HONOR 80 and 80 Pro launched for the Chinese market

HONOR has announced the launch of the HONOR 80 smartphone in China. Also available in a Pro version, the new smartphone series focuses on photography capabilities.

The Honor 80 Pro and Honor 80 come equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4nm) / Snapdragon 782G chipset, high-performance OLED displays and a 160-megapixel main sensor photo setup. In addition there will also be an Honor 80 SE version aimed at budget buyers. This comes with the Dimensity 900 chipset and a 64-megapixel main sensor camera.

The main attraction is the Honor 80 Pro model, the top of the series coming with a 6.78-inch curved OLED display supporting 2700×1224 pixel resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The screen cut out after the contours of the casing comes with oval perforation applied centrally, we host 2 front cameras with 50+2 megapixel resolution. The second sensor is only present for assisting depth effects in portrait shots and could easily have been removed for less intrusive perforation. Buyers bothered by this seemingly unwarranted compromise can head to the Honor 80.

The Honor 80 comes with a 6.67-inch curved OLED display, supporting 2400×1080 pixel resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The screen includes a single circular-shaped perforation serving the 32-megapixel front camera.

Attempting to solve on its own the problems of overheating and excessive battery consumption, unanimously recognized and criticized in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 series of chipsets, Honor resorted to a rather bold optimization, reducing by 200 MHz the maximum frequency reached by the Cortex-X2 core, responsible for handling intensive processing tasks. So while the standard version of the SD 8+ Gen 1 chipset boasts a maximum frequency of 3.2GHz, in this case the speed is capped at 3.0GHz for the Cortex-X2 core and 2.5GHz for the Cortex-A710 Gold core (down from 2.75GHz).

Although, the chosen solution will bring undeniable benefits in terms of improving battery life and avoiding throttling during gaming sessions, the downside is a guaranteed place for the Honor 80 Pro at the bottom of the performance rankings.

Just announced, the Snapdragon 782G solution replaces the old SD 778G+ model, promising an even more competitive performance level for the less expensive Honor 80 alternative.

Both phones share the same 160-megapixel, 1/1.56-inch sensor with support for 16-in-1 pixel binning mode capture. Low-light performance is further optimised by the use of f/1.8 aperture lenses. The list of features is completed with an improved image processor and support for AI-assisted RAW capture.

The 80 Pro comes with a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 2-megapixel sensor for applying depth effects. The Honor 80 features an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and the same 2-megapixel sensor added to round out the specs list.

Both phones come equipped with MagicOS 7, Android 12-based firmware, 4800 mAh battery and support for 66W fast charging via USB-C.

Prices start at $490 for the Honor 80 Pro in 8GB/256GB memory trim, valid exclusively for store offers with Chinese delivery. There is currently no information on the availability of this model in Western markets.