Honor View 20 review

The competition

The Honor View 20 is a truly flagship-grade device and it can challenge the best in the industry with its price of less than €600.

There is plenty of competition but the devices that first come to mind are the OnePlus 6T, the Galaxy S9+, the Huawei P20 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi 8 as they all have similar pricing and specs.

OnePlus 6T • Samsung Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20 Pro • Xiaomi Mi 8

The Honor View 20 may have the big screen to stand out but when it comes to picture quality, it just doesn't cut it. All the four phones above sport AMOLED displays with deep blacks, no edge light bleed and offer slightly better sunlight legibility. Also, Honor's punch hole camera is a novelty which won't be to everyone's liking. Especially those who have OCD about symmetry. But we can say for sure that it's less obtrusive compared to standard notches when watching videos and playing games.

But when it comes to battery life, camera quality, and raw performance, the View 20 can be the better choice. The 48MP camera combined with the Quad Bayer technology produces excellent stills while the 4,000 mAh battery keeps the lights on for more than a full day depending on your usage. And besides, you can rely on the fast charging for quick top-ups when the situation calls for it.

Verdict

Honor claims the View 20 can play with the big boys and our conclusion is that in most cases, it can. The handset excels in almost every aspect without breaking the bank. It has a solid glass build with a unique gradient finish, it has a great camera experience across the board, it has good battery life and a killer flagship chipset.

As we said earlier, it checks all the boxes as a flagship device without asking too much in return. And just like every Android device, expect its price to go down in the following months, which would render it an even better bargain.

Pros

• Solid aluminum and glass build.
• The punch hole makes sense in most cases although, it won't be preferred by everyone.
• Excellent camera experience across the board..
• Great price/performance ratio thanks to the Kirin 980 SoC.
• Feature-rich OS.
• Good battery life and fast charging support.
• Beautiful design.

Cons

• The display quality isn't flagship-worthy.
• No microSD card slot expansion.
• The 3D ToF sensor's features are quite limited for now.