The new Honor 60 series was unveiled this week and will go on sale in China on Friday. Afterwards it will probably take a few months to reach the global market (the Honor 50 series was announced in mid-June and reached Europe in late October). Who here is settling in for the wait before they can hit the “buy” button?
Before we direct you to the poll, let’s have a closer look at the new phones, their predecessors and their competitors. The Honor 60 Pro is clearly the favorite child with several improvements to the screen and performance and a fairly big advantage in the camera department.
Starting with the screen, we’re looking at 6.78″ quad-curved vs. 6.67″ dual-curved OLED panels. The Pro screen is sharper and supports HDR10+ (the vanilla model settles for HDR10). Both run at 120 Hz refresh rate.
Displays: 6.78″ quad curved for the Honor 60 Pro • 6.67″ dual-curved for the Honor 60
Next, the chipset. The Pro has the newer Snapdragon 778G+, in fact, it is the first phone to use it. It has a 20% faster GPU and 0.1 GHz higher clock speed on its prime CPU core compared to the regular 778G chip used in the vanilla phone. The Pro also starts with double the storage (256 GB), which will be important when we get to the pricing.
Both phones have 4,800 mAh batteries with 66W fast charging (50% in 15 minutes), so they are equal here. But the Honor 50 Pro was faster – with 100W fast charging it could fully fill its smaller 4,000 mAh battery in 25 minutes (here’s a spec comparison). The vanilla Honor 50 did 66W fast charging but lacked in capacity somewhat compared to its replacement (4,300 mAh).
And finally we get to the cameras, where the Pro stands out in the ultrawide category. On the back is a 50MP sensor and an autofocus-enabled lens with 122º field of view and the ability to shoot macro. On the front, the dual camera setup is gone, but it is replaced by a single 50MP camera with a 100º lens. That is exactly the field of view of the ultrawide selfie cam of the previous Pro model.
So far we mostly focused on the Pro, let’s look at the vanilla Honor 60 now. Compared to its predecessor, it has a slightly larger 120Hz OLED display (6.67″ vs. 6.57″) with HDR10, the same chipset and the same camera. Not much has changed here other than the screen and battery.
After the Honor 60 and 60 Pro were announced people were asking the usual questions. Do these two have a microSD slot and 3.5mm headphone jack? Water resistance? No, no and no. At least the Pro has stereo speakers. It would have been nice if it had OIS too.
The Honor 60 (8/128GB) in China starts at CNY 2,700, while the Honor 60 Pro (8/256GB) starts at CNY 3,700. What else could you get for that kind of money? Note: we’ll look at Chinese pricing for comparison, but focus on models available globally.
The OnePlus 9 (8/128GB) has gotten a discount in China (and a smaller one in Europe), so now it is slightly more expensive than the Honor 60. It has a flat 6.55″ 120Hz OLED with HDR10+. And stereo speakers, plus a similar battery setup (4,500 mAh, 65W). It has large sensors in the main and ultra wide cameras too. And a big performance advantage with a Snapdragon 888.
The 9 Pro pricing is out of reach, but the vanilla OnePlus uses the same ultrawide camera as the 60 Pro (at least on the back). Also, even the 778G+ is no match for the 888.
OnePlus 9
The Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G costs CNY 3,700, exactly the same as the Honor 60 Pro. Its 6.55″ 90Hz OLED display is smaller and slower, though on the plus side the Dimensity 1200-Max chipset should offer better GPU performance. And while we don’t know which camera will win between Reno’s 50MP 1/1.56″ sensor and Honor’s 108MP 1/1.52″ sensor, the Honor definitely has the upper hand when it comes to ultra wide cameras (front and back). The batteries are quite similar (4,500mAh, 65W vs. 4,800mAh, 66W).
Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G
The Motorola Edge 20 costs CNY 2,600 (around €360 in Europe) and packs a 6.7″ OLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and HDR10. It uses the regular Snapdragon 778G and its 108+8+2 MP back, 32MP front camera setup is on par with the Honor 60. The battery is a downgrade, however, a 4,000 mAh power cell with 30W charging.
The Motorola Moto G200 5G is yet to launch in China, but its European price of €450 suggests it will be slightly cheaper than the Honor 60 Pro. This one also has a 144 Hz display – an LCD with HDR10 this time around – and is powered by the Snapdragon 888+. However, its 108+8+2 MP rear camera (and 16 MP selfie) are no match for the Honor. And neither is the 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
Motorola Edge 20 • Motorola Moto G200 5G
Those ultrawide cameras on the Honor 60 Pro and the relatively large, fast charging battery on it and the Honor 60 do a lot of work to help them fight off the competition. The two aren’t perfect, but they are competitively priced. So, what will it be?
If the embedded poll above isn’t working for you, try casting your vote here.