HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The HONOR 70 offers mid-level performance, an excellent display, good set of cameras and fast charging.

GDGTME Team  •  August 22, 2022

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
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Honor 70

The HONOR 70 works great if you are looking for a device that can be used for entertainment, photography, work and play. It offers mid-level performance, an excellent display, good set of cameras and fast charging. It uses everything we like about Huawei’s premium design, display and camera system but with support for Google Play Services. However, if you are looking for a phone with a more mature software and longer OS support, there are better alternatives. The HONOR 70 also lacks wireless charging, Gorilla Glass protection/IP68 rating and headphone jack.

THE GOOD
  • Good design
  • Good battery life
  • Good set of cameras
  • Superfast charging
THE BAD
  • No Gorilla Glass or IP68 rating
  • Software lacks polish
  • No headphone-jack
  • No wireless charging

The newly announced HONOR 70 features a 6.67-inch OLED curved display with a 120Hz refresh rate, triple rear cameras, Snapdragon 778G and a 4800mAh battery with 66W fast charging.

The HONOR 70 5G debuts the SONY IMX800 camera sensor, which captures more light for brighter and detailed pictures, especially in lowlight and night scenarios. The HONOR 70 5G is also equipped with a 50MP ultra-wide camera which also doubles as a macro camera.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The phone delivers 4K video recording in 30fps in standard video recording and debuts the first-ever Solo Cut Vlog Mode, enabling creators to produce portrait vlogs using Person Autofocus Tracking Technology. Users can change the focus of the video to spotlight a different subject at the tap of a finger.

Specifications

DIMENSIONS:161.4 x 73.3 x 7.91 mm
WEIGHT:Approx. 178 g
BATTERY:4,800 mAh
HONOR 66W SuperCharge Charger
DISPLAY6.67” OLED curved display FHD+ 2400 x 1080, 120Hz refresh rate 1.07 billion colors, DCI-P3 wide color gamut 395 ppi density
FRONT CAMERA:32MP Selfie Camera (f/2.4 aperture) Support 1080P(up to 2520 × 1080) 30fps video, EIS
REAR CAMERA:54MP IMX800 Main Camera (f/1.9 aperture) 50MP Ultra-Wide & Macro Main Camera(f/2.2 aperture) 2MP Depth Camera (f/2.4 aperture) Single LED flash Supports 4k (up to 3840 x 2160) video, EIS
OS:Magic UI 6.1 (Based on Android 12)
INTERNAL STORAGE & RAM:8 GB RAM + 256 GB ROM
REMOVABLE STORAGE:None
CHIPSET:Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus
Octa core (1 × Cortex-A78 2.5GHz + 3 × Cortex-A78 2.4GHz + 4 × Cortex-A55 1.8GHz ) Adreno 642L
CONNECTIVITY:5G, Dual-SIM, BT 5.2, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, IR
SENSORS:Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Packaging

The HONOR 70 comes in a HONOR-branded black cardboard box with the phone and accessories well protected in different compartments.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The box includes:

  • HONOR 70 Phone
  • HONOR SuperCharge
  • USB Type-C Cable
  • Eject Tool
  • TPU Protective cover
  • TP protective film (Attached on the phone)
  • Quick Start Guide

Design

The HONOR 70 is available in colors including the iconic Crystal Silver, Midnight Black, Emerald Green, and Icelandic Frost. Our review model is the Midnight Black. The phone is made of a mix of metal and glass, it looks and feels premium.

With a dual-curved front and rear design, the screen and back cover are naturally symmetrical and comfortable to hold, although feels a little slippery. Measuring 161.4 x 73.3 x 7.91 mm mm and with a weight of 178g and a 6.67-inch screen, this is a large phone; but the weight is well distributed. However, if you are looking for a smartphone that is comfortable to use with one hand, this is not the device for you.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The glossy back panel shimmers depending on the lighting angle but also easily attracts fingerprint smudges.

On the front, is the 32MP selfie camera in the center which can also capture up to 1080@30fps video. On the right side of the phone are the volume up/down and power button. The under-display fingerprint sensor is reliable and fast to recognize and unlock.

