Winners and Losers 2022: Honor

After a solid year of rebound, Honor doubled down on its strategy to regain market space in Europe and China with a strong push in smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables. The brand released its first foldable with the Magic V in China, which was later followed by the Magic Vs, which will eventually hit markets outside of China. Honor Magic4 Pro was one of the most feature-rich flagship offerings, while the Honor 70 and Honor 80 were the key phones in the mid-range segment.

We also got strong laptops like the 2022 MagicBook 14, which impressed us with its powerful internals and lightweight design, while the wearables segment also saw strong entries with the Honor Watch GS 3 and the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro.

Winner – Honor Magic4 Pro

Honor has pulled out all the stops with the Magic4 Pro, which takes home the title of the brand’s highest-end flagship yet. It’s got all the bells and whistles of a 2022 flagship – a high refresh rate LTPO OLED display with PWM dimming, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, versatile cameras including a periscope module, and wired and wireless charging ultra-fast 100 W.

You even get UWB support and a 3D ToF sensor for secure face unlock. It’s not easy to find a more feature-rich smartphone than the Magic4 Pro and although we had to wait several months for it to make its international debut, the wait was definitely worth it.

Loser – Honor 80

The Honor 80 was launched in November and on closer inspection you can see that not much has changed from its predecessor. Sure, the back cover has been redesigned and there’s a new 160MP main camera and 256GB base storage, but the rest of the specs are identical to the Honor 70.

Honor 80 and Honor 70

A quick spec comparison between the Honor 70 and the Honor 80 shows how little has changed between the two generations. Honor 80 is essentially the same phone with a slightly newer Snapdragon 782G chipset and an improved 160MP camera. The new phone also has a lower 8MP ultra-wide camera compared to the Honor 70’s 50MP module and still comes with Android 12.

Winner – Honor Magic Vs

Honor Magic V never made its way to markets outside of China which is a shame as it offered a sturdy design with a hinge that allows the phone to close flat while the crease in the middle was much less prominent than on competing foldables. Luckily for us and foldable enthusiasts everywhere, the Magic Vs will be available outside of China, unlike its predecessor.

Honor Magic vs. Ultimate

Magic Vs brings all the great features of the Magic V along with some neat additions like a 3x telephoto sensor, a more efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, and a bigger 5,000mAh battery. The new phone is also lighter at 261 grams compared to its predecessor’s 288 grams and comes in a new entry-level 8/256GB variant that starts at CNY7,500 in China ($1,050/1,015 €). There’s also an optional Magic Pen stylus holder, but that’s only for the 16GB RAM Ultimate Edition phone.

Loser – European Honor 70 prices

The Honor 70 is a great mid-range phone with a great OLED display, premium design, reliable battery life, and above-average camera setup. The only problem is that it costs around €500 here in Europe, which puts it in the killer flagship segment where you can get a lot more for your money. For reference, the Honor 70 launched at a base price of CNY2,699 (€365) in China, which gets you 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage compared to 8/128GB in Europe.

The asking price for the Honor 70 in Europe is just too high and really hurts its competitiveness. We hope Honor will offer the new Honor 80 at a more reasonable price once it hits European markets to make up for the Honor 70’s sloppy price.

Winner – MagicBook 14 2022

Honor MagicBook 14 2022 is one of the most impressive laptops reviewed by our office this year, given its compact size and powerful internals. It’s one of the only 14-inch laptops to feature 12 Gen Intel processors alongside a dedicated Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU, while measuring just 17mm at its thickest point.

The 75 Wh battery provided stellar battery endurance in our testing and the build quality was also top notch with its aluminum chassis. Add to that the excellent selection of ports, the fast 135W USB-C SuperCharger Brick and the spacious 3:2 aspect ratio display and you have a decent laptop that can handle both work tasks and side games.