Honor: The Return of the Smartphone Jedi

Chinese smartphone brand Honor (1) is all set for a comeback in the Indian market with a launch of new models and a grand debut of Honor 90. The debut is expected to launch in September with whopping features such as its 200-mp camera.

The company confirmed that it will be coming back to the Indian market as the Chinese smartphone brand is all set to launch new models in the country from expectedly September of 2023, next month.

The beginning of the comeback will issue from releasing Honor 90 which was launched earlier this year in the Chinese market and the company also teased a comeback post on its Twitter handle which raised bells of competition in the market.

Madhav Sheth (2), former Vice President for Business and Corporate Strategy for Realme also teased the launch of new Honor smartphones in India. It was recently when he confirmed his association with the company.

However, he did not mention which phone would be entering the market first. But according to several advocates and reports, many are anticipating Honor 90 to start the brand's comeback run in the Indian market in September.

It was back in 2020 when Honor stopped all its operations in India after it was declared as an independent organization from Huawei and its scandalous news which we shall discuss in the end, as it still raises a concern.

Since its departure, PSAV Global became the official distributor for the company in India and together released several tablets, wearables, and laptops over the past three years and are now planning to get back to the mobile market again.

Advocates are expecting Honor to distribute its products with PSAV and leverage its retail and distribution network in the country and Honor 90 is likely to be the first new smartphone from the brand.

Honor 90 Specs & Pricing

Honor launched its Honor 90 Pro in China (3) earlier this year, the smartphone featured Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC under the hood with 16GB RAM to its 6.7-inch full HD+ curved OLED display (1200 x 2663 pixels).

The display also featured 1600 nits of peak brightness with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Moreover, the core element of this smartphone is its camera which featured a 200-megapixel primary camera with a triple rear camera setup.

The trippy setup featured a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor and the front camera featured a 50-megapixel lens which delivers holistic clarity, and vibrant photography.

Moreover, the phone also supports 5G, 4G LTE, Wifi 6, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, and has a USB Type-C port. It comes out of the box with 512 GB inbuilt storage and runs on Android 13-based MagicOS 7.1 and has a 5000 mAh battery which supports 66W fast charging.

These are predicted features and the actual features might differ. But since it is the comeback debut of the brand in the mobile segment of India, it is sure to be wild, and surprising to witness.

Concern

There are still concerns associated with the brands from the happenings of the past related to the privacy of the users. Honors was before associated with Huawei which was banned by the United States stating the Chinese government used Huawei's smartphones for spying in the country (4).

It was later Google that stopped selling all its services and processors to Huawei which sparked confirmation of an extreme condition that led to the downfall of the brand in several states (5).

However, Honor is now an on-paper separate company with no ties to Huawei but since the ban of Chinese products and other concerns in the country, the debut holds several mixed voices, creating a not-so-easy-to-comeback atmosphere for Honor.