At the back, the top camera module houses the 54MP IMX800 main camera and the 50MP ultra-wide & macro camera. The bottom module houses the 2MP depth camera and the single LED flash.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

At the bottom are the stereo speakers and the USB Type-C port for charging. The SIM tray is also located here. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. There is no mention of Gorilla Glass or IP68 rating.

Display

The HONOR 70 comes with a 6.67” 2400 x 1080 pixels OLED screen with support for up to 120Hz refresh rate which makes the overall experience smoother.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The OLED display supports 1B colors and offers good brightness that also works well outdoors. Colors are vibrant with strong contrast and excellent viewing angles. The curved screen along with its minimal bezels gives an immersive viewing experience.

Performance & Connectivity

The HONOR 70 features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G Plus, Adreno 642L GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB built-in memory. The Snapdragon 778G Plus along with the Adreno 730 offers flagship performance with no visible delay or lags.

In terms of connectivity, the HONOR 70 supports 5G, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, GPS and IR.

Camera

The HONOR 70 has a triple camera setup with a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide & macro camera, 2MP depth camera, a single LED flash and is equipped with Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS).

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

The 50MP main camera produces clear images with balanced colors. The second 50MP ultra-wide produces detailed shots with good color and contrast but lack in dynamic range. The macro camera can shoot macro images at up to 2.5cm from the subject. It works well and does a good job of capturing the tiniest details.

In low light conditions, the main camera on the HONOR 70 produced decently sharp images with good noise control in low-light environments, although ‘Night Mode’ may brighten a picture too much.

The 32MP selfie camera captures photos with good contrast and color but struggles with bright light sources.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review
HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

Videos can be recorded in either 4K@60 on the rear camera and 1080p@30 from the front. The video quality is great and stable thanks to EIS.

One of the highlights of the HONOR 70 is the new Solo Cut Mode. While recording a full-size video, it simultaneously lets you focus and record video of a selected person without moving your phone. Both videos support 1080P HD stream, beauty effect and EIS algorithm.

The subject will always be centralized and in focus even when moved. You can also switch focus conveniently to another subject with a tap of a finger to change the focus tracking. Even if the subject leaves the screen, it remembers and maintains tracking once they re-enter the screen.

OS

The HONOR 70 comes with Magic UI 6.1 – a skinned version of Android 12. The phone comes with a handful of third-party apps preinstalled, most of which can be uninstalled. Besides the of the new UI design, the interface has not changed too much and is highly customizable. In terms of OS updates, Honor has only promised two years of Android version updates.

Battery & Audio

The phone comes with a 4600mAh battery, which can last a full day of use. As for charging, HONOR 70 supports 66W speeds. Charging the phone from 0 to 50% takes about 25 minutes or 50 minutes to fully charge it.

In terms of audio, The Honor 70 has bottom-firing speakers. The sound is loud and clear enough to fill a small room. The microphones also offer very good audio quality during calls.

HONOR 70 Verdict

The HONOR 70 works great if you are looking for a device that can be used for entertainment, photography, work and play. It offers mid-level performance, an excellent display, good set of cameras and fast charging. It uses everything we like about Huawei’s premium design, display and camera system but with support for Google Play Services.

HONOR 70 Hands-on Review

However, if you are looking for a phone with a more mature software and longer OS support, there are better alternatives. The HONOR 70 also lacks wireless charging, Gorilla Glass protection/IP68 rating and headphone jack.

Pricing & Availability

The HONOR 70 5G – (8+256GB) version is available now for pre-order at a price of AED 1999 through HONOR Online Store, Sharaf DG, Emax, Carrefour, Jumbo, Lulu, Axiom, Amazon, noon and other retail stores with free gifts worth AED 967 including HONOR Watch GS 3, VIP Service & more.

The HONOR 70 5G – (8+128GB) version will be exclusively available at HONOR Online Store at a price of AED 1849  with free gifts worth AED 967 including HONOR Watch GS 3, VIP Service & more. Both versions come with Google Mobile Services and will officially go for sale from 26th August 2022.

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