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Introduction
Honor's View lineup is back and significantly better than before. For starters, it's got a much more attractive glass back and metal frame while the front no longer has a notch of any kind. The back of the phone is ultra-shiny and easily one of the best-looking smartphones around. Honor has innovated on pushing the glass back cover into something more and we love what it has come up with.
The View 20 Honor's first phone with a "hole-punch" cutout to hide the selfie camera in plain sight. This marks the start of a new trend into 2019 as phone makers slowly move past the need to use a notch and employ a new solution that minimizes bezel size.
Honor View 20 specs:
- Body: Metal frame with ultra-reflective curved rear glass
- Screen: 6.4" IPS LCD; 2.5D glass; 1080 x 2310 px (398 ppi); 19.75:9 aspect ratio
- Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 980 CPU; (2x2.6 GHz Cortex-A76 & 2x1.92 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G76 MP10
- Memory: 6GB/8GB RAM + 128GB/256GB storage
- OS: Android 9.0 Pie; Magic UI 2.0
- Camera: 48MP Sony IMX 586; f/1.8; 1/2" (0.8µm) + ToF 3D sensor; 4K capture at 30fps; 1080p capture at 60fps and 720p capture at 960fps
- Camera features: 2X Zoom, Night mode, PDAF, portrait mode, beautify and body shaping
- Selfie camera: 25MP; f/2.0; 27mm
- Battery: 4,000 mAh battery; 22.5W Huawei Super Charger
- Connectivity: Dual SIM; Dual VoLTE
- Misc: Fingerprint scanner, 2D face unlock, hole-punch camera
Like the View 10 last year, the View 20 (known as V20 in China) is one of two counterparts of the latest Huawei Mate phone. The Honor Magic 2 has most of the Mate 20 Pro's features like the in-display scanner, 3D face unlock and triple camera, but the View 20 keeps only the essentials while offering an exceptional bang for your buck.
Though it isn't a triple camera, there is a dual camera consisting of a new 48MP Sony sensor and a new ToF (Time of Flight) sensor instead of a secondary camera. It is one of the first smartphones to use this new 48MP camera sensor and we can't wait to see what kind of pictures it can take.
Honor already held a Chinese launch event back in December to announce the phone in the company's home market. The company held a second launch event in Paris to announce global availability outside of China - today marks the launch of the phone on more than a dozen markets internationally.
Unboxing the Honor View 20
The Honor View 20's retail box isn't an all-teal box as many previous Honor phones. Although it's got more color on the box, the packaging and contents are pretty much unchanged. The phone comes with the essentials: nothing more, nothing less.
Upon lifting the top of the box, we are greeted by the phone's display. Which isn't very exciting when the phone isn't powered on. We think the missed opportunity here is that Honor could have positioned the View 20 so that its gorgeous rear glass could make the very first impression.
Under the phone is a flat box which holds the SIM tool and a bonus transparent case. Beneath this box lie the 22.5W Huawei Super Charger and a USB-C to USB-A cable. It's worth noting that you'll need to use the included cable to achieve the charger's full power output.
Now that we've taken a look at what comes in the box, let's take a closer look at the phone's design.
Design
This is the most beautiful design to ever come from Honor. We've seen the manufacturer make other phones with hyper-reflective back glass on the Honor 8, 9 and 10, and more recently on the mid-range Honor 8X with a dual-finish backing.
While we really liked the shiny-ness and glam factor of the aforementioned Honor phones, this is the first time Honor has taken the ultra-reflective glass to a completely new direction - two in fact. The reflections are arranged in a chevron pattern across the back of the phone. The V-shape of the reflective pattern is very fitting for Honor's "View" branding.
The long edges of the glass curve towards the frame, much like Samsung has been doing on the Samsung Galaxy phones for years now. This approach accentuates the phone's length over its width. This kind of fit-and-finish and design requires very strict tolerances, which we're glad to see has made it to the upper-mid range category.
Honor has exchanged its youthful and understated insignia to a bolder version with all captial letters and a bolder appearance. The Honor brand is growing in popularity so we like the direction of this new insignia redesign. This new branding is placed under the surface layer of glass so it won't ever rub off.
Also on the rear is the phone's dual-camera setup and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The words "AI Vision" adorn the negative space to the right of the camera, and refers to the AI abilities that are possible thanks to the NPU in the Kirin 980 CPU.
