Honor 400 – Review

The Honor 400 series has been officially launched and consists of the Honor 400 and the Honor 400 Pro. We at Cool Smartphone Towers have been lucky enough to have been given an Honor 400 device before launch. So I have been spending some time with the phone and have been able to form the following opinions, which we’ll now feature in the review below.

Design
First, let’s start with the design. This was covered in great depth during my unboxing post and unboxing video. But if you have not seen this, then I would encourage you to check the video and the post out before continuing to read on.

The design of the Honor 400 is subtle but a significant change from the previous Honor 200 series. The reason for me saying that is that they have gone with a more boxy design on the 400 over the previous curved edges design on the 200. They have also changed the camera island on the back from an oval to a more rhombic shape.

There is also a significant screen size difference. The 200 series had a 6.7″ screen with curved edges, and the 400 has a screen size of 6.55″ with completely flat, squared-off edges.

The phone feels quite utilitarian and blocky, which is by no means a bad thing. However, the svelte and pebble-like rounded feeling of the predecessor is no longer present.

Another feature that I instantly found to be missing, which is somewhat perplexing as it was found on the 400 Lite phone previously reviewed on CoolSmartphone.com, is the occlusion of any camera action button, which was to be found on the right-hand side in the lower third of the edge of the phone. I don’t know what the reasoning behind this is, but I can only imagine that the camera shortcut button was intended on the 400 Lite series to test its functionality and adoption before they implemented it on the higher-tier devices.
In terms of durability and ruggedness, the phone is IP65 rated, so it will cope with some dust and debris, and it will also cope with light splashing. I would not recommend using this phone submerged. Then again, I would also not recommend using any phone submerged. But it is good to see a mid-tier device getting the IP ratings that used to be exclusively for higher-end devices.

The body consists of a metal frame with Gorilla Glass both front and back, I believe. The front is Gorilla Glass Victus, and the back is a form of Gorilla Glass. The back of the phone has a matte finish to the glass, which does aid in the grip slightly, and it is as slim as you would expect from a candy bar design in 2025.
In terms of colours, there will be 3 colour variants, Desert Gold, Meteor Silver (exclusive to Honor.com)and Midnight Black, which is the one I have on review.

Hardware and performance
The phone features the Snapdragon 7 Gen, which is a powerful chip and will cope with most things average users will throw at the phone. It only comes with 8 gigabytes of RAM. However, there are two storage variants of 256 GB or 512 GB, depending on your desired storage and potentially colour variant.
Hidden underneath the frame is where we will find a 5300mAh silicon-carbon battery with up to 66W HONOR Wired SuperCharge. My review unit did not come with a charger in the box. So I cannot confirm what speed of charger you will get. I expect it will be one of the lower-powered varieties, and they will offer a 66-watt-capable charger for free as a gift with purchase. This is based upon previous Honor sales.
There is one missing feature concerning charging, and that is the ability to wirelessly charge, which is sadly missing from the phone. I would have liked to have seen this, but there has to be something to distinguish this and the 400 Pro.
Another area of distinction between the 400 Pro and the 400 is the cameras. I won’t dive into this too much as I will save this for the camera section, but the 400 only has a dual camera setup featuring a 200 megapixel camera and a 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera, whereas the 400 Pro features a triple camera setup featuring the same cameras with the addition of a telephoto lens. I have found the cameras to be satisfactory for the price point, but more on that in the camera section.

As previously mentioned, the phone will charge via supercharger, and this is all taken care of via the USB Type-C 2.0 port on the base of the unit. This does not support display out, but does support reverse wired charging at 5 watts. This can be useful for powering headphones, etc., while on the go.
The phone features multiple bands over the full mobile spectrum, including up to 5G, and it features Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. It also supports Bluetooth 5.3 and all the associated codecs that you could think of. I have had no problem pairing this to wireless headphones from both Google and OnePlus, and also to my Pixel Watch 3. Call quality has been very good, as has been data reception when travelling around the UK. I have rarely experienced a time when I have no service, which is great to see, particularly as there are no visible antenna lines on the exterior casing. The antennas must be positioned in a way that the RF escapes through the back of the phone.

