Honor became one of the most profitable brands in Spain not long ago. Still, the United States executed a veto on its parent company, forcing it, Huawei, to sell its subsidiary to allow its survival. In recent months, the company’s new owners have planned its international relaunch, which in Spain comes from the hand of the Honor 50 that was presented in our country at the end of October.
The company has started operating with very high expectations. According to Kenny Li, CEO of Honor in Spain, the current market is not as competitive as it is said. And that the company does not seek to position itself in the quality-price segment but instead aspires, or so it seems, to occupy the space left by Huawei. The CEO of Huawei asked that Honor become his company’s rival after its sale.
The Honor 50 is powerful, but not like some rivals
One of the problems that Honor has solved has been being able to count on Qualcomm processors. This is the case of this Honor 50, which uses the Snapdragon 778G, a high-end processor that is very well optimized. And we say that expressly because it has not been the case in other models, we have analyzed.
Of course, starting from 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory in mobile of more than 500 euros is striking.
Despite this, the performance is good, although it is not as good in games as seen in models that use a Qualcomm 800 series processor.
This is an excellent example that what we see on paper does not perfectly convey the feeling we have when using it, the latter being better than we expected.
As for connectivity, we have Wifi ac, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and GPS… but we don’t have a double speaker, which we don’t know why Honor has wanted to eliminate, especially since this is not a cheap mobile. Yes, the fingerprint sensor is maintained, which on this occasion is under the screen, and it works perfectly.
We also do not have a headphone jack or a tray to expand the memory. Yes, we have two slots for two SIM cards.
A screen delight
Honor has placed a lot of emphasis on the screen of the Honor 50, and it is understandable. We have a 6.57-inch OLED panel with an FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 px.
But there is more. The maximum refresh rate is 120 Hz, and we can see up to 1 billion colors since the screen has support for 10 bits, something that is rare to see on mobile of fewer than 1,000 euros.
The configuration options are numerous, from changing the color temperature to an ebook mode that turns the screen black and white and makes it easier to read for long periods.
A classic Huawei setting is even present, using an intelligent screen resolution, which varies between FHD + and HD + depending on what is displayed on the screen.
The quality of the panel is beyond doubt, and it looks more at mobiles with a much higher price than others that, on paper, we might think to compete with this Honor 50 at a lower cost.
The negative part of this section is the automatic brightness management, which is not as effective as it should be, sometimes having to resort to manual control.
In photography, it does not disappoint, but it does not surprise either
Honor has never been characterized by having cameras that stand out above the competition. On this occasion, we have a front camera of 32 Mpx and four cameras behind, the main one of 108 Mpx, a wide angle of 8 Mpx, and two of 2 Mpx.
Beyond the resolution of the primary camera, it is striking that the wide angle has remained at 8 Mpx, not rising to at least 13 or 16 Mpx.
The design is impressive in all aspects
We start with what is possibly the most striking section of this model, the design and the materials.
Manufacturers currently have more than 1,000 euros terminals with more good finishes and top-quality materials, but that is not always replicated in high-end or mid-high-end models. There are brands that use metal and glass in 500 euro devices, but others opt for plastic in 600 and 700 euro models.
Honor has wanted to make it clear that for them, the feeling in the hand, the finish, and the materials are essential, and the Honor 50 proves it.
Honor 50
The curved screen ends in a metallic frame with an almost coppery color that suits it very well and is reminiscent of Huawei’s high-end models in a good way.
The back varies depending on the color chosen, but we have been lucky enough to test the most striking and risky of them, the one that plays with the serigraphy of the name on the entire back.
Between the letters that change tone when the light hits them and the camera module, which is unique, we can make it clear that we have an iconic terminal.
The front is more traditional, with the screen’s curvature on the larger sides as a hallmark, at a time when many brands choose to return to flat screens.
And all this is achieved by containing a lot of weight, only 175 grams, without penalizing autonomy, as we will see later.
But not everything is perfect, and a second speaker is missing, something that, for example, Xiaomi already has even in its low-mid-range models. And we don’t have a headphone jack either, although this doesn’t surprise us that much.