The HONOR 90 5G is the first smartphone I’ve handled since the launch of Glint.PH early this month, which also means I haven’t tested any phones before this one for several months, so I’m kind of excited to see what’s “new.”
The HONOR 90 5G surprised me in many ways, considering its premium mid-range status because I thought it was a flagship. For starters, it has a beautiful design, which HONOR says is inspired by Haute-couture jewelry.
The Diamond Silver model’s back panel has a textured crisscross pattern at the lower back and glossy on the upper. It curves to the sides to meet the metallic frame. It’s thin at 7.8mm, so it’s nice to hold and has a decent heft at 183g.
The display is fantastic as well. It’s 6.7 inches with 2664 x 1220 with a Smart Resolution feature and an AMOLED panel. The bezels are thin all around and curve towards the sides as well. The screen refresh rate is smooth at a maximum of 120Hz, with an option to turn on Dynamic Refresh rate to save on battery.
We have no problem viewing photos, watching movies, and playing games with this screen. The only thing that got us wanting was the lack of stereo speakers.
Performance is not an issue with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition, which has a higher peak CPU speed of 2.5GHz. Add to that the 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and you got plenty of space for your background tasks and apps. Games like Honkai: Star Rail run smoothly at Very High graphics at 60fps. The battery is also large at 5,000mAh, which can last us two days before we need to replenish it with its 66W SuperCharge.
As for the camera, you’ll get a 200MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide/macro, and a 2MP depth. For selfies, we have a 50MP shooter. They work great in any scenario, even in low light. It’s also quick in transitioning to macro when it senses you’re shooting things up close. However, I would avoid shooting in 2x digital zoom in low light, as the quality significantly degrades. Check out the photos below.
Smartphones have significantly improved over the years, and we can now blur the line between flagship and mid-range. Those who are looking for flagship features like premium design and great cameras are now more accessible. HONOR did that with the HONOR 90 5G and I think PHP 24,990 (Shopee) is just right for what it is offering.
