When it comes to smartphones with an excellent value for money, the Honor brand will certainly come to mind, which many correctly combine with the Huawei brand, and which often have almost twin terminals of the more expensive Chinese bran. At the moment, Honor 20 Pro is the choice that more than the others manages to mix smartphones with premium features at an almost mid-range price.
Honor 20 Pro Pro is the flagship choice of the brand, with top-of-the-range specifications, and with a camera department that has nothing to fear from its direct competitors.
Unboxing
Honor 20 Pro arrives at home in the classic white box inside which there are, in addition to the smartphone, a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter, battery charger and cable. The sales package is therefore quite basic, without headphones or case. Fortunately, the charger, which turns out to be 22.5 W SuperCharger, embellishes the bundle.
Design
The terminal has dimensions of 6 x 73.97 x 8.44 mm, with a weight all in all contained by 182 grams . The peculiarity, as well as in the display with the hole, is also on the rear body, where iridescent colors insist depending on the light that is reflected on the smartphone. It offers a fingerprint sensor incorporated into the side power button, really lightning-fast as will be discussed later. On the back there is also a camera department consisting of 4 sensors, arranged in a vertical line, and not like in the latest iPhone 11 models.
Overall, the design is really minimal and modern, clean on all sides, even if it is now difficult to talk about originality. Honor 20 Pro is still pleasant, it holds well in the hand, and is not too slippery, despite the rear glass.
The front of the device is almost entirely screen. The bezels aren't the smallest ever appreciated on a device, especially the bottom one, but they are well optimized nonetheless. The front camera is inserted inside a hole in the display, located in the upper left corner, with a diameter of just 4.5 mm. Always on the back a good ear capsule, almost completely hidden inside the upper edge.
Note of originality, as already mentioned, is the power button, which is rarely seen on the side frame. It is set below the large power button, and as with other models of the same brand, it is practically lightning-fast. Indeed, instantaneous. In addition to allowing one perfect unlock , which works 10 times out of 10, it is also particularly fast and responsive: touching the power button without unlocking the device is a very difficult task. There is also the Face ID, albeit with two-dimensional technology, which works well in optimal light conditions, but certainly does not guarantee the reliability of a 3D sensor at night.
The colored rear body completes the aesthetics of the terminal. Honor 20 Pro is available in two versions: Phantom Black and Phantom Blue. The version we are testing is the second, with really special plays of light on the rear body, which give the terminal an aesthetic that is always different, never boring.
Technical features
Let's start from the display . It is a 6.26 inch unit, with LCD technology and resolution of 2340 x 1080 , therefore Full HD + , with 412ppi . There is nothing wrong with this display, but considering that many competitors in the same price range employ OLED panels, the Honor 20 Pro's screen may turn up your nose. We reiterate: the quality of the panel of this terminal is certainly very high, but it is not an OLED anyway. This results in not so perfect blacks, in the real impossibility of gaining battery from the use of a dark mode, in the absence of a display on. Small precautions that do not undermine the quality of the smartphone, but that could have enriched the user experience.
The colors and viewing angles are still excellent and reproduce shades that are always faithful. The brightness is very high for normal indoor use, but in sunlight it is only sufficient. This is normal behavior for an LCD screen, certainly not attributable to the Honor 20 Pro. Here is another reason why we would have an OLED screen.
Other specifications
Honor 20 Pro makes no compromises when it comes to specs. It mounts a Kirin 980 processor, flanked by 8 GB of RAM and a ROM of 256 GB . There is no possibility to expand the memory, but the integrated one is more than enough for any use.
These are top technical specifications, used by Huawei on its top of the range. To be clear, it uses the same processor as the Mate 20 Pro and P30 Pro. The data sheet on paper translates into a particularly satisfying real use. The user experience is impeccable, never a slowdown, never an uncertainty: Honor 20 Pro has nothing to fear compared to more expensive terminals.
The videogame side is also particularly appreciable on this device. We tested the likes of PUBG Mobile, with no lag, and the large screen represents a quid pluris for all players, with the camera hole in the upper left corner, which tends to disappear from view within a few minutes.
There is also a Performance Mode , which maximizes the performance of the device. Honestly, we do not recommend it for two reasons: the gain in performance is really minimal (thanks to the power of Honor 20 Pro in standard mode), while the repercussions on the battery are quite evident.
