The US ban applied to Huawei, currently suspended, has turned the spotlight on the Chinese company and, of course, also on Honor.
If the future of the company currently appears uncertain, the commitment of the companies in the release of new terminals is certain, including the 20 series. The terminal that will be most remembered for being “born” under the trade war between the US and China will be, precisely, Honor 20. After the global presentation in London where it was shown with the 20 Pro version that has not yet been placed on the market we tested it for several days, here is the result.
How it's done
Honor 20 offers itself to the public with a 6.26-inch display, which is hard to believe when looking at the relatively compact form factor. This is a really comfortable smartphone to hold, even if one-handed use is not entirely possible, and you will struggle to reach all corners of the screen with your thumb. The profile of the terminal is particularly thin and the curved edges ensure that it fits perfectly in the hand.
It employs a double-glazed design, using a glossier, almost mirror-like finish back glass, which still has a strong gradient effect. As always, from an aesthetic point of view it is an absolutely pleasant terminal, even in the black color we tested, and it turns out to be really elegant.
On the right there is the volume rocker and the on, off and stand-by button, which incorporates an excellent fingerprint sensor. This key is slightly hollow, a feature that facilitates its identification. Not only aesthetically it fits well inside the right frame, but it turns out to be one of the fastest touch ID ever appreciated on a terminal. It is not lightning-fast, but instantaneous. Even if you want to place your finger without unlocking it, you will not be able to. Seeing is believing.
On the upper part there is the secondary microphone and the IR emitter, which although it may seem an outdated and obsolete feature, is instead one of the most used, because it allows, among many others, to control the TV in the living room with the smartphone, which becomes thus the real control center of your multimedia salon.
On the left side is the dual-SIM compartment, which can accommodate two Nano-SIM cards at the same time. Microphone, speaker, and USB Type-C port are positioned on the bottom. Too bad, we immediately observe, that Honor 20 does not support Desktop mode like View 20, and that it is therefore not possible to use it as a real notebook.
Almost non-existent edges and optimized frames make this terminal absolutely valid from an aesthetic point of view, with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.7%.
Technical characteristics
As mentioned above, Honor 20 is a smartphone that offers high-end hardware. The screen has a resolution, therefore a 6.26 Full HD +, with a pixel density of 412ppi. Honor claims to use a protective glass to avoid scratches, even if it is not clear what type of protection is used. The display is an IPS, and compared to an AMOLED panel, it appears to be a little less incisive, with tones slightly imprinted on warm colors by default, however, which can be modified at will.
The chip proposed inside is the Kirin 980, as on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Huawei P30 Pro. It is a chip manufactured using a 7nm process, with four ARM Cortex-A76 cores, four Cortex-A55 cores, dual units Neural processing, supported by a Mali G76 GPU. All this, also seasoned with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. Fortunately, considering that the memory is not expandable. Autonomy is entrusted to a 3,750mAh battery with 22.5W fast charging support.
Other outstanding features include the multimedia department. Honor 20 offers four rear cameras, with the main 48 MP sensor, the Sony IMX586 48 with a focal aperture of 1.8. It employs the 4-in-1 Light Fusion function, a term used by Huawei for pixel binning technology, which combines four pixels into a larger one so as to allow the camera to capture more light for brighter photos at a resolution of 12 megapixels . The multimedia department is also accompanied by a 16-megapixel super-wide-angle camera with f / 2.2 aperture and a 117-degree field of view, as well as a 2-megapixel depth camera with f / 2.4 aperture, and a macro camera with the same aperture for capturing close-up photos. On the front this terminal offers a 32 megapixel selfie sensor with an f / 2.0 aperture.
Daily use
Let's start with the display. The onboard unit offers good viewing angles, with good brightness. During use in everyday life we did not encounter any significant problems with reading the text, even in outdoor use the screen is slightly reflective, therefore a bit annoying when viewing photos and videos in direct sunlight. Sun.
Overall, however, it is a very good screen, able not to disfigure compared to the other technical specifications, which reflect those of a high-end terminal. Moreover, it is interesting to note that there is an intelligent function relating to the screen resolution, which automatically reduces it from FullHD + to HD + to save energy
Coming to performance, the Kirin 980 is naturally powerful enough to run any installed app. The terminal also handles multitasking massively, and even with about 20 applications in the background Honor 20 manages everything smoothly of any kind. The gaming department also works very well, and even the presence of heavy games in the background very rarely causes any small micro slowdown, when switching from one application to another.
