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HONOR 90 5G Review: More Than The Eye Can See

HONOR Philippines officially launched the HONOR 90 5G on Aug. 15 in an exclusive event held at La Jolla Luxury Beach Resort in Bataan. The affair gave us more time to experience the HONOR 90 5G in real-world scenarios and emphasized its capability to capture beautiful photos and videos. However, before we discuss further the imaging capability of the HONOR 90 5G, let us explore the other promising features the smartphone can offer.

Unboxed, the HONOR 90 5G welcomes you with its Quad-curved Eye-comfort Display. Sporting a 6.7-inch curved AMOLED display promises a seamless viewing experience when reading, looking at photos, or watching videos on the phone. Understanding that smartphone users these days spend several hours viewing their phones, HONOR has equipped the HONOR 90 5G with 3840Hz PWM dimming to prevent eye strain and headaches caused by long hours of phone use.

PWM stands for pulse width modulation, a technique used to control display brightness for eye protection. With a PWM dimming frequency much higher than most smartphones (including flagship models rated at 480Hz or 240Hz), the HONOR 90 5G screen has zero to a minimal number of flickers. When a phone screen flickers more frequently, our eye muscles work harder, resulting in fatigue and discomfort. While screen flickers are not noticeable under normal conditions, several video demonstrations show that the HONOR 90 5G has zero to minimal flickering compared with other phones. According to the HONOR website, the HONOR 90 5G is the first phone in the world with TÜV Rheinland flicker-free certification for its risk-free dimming level.

The HONOR 90 5G screen also features a DCI-P3 wide color gamut with 10.7 billion colors for outstanding color accuracy. With these display qualities, photos and videos on the HONOR 90 5G screen look brilliant with eye-popping colors, making taking images, creating content, gaming, or internet browsing a more satisfying experience with the phone.

Looking at the back, the Emerald Green variant (the unit we got) of the HONOR 90 5G gleams with elegance. The fine, frosted texture makes the phone look gorgeous and impervious to unsightly fingerprints and smudges. Another element that makes the HONOR 90 5G appear like a jewelry piece is the camera. Equipped with a 200MP Flagship-level Camera, the phone has a camera system that looks like two embedded gemstones, but they work to enclose the image sensors stylishly. The top compartment houses the 200MP Ultra Clear Main Camera and the 2MP Depth Camera, while the bottom contains the 12MP Ultra Wide and Macro Camera, and the camera flash. The HONOR 90 5G also carries a 50MP front camera. Both the front and rear camera systems support 4K video recording.

Capturing images with the HONOR 90 5G is a pleasing experience in general. Using the default photo mode is enough when shooting under adequate lighting conditions. However, for low-light scenarios, the HONOR 90 5G has a night mode that works well even without tinkering with camera settings. If you are the type who prefers playing around with the camera settings, choose the professional mode to manually adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and other camera parameters. Whether taken using the rear or front camera system, portraits look stunning without too much post-processing. 

Under the hood, the HONOR 90 5G operates on Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition octa-core CPU (1x Cortex-A710 2.5GHz, 3x Cortex-A710 2.36GHz, and 4x Cortex-A510 1.8GHz) with Adreno 644 GPU, 12GB RAM, and 512GB onboard storage. Powered by this mobile platform, the HONOR 90 5G fluidly runs Magic OS 7.1, based on Android 13. Using the AnTuTu benchmarking tool, the HONOR 90 5G scored 722134. The phone also has a 2-Day Battery (5000mAh) with 66W HONOR SuperCharge support. This feature means long battery life at a short charging time. The connectivity options available in the HONOR 90 5G include 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, and USB Type-C, which doubles as an audio jack. The phone does not have the traditional 3.5mm audio jack. The HONOR 90 5G also has Easy Projection that allows users to project visual content from the phone to a compatible monitor or TV wirelessly.

From the key features to its minute details, there are many things to like about the HONOR 90 5G. It is a good-looking smartphone meant to capture beautiful things. The flicker-free display might not be quickly noticeable. However, we believe that it should result in a better viewing experience in the long run, particularly for those who use their phones for long hours because of gaming or binge-watching. In the Philippines, the HONOR 90 5G is also available in Diamond Silver and Midnight Black, and costs ₱24,990, which is reasonable, considering its many features, some of which are present in some flagship smartphones. Convenient payment options are also available to help interested parties get the latest offering from HONOR without breaking the bank.