A few weeks back we were invited to the UK Honor lunch of the Honor 70 which we have been lucky to have been testing out for the last few weeks. Honor also released the Honor X80 5G and Honor Pad 8 which we have recently reviewed.
First Impressions
The Honor 70 is £479.99 sim free and comes in 3 colour options:
- Midnight Black
- Crystal Silver
- Emerald Green
In this review, we have been sent the Emerald Green option and I have to say what a stunning-looking phone if I had to be really hard and pick faults I would say it’s missing a few features like wireless charging and a higher res display but you have to consider the price point for these premium features.
The Honor 70 sits firmly in the mid-range price point but Honor has positioned this phone very much as the new flagship device. The phone comes with a very eye-catching design along with a curved-edge display something not normally seen on a mid-range device. I found the phone really comfortable to hold in my hand.
The display is bright and you will enjoy watching the latest Amazon show like the Ring of Fire or playing COD on your phone. You will also be impressed with the battery life it will provide you with a decent number of hours of use.
Compare to the previous model the Honor 50 and the clear stand-out improvements are in the speed this phone has and the camera. Apart from that, the spec is very similar to the Honor 50 but the Honor 70 is a significant step up and a real contender for phone of the year. Let’s take a closer look to see how we came up with such a statement!
Design
Honor has created a premium-looking phone that looks more expensive compared to a variety of phones released this year. The grey version of the phone has a two-tone style when you tilt the back of the phone. The main thing seen on the rear of the phone is the stand-out camera bumps. You have 2 circular sections next to each other that protrude quite a bit from the back of the device. The downside to this is it has a little wobble when laid on a flat surface.
Moving over to the front of the phone you will notice the screen has a curved edge screen that has pros and cons in terms of design. It aids in the level of comfort you have when holding the phone but the downfall is if you accidentally dropped the phone it’s highly likely you will do serious damage to the screen if dropped. The phone is also very lightweight at only 178g so it won’t feel too heavy in your hands.
Moving around the sides at the base you have the USB-C port with the speaker on the right of the USB-C port and the Sim card tray to the left of the USB Port.
On the right side, the volume controls and the power button make up the right side The fingerprint scanner is no longer on the rear as which we have seen on many mid-range devices Honor has embedded it into the display. When testing it out it was very responsive and easy to reach even with one hand.
What you will notice and just like the Honor Pad 8 is the 3.5mm headphone jack which is so common in phones of this price range is missing. If you are someone who enjoys a wired connection when listening to music this will put you off. If like me you enjoy wireless buds the missing 3.5mm port will not bother you.
Display
The first thing you will notice especially compared to the Honor 50 is the display there is a slight increase in size (Honor 50 – 6.57 inches Vs Honor 70 – 6.67 inches). The curved edge screen has a punch hole cut out at the top centre of the screen and this is for the front camera.
The display has a resolution of 1080×240 which is around average compared to other phones at this price point. What keeps a smile on my face is the fact the refresh rate is 120Hz as this will be perfect for those who enjoy films or enjoy the odd game on their phone.
The colours of the display are bright and rich and we found the whole user experience to be very good when you’re looking at this aspect alone.
Performance / Under the Bonnet
If you open up the Honor 70 you will find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 788G Plus which is a chipset you can find in a range of mid-range priced devices so no shocks on that front. The phone is paired with 8GB of RAM and comes in either the 128GB or 256GB storage option, The 256GB version will cost you £20 extra. As you might expect the phone is also a 5G device which is great if you live in a major city like London otherwise for someone like me who lives in the Essex Countryside 5G has not quite arrived yet.
When testing this phone we found it to be quite fast when we were navigating through the apps and home screen. We also found that when playing games like COD, the phone worked very well with no lag or other issues.
Software
As mentioned when we reviewed the Honor Pad 8, Honor is no longer connected to Huawei which has a well-documented ban from Google. The Honor 70 comes with all the Google apps you come to expect and the phone runs on Android 12 but also comes with Honor’s MagicUI operating system laid over the top. The MagicUI system does provide a nice appearance but can be a little restrictive in use.
CAMERA REVIEW BY JAMES ROBERTSON-MILLIGAN @LIFESIZEPHOTOGRAPHY
As a photographer and Phonetographer, there is nothing I love more than getting out in the elements and taking pictures that will last a lifetime and capture the imagination.
When the editor passed me the Honor 70 I have to say I was a little mixed about what could be with the camera, on paper it boasts a Sony IMX800 sensor which provides that 54mp triple lens with a 50mp wide and 2mp depth along with a 32mp selfie camera so it’s pushing high with the specs but will it live up to those?
