Honor 20: a complete smartphone ... at the wrong time

Presentation

CAUTION: This test was written before the Android / Huawei case. The technical appraisals of the mobile phone remain completely valid, but the future software of the phone being in abeyance, it is difficult to advise without reserve this model for the moment.

After having delivered the excellent copies that were the Honor 10 and the Honor View 20, the Chinese manufacturer returns to the charge with this Honor 20. A smartphone which is inspired more by the View than by its predecessor, which will not be for displease fans of the brand.

This Honor 20 is offered more expensive for sale than the Honor 10 was in its time. A small upscale for the company, which brings its mid-range at a price close to that of the Honor View 20 at its release. Its price of € 499 places it in direct competition with the Asus ZenFone 6, the Google Pixel 3a XL, the Xiaomi Mi 9 but also one of its compatriots, the Honor View 20.

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Ergonomics and design

Far from presenting an original design, the Honor 20 is rather in the continuity of the previous models. Resembling somewhat the Honor View 20 released at the beginning of the year, it is distinguished above all by its 4 sensors visible on the back and on which we will come back in detail in the part dedicated to the photo.

On the front, there is a large 6.26 inch screen in 19.5: 9 format. As on its predecessor, the View 20, the slab is punched here, so as to offer as much space as possible (it occupies 85% of the front face). The borders are very thin and the lower border is the luxury of being narrower than that of the Honor View 20. The phone is not really usable with one hand.

At the rear, in addition to the 4 vertically positioned sensors, there is not much else. As is customary at Honor now, the back is adorned with a gradient of blue which tends to purple depending on the inclination and the brightness. Pleasure for the eyes, but also fingerprints. Otherwise, the mobile is well constructed and pleasant in hand. A great success for the price.

These are the sections that are interesting. The one on the right especially, since it houses the fingerprint reader. Like the Samsung Galaxy S10e. This player is also clickable, in fact, it also serves as a start button. Just above, there are the volume controls. On the opposite edge, the dual-SIM drawer is installed. On this model, you cannot add a microSD card to increase storage. Finally, on the bottom edge, we have a USB-C port as well as a speaker. The Honor 20 does not have a 3.5mm mini-jack input; but the box contains an adapter.

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Screen

The Honor 20 has a 6.26-inch IPS panel with a definition of 2,340 x 1,080 px (411 ppi). To take advantage of good colorimetry, it is necessary to take a look at the color settings and select the "Vivid" display mode - for once. You will then have a Delta E with small onions (1.5). No shade exceeds 3, a ceiling below which the human eye cannot perceive colorimetric drift. Nothing to declare on this side then.

For the color temperature, the change of display mode allows to go from a value higher than 8000 Kelvins to 6 429 Kelvins, a figure much closer to the video standard (6 500 K).

With a maximum brightness pointing to 498 cd / m², the screen remains perfectly readable, even under the sun, especially since it manages reflections rather well thanks to its reflectance of 55%. The minimum brightness of 1 cd / m² will also make this phone the best ally for reading at night.

Finally, its 1,053: 1 contrast is standard for an IPS panel and its tactile delay (75 ms) as well as its afterglow time (14 ms) offer a fluid experience. In the end, the only thing that we can really blame the screen of the Honor 20 is not to be an Oled panel.

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Performances

Huawei family obliges, the Honor 20 ships the Kirin 980 home processor. SoC appeared on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro in October 2018, it still offers excellent performance and more than pleasant fluidity, especially coupled with its 6 GB of RAM.

The heat given off by the telephone is not excessive during prolonged use (32.5 ° C maximum).

In play, a Mali-G76 GPU takes over, boosted by the company's GPU Turbo technology. Enough to enjoy good comfort on any title, whether Fortnite or Asphalt 9.

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Audio

The new Honor mobile has no 3.5mm mini-jack, but it comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm mini-jack adapter. The output power is excellent and will honor your most demanding headsets. The distortion is almost zero and the dynamics are wide. Only the stereo reproduction is not up to the rest.