Now that we've Ooh'd and Ahh'd at the shiny back, let's take a look around the rest of the smartphone.
The View 20 is among the very first commercially available smartphones that have placed the front-facing camera directly behind the display, leaving a cutout of the panel for the sensor to see through the glass. We find this approach is much less obtrusive than a proper notch. The in-call speaker is right at the edge of the display's glass and Honor even managed to put the proximity and ambient light sensors in the tiny sliver of a top bezel - very impressive.
The display is also quite large at 6.4-inches, which puts it in the same category as the OnePlus 6T. From the front, the phone is all-screen.
The left side houses the dual nanoSIM tray. There is no expandable SD card slot and the View 20 doesn't support the new Nano Memory format that Huawei introduced with the Mate 20 Pro. On the other side of the phone are three physical buttons: the power key, volume (+) and volume (-). These keys have excellent travel and are sturdy enough to avoid accidental pressing.
Honor View 20 from the side
At the top of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and IR blaster, and a noise-cancelling mic. The bottom has a USB-C port, downward-firing loudspeaker, and in-call microphone.
Honor View 20 from the top and bottom
The frame goes all the way around the phone and thins out a little bit along the tall edge of the phone to accommodate the dual curves on the rear glass. The anodized finish on the frame is cool to the touch and the 'phantom blue' paint job pops much more than the View 10's darker shade of blue.
The phone also comes in Midnight Black and Phantom Red but the black version would not be available internationally at first.
All-View Display with a punch hole front camera design
There's a big, bright display on the Honor View 20 and it's one of the first smartphones to adopt the "hole-punch" style selfie camera. The camera is placed beneath a round cutout below the LCD panel as a way to maximize the display area of the phone.
The "hole-punch" camera is the evolution of the dreaded "notch" - a larger cut-out of the top edge of the screen reserved for the front camera, sensors, and the earpiece. Despite such a small bezel around the top of the display, Honor managed to cram an earpiece speaker, a proximity sensor, and an ambient light sensor into this razor-thin bezel.
You might notice some slight discoloration or shadow of pixels in the area immediately surrounding the camera hole. Honor said that this is completely normal and is a special technique used to prevent any light from leaking into the 25MP selfie camera. It isn't blatantly noticeable in person but if you really want to tickle your OCD bone, just stare at it for a while.
The display itself is a 6.4-inch IPS LCD panel. Honor has always opted to use LCD panels in its devices and really reserves AMOLED panels for its higher-end devices like the Honor Magic 2 and the Honor Note series. In any case, the lower bezel is not as thin as the top and side bezels, but we're seeing this lower bezel get thinner and thinner with every new phone that comes out.
The display's brightness is about average in terms of sunlight legibility - you may find yourself squinting to see what's on the screen on a bright summer day. The panel maxed out at 479 nits regardless of whether auto-brightness is enabled or not. You'll also be able to dim this display very low down to only 1.1 nits.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.481 | 695 | 1445 | |
| 0 | 658 | ∞ | |
| 0.002 | 624 | 312000 | |
| 0 | 606 | ∞ | |
| 0.365 | 479 | 1313 | |
| 0.328 | 477 | 1454 | |
| 0 | 458 | ∞ | |
| 0.278 | 453 | 1629 | |
| 0 | 453 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 399 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 370 | ∞ | |
Nevertheless, the sunlight contrast ratio score is pretty good and even beats the Huawei Mate 20 by a huge margin. We can even go further and say it enters the OLED territory.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone XS
5.171 - Apple iPhone X
5.013 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
4.965 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Asus ROG Phone
4.765 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S9
4.63 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
4.537 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
4.531 - Apple iPhone XS Max
4.516 - Sony Xperia XZ3
4.502 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - Oppo RX17 Pro
4.434 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - Google Pixel 3
4.35 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
4.324 - OnePlus 6
4.321 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
4.291 - vivo NEX Dual Display (second display)
4.289 - HTC One A9
4.274 - LG V40 ThinQ
4.256 - Oppo R15 Pro
4.251 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
4.22 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - OnePlus 6T
4.138 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - vivo V11
4.113 - vivo NEX Dual Display
4.108 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei P20 Pro
4.087 - Xiaomi Mi 8
4.086 - Meizu 15
4.082 - Nokia 6 (2018)
4.052 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - vivo NEX S
4.012 - Honor Magic 2
4.01 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
3.978 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Oppo Find X
3.954 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
3.901 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Motorola Moto G6 Plus
3.865 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Apple iPhone 6
3.838 - Microsoft Lumia 950XL
