Imagine stepping into the renowned Studio Harcourt in Paris, where celebrities from all over the world get their iconic portrait shots taken. I’m sure anyone would be so proud to post these photos on social media, especially since it costs Php 120,000 (1900 euros) and that’s doesn’t include your travel expenses yet! Making this experience accessible to more people, HONOR has launched a new smartphone that mimics the style of the studio, bringing the magic (a.k.a. art and science) of Studio Harcourt to our fingertips, making professional-grade portrait photography accessible and affordable. But beyond this attractive feature, is the HONOR 200 worth buying for its price point?

INSIDE THE BOX

Inside the minimalist white box, you’ll find the usual accessories minus earphones because this device doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack. With the device is a warranty card, user manual, a clear jelly case, SIM ejector tool, charging brick, and USB-A to USB Type-C cable.

Upon opening, I knew the charging brick will give me quite a challenge since I’ll have to find a two-prong adapter to use it on usual electric outlets in the Philippines. It comes in affordable prices now so it shouldn’t be an issue if you’re not in a hurry to charge the device.

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

The HONOR 200 has a premium feel with its metallic back and sleek curve design. The black variant has silver texts and markings on the lower left and right corners, which I find a bit tacky, but that can easily be solved by putting on a phone case. If that doesn’t bother you, you can just use the clear jelly case that comes with the box. I would still categorize it to be on the more premium side, though, especially since it’s only 7mm thin and the back cameras are styled in a shiny oval-like module. It’s also easy to hold it for long hours as it only weighs 187 grams.

On the right side of the device, you’ll find the volume rocker button and power button which doubles as a phone lock/unlock. This position makes it easier to adjust the volume and lock the screen using your thumb, especially since the smartphone is thin and light. On top, you’ll find the secondary loudspeaker, an IR blaster, and a microphone. Lastly, at the bottom, you’ll find the dual nano-SIM card slot, the USB Type-C charging port, and a loudspeaker. The left side is all clean for a better grip at the smartphone.

In front, the device has a 6.7-inch AMOLED quad-curved display, delivering true-to-life colors. Whether streaming your favorite shows or browsing through your photo gallery, the HONOR 200’s display provides a decent viewing experience. The thin bezels and punch hole camera on top are almost unnoticeable, too! This is made even more enjoyable because of the dual stereo setup on the left and right sides when watching in landscape mode. Unlocking the device is also easy using the fingerprint sensor since it’s strategically placed at the bottom of the screen within thumb’s reach even if you don’t adjust your grip.

CAMERAS

The highlight of the HONOR 200 is its camera setup created in collaboration with Studio Harcourt in Paris. Equipped with a triple 50MP portrait camera system, including a 50MP Portrait Main Camera with a Super Dynamic H9000 Sensor, this supports a 4-in-1 pixel binning technology with a pixel size of 2.4μm that can capture details even in low light scenarios.

The real magic, however, lies in its Portrait Mode, which features exclusive Studio Harcourt filters — Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Color, and Harcourt Classic (probably the most popular in the studio). These filters emulate the studio’s iconic lighting and artistic techniques with the help of AI, allowing you to take portraits that look professionally done — whether it’s a selfie or a group shot. This makes taking photos easier and more presentable even for someone without a background in photography. Just point and shoot, and that’s it!

For its price point, the HONOR 200 is also capable of taking decent wide and zoomed-in photos. The 0.6 wide lens doesn’t distort the elements on the sides of the shot, while the zoomed-in images are also decent enough up to 20x. You can only select up to 2.5x zoom under options but if you long press the number, you can toggle it up to 50x. It’s not the best in class for a mid-range smartphone but it’s decent enough as you’ll still be able to identify what’s in the photo albeit having a fuzzy appearance.

This would be a good smartphone to consider if you’re attending a concert up to Lower Box seating, though! Just check out the samples below, with me standing at the back of the main audience pool. The photos came out clearer than I initially expected. There’s just a bit of inaccuracy when comparing the color of the stage lighting in person vs zoomed on cam but that’s not a deal-breaker for me.

The Super Macro mode is also surprisingly good. This little butterfly on a patch of grass seemed big on the photo vs its appearance in real life! This camera mode works best on close-up nature shots (insects, flowers, dew drops, etc.) and food photos.

