HONOR-70-rating
[editorial-rating id=”22326″]
On 17th August 2022, Honor launched the Honor 70 series of smart mobiles in the Middle East and they also launched the Honor 70 smartphone.
We got the opportunity to get the Honor 70 handset delivered by the PR team at my residence and below are the details and the review.
Body & Specification
The Honor 70 smartphone (Model – FNE-NX9) smartphone has a dimension of 161.4 x 73.3 x 7.9mm and it weighs 178 grams which includes a non-removal battery. It has an OLED 120Hz capacitive touchscreen and a size of 6.67 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels with a screen ~395ppi density. It has an ~90.8% screen-to-body ratio and a resolution of 20:9ratio. The body build has a plastic back and matt black aluminum frame with the front OLED display and the back panel comes with a colour that the company calls – Midnight black which is a shiny mirror finish.
The Honor 70 smartphone comes with Android 12 as the operating system with the Magic UI – 6.1.0.137 as the user interface. It uses Qualcomm SM7325-AE Snapdragon 778G+ 5G (6 nm) + (GPU) Adreno 642L with 8GB RAM + 2GB (Honor RAM Turbo) and 256 GB ROM internal storage for the UAE market.
It comes with Triple cameras on the rear 54 MP + 50 MP + 2 MP. The front round in-screen camera has a single 32 MP lens embedded into the display.
The main camera can shoot video at 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, and gyro-EIS and the front camera can shoot video at 1080p@30fps, and gyro-EIS. Honor 70 smartphone features Dual-LED flash, HDR, and panorama
The Honor 70 frame is thin as the display and back panel edges are curved to make the body very sleek and thin. The right side of the frame has the power button and volume rockers and the left-hand side is clean with no buttons or controls. Honor word is on the back panel on the left side with gold printed with “AI Matrix Camera”. The fingerprint sensor is enabled in the OLED display. The phone has Dual SIM (2 Nano SIMs, 5G + 5G) Card slot which has. The phone supports GPS, GLONASS, BDS. The bottom side of the phone has the dual SIM Tray, USB Type- C super-charge (66W) input, speaker grills and mic and the top side is clean with a single mic and thin ear speaker.
The Review
The device which I have received for review is Midnight Black and the back panel is made of plastic with a glossy shiny mirror finish. With the ~90.8% screen-to-body ratio and a resolution of 20:9ratio, the bezel of the phone is thin and almost merges with the frame of the phone. The curved back panel and display make the phone sleek and very thin and as Honor says “Dual-curved Arcs”. The only thing you will notice is in the top area where it houses the single-lens camera in punch hole type embedded in the screen.
Honor 70 is a mid-range smartphone created for the audience who is looking for a good camera and work-horse phone with and budget of around AED1800.
Honor 70 Cameras
The Honor 70 comes with a SONY IMX800 image Sensor for the cameras. The front camera is a single 32 MP, f/2.4, (wide) and the photo resolution is 4064 x 3072px at 72dpi and has a sensor for face detection and the Bokeh effect.
Some of the additional features of the front selfie camera under photo mode, in the AI setting, Auto Smile Capture and the palm gesture, so when you hold your open palm in front of the front camera, it gives you a 3-sec count and clicks a selfie. Multi-Video option where you can record with main cameras and selfie camera recording simultaneously. You can record videos at 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, and gyro-EIS. Under the photo and video option, you can shoot with Ai, FHD, 4K and also HDR. During Selfie with flash, where it uses the screen is full brightness white light as a flash. You can also shoot selfies mode. Under more options, you have Dual Capture photo and video. Under the portrait mode, you can Bokeh effect and also 0.5 zoom and normal mode.
Under the camera’s App more options, there are various modes where you can also record short selfie GIF or MP4 and share it on social media. It also has a live filter which helps to give a colour preset tone to your image but options are very limited to other phones I have reviewed.
The phone comes with Auto tracking of the subject and you can select a subject from the horizontal camera position and choose SOLO Cut Mode by switching the main camera tracks the subject with focus and you get a separate Solo cut video along with the horizontal video. So in one shot, you have two videos captured, an overall video and a separate solo view of the chosen subject.
The back panel of the Honor 70 houses the triple cameras and the LED flash on the left-hand side of the 2 circular shapes jutting out a little. The triple cameras consist of 54 MP, f/1.9, (wide), 1/1.49″, and PDAF. Second camera 50 MP, f/2.2, 122˚ (ultra-wide), AF. And the third camera is 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth).
The main camera general setting can click images in 4604px X 3072px in 72dpi. In Ultra mode, you get 8768 × 6144px in 72dpi. In the video mode, the camera clicks 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS
The autofocus is good, with half-second delays measured under even easy lighting conditions. It also has the pro mode where you can do manual adjustment of exposure value (EV), white balance (WB), Auto Focus (AF), Exposure (ISO) and also 54 MP mode.
Under the expert mode, you have the option to use all the cameras, wide-angle/macro lens, standard lens, and telescopic lens. In the more setting option, you can also choose aspect ratio from 3:4, 9:16 and Full screen. Under the resolution, you can select recommended 9.6MP or 6.6MP and under Pro mode, you get RAW images.
