Matt Weston / UNILADHonor’s latest smartphone has all the features of a flagship smartphones, but for half the price of the iPhone X.
If you’d have asked me a year ago what smartphones Honor sells, I would’ve probably said handsets that have fantastic specs without breaking the bank. The new View 20 follows the same pattern while also managing to compete with some of the most expensive phones on the market.
When the device was launched in Paris last month, the biggest talking points were the hole-punch display and the world’s first 48MP camera on any smartphone. The company has finally stepped out of its parent company Huawei’s shadow and started to produce some industry-leading handsets.
Camera
After the View 10 and its other devices, one of the things that needed to be improved for Honor was their camera. I’m sure what nobody expected was for the device to have one of the best you can buy. Its 48MP rear camera blows away most of the competition. Photos on the View 20 look insanely detailed when you turn on Honor’s AI Ultra Clarity mode. This will combine a series of frames to create seriously impressive detailed shots.
Even in default settings, photos look full of colour and extremely detailed. The typical professional modes and settings found in the camera app can help put the 48MP camera to good use. The phone also shoots video at 960fps for some great slow motion slots.
We’ll talk about the screen more in the next section, but the selfie camera found on the front of the device is also really good. It has 25-megapixels and takes some fantastically detailed selfies!
Display and Design
I’m sure I’m not the only person that was concerned the hole-punch notch would be distracting. The View 20 is the first of many devices released this year expected to discard the notch used on nearly all smartphones released in 2018.
Honor has done away with it and made a hole in the top-left of the screen for the selfie camera. The hole is a 4.5mm ultra-small camera cutout for the 3.05mm camera lens to fit inside.
Having spent some time using the device, I almost forgot that it was even there. It’s a fine piece of engineering that leaves the 6.4-inch LCD display to fill the rest of the phone. While playing games or watching full-screen video on the device, the selfie camera isn’t a distracting feature and I’m yet to have run into any overlapping or display problems because of the camera (yet).
Just like notches found on other devices, the top of the phone can be blacked out if you find it frustrating. While I won’t be needing it, it’s nice to know that option is there.
While it cannot compete with OLED displays found on the market, the LCD screen is still of good quality. With the phone costing the price it does, I wouldn’t have expected a better quality display and I’m far from disappointed.
On the back of the device, there’s an aurora nanotexture design on the back that makes its chevron pattern with a V imprint stand out. You can tell that this phone is being marketed at younger people and I personally believe that it’s kinda trendy. It’s a design that’s never been seen on a smartphone before and that’s another thing that makes this handset truly unique.
Performance
The View 20 has a Huawei Kirin 980 processor (the same as the Huawei Mate 20 Pro) with the choice of 6GB or 8GB of RAM. Because of this, it’s a fast and powerful machine. It’s also great for gaming, with the View 20 being one of three Android phones able to support Fortnite at 60FPS. The others are the Mate 20 X and the Galaxy Note 9.
Battery life is already really good, with it comfortably lasting a whole 24 hours without needing charge. If you worry about your phone running out of battery after a late night, you shouldn’t have any problems with the View 20.
While the phone doesn’t come with wireless charging, it does charge incredibly fast… going from 0-100% in about two hours.
One of the features added to the phone is a headphone jack. That’s right, I thought they were dead too! It also has a USB-C port and comes with 128GB or 256GB storage.
Price
The Honor View 20 starts at just £500 for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The price goes up to £580 for the 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage version.
These prices are seriously impressive with everything that it has to offer. It uses the same processor as the Huawei flagship, the Mate 20 Pro, but for nearly half the cost. It’s also half the price of the iPhone XS.
I believe that the View 20 is able to compete with these phones in its own right, the price of it just makes it a great purchase.
Conclusion
Without paying too much attention to the price of the handset, it truly is a brilliant device. It’s got one of the best smartphone cameras you can buy, a unique hole-punch display and a slick design. It’s also extremely powerful to add to the great value for money. If you’re looking to get a flagship phone without having to pay outrageous prices, this definitely could be the Android device for you.
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Matt Weston is a lover of electric cars, artificial intelligence and space. From Cornwall, he’s a UCLan graduate that still dreams of being a Formula One driver in the very near future. Previously work includes reporting for regional newspapers and freelance video for the International Business Times.