Camera features and its Harcourt Portrait options aside, the HONOR 200 works well on both dark and bright environments, making it a decent option for anyone who wants to capture high-res content up to 4K (16:9 and 21:9 resolutions) for both photos and videos. Similar to its competitors, the HONOR 200 also has a Multi-video option, but to level it up, they added more choices — picture-in picture, rear normal and rear zoomed-in, and a combination of front and rear views. For further customization, you can enter Story Mode with multiple filters, transitions, frames, stickers, and effects for instant posting. This can be applied to videos that are already in your smartphone, though!

In front is also a 50MP Portrait Selfie Camera that can be used not only on Portrait, Photo, and Video Modes, but also Night Mode! There’s also a 0.8x wide option to help capture groufies with your friends. When the environment starts becoming dark, it automatically enables a fill light to illuminate your face, too.

Even without the Studio Harcourt filters, I think the HONOR 200 does really well in the camera department, no doubt about that. More sample photos are on Manila Millennial’s Facebook page to show you how well it did during our visit to the Space & Time Cube Museum which was mostly dark and had rooms surrounded with moving videos on LED walls.

STORAGE AND PERFORMANCE

Under the hood, the HONOR 200 packs a punch with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and generous 12GB RAM + 512GB internal storage, ensuring smooth performance even with demanding applications. Whether you’re multitasking between apps, playing graphics-intensive games, or editing high-resolution photos, this device handles it quite effortlessly. While it’s not being advertised as a gaming smartphone, it was able to run my go-to mobile games like Pokemon Unite, Sky: Children of the Light, and more chill ones like Ants: Underground Kingdom and Kahoot! I’m not much of a gamer, though, so I do appreciate that apps that I consider more important are working lag-free on the HONOR 200. This includes editing apps like Snapseed, InShot, CapCut, and Picsart.

Storage is also one of its strong suits as its ample space allows you to store thousands of photos, videos, and apps without worrying about running out of space. For those who need even more, the device supports expandable storage. I’ve only been using the device for three weeks and yet my Gallery already has nearly 2,000 photos and videos!

Navigating the device is almost like a no-brainer since the gestures are very similar to other Android devices. What’s different is its AI Suggestions and Essentials drawer which puts together commonly used apps and the usual apps that users look for — Gallery, Settings, Calendar, Clock, and Notes. Security options are also available, but what I love the most is its facial recognition feature even with your mask on.

While it does its job pretty well, the only downside I can find is that it comes with a lot of bloatware that you have to manually uninstall. Again, it’s not much of a deal-breaker but it’s just worth mentioning. In terms of downloading apps, you’ll also have two choices — download via Google Play or try using the HONOR App Market. Both work perfectly fine anyway.

BATTERY

As for battery life life — a critical factor for any smartphone, the HONOR 200 also does not disappoint. With a 5200mAh silicon-carbon battery, this device is built to last an entire working day at around 12-14 hours on a single charge. Battery hours would depend on what you do on your smartphone, though! Taking videos or livestreaming non-stop might bring down the battery faster. Either way, the HONOR 200 ensures you stay powered up as it supports 100W wired HONOR SuperCharge so you can quickly recharge and get back to your activities without long interruptions. I tried charging it from 2% and it only took less than an hour to get to 100%. This combination of long-lasting battery life and fast charging capabilities makes the HONOR 200 a reliable companion.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The HONOR 200 is now available for pre-order in the Philippines for only Php 24,999. Pre-orders made from July 17 to 26, 2024 come with a free pair of JBL Soundgear Frames worth Php 9,499. To purchase, just drop by any HONOR Experience and Partner Stores, or order online.

In a nutshell, I’d say the HONOR 200 is more than what the ads sell. Beyond Studio Harcourt portrait effects, it’s a really good choice for this price point. If you do have some more cash to spare, I would still suggest that you go for its older sibling — the HONOR 200 Pro at only Php 29,999 for a bit of upgrade on the overall specs. However, for anyone who loves taking photos, wants a light yet high-performing smartphone, the HONOR 200 is a recommendable choice.

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