3.837 - Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
3.834 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Nokia 8 Sirocco
3.745 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Huawei P20
3.683 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
3.675 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Huawei Honor View 20
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Sony Xperia XZ2
3.58 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - Nokia 7 plus
3.479 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Motorola Moto G6
3.448 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445 - Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
3.445 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Motorola Moto G6 Play
3.419 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
3.397 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
3.393 - LG G7 ThinQ
3.39 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor Play
3.349 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo F7
3.333 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Oppo Realme 2 Pro
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - BlackBerry KEY2
3.212 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Honor 8X
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
3.087 - HTC U12+
3.085 - Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
3.077 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Oppo F9
3.069 - Huawei P Smart 2019
3.069 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Xiaomi Mi Max 3
3.061 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
3.059 - Huawei Mate 20
3.052 - Huawei Mate 20 Lite
3.051 - Motorola One (P30 Play)
3.026 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
3.019 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Motorola Moto X4
3.012 - Oppo Realme 2
3.006 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
2.966 - Huawei P20 Lite
2.952 - Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA2
2.938 - Oppo Realme 1
2.932 - Razer Phone 2
2.932 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - Huawei Honor View 10
2.896 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
2.867 - Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
2.862 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Nokia 3.1
2.837 - Realme U1
2.815 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Nokia 7.1
2.804 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Honor 10 (Vivid)
2.757 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Xiaomi Mi A2
2.696 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Sony Xperia Z3
2.618 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Huawei P Smart
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Huawei Honor 10 Lite
2.497 - BlackBerry Motion
2.494 - Oppo F1s
2.481
Color accuracy out of the box was quite terrible but it can be tweaked to a far more accurate setting. The default "Vivid" color profile is saturated and bright but the whites are halfway between sky blue and gray, which, frankly, makes us want to keep the blue-light filter enabled at all times. The default color profile yielded an average deltaE of 7.3 and a max deltaE of 12.8.
There's a "Normal" color profile which makes drastic improvement to the appearance of colors and tones down their intensity as well. This profile had a much lower 3.1 average deltaE and a Max deltaE of 6. When we played with the custom setting, we were able to achieve even better average deltaE of 1.5 and Max deltaE of 2.3.
Most color-accurate setting
Battery life
There's a large 4,000 mAh battery in the View 20 and the included Huawei Super Charger is a great touch. The adapter pours 22.5W into the device and charges the phone up from a dead battery to 59% in our 30-minute charge test and reached 94% in one hour.
The View 20 has a larger battery compared to the View 10's 3,750 mAh. Although the battery is bigger and the 7nm Kirin 980 CPU is more efficient, the added screen size might even out any improvements to overall battery life.
The final battery score is pretty good - 88h where the video playback, standby and 3G talk times are better than expected. However, the web browsing test is just about average, considering the huge 4,000 mAh battery. The Mate 20, which has the same SoC and battery scored better in our web browsing test. Still, the final scores of both phones are quite similar.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the vivo NEX Dual Display for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Honor's Magic UI has come a long way and if you like to control every aspect of power consumption, the battery menu lets you allow and restrict apps from running in the background on a per-app basis. Of course, keep in mind if you limit background activity from, say, Facebook, you won't receive push notifications until you open the app.
Battery tools
Loudspeaker
The Honor View 20 has a standard bottom-firing single speaker that can get loud enough so you can hear it in a noisy pub or at a show. It's scored Very Good rating in our standard testing procedure which involves playing back three different sound sources.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 67.9 | 71.6 | 73.7 | Good | |
| 68.6 | 69.9 | 77.8 | Good | |
| 69.5 | 72.4 | 77.8 | Very Good | |
| 68.5 | 74.3 | 81.1 | Very Good | |
| 67.2 | 72.5 | 84.5 | Very Good | |
| 68.0 | 74.3 | 82.0 | Very Good | |
| 66.6 | 69.8 | 90.0 | Very Good | |
| 70.5 | 74.1 | 85.2 | Excellent |
Audio quality
When paired with an active external amplifier, the Honor View 20's audio jack delivered an output of average loudness and mostly great clarity save for the surprisingly high stereo crosstalk.
