Lose Huawei and get Google

It’s rare to get caught up in geopolitics at the start of a smartphone review, but with the Honor 50 this is inevitable. This is the first Honor-branded device to be released outside of China after the brand. It was released last year by the Thai company Huawei. Although Huawei continues, that is List of US companiesHonor can now add Google apps and services to the new mobile.

Access to these services, which include key components of the Android ecosystem such as Google Play and applications such as Google Maps and YouTube, is the first Honor phone available in 50 years. Customers outside China. Its average starting price of 529 euros (approximately $ 616) was not affected.

But when I left the previous parent company, the Google-shaped window for Honor opened, and it closed the Huawei-like shaped door as well. Without the support of one of the most prosperous technology companies in the world, Honor now operates on its own. As a result, while it’s not a bad phone, the Honor 50 does not feel competitive with other phones in its price range.

The Honor 50 starts at € 529 (~ $ 616) for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, but if you increase it to € 599 (~ $ 698) you get 8GB of storage. RAM and 256GB storage. Whichever option you choose, you get the same Snapdragon 778G processor and a 4,300mAh battery that can charge up to 66W faster.

Honor phones are always available in noisy designs, and the Honor 50 is no different. My model came in glossy white, with “Honor” letters on the back, and it also comes in a very glossy silver color with the usual black and green options. While I don’t like the color options, I think the Honor 50’s dual-ring camera pump deserves access, which is more interesting than the regular rectangles on the back of most devices (the Huawei Nova 9 uses a very similar design., She says. Respect was created before the split).

On the front, the Honor 50 features a 6.57-inch 1080p OLED display with a 19.5: 9 aspect ratio and a small aperture-punch in the center for the 32MP selfie camera, which is slightly curved at the left and right edges. . Phone. I can’t fault the rich blacks or the vibrant colors of the screen, and the fingerprint sensor at the bottom of the screen is fast and responsive. If you do not like curved screens, you will not like the Honor 50s, but at least the phone will not have palm rejection issues.

The Honor 50’s display has a 120Hz update rate, which makes it feel quick to use and smooth to look at, and the Snapdragon 778G processor works happily even when the screen moves fast, even in blind applications. Like Twitter. I never had any performance issues when I was on the phone.

The rest of the specifications are very basic. There is no IP rating for dust and water resistance and no wireless charging, and when it comes to sound, the phone emits sound from the primary speaker pointing down. It’s loud enough to be heard around the house, but in a quiet environment you get a pair of headphones. The Honor Box has a pair of USB-C headphones, which are unusual these days, and almost compensate for the lack of a headphone jack.

The Honors Magic UI running Android 11 on the Honor 50 is very harmless. However, it does have its inconveniences and, of course, is set up in a way that most people would like to modify. Initially, use Microsoft’s SwiftKey instead of Google’s Gboard keyboard, which is familiar to most Android users. There are many Stock Honor apps that I disabled on the first two days on mobile, and I don’t like the way Honor is the default except for the Android app drawer dedicated to the home screen like iOS. Very easy to fix with some modifications, but it is a bit cumbersome.

I have no complaints about the Honor 50’s battery life, which is an average of seven hours on screen between charges. I have no need to charge the phone at the end of the day as there is less than 40 percent charge left. The Honor 50 supports Honor’s own SuperCharge charging standard, which is fast 66W charging with a sealed charger that is not compatible with third-party chargers. Honor claims that the included charger can charge the phone from 0 to 100 percent in 45 minutes (unfortunately, my review model had an EU plug so I could not verify that claim). But if fully charged within an hour, the smell will not be felt.

The main camera specifications of the Honor 50 may seem interesting at first glance, but the Devil details. Yes, it has a 108MP quad-camera line, but without the telephoto camera, apart from the main sensor, the three additional cameras have a relatively low resolution 8MP wide angle, 2MP macro and 2 megapixel depth.

Retical view

Things didn’t start out better with the Honor 50’s main camera. Even in the daytime, in his scenes, like the black cat captured above, his fur has no definition or structure. The colors are vibrant with the risk of being too high, and the faces appear bright and out of texture. White balance is at least normal, and I think selfies are generally perfect, with an easily accessible shortcut and a Beauty Mode slider (if that is your favorite feature) to help blur the background.

Low-light performance is desirable as the Honor 50 creates dark and muddy scenes. But the big problem is that the phone takes longer to take pictures in low light. When the group tries to take a photo at a party, the Honor 50 refuses to photograph many painful moments, which is more than the time people wait to take their photos at a party.

At its starting price, the Honor 50 is a good intermediate device. But many talented smartphones are available at similar prices. Such as phones OnePlus Nord 2 (Its 499 12GB / 256GB storage model) or iPhone SE (For its 539 128GB storage variant) Both are better phones than the Honor 50. Also if you consider the Honor 50 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, your age is only 50. Avoid the recently announced Pixel 6 phone.

This is a congested marketplace, and access to Google applications and services alone is not enough to make an impact. Honor’s software may seem swollen, its camera is boring and lacking in detail. The 66W fast charging and glossy 120 Hz display is not enough to distract from the fact that the Honor 50 has some weaknesses compared to the best mid-range phones.

Honor is now a potential purchase to reinstall Google apps and services on its devices. But she still has work to do if she wants to be truly competitive.