Honor 90 Review: 5 Reasons to Buy, 2 to Skip!

PROS

• Sleek & Comfortable in-hand feel
• Best in Segment Display
• Creative Camera Modes
• Wide angle Selfie Shooter
• AI Noise Canceling

CONS

• Mono Speakers
• Price to Performance Ratio

Honor, the once-popular smartphone brand, has made a triumphant return to the Indian market with the Honor 90. After a three-year hiatus, this smartphone seeks to re-establish Honor's presence in India, boasting impressive features and hardware. In this review, we'll delve into the device's strengths, drawbacks, and its overall value proposition.

Verdict: Honor 90, A Strong Start but Room for Improvement

The Honor 90 is undoubtedly a capable smartphone, offering an enticing blend of design, best in segment display, intuitive camera modes, and decent gaming capabilities.

5 Reasons to Buy Honor 90

Sleek & Comfortable in-hand feel: The Honor 90 offers a slim and lightweight design that feels great to hold. Its ergonomic shape makes it easy to use with one hand, ensuring a comfortable user experience.
Best in Segment Display: The smartphone boasts a top-tier display with a 6.7-inch Quad-curved Floating Display. It offers stunning visuals, exceptional brightness, and innovative eye-friendly features, making it one of the best displays in its segment.

Creative Camera Modes: The Honor 90's camera system is not only versatile but also comes with creative modes that enhance your photography experience. Whether it's capturing intricate details in macro shots or achieving a beautiful bokeh effect in portrait mode, the camera offers plenty of creative possibilities.

Wide-angle Selfie Shooter: Selfie enthusiasts will appreciate the wide-angle selfie camera, which allows for capturing more in your selfies. It's a great addition for group shots or scenic backgrounds in your self-portraits.

AI Noise Canceling: If you're a vlogger on the move or just someone who wants crystal-clear audio, the Honor 90's AI noise canceling is your secret weapon.

2 Reasons to Skip Honor 90

Mono Speakers: Despite its many strengths, the Honor 90 features a mono speaker setup. While it doesn't compromise audio quality entirely, stereo speakers could have provided a more immersive sound experience, especially when consuming multimedia content.

Price to Performance Ratio: The smartphone's price-to-performance ratio may not be the most compelling in its segment. While it offers a range of impressive features, its overall performance, camera performance in low-light conditions, and certain hardware specifications might leave some users wanting more for the price.

Design and Display: Best in Segment

The Honor 90's design is elegant and understated, featuring a distinctive oval-shaped camera module inspired by jewelry design. The rear panel, while claimed to be glass, has a matte finish that feels more like polycarbonate, though it's resistant to fingerprint smudges. The phone is lightweight and comfortably curved, making it easily the most comfortable and my favorite phone to use with one-hand.

The Honor 90 sets itself apart with an exceptional display that outshines even the Samsung S23 Ultra. What's the secret to this visual brilliance? It's the innovative flicker-free feature, known as PWM dimming, which places your eye comfort at the forefront, particularly when navigating low-light environments. Simply put:

• The Honor 90's display not only dazzles with its stunning visuals but also prioritizes your eye health. Unlike some competitors, this device leverages PWM dimming technology to reduce flickering and minimize eye strain, especially when you find yourself in dimly lit surroundings.

• This thoughtful approach to display technology goes a long way in enhancing your overall viewing experience. It's a clear win for users who value both top-tier visuals and the well-being of their eyes, making the Honor 90 a standout choice in the crowded smartphone landscape.

The 6.7-inch Quad-curved Floating Display is a cherry on top of the cake. Swiping in any direction feels buttery smooth. The AMOLED panel and 1.5K resolution, provides sharp, vibrant visuals and the Honor 90 has a brightness of up to 1,600 nits.

Unfortunately, the audio experience falls short due to a single bottom-firing speaker. Stereo speakers would have enhanced the overall multimedia experience.

Camera Features: Honor 90

The show stopper for me personally is the multi-video mode, a feature which no-other smartphone does better than the Honor 90. In this mode:

• I could easily switch between the front and rear cameras.different modes
• Both rear lenses can record at the same time for multiple POVs
• Front and Rear split-screen shooting is available
• PiP (picture-in-picture) is also available

AI Noise canceling is also available on disposal and can be turned on/off on the fly. It detects all that unwanted background noise and swoops in to reduce it and your voice takes the spotlight. If you're a vlogger on the move or just someone who wants crystal-clear audio, the Honor 90's AI noise canceling is your secret weapon

The 200-megapixel primary camera captures detailed, sharp, and vibrant images in daylight. Colors pop, and focus accuracy is commendable. The ultra-wide camera performs well, although colors lack the vividness of the primary camera.

In portrait mode, the depth sensor effectively separates subjects from the background, providing a pleasing bokeh effect. Since the ultra-wide packs in the auto-focus, it doubles up as a macro lens. The macro mode allows for close-up shots with intricate details, producing satisfactory results.

However, the night mode needs improvement, with slower shutter-speed and processing of the images. The competition, like the OnePlus Nord 3, outperforms the Honor 90 in low-light photography.

Performance and Software: A Mixed Bag

Under the hood, the Honor 90 is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 accelerated edition chipset. While it handles day-to-day tasks with ease and offers efficient performance, it lags behind some competitors in its price range when it comes to raw performance and gaming capabilities. However, gaming enthusiasts will appreciate features like mistouch prevention mode and customizable game settings.

The smartphone runs on MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13, which provides a clean and smooth user experience. While Honor has minimized bloatware compared to previous models, its software support commitment of two major OS updates and three years of security patches falls short of competitors like Samsung, OnePlus, and Google.

Battery Life: Dependable with Fast Charging

The Honor 90 packs a robust 5,000mAh battery that easily lasts a full day with moderate use. It features 66W fast charging support, but it's worth noting that the Indian retail unit only includes a 30W charger which takes roughly about 1 hour 20 minutes to fully charge the device, which is on the slower side when compared to the smartphones under the 40k bracket.

Conclusion: Honor 90, should you buy it?

Overall, the Honor 90 offers an appealing package with its sleek design, exceptional display, and creative camera features. However, potential buyers should be aware of its mono speaker setup and consider their preferences regarding the price-to-performance ratio before making a purchase decision. At a starting price of Rs 37,999, the Honor 90 presents a solid option for those seeking a smartphone under Rs 40,000. However, with its share of compromises and stiff competition from the likes of iQOO Neo 7 Pro, Nothing Phone (2), and Google, it doesn't entirely outshine its rivals. Honor has made a commendable comeback, but there's room for refinement in future iterations.