In fact, this is arguably the only phone in the last few years that actually has better stereo quality with our standard 32ohm testing headphones than without them. The headphones performance, in general, is great as far as clarity is concerned with the average loudness being the only non-impressive bit here.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -93.1 | 93.2 | 0.0013 | 0.0083 | -64.5 | |
| +0.05, -0.04 | -92.8 | 92.6 | 0.055 | 0.116 | -74.5 | |
| +0.04, -0.04 | -90.6 | 90.6 | 0.0015 | 0.191 | -93.8 | |
| +0.25, -0.207 | -91.9 | 91.9 | 0.025 | 0.435 | -51.2 | |
| +0.02, -0.06 | -91.0 | 88.6 | 0.0021 | 0.016 | -94.4 | |
| +0.05, -0.03 | -93.8 | 89.6 | 0.0019 | 0.034 | -54.9 | |
| +0.01, -0.02 | -94.7 | 94.7 | 0.0013 | 0.0086 | -73.1 | |
| +0.12, -0.09 | -93.8 | 93.8 | 0.0035 | 0.115 | -71.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -93.0 | 93.1 | 0.0037 | 0.0093 | -92.9 | |
| +0.12, -0.06 | -92.3 | 92.5 | 0.0027 | 0.088 | -65.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.02 | -93.6 | 93.6 | 0.0010 | 0.0069 | -93.8 | |
| +0.65, -0.08 | -91.2 | 92.5 | 0.0082 | 0.359 | -50.3 |
Honor View 20 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Android 9.0 Pie and Magic UI 2.0
The Honor View 20 comes with Android Pie out of the box and it's layered with the newly rebranded Magic UI 2.0 (formerly "EMUI", and "Emotion UI" before that). Magic UI comes with some redesigned UI elements and icons, as well as AI capabilities, a new color scheme, and the YoYo Assistant
The interface has been generally tidied up and the Setting menu has been gradually simplified over the last few iterations. More advanced settings are tucked away in the respective categories and if you can't seem to find one, the search feature works well.
Huawei Share is improved in the latest version of Magic UI. It supports wireless printing now and also supports sharing files with a PC as long as they are on the same wireless network. The View 20 also supports Password Vault to store your passwords locally on the View 20 and they are accessible using your lockscreen password.
You can unlock the phone using your fingerprint on the back, which is excellent and accurate. You can also set up face unlock but since it doesn't use 3D sensors, it isn't as secure as a fingerprint or strong passcode. If you do use face unlock, you can enable Smart lock screen so your notifications will only be showed when the phone sees you.
Huawei Share 1 • Huawei Share 2 • Fingerprint setup • Face unlock • Smart notifications
The home screens are typical to what we've seen on Chinese phones: there is no traditional app drawer. Of course, there is an option that instantly adds a drawer shortcut where you can see all your apps. Something new to Magic UI's app drawer is you can see your Google Feed by swiping to the left of your main home page.
Launcher settings • App drawer setting • Home screen: 1 • 2 • Google feed
Magazine unlock is a feature of the UI and it changes the lockscreen wallpaper every time you turn the screen on. You have options of what kinds of images you'd like to see in the Magazine and you can add your own photos for a personal touch.
Magic UI offers gesture-based navigation. You can get rid of that pesky navigation bar if you really wanted to take full advantage of the All-View display. Swipe up from the middle for Home, Swipe up and hold for Recent apps, Swipe up from either lower corner to summon Google Assistant, and swipe inward from the left or right edge to go Back.
Gesture navigation • Back, Home, Recent apps, Google Assistant
The quick settings color scheme looks like of like Samsung's but more teal than blue. Anyway, pretty standard stuff here in the notification shade as well.
Lockscreen • Magazine unlock • Notification shade • Quick toggles
If you aren't a fan of the hole-punch camera and would rather have a black status bar, the "notch" menu is still here and you can darken the upper strip of the display. You can even customize this setting on a per-app basis.
"Notch" setting • Camera hole: enabled • disabled
The phone comes preloaded with several apps and utilities like Huawei Health, a Notes app, "Party Mode" - which lets you sync audio between several Honor devices in the room for louder music, a Wallet app (Huawei Pay only works in Russia at the moment), Smart remote app, compass, and Microsoft's Translator app - just to name a few.