The camera is easy to use with a dedicated shortcut key on the lock screen which only offers a couple of seconds delay when you swipe up and a dedicated key which again gives a couple of seconds delay when launching the camera but to be honest that’s about the usual time to launch a camera even on my iPhone it’s roughly the same so that’s no deal breaker.
The camera is easy to use and straightforward once on the main screen you just swipe across the various shooting menus and pinch for zoom and wide angle, the transition is smooth as silk and offers no lag at all even locking on to an image and autofocus it wastes very little time so all in all its effortless and quite well thought out.
In terms of overall picture quality, I will let them speak for themselves but you won’t be disappointed. As always, the photos that I take when testing cameras are that of everyday images most of us will take.
Let’s start with Macro, I love macro nothing is better than getting up close and personal to an image and getting that fine detail of a chosen subject, Macro on this phone handles very very well and you get some great detail and sharpness of the image.
Selfie, we all love a good selfie for our socials and the 32mp mid-centred camera doesn’t fall short, the quality and sharpness is there.
Portrait mode, Portrait works well on this, your chosen image is nice, crisp detailed and clear with that nice subtle background blur.
Night mode, when I have tested night mode before the pictures always seem to fall short and just don’t work, on this device I was surprised, the outcome was clear sharp and well defined the only downside is after taking the photo you have to stand in the same spot continuing to point the camera at the subject whilst it develops for around 3 seconds but all in all a thumbs up.
Photo mode (default) pictures in this your default mode come out crisp and strong, the clear light and true tones are all there, to be honest, it’s a great effort that the camera works well.
Pro mode, I am never a fan of “pro mode” it just takes too much messing around, especially when you get great results just using the default camera so I am not sure why all android phones are doing this, it’s just too much fettling when the results are no different.
If you have read my past reviews you will of seen me talk a lot about picture editing and the free-to-download editing suit called Snapseed. Snapseed is a great tool to transform any image you have taken, mess around with and really blow pictures out the water on socials and really make your professional side stand out.
This phone will allow you to do just that, and it so so easy to use and mess around with if you don’t like something just hit the undo button and try something different! here is one picture that I edited slightly on Snapseed.
Last but not least Zoom, this phone holds a 10X zoom most phones will give you an awful lot of camera shake when you use full zoom, this phone is no exception but the result of the image is pretty good quality and gives quite a detailed sharp image.
Camera Overview
So in all, the camera on the Honor 70 is a good camera. Would I buy it? The answer is yes I would for a decent budget phone with a lot of thought into the camera, this works for me, it will bring out the photographer side in you with good results in all conditions! 5/5 for me, it’s just a nice and easy-to-use camera with effortless results every time.
Video
In addition to taking photos, you can also take a video the Honor 70 comes with up to 4K on the rear and 1080P on the front camera and they come with modes like Multi-video which allows you to record footage on both the front and the rear cameras at once.
Honor has also introduced a new feature called solo cut which lets you focus on one person in a group with the phone automatically tracking just that person. This feature would be fantastic if you wanted to just record what your child was doing in the school play but were not too worried about others in the shot.
Battery Life
The Honor 70 comes with a 4800mAh which is a very big battery considering the size of the phone and this is not a bad thing at all. The phone will have no issue lasting throughout the day even with the most demanding daily use such as watching youtube videos, Playing games, facetime videos and daily calls and texts and spending hours scrolling the internet even with this amount of use the phone lasted till the end of the day but don’t expect much battery left moving into day two.
When it’s time to charge the Honor 70 you are provided with a 66W charging which provides the user with a fast charge facility which will get you from 0% to 100% in just under 40 minutes as long as you use the provided charger. Unfortunately, the Honor 70 is not compatible with wireless charging but with the fast charger and large battery life am sure you can live without that wireless charging option.
Verdict
The Honor 70 is a very impressive mid-range phone that comes with an attractive design with a curved edge display but with the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, the ability to charge wirelessly is the negative aspect to a fantastic mid-range device. The Pros are the 120Hz display, very good camera with new video features and large battery are all big plus points. Now Honor is no longer connected to Hauwei they can now use everything that comes with Andriod 12 and all the Google apps which is a big bonus.
Overall, if you are looking for a phone with a very eye-catching design on the rear this phone, performs well and is lightweight the Honor 70 is a great option for you to consider for your next phone.
Product Rating:
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Display: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Performance: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Software: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Camera: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Video: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Battery Life: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Value for Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars – 4.75 Star review
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