 400 Hardware
The HONOR 400 released in this region has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Mobile Platform with Adreno 720, which scored excellently on the benchmark. The device came with Magic OS 9.0, based on Android 15 (up to 6 major Android upgrades). The transition, opening, and closing of the apps happened with ease. It comes with a 6000mAh battery that can last more than 2 days with heavy usage, including making calls, surfing the internet, and watching videos.
It does not support wireless charging, but it does support super-fast 80W wired charging. The device comes with HONOR Share, which allows you to wirelessly share files, images, and documents with other HONOR devices. You can also wirelessly print documents with wireless printers and share files with computers on the same network.
The device I received for review is the 12GB RAM model, specifically the 12GB RAM Plus, which comes with 512GB of internal storage (ROM). It features Bluetooth 5.4, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, and a Zoom-in Mic, making it practical for recording videos.
The HONOR 400 features a Dual stereo speaker setup and supports DTS:X Ultra sound effects. The phone also features a HONOR Surround Subwoofer, which I have tested and found to be excellent for smartphones compared to other flagship phones.
The phone has an IP66 rating, so you can’t submerge it in water, but it is splash-proof and dust-proof.. It can take some heavy splash water pressure.
HONOR 400 AI Features
Google Veo 2 – “AI Image to Video”
The main feature highlighted by the brand is the first smartphone to receive the Google Veo 2 feature, which allows you to create 5 5-second videos from an image. There are limitations on the number of images that can be converted under the trial mode.
I have used the “AI Image to Video” feature to transfer many old images of myself, my wife, parents, relatives, and friends, and some of the video results were terrific. You can regenerate the same image again and get a different result. There are still some hiccups in the movement or the correct face as the AI software tries its best to create a video as close to realistic as possible.
For HONOR 400 users who are using this feature, they should continue to try regenerating the image to video to achieve the best output to their liking.
You can upscale your image and also extend it, such as by adding a surrounding frame. Other AI tools: Includes translation, Magic Portal, motion-sickness relief, and an AI camera button
The HONOR 400 comes with the latest AI features, which identify objects, scenes, and lighting conditions and adjust the colour and intensity of the lighting accordingly. It features a Google Circle, which allows you to select an object, such as a handbag or a flower, and retrieve information about it. It also suggests buying options and websites.
The AI colour correction, especially at night, was excellent. However, sometimes, I prefer to use the Pro mode to capture images, as I don’t want to add unwanted brightness or colour correction.
Gemini Live
The HONOR 400 comes with Gemini. By pressing the power button for 2 seconds, a pop-up screen appears at the bottom of the display. You can type your question or press “Gemini Live” and interact directly with your phone, even interrupting to change your question. I feel that this Google feature is still in its early stages.
AI Deepfake Detection
The HONOR 400 features a built-in AI deepfake detection capability. This means the phone can analyse video calls in real time and detect if someone on the other end uses a deepfake to impersonate someone else. This valuable security feature can help protect users from scams and other malicious activities.
Benchmark Test Results
The HONOR 400 was tested on various benchmark apps. The Geekbench 6 CPU scored a Single-core Score of 1143 and a Multi-Core Score of 3143. 3DMark score: Wild Life scored 5342, Steel Nomad Light scored 491, and PCMark scored 13127. The AI Benchmark Score was 151.
Overall Verdict
The HONOR 400 was tested for over 25 days and performed excellently. It has the best features that Android 15 can provide, including AI. My device comes with 12GB RAM, 12GB RAM Plus, and 512GB storage, making it a versatile option for anyone from business professionals to gamers, vloggers, photographers, and videographers. And it is IP66-rated. So, the HONOR 400 is perfect for the new generation who want all the AI and support from Google’s features like “AI Image to Video”. According to my benchmark score, it is the highest I have got on any smartphone I have reviewed so far.
Price and Availability for HONOR 400
For the Middle East market, you have a choice of three colours – Desert Gold, Meteor Silver, and Midnight Black. The HONOR 400 is priced at AED 1,599 on honor.com and comes with several complimentary gifts, including the HONOR Choice S7 earbuds and a Louvre Abu Dhabi case. You can also add HONOR Care+ for an additional AED 98, which provides a 12-month extended warranty.
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