Party Mode • Huawei Wallet • Smart Remote app
As screens get larger, stock apps have their navigation menus shifted down to the bottom row so they are more reachable.
Dialer • Clock • Contacts • Files
There are a few actions you can take after taking a screenshot. A mini version of the screenshot will be displayed over your screen in the lower corner. Flick it left or right to dismiss it, flick up to enter the share menu, flick down to start a scrolling shot, or just tap on it to edit it (crop, draw, delete).
Although Magic UI isn't the lightest Android skin around, it is very well optimized and doesn't think twice before performing a task. It does have some quirks, but it is very customizable and packed with a lot of features.
Performance and benchmarks
The Honor View 20 borrows the same CPU from what many have said was the best phone of 2018 - the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. It's got plenty of horsepower for anything you want to throw at it - games, media creation, and heavy multitasking. The phone comes with either 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage or 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage - like the unit we received.
The Kirin 980 has eight cores - two are high-performance Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.6GHz, two more Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 1.92GHz, and four efficient Cortex-A55 cores that max out at 1.8GHz. Meanwhile, the Mali-G76 MP10 GPU is a ten-core chip with significant performance and efficiency improvements over the Kirin 970's Mali-G72.
In addition, the GPU supports Huawei's GPU Turbo 2.0, which allocates the phone's resources to a game that supports the feature to run at full resolution with 60 frames. Currently, the number of titles that support GPU Turbo is quite limited.
The Kirin 980 also has a dual-NPU (Neural Processing Unit) which in conjunction with the new ISP (Image Signal Processor) results in some spectacular photos. Remember, smartphones nowadays rely a lot on computational photography.
We've run some benchmarks and compared them with some other Chinese flagships and last year's View 10 to see how far it's come.
First up is Geekbench - the View 20 sat comfortably behind the Mate 20 Pro and a step ahead of the Snapdragon 845-powered phones. The iPhone XR takes the cake with its powerful A12 Bionic chip. The View 20 sees about a 40% improvement in the multi-core test over its predecessor, the View 10.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XR
11437 - Honor Magic 2
9887 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
9712 - Huawei Honor View 20
9530 - ASUS ROG Phone (Fan on)
9309 - ASUS ROG Phone
9230 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
9026 - OnePlus 6T
8977 - Razer Phone 2
8923 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
8349 - Oppo Find X
8018 - Huawei Honor View 10
6738
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XR
4818 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
3642 -
The Kirin 980 is more clearly superior in the single-core test. All three Kirin 980 phones scored in the lower 3,000s while the Snapdragon 845 maxed out at about 2,500. The Exynos 9810 is better at single core but the iPhone XR still wins in raw scores.
Honor Magic 2
3316 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
3291 - Huawei Honor View 20
3211 - ASUS ROG Phone
2514 - ASUS ROG Phone (Fan on)
2504 - OnePlus 6T
2431 - Razer Phone 2
2424 - Oppo Find X
2322 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
2199 - Huawei Honor View 10
1902
When it comes to gaming and graphics performance, the GFX Bench numbers are a bit different. The Snapdragon 845 devices all scored 35 frames in the offscreen Car Scene test, which levels it at 1080p to compare raw power across devices. The View 20 performed like the Mate 20 Pro, scoring one frame higher.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XR
60 - OnePlus 6T
35 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
35 - Oppo Find X
35 - Razer Phone 2
35 - ASUS ROG Phone
35 - ASUS ROG Phone (Fan on)
35 - Huawei Honor View 20
30 - Honor Magic 2
30 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
29 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
28 - Huawei Honor View 10
22
Meanwhile, the onscreen test yielded some different results since the native screen resolution of the View 20 is Full HD+ versus the Mate 20 Pro's QHD+.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XR
58 - OnePlus 6T
31 - ASUS ROG Phone
31 - ASUS ROG Phone (Fan on)
31 - Huawei Honor View 20
28 - Oppo Find X
28 - Honor Magic 2
26 - Razer Phone 2
22 - Huawei Honor View 10
20 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
20 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
17 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
15
Contrary to what we saw in GeekBench, the View 20 performed slightly below the Snapdragon 845 phones in Antutu 7 but the iPhone remains at the very top.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone XR
341196 - OnePlus 6T
293994 - ASUS ROG Phone (Fan on)
292371 - Oppo Find X
291218 - ASUS ROG Phone
290975 - Razer Phone 2
285051 - Huawei Honor View 20
275413 - Honor Magic 2
274466 - Huawei Mate 20 Pro
273913 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
264044 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
248823 - Huawei Honor View 10
212708
Although the Kirin 980 is a 7nm chip, it still doesn't mean you won't get sweaty palms. The area above the fingerprint scanner can get a bit warm in some spots, but it isn't a cause for concern.
