Honor 20 Pro review

Quad-camera setup with 48MP f/1.4 main sensor

One of Honor's centerpiece features is the four-camera module on the back. What's more, all four cameras have a photographic purpose, there are no depth sensors - just cameras.

The main camera is the flagship Sony IMX 586 sensor from the Honor View 20 but with a twist - it also has OIS and the industry's first f/1.4 aperture. The sensor uses Quad-Bayer technology by binning four pixels into one, effectively shooting in 12MP. You know the rest - the net result is getting sharper images, better low-light performance, and reduced noise.

The second on the list is the stabilized telephoto lens. It has an 8MP sensor, f/2.4 aperture, 80mm, which translates into 3x optical zoom. Honor says it can also do 5x hybrid zoom with minimal loss in quality.

The third is a 16MP unit with f/2.2 for ultra-wide snaps, but unlike the first two, it lacks OIS and doesn't have autofocus so it may be limiting in certain scenarios where the subject isn't at the optimal distance.

And finally, the fourth one is a dedicated macro lens with 2MP sensor and f/2.4 aperture. It has a fixed focus of just 4cm.

In addition to all four sensors, Honor has included a laser autofocus system, but since it works at a limited range of 1-2m, it only comes in handy when shooting with the main camera.

Finally, the punch-hole houses a 32MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture and surprisingly, there's no 4-in-1-pixel tech at play here - the camera outputs the full native 32MP resolution.

Camera menus

Before we get to examining image quality, let's take a look at the camera menus and what modes you can play around with.

The camera app hasn't changed much in the last Magic UI/EMUI iterations, and it's pretty similar to the default app of other manufacturers. Swiping left and right cycles between different camera modules while the "More" tab reveals tons of other modes you can play around with. There's the aperture mode usually used for bokeh on subjects that are not human faces and also the Super Macro mode.

What we found annoying are the portrait effects. Once you switch to Portrait mode, you have the option of choosing between different effects, and the "Circles" effect turned out to be the standard Portrait mode. If you disable the effects you end up with a normal picture without the background blur.

Camera menus

Daylight sample photos

At first glance, the daytime photos look great. They are sharp without going overboard with the sharpening, colors look pretty natural and dynamic range is impressive. However, there's some noticeable blur in some of the shots, and we can't figure out why. And it appears to affect only a small portion of the image, not a particular area near the corners which could have been explained with lens issues.

Standard photo mode

Standard photo mode

Turning on the AI will result in higher contrast and colors that look a bit over the top. They sure look instagrammable, though.

AI photo mode

For our comparison below we only took shots using the 48MP AI Ultra Clarity mode as it produces a bit better images than the standard 48MP mode even though each shot takes a second or two longer. Even with this enhanced mode, we still stand by our past conclusions that you are better off using the Sony IMX 586 sensor in its 12MP mode - dynamic range and detail are inferior to the 12MP samples. Noise becomes more pronounced too.

48MP AI Ultra Clarity mode

Moving onto the telephoto lens, we can say the image processing isn't all that different than the photos by the main camera. We've got good dynamic range, nice colors and no loss in detail at 3x zoom. Even at 5x hybrid zoom, the camera was able to deliver surprisingly good stills. They can easily make it to your social networks' feed - the loss of detail is minimal. As long as there's sufficient light, of course.

Telephoto: 3x • 5x • 3x • 5x • 3x • 5x

The ultra-wide camera, on the other hand, is just about average. The overall quality isn't that impressive - colors are washed-out, dynamic range isn't up to par when compared to the other two cameras. It tends to push the highlights a bit too much. Also, the lack of autofocus can be limiting at times.

Ultra wide-angle samples

The ultra-wide aside, the Honor 20 Pro is neck to neck with the Huawei P30. Image processing is identical, and we were hard-pressed to find any noticeable difference between the two when shooting stills with the main and the telephoto cameras. The Huawei P30 comes out on top in the ultra-wide race.

Honor 20 Pro vs Huawei P30 daylight: 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30

Honor 20 Pro vs Huawei P30 telephoto: 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30

Honor 20 Pro vs Huawei P30 ultra wide-angle: 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30

Low-light sample photos

Low-light performance is stellar. Once again we couldn't find any difference between the Honor 20 Pro and the Huawei P30 in terms of how they handle low-light scenery. Also, the new AIS Super Night Mode doesn't go overboard with the sharpening - it's just the right amount. It also improves the dynamic range of the photos and reduces noise significantly.

Low-light samples: Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode

We can also recommend the Night Mode when using the telephoto camera as it reduces noise and brings out a lot more detail. The results when shooting with the telephoto lens without the Night Mode are unsatisfactory. It's also tough to maintain focus on the subject although, the OIS is much-appreciated in this particular scenario and does help a lot.

Honor 20 Pro low-light telephoto: Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode

The same goes for the ultra wide-angle camera. Its weaknesses become more prominent when there's no sufficient light. The Night Mode largely improves the overall quality by reducing the noise and introducing a lot more detail to the scene but don't expect wonders. Overall, the ultra wide-angle camera's performance is just about average, and by that we don't mean "flagship average", unfortunately.

Honor 20 Pro low-light wide-angle: Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode • Normal • Night Mode

And here's how the Honor 20 Pro stacks against the P30 in night scenery.

Honor 20 Pro vs Huawei P30 low-light: 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30 • 20 Pro • P30

Once you are done with the real-life scenarios, take a look at our samples taken in a more controlled environment and how the Honor 20 Pro stacks against the competition.

Honor 20 Pro against the Samsung Galaxy S10e and Asus Zenfone 6 in our Photo compare tool

And here are our 48MP samples.

48MP mode: Honor 20 Pro against the Honor View 20 and Asus Zenfone 6 in our Photo compare tool

Portraits

Portrait shots turned out surprisingly well. We got a natural skin color and plenty of detail. The edge detection is quite nice, even with a more complex background, the software did a fantastic job. We also found that the telephoto camera is also capable of doing great portraits with almost identical processing. The edge detection looks even better while the background blur is more natural-looking. Keep in mind, though, that since the telephoto lens captures less light, portraits will come out slightly underexposed so make sure there's sufficient light.

Portraits: Normal • 3x optical zoom • Normal • 3x optical zoom