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Honor 20 Pro review

a_hcir
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So the Honor 20 Pro seems to be awesome when you look at all the specs: Fast processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, big IPS screen, big "all day" battery, hole in the screen for your 32MP selfie cam and 46 (4) cameras on the rear including a 48MP sensor with 3x zoom and (for some reason) a 2MP macro sensor. Phew. I'm exhausted typing that all out and want to get drunk. The only things it seems to be lacking is wireless charging and a headphone socket - but you do get a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter and a headset in the box.

 

So I've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm quite impressed. The screen is as good as you can get for a non-OLED screen, the bettery life is pretty good, I'd say "all day" is definitely not a misnomer, and it's definitely no slouch - it's noticably faster than my LG V30 from two years ago, it browses some websites that would pause on the V30 without a sweat - the few games I've tried run like melted butter. I was expecting the UI to be awful, but it's honestly not too bad, the included standard apps (calculator, calendar etc.) are pretty bare bones and functional - I've replaced the launcher with Nova and a dark theme (you can't activate dark mode in the settings, annoyingly, that's reserved for Huawei's OLED display phones) and it feels as stock android as you can get.  The only thing that lets it down is that Huawei have made the settings hard to navigate, imo.

 

The design of the phone is beautiful - I got the "black" one and it's a weird holographic purple - people just love the look of it. The only thing that's concerning is that the cameras poke out noticably from the rear - you need a chunky case to bulk out the rest of the phone to ensure that the lenses won't get whacked when you slem the device down on a table.

 

The camera is ridiculously powerful but easy to use - it defaults to taking 12MP shots but you can bump that up to 48MP, the optical zoom is pretty damn magical and smooth (but annoyingly it's hard to stop it exactly at 3x, meaning you sometimes delve into the digital zoom without realising). The macro mode actually blows my mind - I took a picture of a tiny spider at the weekend and the picture is so clear you can see the hairs on it's body.

 

Call quality is miles ahead of my old LG. Very rarely get call beakup on my 12 mile A-road commute whereas my LG got choppy even ina good signal area, it's less finicky about connecting to my decade old Nissan stereo. I have it connecting to a bluetooth to 3.5mm adapter for audio so I can stream music to my car's Aux socket and simultaenously connect to the Nissan radio for calls (since the Nissan radio doesn't let you play media) and it works flawlessly.

 

I'm really impressed by the design and function of this phone - for the price you just can't beat it. It's also on some ridiculously cheap o2 new and upgrade contracts if you're prepared to play the cashback game from the usual online suspects.

 

Oh, last thing to mention is that Huawei put a screen protector on the phone for you from the factory. It's the veritable icing on the proverbial cake, imo.

 

Highly recommended and should Huawei get approval to put google services on future phones this will definitely not be my hast Huawei/Honor device.

11 Comments
jonsie
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Nice review @a_hcir thumbsup

 

I have the Honor 20View see here and it's a brilliant phone. That is amazingly quick and is only 6GB Ram so I can imagine the speed of the Pro. I too put on the Nova Launcher and you wouldn't notice any difference from stock Android.

 

I totally agree with everything you write so enjoy smiling

Cleoriff
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Thanks for posting @a_hir, it really does seem like a great phone. The camera is living up to expectations as well. Great about the call quality as well Enjoy your phone
EmilieT
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It sounds like a great device, thanks so much for posting this really interesting review @a_hcir  smiley

 

I like the sound of that colour you got, "weird holographic purple" heart_eyes

gmarkj
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Thanks for the review.
Is the storage expandable or is it dual sim?
Got the v30 myself until Feb (at least) but have started to look around as to what is about.
jonsie
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I'm fairly sure it's dual sim with no expandable memory although I'm not sure if storage card can be used in the second sim slot. It's not possible on mine @gmarkj 

gmarkj
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To be fair, at 256Gb you shouldn't need any more...

jonsie
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No, I guess your average user won't. It's really not necessary now with the streaming services and multiple cloud storage out there.

a_hcir
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@gmarkj the version I got from mobilephonesdirect is dual sim without expandable memory, it wasn't advertised as such.  I'm not sure what you'd get if the stock came from o2.

 

To be honest I'm done with expendable memory - in my v30 accessing the SD card in some apps was torturous.  

 

The biggest step downs from the V30 are the lack of headphone socket and the screen (lower res, not OLED).  Having said that I migrated mostly to bluetooth headphones during my time with the V30 and the screen quality wasn't great on the V30 with regards to image retention/cloudyness on some dark backgrounds, but it is taking some time to get used to using it at night - I really haven't noticed any difference regarding the difference in resolution.

 

It's so much faster than the V30, though.  I didn't expect much of a performance boost, but it feels much faster in just about every regard.  The fingerprint sensor being on the side is an absolute revelation as well, especially when unlocking it when it's laid down on a table.

gmarkj
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Cheers for the extra info @a_hcir.
Expandable storage is not such an issue as long as there is more than 64Gb (i download and listen to lots of podcasts, and occasionally get behind).
A headphone jack would be useful: while i have BT headphones my car is not so i use the aux port A LOT, but i know there are BT adapters.
Dual sim is also of interest. I have a work phone so to have the option of leaving one phone at home is appealing.
The last thing is the screen type and resolution. I like the quad hd screen on the v30, and the fact it is oled (i have the clock as always on) is also handy. Not sure how i would cope with an lcd and at lower res.

a_hcir
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@gmarkj "Not sure how i would cope with an lcd and at lower res."

 

The resolution is a non-issue, really - it's definitely high enough.  It's the use at night which is the hardest to cope with, especially if you use the dark theme on everything like I do grin The notification LED is there to let you know about notifications and is functional, personally I have the screen turn on when I get a new notification as well.

 

I'm really hoping Honor have an OLED screen device when the time comes to replace this.

Martin-O2
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Honor 20 Pro @a_hcir slight_smile It sounds like a great bit of kit!