To sum things up The Mali-G76 MP10 may not be the fastest GPU around, but it is still among the fastest. The Kirin 980 may be soon outdone by the upcoming Snapdragon 855 by Qualcomm but that's the nature of the chipset race. Rest assured, the View 20 will age very well since it comes the latest and most advanced chipset that HiSilicon makes.
48MP Sony IMX 253 camera + 3D ToF sensor
This isn't your typical dual camera setup. Rather than using two RGB camera sensors, the Honor View 20 uses a 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor behind an f/1.8 aperture lens combined with a second ToF or 'Time of Flight' sensor.
The main sensor uses a quad-Bayer array for pixel binning. The resulting image is reduced to a higher-quality 12MP image.
The ToF sensor uses IR light to map the space in front of the camera and see in three dimensions. This makes a couple of cool features possible: first, you'll be able to scan objects in 3D into the phone; and secondly, the camera app offers a body shaping feature that makes you look thinner. It will be interesting to see how well the camera can synthesize portrait mode bokeh versus using two regular cameras.
For the record, the Mate 20 Pro can also scan objects in 3D as shown on stage at the London event, however, it achieves this using the 3D face unlock hardware it has above its screen, which lacks on the View 20.
Camera app
As usual, let's start with a description of the camera app. If you are familiar with Huawei and Honor's UI, you will be able to breeze through the camera app's options. The layout is similar to the iPhone's - swiping left and right will switch between camera modes while the settings menu is located in the upper right corner. Depending on the camera mode you are in, it will display the available options. For instance, the default Photo mode lets you choose between several resolution settings but the ones you'd probably end up using are the 12MP and 48MP modes.
Options in the default Photo mode
Video settings are pretty limited - you can choose between 720p, 1080p, 1080p@60fps and 2160p and you can't disable EIS. It's always on.
Settings in the video mode and the additional modes
Anyway, there's also a full-fledged Pro mode that lets you tweak all camera settings manually, a Night mode for better low-light stills, AR mode, Portrait mode and some additional modes in the "More" section on the far right. HDR is buried in there as well.
Image quality
The Honor View 20 aims to be one of the best when it comes to camera quality and we are not disappointed. We've observed pretty consistent performance during the day with an impressive dynamic range, good colors, and excellent sharpness. We can say for sure that the Quad Bayer technology works as advertised so you better stick to the 12MP mode. Also, you might as as well leave the AI on this tiome around as it doesn't ruin the photos as seen on some other Huawei devices before. Though frankly, we didn't see much benefit from having it on either.
Photo mode: 12MP • 12MP AI • 48MP • 48MP AI Ultra Clarity
Photo mode: 12MP • 12MP AI • 48MP • 48MP AI Ultra Clarity
Switching to the 48MP mode will result in softer looking and a bit noisier photos - which is only expected, of course. This sensor is meant to be used for pixel binning in 12MP. However, if you insist on shooting in the full 48MP resolution, Honor has introduced the so-called 48MP AI Ultra Clarity mode, to help with some of the deficiencies. Since taking photos in this mode takes longer and the phone warns you to keep it still, we suspect it's essentially multi-sampling - taking several photos and then merging their sharpest bits. The result is a sharper photo with a slightly more contrasty look. So if you really want to go with the 48MP photos, we suggest you use this mode to take your photos.
Photo mode: 12MP • 12MP AI • 48MP • 48MP AI Ultra Clarity
Photo mode: 12MP • 12MP AI • 48MP • 48MP AI Ultra Clarity
Turning on the HDR mode won't do much for you and that's actually a good thing here as the default camera mode offers a great dynamic range to begin with. We couldn't find any pattern with the HDR photos - sometimes the mode adjusted the highlights and messed up the shadows, while other times it was the other way around. All in all, we don't see any benefit in using the mode in its current, unpredictable implementation.
