The Honor 200 Pro Wants to Put a Pro Studio in Your Pocket

4 months ago 7

The Honor 200 and 200 Pro kicked off their global launch today, starting with Europe and the UK. Preorders for both new Android phones start today.

The higher-end model, the Honor 200 Pro has a 6.78-inch display that's exceptionally bright -- at least on paper, it has a peak brightness of 400 nits. It runs on the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3, has a total of four cameras and a large silicon carbon battery, a tech that can more densely store energy than lithium ion.

It's also one of the first phones to come equipped with Honor's new generative AI features, underpinned by Google's Gemini AI models. In the EU, the Honor 200 Pro will get three years of software updates, and four years of security patches.

Of the many features on the Honor 200 Pro, the Chinese company is playing up its partnership with Parisian photography studio Harcourt, which rose to prominence for its signature style capturing dramatic black-and-white portraits with lighting and shadow effects. Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, Queen Rania of Jordan and French actress Brigitte Bardot are some of the household names that have been photographed by the studio.

The Honor 200 Pro's main lens will let you "manipulate light and shadow, the foundation of studio-level portrait," the company said.

Honor says its product team worked closely with Harcourt's photographers to co-engineer the Honor AI Portrait Engine. The process took more than 400 days, with the team of imaging experts analyzing more than 1,000 lighting scenarios and millions of datasets to make sure Studio Harcourt's essence could be captured on its smartphones, the company said.

In addition to the main lens, the Honor 200 Pro features a 50-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. On the front, a 50-megapixel camera rounds the camera setup off.

Honor also used its Europe launch event to tease a photographic collaboration with portrait photographer Rankin, famed for his photographs of Western cultural icons, including David Bowie and Kate Moss. Further details of the partnership will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more details on the Honor 200 Pro, take a look at the key specs below.