With the Honor 70, Honor wins a few stripes in the mid-range smartphone market by injecting a little lightness and refinement without sacrificing the technical part. Something to satisfy a wide audience.
As the holiday season approaches, mid-range smartphones seem to be attracting renewed interest from all manufacturers. In this field where competition is raging and where all players want to find a place, Honor has managed to stand out with a model that makes very few compromises. The Chinese manufacturer, which signed a high-end and very well finished model a few months ago with the Magic 4 Pro, is arriving this time with a no less successful mobile, the Honor 70. On the program, neat finishes, power, but also a very good autonomy. The smartphone also has good surprises in photo and video with some original ideas which, even if they are not useful on a daily basis, can occasionally make a difference. What almost make the small defects that dot the table.
Honor 70: a refined and attractive design
If you can’t really innovate in terms of design, you might as well take care of the finishes. This is obviously the strategy adopted by the manufacturer for this mobile which still looks furiously like the Honor 50 released last year. We therefore find at the back a plastic case resembling frosted glass. The effect is very successful but in return, it will be necessary to accept the presence of fingerprints. The photo modules are split into two parts aligned within two circular blocks that look like big black eyes once the smartphone is positioned horizontally.
Despite a nice size (73.3 x 161.4 mm) the Honor 70 remains slender (7.9 mm thick) and rather light (178 g). It is therefore very pleasant in the hand. The set therefore provides an exemplary finish but suffers from a defect. The smartphone does not benefit from any IP certification (which specifies the level of resistance to water and dust). In 2022, for a model of this price, the pill is hard to swallow.
Honor 70: performance worthy of a mid-range
In order to distinguish itself from most of the mobiles offered by the competition, Honor adopts a curved OLED screen on this model. The 6.67-inch panel is rather pleasing to the eye. It offers a definition of 5400 x 1080 pixels with a refresh rate that can climb to 120 Hz to provide better fluidity depending on the use. The brightness is not lacking either with excellent results even in direct sunlight.
Behind the screen, the smartphone is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G + chip, a SoC released in the fall of 2021, supported by 8 GB of RAM: a very comfortable amount of Ram which promises to run many applications in parallel in a fluid way. Thus equipped, it can compete with the competition. On a daily basis, this results in a responsive interface, multitasking without slowdowns and comfortable gaming sessions without the mobile starting to heat up. Honor also offers a Performance mode supposed to boost the graphics processor. In reality, we hardly felt any difference.
On the storage side, the mobile is available in two versions: 128 or 256 GB. Classic therefore, but we regret that the SIM card drawer cannot accommodate a microSD card to extend the storage space. A common shortcoming at Apple and others, which thus prohibits any extension of storage. And a point to consider at the time of purchase, especially if you plan to draw the mobile at all costs to shoot videos.
Honor 70: successful photos and original videos
To take the shots, the Honor 70 is quite well equipped. It thus relies on a 54 Mpx sensor for the main module, an ultra wide-angle of 50 Mpx and the traditional 2 Mpx depth sensor. The main sensor, signed Sony, delivers very good results. The colorimetry is respected and the sharpness is there. The effective autofocus manages to quickly capture the important points of the intended scene.
Only backlighting can put him in difficulty. In such conditions, whites can quickly appear scorched and blacks lack detail. Note that it is possible to unclamp the sensor so that it does not use the pixel binning technique consisting of combining several pixels (and therefore more light) into one. We can therefore take advantage of 54 Mpx shots in order to obtain more details in the image. An implementation to be reserved, however, for photos taken in full light. In low light, the device does quite well. The colors remain very correct and the sharpness is there. Nevertheless, several shots are sometimes necessary to achieve a fair result. Do not hesitate to deactivate the AI mode present by default to avoid a sometimes risky choice of automatic correction.
The ultra wide-angle module also provides honorable and usable results. The deformations at the edges of the image remain contained but we deplore a slight loss of sharpness. Nothing unacceptable, however.
The same module is also implemented for macro photos. In this field, the Honor 70 does well with detailed and very clean shots. A good surprise.
The 32 MP selfie camera delivers decent shots. Honor has added its traditional “Embellish” function, which smoothes details, thins (yes, yes) or corrects skin tone on the fly, as well as bokeh. Options also available in portrait mode delivered by the back camera but which are struggling to convince.
There remains the video for which Honor provides an original option. The device can thus film in 4K at 30 fps or in HD at 60 fps. A classic formula to which is added the Solo Cut mode. This allows you to simultaneously use the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle modules of the Honor 70. You can thus film a wide scene while paying particular attention to an element. Tracking is done automatically using artificial intelligence. This results in two separate video streams to be used later during editing. A mode to be used for example during family reunions or end-of-year shows at school.
Honor 70: software improvements needed
This new Honor smartphone runs with Android 12 largely covered by the Magic UI house software overlay present here in version 6.1. Even if it is not unpleasant to use, Magic UI could use a refresh to bring itself up to date and modern. Nevertheless, we appreciate some of its functions such as the possibility of creating a large folder in the form of a widget on the home screen to store apps, an ebook mode to read e-books comfortably, wallpapers animations available or the different transition modes offered when switching from one app to another. We note in passing that Honor has still not given up installing by default third-party apps like Booking, TikTok, trip.com or games like Lords Mobile and Game of Sultans that we hurry to delete to earn money. the place. Finally, Honor announced only two years of major Android updates. It’s the minimum but it’s a little too fair for our taste.
Honor 70: very good autonomy and very fast charging
To use the smartphone without keeping an eye on the remaining battery level, Honor has done a good job. The Honor 70 knows how to be economical without losing efficiency. Its 4800 mAh battery lasts nearly two days without going through the charging box with standard use (Web and email consultation, social networks, music and video streaming, Google Maps location, etc.). For recharging, the device comes with a 66 W charger. It can refuel from 0 to 100% in just one hour or gain 50% battery in 20 minutes. Too bad, however: the device does not support wireless charging. A real regret for all those who have taken a liking to it and are content to place the charger on its charging base rather than spend their time looking for a cable.
Honor 70: a mid-range device at a reasonable price
Officially launched at 599 euros, the Honor 70 is already trading on the Web for around fifty euros less in the 8-128 GB version. main competitors such as the Nothing Phone (1), the Samsung A53 or the Google Pixel 6a. The end-of-year promotions should allow its price to come down a little more to make it even more attractive.