HDR mode
When it comes to night-time photography, the View 20 is right up there with the rest of the flagships. It also does have the fully fledged handheld Night mode we saw premier on Huawei devices earlier this year.
Just like the Mate 20/Mate 20 Pro, the Honor View 20's Night mode is beneficial in complete darkness. And it offers generally less noisier photos. But in our experience for anything else, the normal mode produced better results in low light as the Night mode frequently produced photos witth less than stellar sharpness and definition while the benefits in tonal range compared to the Night mode were only marginal.
Night scene: Default Photo mode • Night mode
Night scene: Default Photo mode • Night mode
We've also included some comparison shots from our studio in a more controlled environment. Here's how it stacks against some of the competitors. We've included sample shots in the default 12MP and 48MP modes.
Honor View 20 against the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Xiaomi Mi 8 in our Photo compare tool
Honor View 20 against the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Huawei P20 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Portraits
Portraits come out pretty clean with plenty of detail but the edge detection seems a bit inconsistent. Look at the sample with the chair, for example. We can't think of a reason why the software decided to blur the edge of the chair. Also, the subject's shirt is a bit blurry too.
Portraits
Selfies
The 25MP front-facing camera shoots pretty sharp selfies but since it doesn't feature autofocus, you have to keep in mind there is a focus sweet spot where it's best to position your face - and it's at about half a full arm's length. The portrait mode's edge separation is just about average considering the fact that it uses just one camera and relies only on software.
Portrait selfie • Normal selfie
Video recording
The Honor View 20 is capable of recording videos in 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, and 1080@60fps and gives you the option of choosing between H.264 and H.265 encoding. Slo-mo modes include 720@960fps and 1080p@120fps.
The overall video quality is on par with the flagships out there and even delivers more natural colors compared to some other phones. The videos appear to be smooth without any hiccups and there are no traces of noise.
The stabilization is always on in 4K and 1080p and as you can see, it works well in both modes.
Here are some screenshots from our lab video samples which you can compared to other phones.
2160p: Honor View 20 against the Huawei P20 and OnePlus 6T in our Video compare tool
You can download short untouched samples as well - 2160p/30fps (10s, 31.8MB) and 1080p/30fps (10s, 14.1MB).
The competition
The Honor View 20 is a truly flagship-grade device and it can challenge the best in the industry with its price of less than €600.
There is plenty of competition but the devices that first come to mind are the OnePlus 6T, the Galaxy S9+, the Huawei P20 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi 8 as they all have similar pricing and specs.
OnePlus 6T • Samsung Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20 Pro • Xiaomi Mi 8
The Honor View 20 may have the big screen to stand out but when it comes to picture quality, it just doesn't cut it. All the four phones above sport AMOLED displays with deep blacks, no edge light bleed and offer slightly better sunlight legibility. Also, Honor's punch hole camera is a novelty which won't be to everyone's liking. Especially those who have OCD about symmetry. But we can say for sure that it's less obtrusive compared to standard notches when watching videos and playing games.
But when it comes to battery life, camera quality, and raw performance, the View 20 can be the better choice. The 48MP camera combined with the Quad Bayer technology produces excellent stills while the 4,000 mAh battery keeps the lights on for more than a full day depending on your usage. And besides, you can rely on the fast charging for quick top-ups when the situation calls for it.
Verdict
Honor claims the View 20 can play with the big boys and our conclusion is that in most cases, it can. The handset excels in almost every aspect without breaking the bank. It has a solid glass build with a unique gradient finish, it has a great camera experience across the board, it has good battery life and a killer flagship chipset.
As we said earlier, it checks all the boxes as a flagship device without asking too much in return. And just like every Android device, expect its price to go down in the following months, which would render it an even better bargain.
Pros
- Solid aluminum and glass build.
- The punch hole makes sense in most cases although, it won't be preferred by everyone.
- Excellent camera experience across the board..
- Great price/performance ratio thanks to the Kirin 980 SoC.
- Feature-rich OS.
- Good battery life and fast charging support.
- Beautiful design.
Cons
- The display quality isn't flagship-worthy.
- No microSD card slot expansion.
- The 3D ToF sensor's features are quite limited for now.
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