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Honor View 20 review: First to offer a hole punch display and great value

By James Lu - 31 Jan 2019
Launch SRP: S$829

Benchmark Performance, Imaging, Battery life, and Conclusion

Benchmark Performance

The Honor View 20 uses the same Kirin 980 processor Huawei uses in its flagship Mate 20 Pro. The phone comes with either 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage or 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. We're reviewing the latter version.

The Kirin 980 is a 7nm octa-core processor with a unique setup: four low-power cores, two medium, and two high-power cores. The two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores are clocked at 2.6GHz, the two medium Cortex-A76 cores are clocked at 1.92GHz, while the four efficient Cortex-A55 cores max out at 1.8GHz.

The phone also includes an internal liquid cooling system that provides heat dissipation for the processor, camera, and charging circuitry.

For graphics, it has a Mali-G76 MP10 GPU ten-core chip. In addition, the GPU supports Huawei's GPU Turbo 2.0, which allocates extra resources to supported games for better performance. However, right now the list of supported games is fairly short, with the only notable ones being PUBG MOBILE and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that while the Kirin 980 supports 4G LTE speeds up to Cat21 (1.4Gbps), Cat21 LTE isn't actually listed on the View 20's list of specs. I've asked Honor for clarification regarding this and will update this review when I get an answer.

