After a hiatus of more than three years, Honor has made a comeback in the Indian market, following its breakup from Huawei.
And like any breakup, Honor is eager to spread its wings and to carve its own path. Leading their resurgence is the new Honor 90, a premium mid-range phone that offers a lot more than I expected.
In our Honor 90 review, I cover the Honor 90 specifications and Honor 90 pros and cons, so you can make a more informed decision before buying this new smartphone.
Honor 90 Price
The Honor 90 price in India is Rs 37,999 for the 8+256 GB variant and Rs 39,999 for the 12+512 GB variant in India.
With the current offers, the price can be reduced to Rs 27,999 for the 8+256 GB model and Rs 29,999 for the 12+512 GB model.
Honor 90 Offers
Offers available for the Honor 90 purchase include:
- An instant discount of Rs 3,000 on transactions made through ICICI and SBI Bank cards, which can be used for credit card, debit card, or EMI transactions.
- An additional Rs 2,000 off for users exchanging old smartphones during the purchase of the Honor 90.
- A no-cost EMI option for up to 9 months available from all banks and Bajaj Finserv cards.
- A bundle deal that provides Honor TWS/Goodies valued at Rs 5000 without any extra charge.
- A complimentary 30W Type-C charger compatible with the device.
- These offers are valid from September 18th to September 24th.
Honor 90 5G Availability
The Honor 90 first sale in India kicks off on September 18 and will be available to purchase via Amazon.in and other online/offline stores.
Honor 90 5G Design and Display
Sleek is the first word that comes to mind when using the Honor 90. It's very slim at just 7.8mm and weighs only 183 grams, easily making it one of the more comfortable 6.7-inch phones I've handled.
Those pronounced curves on the side not only look good but make it noticeably easier to use with one hand compared to the flatter 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro.
The Honor 90 colours include Diamond Silver, Emerald Green and Midnight Black variants. I've been using the Emerald Green variant, and I must say, it's got quite a premium feel to it.
The back panel is made of glass and has this shimmering matte finish that wonderfully repels fingerprints, and despite its plastic frame, it doesn't lose its upscale vibe.
The camera units at the back are housed in two separate round protruding units which is not something you see every day, but it's an interesting design choice that sets it apart from the competition.
It's worth noting that the Honor 90 5G doesn't come with extra durability features or an official IP rating - something that would have been a nice addition to assure peace of mind.
I was also a bit surprised to find only a single bottom-firing speaker. While it performs adequately, it feels like a step back, especially since stereo speakers are becoming common in other mid-range phones nowadays.
When it comes to the display, it's clearly a standout feature. The large AMOLED screen with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1600 nits is more than adequate for using outside.
It's a comfort for the eyes too, thanks to the 3840Hz PWM dimming rate, which is touted as the fastest in the industry. It's supposed to be the world's first zero flicker screen but I wouldn't say it's completely flicker free.
The deep curves on the sides do add a touch of class, although it sometimes warps the content near the edges. Thankfully, I didn't experience too many accidental touches, and I found that it adds to a premium look overall.
The display is nearly bezel-less, but the bottom bezel is just a bit larger than the top, creating a slightly uneven appearance, but that's a minor quirk in an otherwise impressive package.
Honor 90 Camera
Other than its super sleek body ,and crisp display, the third highlight here is the pixel-dense main camera with a 200MP sensor.
This is accompanied by a 12 MP ultra wide camera and a 2MP depth sensor on the back and a 50MP front camera for selfies.
I've genuinely enjoyed using the Honor 90's main camera. In almost all situations, it captures nice shots that are social media ready.
This is largely thanks to pixel binning that combines pixels from its 200MP sensor to create images that look vibrant, even when I get a little closer with the 2X zoom.
The Night mode isn't too bad either , especially when using the main lens. While there's a bit of noise in certain parts of the frame and it occasionally has difficulty brightening up extremely dark regions, the general performance remains reasonably good
When I switched to the ultra-wide camera, the experience varied a bit. While sometimes the colour shift from the main camera was barely noticeable, at other times it was quite pronounced.
Despite this, I appreciate its ability to fit more within the frame without distorting the edges too much.
Another plus point for me was the portrait mode. It's not typical for a mid-range phone to excel here, but the Honor 90 managed to keep the subject crisp while blurring the background just enough to create a shallow depth of field.
Now, let's talk about video capabilities. The Honor 90 is packed with features that those who enjoy creating content will find beneficial.
One particular feature that stood out to me was the AI's ability to craft short, shareable clips automatically from the footage, which could be a real timesaver.
It can also shoot up to 4K at 30fps, and videos look good, although I feel the stabilization, which is all electronic since there isn't any OIS, could see some improvement.
And let's not forget about the selfie camera - with 40MP at its disposal, it captured detailed and pleasing shots, proving itself to be reliable whenever I needed to use it.
Honor 90 Processor and Performance
The Honor 90 processor is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, coupled with up to 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.
While it's not the newest chip on the market, this device benefits from a boosted version known as the "Accelerated Edition", making the overall performance quite good.
This chipset is known to be a solid performer in the upper midrange category, and coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, it didn't falter at all in managing any app I threw at it.
The phone even handles high graphic gaming and photo editing without any issues.
Honor 90 Battery
The Honor 90 battery is another highlight, with the 5,000mAh unit effortlessly pulling through a heavy day of usage, and still having a good 30% juice left.
Among the recent Android phones I've tried, this one certainly tops the chart in battery longevity.
One important detail to mention is that the Indian retail versions of the Honor 90 won't include a charging adapter in the box, unlike the global units which come bundled with a 66W fast charger.
Honor hasn't clarified the reasoning behind this decision, but it seems likely to be a measure to reduce costs.
Honor 90 Software
The Honor 90 runs on Android 13, along with Honor's MagicOS 7.1 skin. I know that name might sound enchanting but MagicOS doesn't quite match up to the Android skins I've encountered on Pixel or Samsung devices.
The phone does come with a notable amount of bloatware, stemming not just from Honor, but various other companies as well.
Moreover, Honor commits to only two major Android updates and three years of security patches for this model, lagging behind what Samsung and Google offer in this segment.
There are other smaller issues with the software as well. For starters, the app tray doesn't come enabled as default, requiring a manual adjustment in the settings.
Additionally, the ease of accessing customization options with a long press or checking app details directly from the home screen is missing.
Once again, it means taking a detour into the settings to use these features. I wouldn't say these are deal breakers but I just found them annoying during my usage.
Anyway, it's not all rough around the edges. MagicOS brings some pleasant features to the Honor 90. One of these is Honor Connect, a useful tool that enables seamless cursor movement between your PC and Honor phone.
In addition to this, there are plenty of customization options to choose from like a nice selection of themes and Always-on display styles.
There is also a side panel that appears when you swipe and hold from the edge, letting you use some apps in a windowed mode.
I quite enjoyed the Magic Text feature as well which instantly converts photo text to editable content, enabling direct actions like dialing numbers or clicking on email addresses.
Sometimes it struggles with certain handwriting styles, but it's generally a handy tool when it functions correctly.
Honor 90 5G Verdict
My Honor 90 first impression is that it really hits the mark in many respects. I appreciate its comfortable in hand feel, its impressive battery life and stunning display, which adds so much to the user experience.
Its camera system is also pretty decent, especially for a mid-range device.
If there's a chink in its armor, it would be the somewhat unpolished software.
However, I will say that from my interactions with the Honor team, it's clear they are receptive to user feedback, giving me confidence that these initial hiccups will be smoothed out soon.
All in all, the Honor 90 signifies a robust comeback for the brand in the Indian market, and I'm eager to see where they take it from here.