With its only speaker located on the lower edge, the Honor 20 can watch videos on YouTube or Netflix, but no more. Pushed to the bottom, the sound delivered is not very powerful, with weak bass and a little saturation.

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Photo

This Honor 20 is rather well equipped for photography. Its main sensor is a Sony IMX586 48 MP with a lens that opens at f / 1.8. Its second is a 16 MP super-wide angle (117 °). The third of 2 Mpx is only used in portrait mode. Finally, the fourth is also a 2 MP and is used to take macro shots. But the latter is more of a gadget as its quality is passable.

As usual, we compare the photo performance of the Honor 20 to that of the best photophones in its price range. So this is the Pixel 3a XL for the main module and the MI 9 from Xiaomi with regard to the super-wide angle.

"Main" module: 48 MP, f / 1.8, eq. 26 mm

First of all, it should be borne in mind that this module is equipped with a Sony IMX586 lens, which by default shoots 12 MP images. Changing its definition to 48 Mpx does not really improve the quality of the images. So we did our tests in 12 MP, since it is the default configuration.

During the day, the phone doesn't stand up to Google's Pixel 3a XL. Even if the majority of the details are well restored, the software processing applied smoothes the scene far too much and it is notably visible on the book in the center. We also note that the colors are dull and draw somewhat towards red tones.

At night, it is the same observation. The Google Pixel 3a XL offers a more interesting result, even if there is a lot of noise on the picture. The Honor 20 isn't too far behind, however. However, it draws towards red tones and smoothes the scene once again. In fact, the sharpness is less marked and the details less well rendered than at Google, but this is quite acceptable.

Note that Honor's phone has a rather good night mode but which tends to smooth the image. There is also a lens flare effect when a slightly strong light is on the image.

The Honor 20's ultra-wide angle lens suffers a bit from that of the Xiaomi Mi 9. Strangely, a fuzzy veil covers the photo, which is fundamentally lacking in sharpness. Again, strong smoothing is applied and the scene lacks detail. It can however be noted that the white balance is well measured and that the rendering is only slightly distorted. The colors are also well restored. In short, it is usable, but not great.

The image processing after dark is more than aggressive. The final result is sorely lacking in sharpness and the noise erases most of the details in the photo. The color rendering is less dull than that of Xiaomi, but the latter wins our favor thanks to its better noise management.

At the front, a front sensor of 32 MP with a lens opening to f / 2 is proposed. The quality of the pictures is good without swarming with details that one could hope for; which is particularly noticeable on beards and hair. The skin is quite smoothed - it is even possible to increase this effect via the "quality level" button which will transform you into a wax statue.

The third 2 MP sensor is exclusively dedicated to depth of field. The bokeh effect is more than correct and the cutting of the subject rather clean most of the time. You can even change the blur you want to apply to your photography, from a list of 8 effects.

For video, you can shoot up to 4K at 30 fps. By default, the quality is in 1080p at 30 fps. It can be changed to film at 60 fps. Integrated stabilization can help if you have shaky hands.

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Autonomy

Delivered with a 3,500 mAh battery, the Honor 20 withstood 18 h 07 min on our SmartViser test. Enough to offer about 2 days of use in normal use.

To recharge it, it takes less than 2 hours to get the full battery, using the 22.5 W block capable of offering fast charging (called SuperCharge by Honor).

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Conclusion

With this Honor 20, the Chinese brand offers a product that is good everywhere, but that does not stand out. It is a complete phone, which will delight most users. But offered at € 499, it is placed opposite the Google Pixel 3a XL (€ 479), a 5-star smartphone king of the photo and which has an Oled screen. In the end, this Honor 20 will surely be more suitable for those who are familiar with the pull mobiles and who do not want to look elsewhere .-- /! \ Attention, the future software of this phone is uncertain given the sanctions taken by the United States against Huawei. /! \

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