  Honor View 20 (8GB/256GB) Huawei Mate 20 Pro Apple iPhone XS Max (256GB) Google Pixel 3 XL (64GB) Samsung Galaxy Note9 (128GB) Oppo Find X (128GB) OnePlus 6T (8GB/128GB)
  Honor View 20 (8GB/256GB) Huawei Mate 20 Pro Apple iPhone XS Max (256GB) Google Pixel 3 XL (64GB) Samsung Galaxy Note9 (128GB) Oppo Find X (128GB) OnePlus 6T (8GB/128GB)
Launch SRP
  • From S$829
  • From S$1348
  • From S$2039
  • From S$1399
  • From S$1398
  • From S$1199
  • From S$988
Operating system
  • Android 9.0 with Magic UI 2
  • Android 9.0 with EMUI 9.0
  • iOS 12
  • Android 9.0 Pie
  • Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience
  • Android 8.1 Oreo
  • Android 9.0 with Oxygen OS
Processor
  • Hisilicon Kirin 980 octa-core (2 x 2.6GHz Cortex-A76 & 2 x 1.92GHz Cortex-A76 & 4 x 1.8GHz Cortex-A55)
  • Hisilicon Kirin 980 octa-core (2 x 2.6GHz Cortex-A76 & 2 x 1.92GHz Cortex-A76 & 4 x 1.8GHz Cortex-A55)
  • Apple A12 Bionic hexa-core
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
  • Samsung Exynos 9810 octa-core (4x2.8 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A55)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core (4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Octa-core (4 x 2.8GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4 x 1.7GHz Kryo 385 Silver)
Built-in Memory
  • 8GB RAM
  • 6GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
  • 6GB RAM
  • 8GB RAM
  • 8GB RAM
Display
  • 6.4-inches 2,310 x 1,080 pixels (398 ppi) IPS LCD 19.5:9 ratio
  • Always-On Display
  • 6.39-inches 3,120 x 1,440 pixels (538 ppi) AMOLED 19.5:9 ratio
  • Always-On Display
  • 6.5-inch Super Retina HD / 2,688 x 1,242 pixels (458ppi) / OLED
  • 6.3-inch / 2,960 x 1,440 pixels (523 ppi) / flexible OLED Display
  • Always-On Display
  • 6.4-inch / 2,960 x 1,440 pixels (516 ppi) / 18.5:9 ratio / Super AMOLED Infinity Display
  • Always-On Display
  • 6.42-inch / 2,340 x 1,080 pixels (401 ppi) / 19.5:9 ratio / AMOLED Display
  • 6.41-inch / 2,340 x 1,080 pixels (402ppi) / 19.5:9 ratio / Optic AMOLED
  • Always-on Display
Camera
  • Rear: 48-megapixel, f/1.8, 1/2", 0.8µm, PDAF, Sony IMX586, + TOF 3D stereo camera
  • Front: 25-megapixel, f/2.0, 27mm
  • Rear: Triple 40-megapixel f/1.8 wide + 20-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide + 8-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto, OIS, Leica optics, 3x optical zoom,5x hybrid zoom, phase detection and laser autofocus, dual-LED dual-tone flash
  • Front: 24-megapixel, f/2.0
  • Rear: Dual 12-megapixel, (f/1.8, 28mm & f/2.4, 56mm) with phase detection autofocus, OIS, and quad LED (dual-tone) flash
  • Front: 7-megapixel, f/2.2 FaceTime HD camera
  • Rear: 12.2-megapixel, f/1.8, OIS, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED flash
  • Front: 8-megapixel, f/1.8; 8-megapixel wide-angle, f/2.2
  • Rear: Dual 12-megapixel, dual f/1.5 and 2.4, 26mm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, LED flash and 12-megapixel f/2.4, 52mm telephoto, 2x optical zoom
  • Front: 8-megapixel, f/1.7
  • Rear: Dual 16-megapixel, f/2.0 + 20-megapixel, f/2.0
  • Front: 25-megapixel, f/2.0
  • Rear: Dual: 16-megapixel (f/1.7, 27mm, 1/2.6", 1.22µm, OIS) + 20-megapixel (f/1.7, 1/2.8", 1.0µm),
  • Front: 16-megapixel (f/2.0, 25mm, 1/3", 1.0µm)
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G+ LTE, dual-band, hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth v5, A2DP, LE, GPS, GLONASS, USB 3.1 Type-C
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G+ LTE-A (3CA) Cat 21 (up to 1400Mbps), dual-band, hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth v5, A2DP, LE, GPS, GLONASS, USB 3.1 Type-C
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G+ LTE Cat 16 (up to 1024Mbps), dual-band, hotspot, Bluetooth v5.0, A2DP, LE, GPS, GLONASS, Lightning connector
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE Cat 15 (up to 800Mbps), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, NFC
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE Cat 18 (up to 1200Mbps), Bluetooth 5.0, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE Cat 16 (up to 1024Mbps), Bluetooth 5.0, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth v5, NFC, 4G LTE Cat 16 (up to 1024Mbps)
Storage Type
  • 256GB internal storage
  • 128GB internal storage
  • Huawei Nano Memory expansion (up to 256GB)
  • 256GB internal storage
  • 64GB internal storage
  • 128GB internal storage
  • 512GB (MicroSD)
  • 128GB internal storage
  • 128GB
Battery
  • 4,000mAh
  • 22.5W SuperCharge
  • 4,200mAh
  • 40W Huawei SuperCharge
  • 15W Huawei Wireless Quick Charge (Qi wireless charging)
  • Reverse wireless charging
  • 3,174mAh
  • 3,430mAh
  • Fast Charging
  • 4,000mAh
  • Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging
  • Wireless charging
  • 3,730mAh
  • VOOC Flash Charge
  • 3,700mAh
  • Dash Charge
Dimensions
  • 156.9 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm
  • 157.8 x 72.3 x 8.6 mm
  • 157.5 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm
  • 158 x 76.7 x 7.9 mm
  • 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm
  • 156.7 x 74.2 x 9.4 mm
  • 157.5 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm
Weight
  • 180g
  • 189g
  • 208g
  • 184g
  • 201g
  • 186g
  • 185g

 

SunSpider Javascript

SunSpider JavaScript measures the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is in delivering a high-speed web browsing experience. 

The View 20 was marginally slower than the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, but was still speedy and responsive when it came to actual web browsing.

 

Geekbench CPU

Geekbench CPU is a cross-platform processor benchmark that tests both single-core and multi-core performance with workloads that simulate real-world usage. Geekbench 4 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 4000 (which is the score of an Intel Core i7-6600U CPU processor).

