Getting up close and personal with the new Honor20 in London

Getting to play with Honor’s new phone, the Honor20, was especially interesting given the cloud of controversy hanging over its parent company, Huawei.

Honor’s launch event at London’s Battersea Evolution was a busy affair, with almost 1,000 people packed into the venue.

Prior to the event, we were informed that media interviews were cancelled, and given the current news cycle on Huawei, there was a massive elephant in the room during the course of the launch. Fortunately, the Evolution has high ceilings.

Hi there. This is the #HONOR20Series. Go #CaptureWonder! https://t.co/tLqFgglEja pic.twitter.com/fRGjev20IL

— HONOR (@Honorglobal) May 21, 2019

During the 1.5-hour keynote speech by Honor president George Zhao, not a single mention was made of an operating system: the focus was firmly on the phone’s hardware and camera specs. While Honor has made efforts to stand alone as its own brand — gearing its products towards younger demographics who prioritise selfies and gaming — it still depends on the Android ecosystem via Huawei.

So it was especially interesting (but unsurprising) to hear no word of Google during the launch, which was an eyebrow-raising contrast to the pre-suspension press materials that specified the H20’s EMUI 9.0 operating system would be optimised by Android 9.

The H20 is ultimately a solid mid-range smartphone line for consumers who want a solid camera and a gaming-friendly processor. There’s the H20 Pro: undoubtedly the cream of the crop, the regular H20, and the Lite, which is more suited for things like… smart calorie counting (yes, there’s an AI camera feature for that). For camera geeks who live and die by DXO Mark rankings, the H20 Pro’s impressive Quad Camera and wide aperture ring scored a solid 111, just below the P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.

The H20’s (excluding the Lite) low-light technology is truly impressive, and as a lifelong iPhone user, it made me finally acknowledge that Apple has lost the camera game. Indeed, H20’s Super Night Mode is a game-changer for people who don’t want to mess around with filters and adjustments to illuminate a dark photo. Live demos streamed from the adjacent hall showed off the H20’s powerful zoom — unsurprising when you consider the buzz generated by Huawei’s P30 50x zoom.

Another major Honor selling point pushes the smartphone as accessory: it’s crucial for modern, connected living, so why not make it stand out? Minimalists might not be a fan of Huawei’s iridescent approach to their shiny “Phantom” glassback aesthetics, but this phone isn’t for them.

As Zhao made explicitly clear, this is a phone for the youth, a message hammered home by the announcement of Honor’s fresh-faced new brand ambassadors, including footballer Dele, and Malaysia’s very own celebrity model and actress Mira Filzah. Zhao also detailed Honor’s new approach, #TechChic: the H20 has a crossover phone design (and case) with fashion label Moschino, best known in recent times for its iconically kitschy smartphone accessories.

Keeping with the whole “phone for the global youth” angle, Honor is going big on gaming. There is, of course, its ongoing partnership with Epic Games, so that the beefier Honor phones come preloaded with a Fortnite installer. Considering how much time kids spend on mobile gaming (hello, everyone on the MRT playing Mobile Legends), carving out a niche for a good mid-range gaming phone is a savvy move on Honor’s part. The H20 Pro has a special graphene cooling system for that very purpose.

However, for the average casual, ploughing through Fortnite on the H20 isn’t too different from playing on the View20; on the H20 Pro, hardcore players and aspiring pro gamers will notice the difference with minimal difference in FPS (frame rates per second). H20 Pro tests using Mobile Legends yielded 59.69 FPS, just a touch above iPhone XS’ 59.37 (Samsung has a dismal 50.2). H20 features Honor’s GPU Turbo 3.0, optimised for the “top 25 most popular games,” (including NBA 2K18 and Arena of Valor) but no word on exactly how many games it will support.

#HONOR's ultrafast processor and 128GB storage on the #HONOR20Series keeps hunting the hunted more efficiently than ever. "Like" and leave a comment if you're all about optimized gaming! #CaptureWonder @RangersOfOblivion pic.twitter.com/PHN7u50F0C

— HONOR (@Honorglobal) May 21, 2019

If one were to read into the subtext of pushing a smartphone with “beauty AI algorithms” and smart backlighting to younger consumers, one would assume that today’s youth are obsessed with looks. This is, of course, a broad stereotype, but given the discourse around selfies (hey, loving the way you look and being self-positive is okay, too), the H20 takes a refreshingly honest approach to addressing its target demographic’s social priorities.

As both eye candy and a smart selfie tool, the H20 line ticks all the boxes for what Instakids, avid mobile gamers, and streamers want in a phone.

In terms of launch timing in the face of an uncertain future, I think the kids today call this Big Dick Energy, and if so, Honor has it in spades.

Editorial note:

AsiaOne Digital was invited to attend the London H20 launch by Honor and received airfare and hotel accommodation.

Preorders are available now via Lazada, Shopee, Qoo10, and authorised Honor resellers. Pricing for the H20 Lite in Singapore starts at S$338.