Best Honor phones 2023: the top Honor handsets you should consider

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REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
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Best Honor phones
The Honor Magic 5 Pro is currently the best Honor phone (Image credit: Future / Honor)

The best Honor phones have the credentials to rival top devices from Samsung, Apple and other more established mobile brands, but Honor's restricted international presence means its phones are often (wrongly) overlooked by those in the market for some serious pocket hardware. 

In fact, since Huawei sold the Honor sub-brand in 2020, Honor's flagship handsets have often proven some of the best phones, period. For instance, the company's latest premium offering, the Honor Magic 5 Pro, boasts some of the best display and camera credentials money can buy in 2023, while the mid-range Honor 90 offers more base storage, faster charging and better display credentials than almost all of its category rivals.

In this guide, then, we walk you through our favorite Honor devices, with all manner of needs and budgets catered for in the list of options below. So, whether you're a price-conscious buyer or someone who's willing to splash the cash, our pick of the best Honor phones should feature something for you. 

Best Honor phones 2023

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Honor Magic 5 Pro held in a hand in front of a bush

(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
The best Honor phone

Specifications

Release date: April 2023
Weight: 219g
Dimensions: 162.9 x 76.7 x 8.77 mm
OS: MagicOS 7.1 atop Android 13
Screen size: 6.81-inch
Resolution: 1312 x 2848
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 512GB
Battery: 5,100mAh
Rear camera: 50MP + 50MP + 50MP
Front camera: 12MP

Reasons to buy

+
Vivid, eye-friendly display
+
Exceptional rear cameras

Reasons to avoid

-
Impractical design will divide opinion

The Honor Magic 5 Pro rivals the best of Apple and Samsung in almost every department, and at £949.99 / €1,199, it's a touch cheaper than the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, too. 

The phone's 6.81-inch OLED display is exceptionally bright and certified eye-friendly, its three 50MP cameras are some of the most impressive we've ever tested and its large 5,100mAh battery ensures you get at least 12 hours of heavy use before needing to reach for a charger.

The only obvious drawbacks we came across when testing the Magic 5 Pro were a handful of photography hiccups and the need to get used to the phone's unique rear camera protrusion. All in all, though, this is a great option for Android fans unbothered by the clout of brand names, and indisputably the best Honor phone money can buy in 2023. 

Read our full Honor Magic 5 Pro review

Honor 90 display

(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
A premium Honor phone with a mid-range price tag

Specifications

Release date: July 2023
Weight: 183g
Dimensions: 162 x 74.1 x 7.8 mm
OS: Android 13
Screen size: 6.7-inch
CPU: Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition
RAM: 8GB / 12GB
Storage: 256GB / 512GB
Battery: 5,000mAh
Rear camera: 200MP + 12MP + 2MP
Front camera: 50MP

Reasons to buy

+
Rich, eye-friendly display
+
Premium-looking design

Reasons to avoid

-
No IP water-resistance rating
-
Only two years of software updates

The Honor 90 has a downright fantastic display, and its cameras are among the best on this list. The phone retails for a not-so-cheap £449.99, but given the price of comparable Samsung and Apple devices these days, we'd still deem it an affordable option in 2023. Think of it as the 'best alternative cheap phone'.

The Honor 90 sports a 6.7-inch quad-curved AMOLED display with a resolution of 2664 x 1200 and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It’s big, bright and more than suitable for gaming and watching movies, thanks to HDR10+ support and HDR certifications from streamers, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

On the back, you're getting a triple-camera system that comprises a 200MP main lens (with a 1/1.4-inch sensor), a 12MP ultra-wide lens (with a 112° field of view) and a 2MP depth sensor that helps the camera accurately gauge distance.

Less impressive is Honor’s software and security support commitment to the Honor 90. You’ll get two years of Android updates and three years of security updates with this phone. That’s markedly fewer than, say, Samsung is committing to its Galaxy A54 device. But then again, the Honor 90 offers more base storage, faster charging and better display credentials than almost all of its mid-range rivals.