Huawei's Kirin 980 performs really well in this benchmark, easily outperforming Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845. Apple's A12 Bionic is still miles ahead however.

3DMark Sling Shot

3DMark Sling Shot is an advanced 3D graphics benchmark that tests the full range of OpenGL ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 API features including multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. The test also includes impressive volumetric lighting and post-processing effects. We're running this benchmark in Unlimited mode, which ignores screen resolutions.

The View 20 actually beat the Mate 20 Pro on this benchmark, however gaming still seems to be the Kirin 980's weakness, and it failed to keep up with both the Snapdragon 845 and Apple A12 Bionic.

 

 

Imaging Performance

The View 20 has a unique dual camera setup pairing a 48-megapixel f/1.8 main lens with a Sony IMX 586 image sensor with a secondary TOF (Time of Flight) lens. 

The main sensor uses a quad-Bayer array for pixel binning, which results in higher-quality 12-megapixel images. You can also opt for non-pixel binned 48-megapixel images if you prefer, but the resulting image quality is a bit softer and a lot noisier. My recommendation is to stick to 12-megapixel mode, but if you do want to shoot 48-megapixel pictures, there's an AI Ultra Clarity mode, which uses AI and multi-sampling to sharpen your photo and increase the dynamic range.

The ToF lens is used for Portrait photography but is much more than just a depth sensor. It's also used for augmented reality and includes support for depth measurement, bone recognition, motion capture, 3D body shaping and 3D somatosensory games. Unfortunately, right now there's not too much you can do with the ToF lens, other than a gimmicky option to create a 3D cartoon character that can mimic the actions of another person in real time. Hopefully, Honor will add more features in the future.

The phone also includes all of the AI capabilities you'll find in the Mate 20 Pro, which includes scene and object recognition, as well as AI-assisted night photography and AI stabilization. 

Image quality on the View 20 is excellent, with sharp details from edge-to-edge, minimal distortion and natural colors. There's no noticeable processing or graininess, and the auto-focus works well in both well-lit and less than ideal conditions. This would be an impressive camera even for a phone costing twice as much.

Click for full-size image.

 

 

Battery Life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

  • Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  • Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The View 20 has a large 4,000 mAh battery and did pretty well in our video looping benchmark lasting eleven hours and 42 minutes. While that's not as long as the Mate 20 Pro, iPhone XS Max or Samsung Galaxy Note9, it's still better than the Pixel 3 XL, Oppo Find X, and OnePlus 6T. This is particularly impressive when you consider that all of the above phones are using more power efficient OLED displays.

The phone supports fast charging and comes bundled with a Huawei SuperCharge adaptor, which was the fastest charging standard in our fast charging shootout. The phone doesn't support the newest 40W version of SuperCharge (which you'll only find on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro) but still charges at 22.5W, which is plenty fast. Using the bundled charger, the View 20 will go from 0 to 60% in 30 minutes, and to 100% in about an hour. Unfortunately it doesn't support wireless charging.

 

Conclusion

The Honor View 20 offers fantastic value with flagship-level benchmark and camera performance and very respectable battery life too. It does have a few compromises though. While the display resolution is fine, the View 20's LCD panel pales in comparison to the OLED displays you can find on other phones around the same price range, like the OnePlus 6T and Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. It also lacks wireless charging, stereo speakers, and expandable storage.

In terms of design, while the phone has a premium build that rivals any other high-end flagship, its bold Aurora Nanotexture finish is polarizing, and won't be to everyone's taste. Having said that, if you don't like it, you can always use a case.

If you're looking to jump on board the hole punch display trend early, and you're looking for value over creature comforts, the View 20 is a great alternative to the usual suspects from OnePlus and Xiaomi.

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8.0
  • Design 8
  • Features 7.5
  • User-Friendliness 7.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Hole punch display with 91.8 percent screen-to-body ratio
Excellent camera performance
Good benchmark performance
Unique Aurora Nantexture design
Great value
The Bad
LCD display
No wireless charging
No expandable storage
No stereo speakers
No IP rating
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