The loudspeakers are crisp and clear, up until around about 80% volume, after which They do start to get a little muddy, but most of my experience using this has been with wireless headphones, where, as mentioned, I have had no problem with pairing or listening to music, videos, podcasts, etc.
In terms of gaming, those of you who read my articles often will know I am not the biggest gamer. However, I have put this through my usual gaming tests of Grand Mountain Adventure 2 and Asphalt Unite. I have found that in both games, I was not lacking performance at all, and unlike the Honor 400 Lite, I did not experience the laggy bug when initially starting to play on Grand Mountain Adventure 2. This is not surprising, as previously mentioned, the Snapdragon 7 Gen. chip on board is plenty powerful enough.
Software
The software on the Honor 400 is very similar to that on the 400 Lite that I have previously reviewed. There is little to distinguish the two. Of course, both the phones have… Google’s AI is built into the phone’s core. However, with the 400, Honor and Google have co-launched a new feature called AI Photo to Video, which allows you to take a photo and use AI to create a very short five-second video clip or moving picture for use in sharing on social media, etc. I have tested this with stock photos provided by Honor and also with my photos, and in both scenarios, it works very, very well. Is it a feature I will use often? Probably not. But given that this phone is intended for a market of potentially younger users, and also the 400 series in general is intended for that market. It is a nice feature to have on board.

Here is a demo of how it works

And here is the end result.

In terms of other AI that is featured, Google Gemini is built into the core, and I have had no problem using that. There is AI translate, AI writing and various AI tools. Honor has worked hard to make AI use easy and seamless. And for the most part, this has proven to be successful. My use of AI is generally limited to voice-to-text via AI notes and Gemini, and occasionally, some AI tools are used within Google Photos. However, I have dabbled with the AI photo editing suite built into the Honor’s Gallery app, and it does a good job of carrying out the edits that you would want, such as AI Object Remover, AI Reflection Remover, etc.

Unfortunately, with this being Honor’s standard launcher, one of my pet peeves is still present. This is splitting the notification pane and the control centre. I have gone into this before, so I will not dwell on it. I don’t like it, and I would like the choice to turn it off, which is something given to you by Oppo and OnePlus, and I believe Samsung. So this would be a suggestion for Honor moving forward.

I have received at least one software update since the phone was provided to me, but as the phone has been used primarily in pre-release software, it is hard to say how reliable software updates will be. However, Honor announced on the 21st that they will be supporting Android 16 on the 400 series within the next few months, and the phone will get six years of OS and security updates. This brings it up to the higher tiers of companies supporting OS and security updates. Not quite matching Samsung and Google, but still very, very good.

Another aspect of software that Honor are very proud of is their EyeCare suite. This is taken care of by 7 different tools that will allow the screen to dim or adjust depending on times and conditions. The idea behind this concept is to allow you to use your phone without having to worry about eye strain, blue light bleed, etc. It is something Honor is very proud of, and as such, it has its own menu level within the settings. See screenshot below.

I have not noticed any eye strain when using the device for prolonged periods, even at night, so… what they have done must be working.

Another new feature for the Honor 400 is AI Writing tools, which are a joint effort between HONOR and Google Gemini. Here’s how it works: you just type in a command or prompt, and the tool will do all the magic to help you create content. Whether you need to draft something from scratch, make it sound better, or change the way it’s written, the AI Writing Tools can help you expand your ideas and even check your grammar and spelling across different languages. It’s like having a personal writing assistant that makes everyday writing a breeze!

Here are some examples using the rewrite tool and the smart compose tool

The rest of the software build is very similar to what we have seen on previous Honor devices like the recently reviewed Honor 400 Lite. Honor software has evolved into a usable Skin on top of Android, and they have cemented support with Google going forward as well, with various strategic moves such as being the first device to offer the previously mentioned AI Image to Video functionality.

Now moving on to the camera.

Camera

The camera on the Honor 400 is a really interesting proposition. it has a fairly high MP count on the main camera at 200MP, and then the secondary is a massive reduction. It is also missing the Ultrawide camera from the Honor 400 Pro. So with that being said, how does it stack up? I have been using this to capture some photos when I have been out and about over the past few days, and I have some thoughts. However, before we go into that,t I want to share some of the details of the modes that are available to you because there is a lot going on here.

In terms of the main options, you can see these in the screenshot below we have Photo, Video, Pro, Portrait, and just out of shot, we also have Night and then the More button.

Under the More option, you will also find Slow Mo, Stickers, Story, Multi Video, Timelapse, High-res, Aperture, Panorama, Supermacro and Scan Document.

Now while I would love to take the time to go through each and every mode for you I am not going to do that as that would take your fun away! What I will say is that each of these modes gives you a different level of versatility when using the camera. I am going to cover the main ones though, those being Photo, Portrait and Video

Photo mode is the first up, and this is to be honest, probably where most people will spend their time. In this mode, you can use the various camera controls to zoom in and out, adjust the brightness and exposure values, set the focus point, etc. You also have the option to change the filter and to set the camera to capture moving photos. None of this is particularly special, but I do like the subtle touches that are here, such as the fan-style zoom control, which indicates the actual zoom equivalent to what it would be on a dedicated camera. Here are a few shots of the camera interface in the Photo mode

So you are very well covered in terms of what you can and can’t do within the standard Photo mode. As an aside, if you want even more manual control, then this is available in the Pro mode. I think that most users will be more than happy with the controls that are to be found here. The results from this mode are shown here.