Read our full Honor 90 review

Honor Magic 4 Pro product photo

(Image credit: Basil Kronfli)
An excellent Honor flagship, now even cheaper

Specifications

Release date: February 2022
Weight: 209g
Dimensions: 163.6 x 74.7 x 9.1 mm
OS: Android 12
Screen size: 6.81-inch
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
RAM: 8/12GB
Storage: 256/512GB
Battery: 4,600mAh
Rear camera: 50MP+50MP+64MP
Front camera: 12MP

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent cameras
+
Incredibly fast wireless charging

Reasons to avoid

-
Fingerprint magnet
-
Smaller battery than other flagships

The Honor Magic 4 Pro was the first flagship device produced by Honor after it parted from Huawei in 2020, and it remains a resounding success to this day. What's more, given the arrival of its successor, the Magic 5 Pro, the Magic 4 Pro is now cheaper than ever. 

This phone offers a premium, mirror-finish glass design and a gorgeous 6.8-inch OLED screen that means whatever you watch on it is a delight. The camera system is similarly impressive, with its telephoto lens outperforming the iPhone 13 Pro when it comes to zoom. A top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset means it's fast, too, while wireless charging at 100W means a top-up is just as rapid.

The battery capacity could be a little higher for a premium phone and it's a fingerprint magnet, but other than that, the Honor Magic 4 Pro is still tremendous in almost every way.

Read our full Honor Magic 4 Pro review

Honor 50

(Image credit: Future)
A highly capable Honor phone for selfie fans

Specifications

Release date: June 2021
Weight: 175g
Dimensions: 160 x 73.8 x 7.8 mm
OS: Android 11
Screen size: 6.57-inch
CPU: Snapdragon 778 5G
RAM: 6 / 8GB / 12GB
Storage: 128 / 256GB
Battery: 4,300mAh
Rear camera: 108MP+8MP+2MP+2MP
Front camera: 32MP

Reasons to buy

+
Bright display
+
Versatile selfie camera

Reasons to avoid

-
No headphone jack
-
Temperamental always-on display

The Honor 50 may lack the finer details to make it stand out from the cluttered crowd, but it's still worth considering in 2023. Similarly designed to the Huawei Nova 9, it bundles in a USB-C port for faster charging but removes the ever-handy 3.5mm headphone jack. 

Its display stands out the most, with a 6.57-inch OLED panel that boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, a 300Hz touch input rate and FHD+ resolution. The phone's always-on display doesn't always work as intended, but when lit up, it's very bright and vibrant. 

Elsewhere, the Honor 50's main camera works well, but it's the selfie camera that provides bold imagery with natural-looking depth effects that further improve things. Everything else is fairly standard, albeit reliable, but for selfie addicts, this could be a significant selling point. 

Read our full Honor 50 review

An Honor Magic 4 Lite from the front, with the screen on, in someone's hand

(Image credit: TechRadar)
The best Honor phone on a budget

Specifications

Release date: March 2022
Weight: 189g
Dimensions: 166 x 75.8 x 8 mm
OS: Android 11
Screen size: 6.81-inch
CPU: Snapdragon 695 5G
RAM: 6/8GB
Storage: 128GB
Battery: 4,800mAh
Rear camera: 48MP+2MP+2MP
Front camera: 16MP

Reasons to buy

+
Reliable performance
+
Large 120Hz display

Reasons to avoid

-
Mediocre cameras
-
LCD screen

The Honor Magic 4 Lite is respectable device for its price. It offers a sizeable 6.81-inch display that boasts a 120Hz refresh rate. It's a typical LCD display with some poor viewing angles at times, but other than that, it looks good. 

In a similar vein, its cameras are quite impressive with a circular arrangement offering a main 48MP sensor, 2MP depth camera, and a 2MP macro lens. A 16MP selfie front is ideal for selfie lovers. Photos are clear but not always accurate when it comes to colors, but it's still good for the price.

Strong battery life and fast performance from the Snapdragon 695 5G rounds off the Honor Magic 4 package, making this a decent purchase for many. 

Read our full Honor Magic 4 Lite review

Alex Walker-Todd
Senior Phones Editor

Alex joined as TechRadar's Senior Phones Editor in June 2022, but brings over a decade's worth of experience to the role, with an expertise in smartphones, tablets and wearables. He's covered keynotes hosted by the biggest brands and attended the launches for some of the most influential mobile products of the last few years. His experience was amassed at some of the most reputable consumer technology publications out there, including GSMArena, TechAdvisor and Trusted Reviews.