Honor 90 hands-on review

Introduction

The Honor 90 is the latest addition to the company's number series of phones. As such, it is not a true flagship. That position seems to currently be reserved for the "Magic" line. What you get with the Honor 90 instead is a solid mid-ranger in terms of specs. However, as far as looks and design are concerned, Honor didn't skimp at all.

The Honor 90 is slick and slim, well-constructed, light and well-balanced, and has a universally rounded body for a great in-hand feel.

Its design is also very elegant and even luxurious. The Honor 90 can be had in a number of eye-catching colors and interesting finishes, which we will go over in a bit.

Honor 90 specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.9x74.1x7.8mm, 183g; plastic frame.
• Display: 6.70" AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1600 nits (peak), 1200x2664px resolution, 19.98:9 aspect ratio, 435ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition (4 nm): Octa-core (1x2.5 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.36 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 644.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 13, MagicOS 7.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.4", 0.56µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 112-degree, AF; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 50 MP, f/2.4, 100-degree, (ultrawide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 66W wired, 5W reverse wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.2, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical).

Despite being a mid-ranger at heart, the Honor 90 does come with some pretty high-end features. One of its highlights is unquestionably the curved 6.7-inch display. It is a 10-bit panel with HDR10+ support and a whopping 1600 nits of advertised peak brightness. It also has a 1.5K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and 3840Hz PWM dimming, as well as 400-grade dimming adjustment.

Then there is the impressive camera setup on the Honor 90. On the back, the phone has a massive 200MP, f/1.9 main camera alongside a 12MP, f/2.2 autofocus-enabled ultrawide that can double as a powerful macro cam. On the front, the Honor 90 is rocking a 50MP ultrawide selfie. Both of these cameras are capable of 4K@30fps video capture and support EIS.

A 5,000 mAh battery with 66W charging and some additional features, like NFC, help the Honor 90 be a pretty well-rounded device overall. It does still have some notable omissions, though, like the lack of official ingress protection and stereo speakers. Nothing dramatic, but still worth mentioning.