Camera
There is no denying it, Honor 20 Pro attracts above all for its camera department. The configuration with four sensors is certainly the icing on the cake. Honor 20 Pro mounts on the back a 48 MP main sensor , with f / 1.4 aperture, OIS, laser autofocus, flanked by a sensor with 16 MP super wide FoV , with f / 2.2 aperture, 117 degree viewing angle. A third sensor is the 8 MP telephoto lens , f / 2.4, with the possibility of 3X zoom without loss of quality, with 5X hybrid zoom, OIS. All this is completed by a 2 MP macro camera, with f / 2.4 aperture. In short, the meat in the fire is a lot on paper, but here's how this terminal takes pictures.
The main sensor is Sony's 48MP IMX586 , also seen on OnePlus 7 Pro and Asus ZenFone 6. The sensor, in standard mode, returns 12MP shots, with a very high overall quality good. It is possible to easily switch to the full resolution of 48 MP, but as with many other smartphones with similar sensors, we recommend that you keep the default settings.
This is because, although larger and more detailed images can be obtained, the difference between the 48 MP and 12 MP shots are not that marked. Of particular importance is the wide-angle lens, which seems to work better than on other smartphone models with the same function, and offers particularly enjoyable shots, both for panoramas and for group photos.
The telephoto lens offers a lossless 3X optical zoom and a 5X hybrid zoom , which combines optical zoom and electronic processing. Also in this case, it seems to us that the two levels of Zoom do their duty, offering sharp shots even at 3x, and managing with the 5x hybrid zoom to reach distances otherwise unthinkable on a smartphone. In the example that we propose below, the potential of this Zoom is clearly evident. While in the first photo the three cameras we want to frame are practically invisible, as we increase the Zoom they are clearly visible. It is true, in the last photo with 5X hybrid zoom the vibrant color is lost, but the result of the zoom is indisputable.
Zoom 1X 
Zoom 3X 
Zoom 5X
A little less successful seems to be, however, the dedicated macro lens. On the one hand, in fact, the use that will be made of it in everyday life is really limited, but in any case it is a pity that the resolution is only 2MP.
Honor 20 Pro supported artificial intelligence even with a Super Night mode: it is the typical night mode, which adds more light and details to scenes shot in low light conditions. As on many other smartphones, unfortunately, it will not work miracles in very low light conditions. As for the selfie camera, the 32MP sensor does an excellent job.
Overall, the Honor 20 Pro is a capable and versatile camera phone, even if the results can be inconsistent at times. In some cases we got slightly blurry photos, without understanding why. In any case, the multiple lenses are an advantage for all users, who will be able to enjoy the numerous camera settings, among which we must not forget the slow motion at 960 fps.
We leave you with a long gallery of photos to be able to appreciate the quality of the images taken directly by Honor 20 Pro. Overall the colors are very bright, saturated at the right point, which still manage to capture the scene in a real way, probably enriching it a bit of that extra color that doesn't hurt, and indeed embellishes.
Wide shot
1X 
3X 
5X
Software
When it comes to Huawei and Honor smartphones, it is important to immediately answer a question: do they offer Google apps, or not? This Honor 20 Pro arrives at home with all Google applications pre-installed, and with all Google services fully functional. On board is the Honor Magic UI 2.1.0, based on Android 9. Moreover, the terminal belongs to that list of terminals of the brand that will receive Android 10 and the new version of EMUI.
As always, the Honor Magic, enucleated by EMUI, does not represent the most refined, minimal or modern Android “skin”, even if it has recently been refined so as not to be as “heavy” as the previous one. We particularly appreciate, for example, the possibility of one-handed use, even when the UI management via gesture is active. To activate the One Hand mode it will be sufficient a transversal slide starting from the lower corners of the screen towards the center.
The battery disappoints a bit. Not that it doesn't last long, but it is a treat If you have a 4,000mAh unit with 22.5W Quick Charge, you could have expected something more. If you think about the fact that the Mate 20 Pro and P30 Pro are equipped with a 4,200 mAh battery, it is understood that the expectations were high for this device anyway. Attention, the battery life is still excellent, it easily reaches and exceeds the six hours of screen on and brings the terminal to the evening with a residual charge. Something more could have been expected: probably with an OLED screen an hour full of additional autonomy was easily reachable.
Conclusions
Overall, the Honor 20 Pro is a great choice for anyone who wants top performance and a great camera , without giving up on a modern design and without breaking the bank. The concerns of the US ban do not concern this model, considering that the terminal has the Google apps installed and that it will receive Android 10. The problem could only be in the now ruthless competition from other Chinese manufacturers, who manage to offer almost the same specifications at really prices. lower. It must be said, however, that the camera quality of this Honor 20 Pro is superior to that of many other competitors in the same range and offers superior versatility both in the wide-angle and in the telephoto part.
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Price and availability
Honor 20 Pro has an official price of 599.99 euros, but you can also buy it on Amazon for about 30/50 euros less. Click here to check the latest offers.
