Honor might not be the first brand you think of when searching for a smartphone, but if you’re looking for something more affordable than an iPhone 14, or the Samsung Galaxy Fold, it’s a solid contender in the mid-range category. But is it a better choice than the more affordable Google Pixel 6, or Google Pixel 6a?
Formerly a Huawei-owned smartphone company, Honor, which opts for the frustrating American spelling, is now a state-owned enterprise controlled by the municipal government of Shenzhen, China.
The new Honor 70 comes packed with a huge screen, three fantastic cameras on the back, and a solid 32 MP front-facing option. You’ll be juiced up to 60% in 20 minutes and can get around a full day’s use from the phone before needing to top up.
The 70, which is a follow-up to 2021’s Honor 50, is set to see sizeable discounts for Amazon’s Early Access Sale. The Honor 70 is down to £429.99, as is the highest-end model, the Honor Magic4 Pro (now £849.99), which launched in May 2022, meanwhile the more affordable Magic4 Lite 4G (now £199.49), which comes with the biggest screen at 6.81 inches. But what’s the best choice for you? Let’s talk you through it.
Honor 70 key specs
- Screen size: 6.67in
- Resolution: 2,400 x 1,080 (FHD+)
- Operating system: Android 12, Magic UI 6.1
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus
- Cameras: 54 MP (wide), 50 MP, (ultrawide), 2 MP (depth), front camera 32 MP
- Battery life: 18 hours
- Storage: 128GB
- RAM: 8GB
- Weight: 178g
- Water resistance: No official IP rating
- Micro SD card slot: No
Honor 70 design
Despite the lower price, the Honor 70 looks very sleek and high-end, it’s also available in black, green, and silver, with each colour having a nice metallic sheen to it. The 7.91mm body has two stacked circles containing three cameras and one flashlight, this certainly makes the Honor 70 look distinct from the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy, or Apple’s iPhone 14, plus we feel it looks better than the large circle on the back of the Magic4 Pro and Magic4 Lite. The button layout is minimal with a power key on the right-hand side of the handset, along with an up-and-down volume key just above.
There’s no headphone jack in the Honor 70, as with most modern smartphones, so you’ll need to opt for some wireless headphones or an adaptor which is compatible with USB-C. Otherwise, there’s the nano-SIM slot and speaker at the bottom. The phone feels long, coming in at 16.14cm or 6.35 inches, so it might be a tough one to juggle for those with smaller hands, or shorter fingers, especially while on the move, it fits in your pocket nicely, but anything shallow will likely see the Honor 70 peaking out.
Honor 70 camera
Honor 70 user are spoilt for choice when it comes to cameras, on the back you’ll find three, including a whopping 54-megapixel Sony IMX800 wide sensor camera for wide shots, with a 50MP camera for ultrawide shots, meanwhile a leaner 2MP allows you to grab more depth. Flipping to the front, you’ll find a 32MP camera for your selfies, and creating videos simultaneously with both cameras using the Multi-Video function, which gives that BeReal/Zoom call feeling to your everyday videos, using multiple angles, or the selfie camera simultaneously.
As with most Android devices, the Honor 70’s camera comes built-in with ‘Beauty’ features, such as skin softening, contouring, and skin tone tools. The latter is certainly a welcome addition for capturing realistic skin tones, we found the captured images reflected skin tone better than the phone’s live camera view. However, the other ‘Beauty’ modes are still as problematic as the beauty filters you’ll find on most social media platforms, especially as they’re appearing completely unchallenged. However, you can turn it off, and this isn’t unique to the Honor 70.
The camera comes with several options including a pro mode that allows you to adjust the aperture as well as capture images in larger raw size for photo editing. Meanwhile, there’s a Night mode, Portrait mode, Super Macro, Panorama, Time-Lapse, and Panoramic.
Videos can also be captured in 4K, and up to 60 fps, although this might be slightly excessive for everyday videos unless you’re filming content for the likes of YouTube, or video editing professionally. The camera also builds in the ‘Bokeh’ option to artistically blur the background, as well as some AI photography features to automatically take photos when the Honor 70 detects a smile.
Honor 70 software
The Honor 70 comes with Magic UI 6.1, which is put together from the bones of Android 12, there are no massive changes from the previous versions of this which appeared on Honor’s other devices. The phone operated snappily throughout our time with it, easily closing down your dormant apps at a touch of a button, while flicking between different functions. We did find navigating backwards on the internet browser tricky, using the phones’ gestures, however, you can toggle on three-button navigations via the settings. The phone comes with a beautiful selection of high-res screensavers in case you’re not sure of your own photography skills, and you can toggle between four slick animations which transition between apps like a professional PowerPoint presentation.
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Honor 70 battery
Generally, we managed to get a full day’s worth of use from the Honor 70’s battery, listening to Spotify, checking social media, and emails, as well as navigating with Citymapper. However, the impressive 66W charger will give you up to 60% in 20 minutes. The handset also shows you an addictive animation of bubbles melding with each 0.1% battery bubbling up and filling up the phone live. It offers the option to turn itself into a charging spot to juice up your friends’ and families’ phones with 5W output.
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Honor 70 display
The huge 1080 x 2400 pixel, 120Hz OLED display, which curves across the sides of the phone, really pops with the brightness cranked up to maximum. There’s also the considerate option to toggle ‘Eye Comfort’ to dim the brightness, and make it more suitable for late at night before bed.
We found some of the app icons did appear slightly pixelated when initially opened, as they blow up to full size and launch, however, we think this is likely due to the small, low-res icons, rather than issues with the screen. Perhaps the best part of the experience was the silky smooth transitions between rows of apps, or scrolling down the 395 ppi density screen.
Honor 70 performance
For day-to-day use, we didn’t experience any crashes, or overheating (which we saw on the Google Pixel 6a), freezing, or lagging while navigating social media, emails and the camera. As for gaming, Angry Birds 2 downloaded in 30 seconds on our home Wi-fi connection, while Call of Duty Mobile was ready in around 5 minutes. Over on the 4G connection we had FIFA Football downloaded in around 5 minutes. Meanwhile, none of our gaming time was blighted by any crashes.
Face ID worked instantaneously during mid-afternoon lighting, and also includes the option to add a second ‘look’ so the phone can hopefully recognise you when you’re looking a tad different / worse for wear. The power button does trigger Google Assistant before allowing you to power down the phone, which is slightly frustrating, and shows the Honor 70 could have benefitted from an extra customisable function button.
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Honor 70 drawbacks
The Honor 70 is missing a headphone jack, as with most modern smartphones, and doesn’t come with any form of waterproofing, or expandable microSD space. We found some pixelated app icons when initially opening them up, and triggering Google Assistant every time you power off the phone was slightly frustrating, but hardly a dealbreaker.
Honor 70 verdict
The Honor 70 is a beautiful phone with incredible cameras punching quite heavily in the mid-range market. If you’re already an iPhone devotee, there isn’t anything different here that will tempt you over to Android that hasn’t been seen before. However, if you’re in the market for a new Android device, and are finding some of the top-tier model’s prices eye-watering, then this could be one for you.
Compared to its rivals in the mid-range market, such as the OnePlus Nord 2T, Pixel 6a Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, and Nothing phone (1) we’d say the Honor 70 is easily one of the best-looking, perhaps only challenged by the Samsung or the semi-transparent Nothing. If price is your main concern, the other handsets, or the Magic4 Lite will likely win out, even with the new discounts.
However, if you want a stylish phone with incredible cameras, and a huge screen taking up as much room as possible, and at a reasonable price, then it might be worth exploring when you’re looking to upgrade, just don’t make a special case to hop to this one.