In the video mode, you have additional options like Slow motion, time-lapse and spot colour. You shoot video in 1x, Wide 0.5x and macro mode. The camera records FullHD 1920 x 1080 and 3840 × 2160px and sound capture is pretty good the camera automatically focuses on the subject and creates a Bokeh effect and also allows to fix focus (AE/AF lock) when clicking on the subject via holding the finger for few seconds on the screen.
(Please note: AE/AF Lock to be used sensibly as it may cause out of focus of the video if moved from the subject with the locked to another far away subject)
Operating System and Software
The operating system of Honor 70, has the latest Android 12 operating system with the Magic UI – 6.1.0.137 as the user interface. So, with Android 12.0, the Honor 70 has all the latest features like AI beautification, creamy Bokeh for portraits, and AI recognition of up to 500 scenes. It uses Qualcomm SM7325-AE Snapdragon 778G+ 5G (6 nm) + (GPU) Adreno 642L with 8GB RAM + 2GB (Honor RAM Turbo) and 256 GB ROM internal storage for the UAE market and Android 12 also helps in better more accurate facial brightness, contrast for selfies on the front cameras and scene-by-scene optimizations for shots taken on the rear and enhancing the photography effects. There was no major lag between screens or scrolling the apps, it was quite smooth and fast.
Benchmark Testing
The Honor 70 was tested with various benchmark testing Apps. On the PC Mark benchmark, it scored 12623. On the 3DMark benchmark, under the Wildlife test, it scored 2664. On GFX scored Aztec Ruins Open GL – 1268 frames (20FPS) and 4K Aztec Ruins Vulkan – 1320 frames (20FPS). On AI Benchmark scored 312.6. On the Geek benchmark, it scored 820 on single-core and 2932 on multi-core.
While on benchmark testing the smartphone, the temperature of the body rose to 34°C and the CPU temperature rose to 38°C.
(Please note: Most of the smartphones while reviewing and testing had an average body temperature of 32°C to 37°C)
Sound & Audio
Honor 70 has a single-side speaker grill you can hear sound coming from the bottom side when you are holding the smartphone vertically and horizontally. (Wish! it had dual speakers)
The trebles, mid-level was clear and the bass was decent for a smartphone. The volume is quite clear. The device comes with two mics – on top and bottom and the bottom beside the USB Type C charging port. The device supports Hi-Res audio format.
Honor 70 was tested with various types of videos played and different genres of music and it passed above average compared to other competitors in a similar price range.
(Please note: The smartphone was held at a distance of 1- 2 feet while testing the audio quality)
Honor 70 for Gaming
The performance while playing Asphalt 9 was really good. With 8GB RAM and 120Hz refresh rate screen and good audio, my experience while playing was satisfying. The smartphone speakers are good and loud. And you have the option to take screenshots while playing the game and a lot more.
Connectivity & Battery
The smartphone has a fingerprint sensor, face detection, pattern and pin for accessing the smartphone. The Smartphone supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot 5.2, A2DP, LE, and aptX HD. The smartphone comes with a non-removable Li-Po 4800 mAh battery which can last more than 3 days with average usage. The smartphone comes with USB Type- C charging input which can charge the phone at 66W fast charging and I could get 60% charge in 20mins. It can also do 5W reverse but wired. The Honor 70 comes with NFC too.
Conclusion
Honor 70 is a good smartphone for the price, the phone is a mid-range with all the great features for gaming, and watching online entertainment. The Solo Cut Mode is a great feature, especially capturing two videos simultaneously with one Solo Cut and the overall video. The built quality and colour make the phone very rich and stylish. 54MP Quad cameras with AI support makes this smartphone one of the best in the competition. As for the selfies, the single 32MP lens can make difference with the Ai function which can give a very nice creamy Bokeh effect and focus on your face when clicked on the screen for focus. It has a quick and sharp focus system.
With 256GB ROM is quite good enough for storage and with the Dual Card SIM Tray, it is a good smartphone for the price and can run for the money to its competitors.
With all the AR and AI effects and functions, it is a very young, stylish and perfect companion for teens and gamers.
The daylight shot was sharp and good and 32MP selfies were natural and the colour output was great. The zoom has 8x which could have been better.
Under low light or night photography, the output was good with the colour saturated with the AI and less noise in the images.
Overall, for the price and in the Mid-range phone, it is a good buy for the consumer.
Packaging of Honor 70 & Price
The Honor 70 smartphone comes in white packing with Gold embossed “Honor 70” printed on all sides. On opening the box, you will find the smartphone in a translucent cover in a plastic tray. Digging further, you will find the white paper sleeve with a transparent protective back cover with a SIM removal tool, quick guide and warranty card. Below the sleeve, you will find the 66W super-charger plug, and the USB Type C charging cable.
The Honor 70 launch price was AED 1799 and is available in various online and retail stores. Consumers will get additional gifts like Honor Earbuds 2 lite, VIP Service and Honor 70 PU case.
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