After a flurry of rumors, and a sneak peek showcase a couple of weeks ago, it’s finally here! The Honor 90 Smart may not exactly take the lower ring of the midrange mobile market by storm. But it sure is very well poised to shake it up considerably with a spec-heavy bang-for-the-buck package.
The Affordable Midrange
MediaTek’s one-year-old Dimensity 6020 stands as the updated version of our so-called mid-tier “gateway” SoCs, chipsets that define the baseline of a certain product segment. This particular CPU is generally rated at the bottom side, offering only around two-thirds to half the performance of higher-end midrange offerings.
So why bother with this CPU? Well, for one thing, cost. The barrier to entry for “good enough” compute performance usually opens via updated technologies that the fancier SoCs have spearheaded for the last few years. Consider this as a modern-ish analog to the Dimensity 700, offered today at a price unimaginable just three years ago.
The Honor 90 Smart is also paired with 128GB UFS 2.2 storage and 4GB of memory. This is very important for its bang-for-the-buck appeal, though a bit odd considering that the Honor 90 Lite (released last mid-2023) itself had 256GB storage at minimum, and had an 8GB RAM variant.
Standard Display
Honor 90 Smart uses a 6.8-inch “Hyper-Transmissive” display. A rather typical FHD+ screen, displayed at 90Hz refresh rate, using TFT LCD tech even. Not exactly the most groundbreaking, but with updates to LCD tech in general, it should be more than okay for the average user. Also comes with TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light certification.
Cameras
This unit packs a 108MP main camera with f/1.75 aperture, advertised to capture high-resolution photos packed with detail even in challenging lighting. It's complemented by a 2MP wide-angle camera and 2MP macro lens, both with f/2.4 aperture, for the expected blend of focal view versatility. For selfies and video calls, we have a regular 8MP front-facing camera.
Operating System
The Honor 90 Smart will not have Android 14 baked in, but instead will use Android 13 via its MagicOS 7.2. A reasonable limitation (practical) functionality-wise, although we are kind of getting a bit more than a year behind already with this decision. Hopefully, an Android 14 update will be up as soon as it is available.
Connectivity and Extras
Wired connectivity is mostly offered via USB Type-C and a 3.5mm audio jack. For wireless, we have Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi 5, and a variety of standard-fare global navigation systems. Speakers will be dual-configured. There will also be two nano-SIM slots available, which is generally expected for these types of lower mid-tier phones.
Its battery is rated at a rather generous 5330 mAh, most likely to compensate for its average use rate. It supports Honor’s SuperCharge technology for up to 35W.
Pricing and Availability
The Honor 90 Smart will be sold in two color variants: Emerald Green and Midnight Black. The unit is initially offered in the UK equivalent to $250, available to purchase on their official website, as well as via retail partners like Three, Currys, Very, Vodafone, Argos, and Amazon. This puts it head-to-head with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G, though it probably loses out on something like the OnePlus Nord N30.
No specific details of release dates, or availability for other regions just yet. But, with its product page now officially live, expect information about it to come around very, very soon.