Returning to the gaming department, the experience is good, with titles of the caliber of PUBG, but also Asphalt 9, which run quietly with high graphic details, all extremely fluid. It's just a pity that the placement of the speaker is unfortunate, because it is totally covered by the hands, greatly attenuating the audio.
If you look at the benchmarks, Honor 20 gets numbers equal to 3,296 in single-core with Geekbench 4, and 9,593 in the multi-core test. Antutu, on the other hand, records 213,387 points, which are lower than those recorded by the Snapdragon 855 installed on other Android flagships. The numbers, however, the experience offered by Honor 20 in everyday life is absolutely pleasant.
Camera
There was great anticipation for the photographic department of Honor 20, also because Huawei and Honor have bet a lot on the multimedia department of their top of the range. The main camera captures 12 megapixel photos by default, but you can manually switch to 48MP mode to capture more details. In general, the shots are good, even if the images seem to be a little too saturated, and the colors of the objects seem not too accurate.
Attention, this is about personal taste, and for many users this could be absolutely a positive factor. The dynamic range is also not surprising and the camera seems to fail at its best, for example, the various colors and shades of the sky during, for example during the sunset, and even the blue of the sky does not seem to be all that bright as it deserves.
The 2 MP sensor dedicated to Super Macro is disappointing. First of all, the 2 megapixel resolution is simply insufficient to capture a good level of detail. Second, the camera often strains to focus and is immediately moved at the slightest movement. To shoot an excellent macro it is necessary to be exactly 4 cm away from the subject, as the manufacturer prescribes, without the possibility of being a little closer, or further away, from this range. This means that often, in everyday life, the user will prefer to use the normal shooting mode, with the primary sensor, even for close-ups, so as to be able to capture much more details.
Portrait
Every. so, as far as image quality is concerned, the objects in focus retain a good amount of detail, while the peripheral elements do not. The Sony IMX586 sensor still proves to be a very capable sensor when it comes to capturing detail, and some shots really look like they come from a professional camera.
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The 16 megapixel wide-angle sensor does a good job of capturing wide panoramas without losing detail, and we were amazed how the wide-angle camera manages to minimize the distortion effect on the sides. Portrait mode also works well, with good edge detection and a natural-looking bokeh effect, which brings out the object in focus well.
Macro
There are also a host of other camera features that you can have fun with, such as panorama mode, motion pictures, time lapse, AR stickers, and slow motion video. Interestingly, the Honor 20 is capable of running at 960fps (at 720p resolution), 240fps (720p), and 120fps at 1080p. Under natural light, slow motion videos are smooth and of good quality, while losing focus.
The 32-megapixel front camera takes selfies with a good amount of detail. Photos taken in daylight turn out to be brilliant, while suffering in low light conditions, suffering in terms of sharpness and color accuracy.
Autonomy
The strength of the terminal is the battery. It arrives in the evening, with intense use, with still a good 30% of remaining battery. The 22.5W rapt charging capability takes just over an hour and a half to bring the terminal's 3,750mAh battery from 0 to 100% battery. Unfortunately, the terminal lacks support for wireless charging.
Conclusions
Honor 20 is a good terminal, which impresses positively with its attractive design and good overall performance. Autonomy, as mentioned, is the strong point. It arrives on the market at an unhappy time for the manufacturing company, and the smartphone itself is not free from defects, or gaps. The former can be seen in the most awaited department, the multimedia one, while the gaps are in the lack of wireless charging or in the lack of a desktop mode now dear to society. It must be said, however, that in the price range of 499 euros Honor 20 does not have many rivals, especially now that OnePlus, with the latest model, has raised the price bar.
Precisely in the value for money Honor 20 finds its strength and its real reason that could push users to buy it. The price list of 499 euros, certainly reduced if we consider the street price and the summer offers, makes it a terminal that is more than attractive to most users.
Pro
Versus
Retail price
It costs 499 euros and can be purchased directly on the Hihonor store.
