Introduction
The Honor View 20 is a long-anticipated smartphone that was released last month. At CES 2019 we finally got our chance to give it a more in-depth look. We had some private time with the View 20 for its launch last month, but we can now tell a bit more about the device and what makes it stand out.
The hardware used here is nothing short of premium while staying on track with the latest design trends. In fact, we can say it's a trend-setter to some extent with its awesome V-shape gradient finish and a punch-hole selfie camera. And as expected, Honor didn't go overboard with the price tag as well. The company is asking just around $435 for the base version in China, which is a steal considering that it runs on Huawei's latest and greatest Kirin 980 SoC paired with either 6 or 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.
Honor View 20 specs
- Body: Aluminum frame, glass front panel
- Display: 6.4-inch IPS LCD, 1080x2310px, 398ppi
- OS: Android 9.0 Pie with Magic UI 2 on top
- Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 980, Octa-core (2x2.6 GHz Cortex-A76 & 2x1.92 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55), Mali-G76 MP10, 6/8GB RAM
- Storage: 128/256GB
- Rear Camera: Dual - 48MP, f/1.8, 1/2", 0.8µmm, PDAF, Quad-Bayer pixel binning + TOF 3D stereo camera, LED flash
- Video recording: Regular - 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps; Slow-mo - 720@960fps
- Front Camera: 25MP, f/2.0, 27mm, 1080p@30fps video recording
- Connectivity: Dual SIM, Dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, A-GPS/GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C (3.1)
- Battery: 4,000mAh non-removable, Fast charging 5V/4.5A (22.5W)
- Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader
The display isn't too shabby either - we got 6.4" diagonal fitting 1080 x 2310 pixels resolution and achieving just above 85% screen-to-body ratio according to our database. It's needless to say that this is without a notch. Still, it's an IPS LCD panel, but we can't get too picky considering the price point. The extra tall 19.25:9 aspect ratio may prove to be a challenge for single-handed use especially when you consider the large diagonal.
One of the key selling points, however, remains the rear sharpshooter boasting 48MP resolution. It's aided by a 3D ToF sensor. The latter is essentially a depth sensor with some added functionality. And as for the front camera, it's 25MP and Honor is quite proud of the refined manufacturing process which doesn't involve drilling in the screen itself.
An advanced lithography process has been used to create a transparent hole for the camera sensor so enough light can pass through. Engineers also made sure that none of the light from the screen comes inside the cavity and interferes with the photo taking. The result - only the LGP (Light Guide Plate) had to be cut to insert the camera sensor while the rest of the layers remain intact.
Battery capacity doesn't disappoint as well - a 4,000 mAh cell should have you covered for the day and it also supports 22.5W fast charging. Honor promises 55% in 30 minutes but we will test that out once we get this baby in the comfort of our lab.
Moreover, Honor View 20 also comes with the company's new Magic UI moving away from Huawei's EMUI software. They look pretty similar for now but we were assured that the Magic UI will take a slightly different path during its development. Honor says its skin will be designed with the younger audience in mind.
Unboxing the Honor View 20
The box contains all the usual user manuals along with the proper charging brick for fast charging and the USB-A to USB-C cable. There's also a bonus transparent silicone case for extra protection.
Design and handling
The Honor View 20's design is unique and it's an eye-catcher for sure. The side frame is aluminum while the front and back are glass. Yes, it's another glass sandwich phone, but two things make it stand out.
Right off the bat, the hole in the upper left corner of the screen draws attention. Honor says it has worked a lot toward reducing the size of the hole and the circle is as small as 4.5mm in diameter. Five different patents and a significant amount of R&D have gone into refining the manufacturing process.
And since the hole eliminates the need of a notch, you get more screen real estate. The bezels around the screen are also fairly thin with the bottom one being the thickest of them all. And don't worry about the notifications around the screen hole - they adapt depending on the scenario and apps. Honor claims that it won't get in the way as most notches do.
The back is where it gets interesting. During the launch event in China, we got our hands on the Magic Night Black version and it's mesmerizing.The V-shaped strip shifts its color when the angle changes while the Phantom Blue variant we saw in Las Vegas has a more pronounced V-shape.
Other than that, the back houses the fingerprint reader, the main 48MP camera sensor (which looks huge) and the 3D ToF sensor along with the LED flash next to it.
Going around the sides, we find the 3.5mm audio jack (yay!) as well as an IR blaster. The loudspeaker is bottom-firing and it sits right next to the USB-C connector.
As you would expect, the Honor View 20 is hard to balance in one hand - after all, that's a 6.4-inch device right there. And it sure is slippery like every other glass phone.
All in all, the device looks stunning and we are eager to get our hands on more color options - for now, we've only seen the Magic Night Black and the Phantom Blue. And only further testing will help us decide whether the punch-hole display design is the way to go or it's going to be the next most hated thing after the introduction of the notch.
Camera, wrap-up
48MP Sony IMX586 camera and sample shots
Honor has put a lot of effort into the camera department and the handset has the chance to be the best cameraphone from Honor so far. That's at least what the specs sheet reads.
The main sensor is quite big - 1/2" with 0.8µm pixels and offers the 48MP resolution. However, the Quad-Bayer Array technology used with Sony's brand new IMX586 sensor is what makes this phone stand out. The Quad-Bayer tech isn't exactly new, though - the Huawei P20 Pro uses it and the Mate 20 Pro too but this is the first time we see it in such an affordable package.
Quad Bayer sensors promise exceptional nighttime stills as they raise the sensitivity by adding four adjacent pixels to reproduce one color and the quality is comparable to that of a 12MP sensor with large 1.6µm pixels. This method brings down the noise significantly while images still appear bright.
But, of course, there is a setting in the menu that allows you to choose between 48MP and 12MP resolution, which is pretty nice.
And as for the selfie camera, there's no fancy tech in there, but the 25MP would have to produce sharp enough images while the lens features f/2.0 opening.
Here are a few samples were taken with the View 20. Our unit doesn't have final software yet, so these are preliminary samples.
Camera samples
It's true that the 48MP camera uses pixel binning to produce a 12MP image. However, if you wanted to go all out, you could shoot photos in the camera's full resolution as well. Shooting this way produces softer looking photos but it could be due to the early firmware. We'll be testing this again for the full review.
48MP sample photos
The View 20 can do 2X zoom, but since the second sensor is only used for depth sensing, you should know this is not one of the camera's native resolutions.
1X Zoom
2X Zoom
Finally, there's portrait mode, out first impressions of the feature are good but it's the small details like hair and glasses that still stump these software-generated bokeh effects.
Portrait samples
First impressions
The Honor View 20 is a whole lotta phone in a more affordable package than the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. Of course, we don't know how much that phone will cost outside of China, but Honor will be announcing the View 20's pricing and availability on a dedicated event, which is to be held in Paris on January 22.
The View 20 is a huge step up in design over the View 10. The gorgeous rear glass alone is stunning and will certainly turn heads. As for the hole-punch camera, we find that it's a more practical and less obtrusive method of maximizing display area. As far as we can tell, we anticipate the hole-punch to be the new notch. We wonder if Apple will follow suit after the entire industry followed in Apple's questionable design choice.
The 48MP camera is certainly a new benchmark for phones of this category. We will definitely compare how this phone shoots next to the Mate 20 Pro. Performance-wise, the Kirin 980 packs a huge punch so no worries for gaming or heavy multitasking.
The View 20 will be Honor's top-of-the-line flagship. We predict it will be priced either identically to or just shy of the OnePlus 6T. While this is a phone we'd love to see make it to the US, the current political tension between Huawei and the US Government (among others) isn't a positive indicator.
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