HONOR 30 Pro+ Review: The Most Premium Hardware At Its $550 Price Point

HONOR’s latest offering, the 30 series, is the closest the brand has gotten to jumping to full fledged flagship territory. And in the case of the HONOR 30 Pro, the middle child of this three phone series, it is by some distance the best hardware any phone around or under its 3,999 yuan ($550) price tag has ever offered.

The unit I’m testing is the highest end model, the HONOR 30 Pro+, and while it is slightly more capable than the standard Pro, it does increase the price to 4,999 yuan (nearly $700), so I think the middle phone is the best value for consumers.

The HONOR 30 Pro+ phones are really the ones showing HONOR’s new direction.

Design: top notch in every way

The HONOR 30 Pro+ has a 6.6-inch OLED display. BEN SIN

The triple camera array includes a Periscope zoom lens, a 50-megapixel main camera, and a ... [+] BEN SIN

Both the HONOR 30 Pro and HONOR 30 Pro+ have no compromises in hardware. The display panel is a gorgeous 6.6-inch, 90Hz curved OLED screen that bends at left and right side, blending seamlessly into the aluminum chassis.

The HONOR 30 Pro+ is ultra sleek. BEN SIN

The camera module doesn't stick out too much. BEN SIN

All three HONOR 30 phones are powered by Huawei’s top tier Kirin 990 chip. HONOR 30 Pro+, the main camera here is the same 50-megapixel RYYB sensor, and the Periscope zoom lens can achieve the same 5x lossless zoom, 10x near-lossless zoom, and digital zoom up to 50x.

The standard HONOR 30 Pro has an older main camera, a 40-megapixel RYYB sensor.

The third and final camera of the HONOR 30 Pro phones’ triple-camera array is a 16-megapixel wide-angle camera. Around the front are two selfie-cameras housed in the pill-shaped cut-out: a 32-megapixel standard and an 8-megapixel wide.

All the cameras perform well, especially the main camera of the HONOR 30 Pro+. The 50-megapixel main lens can virtually see in the dark and excel in preserving highlights while keeping shadowy/dark areas properly exposed.

A night image captured by the HONOR 30 Pro+'s main camera. BEN SIN

Excellent dynamic range and details shown by the HONOR 30 Pro's main camera. BEN SIN

Extra hardware flourishes

The Periscope zoom lens here, can zoom up to 50x, but anything beyond 30x becomes quite blurry. Keep it under 30, however, and you get useable shots. In the below sample, a 30x zoom allowed me to make out the general words of a street sign located several hundred feet away from my apartment window.

A 30X zoom shot with the HONOR 30 Pro+ (right). BEN SIN

Both the Pro phones support wireless charging—this is a first in HONOR device history—and the 4,000 mAh cell can be topped at fast 27-watt wirelessly, or 40-watt with the included charging kit. Battery life is excellent despite the higher refresh rate. The phone can last all day under most usage scenarios.

And in the rare instance of a sub-brand device outshining main brand device, the HONOR 30 Pro phones also sport stereo speakers. The speaker system here in the HONOR 30 Pro+ is among the best I’ve heard.

The device’s back is crafted out of Gorilla Glass 5 with a special coating that gives it a matte, metallic feel. It feels decidedly more premium than the fingerprint-magnet coating used in Samsung phones. The model of the HONOR 30 Pro+ I am testing also has a giant HONOR logo that runs across the back. I find the design quite striking, but opinions will be divided. There are other color options that do not include the giant HONOR print.

The giant HONOR print will likely be divisive. But I like it. BEN SIN

The phone can topped up by 40w wired charging or 27w wireless charging. BEN SIN

Animations are zippy thanks to the 90Hz panel and fine optimization. The Android 10 running under HONOR’s “MagicUI” work without interruptions. MagicUI has also improved in aesthetics, with some useful shortcut actions not seen in other phones, like knocking on the screen with a knuckle to grab a screen shot.

Conclusion

The HONOR 30 Pro+ is easily the best phone in the brand’s history, and comes very. the HONOR 30 Pro+ has a better loud speaker system.

Source: Forbes