I also wanted to showcase the Zoom levels for you, and this is where we have some AI coming into play. This first batch of images are without AI zoom turned on.

This next batch AI Zoom is enabled on the last shots as it kicks in after you exceed 10 x zoom.

The AI Zoom really does clean the edges of the window up and allow for a much better image. I have another two shots below that may highlight this these were taken at 30x Zoom

The horse is much better defined in the second image, as is the fence, so the AI is really doing quite a good job. It does, however, struggle with text, as is shown in the next image, especially when it is compared to a camera with more advanced optics.

You can just about make out the text, but when compared to the Oppo Find X8 Pro at 20x Zoom, it might as well be unreadable. However, this, as mentioned, is a different sensor with different optimisations etc.

The photos this phone can produce from the rear cameras are pretty darn good, but having used this back to back with the Oppo Find X8 Pro you can see where the extra money goes.

Moving on to video mode, I only have a few samples to show you here, but needless to say, the phone will record video well and can do so up to 4K. The main camera has Optical Image Stabilisation, which makes for a nice stable platform to shoot from.

Unlike when I was using the Honor 400 Lite you should not get motion sick from watching the above clip as the OIS works nicely to take out the movement from my steps.

This panning shot shows how the sensor reacts to lighting changes of the subject, and again, I was quite pleased with the result.

Finally, this one shows the capture of movement, and again very pleased with the end result.

Rest assured that you will be able to capture some good quality video with the Honor 400 without too much need for faff. So, for a point-and-shoot style camera, we have two ticks. Let’s see how it deals with portraits

So the portrait mode has a couple of different filters you can choose from, and also the ability to play with Bokeh effects. The filters use the Studio Harcourt algorithms that were developed for the launch of the Honor 200 Series last year. The Camera Lens work harmoniously with the AI-based algorithms learnt by Honor analysing Studio Harcourt photos in their thousands. Using machine learning, the AI then learned how to use the individual cameras to create the perfect portraits for three distinct camera modes: Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Colour and Harcourt Classic.

The use of machine learning to analyse the Studio Harcourt process. Capturing unique and classical style portraiture has taken what is capable of AI to another level
As a result, the end user is now able to utilise the three Studio Harcourt photography modes available by toggling in the camera settings. To emulate what can be done by a DSLR camera.

How you enable this mode is extremely simple. Enter the camera, select portrait and then select the Studio Harcourt mode that you require. You then point and shoot, and the AI will work its magic in the background to help create a unique style of portrait shots that previously would have taken some real skill to create. Here are the results below.

If this was not enough, then you also have the option to change between different film styles; however, in my testing, the difference is not really that apparent, so I didn’t really use it. What I do like is that each filter has a little bit of information about what it is doing and how it will affect your photo, which can be accessed by pressing the (i) button next to the filter.

These are great for when you are picturing a subject, how about when you are using the front-facing camera for the good old standard selfie. Well, here are some samples below for you to assess.

Apart from the subject matter needing to hit the gym hard, I would say these are pretty pleasing results.

The Use of AI for editing images is, as you would expect, extensive and includes all the tools you could think of, including AI Outpainting, which I wanted to single out as it is really quite cool as to what it does. So, taking one of my portrait shots from above, we are going to expand the image using AI Outpainting to see what it comes up with.

As long as your expectations are not too wild, this works extremely well, and using it on the image above is only one of the many options you have available to you. You can choose from a wide array of aspect ratios and scales of extensions. This is a really nice feature and one I would use a fair bit. Here is another example where i have taken a 4:3 aspect ratio shot and changed it to 9:16 aspect ratio, and it worked out pretty darn well.

Overall, this, like many cameras on smartphones these day’s will be more than adequate for most people, especially if all you are doing is using it to capture images for social media. If however, you are looking to use your images or video for content creation, then you will start to see weaknesses here, and this may not be the best option, but it is certainly a good starting point.

Conclusion

The Honor 400 is a great option for a modern AI-enabled phone that will serve the vast majority of mobile phone users well. It has plenty of power for navigating the UI and playing all but the most demanding of games. It has a very capable camera system supported by a wide array of AI goodies, thanks to the close ties that Honor is making with Google. As to where it sits in the smartphone environment as a whole, I would put this up against the likes of the Pixel 9 and the Samsung A56 devices. If you don’t have an enormous budget and you want a phone that ticks a lot of boxes, then go with this. If, however, you need a telephoto lens and wireless charging, then it would be worth looking at the Honor 400 Pro as it will have all the same features s the Honor 400 apart from the Telephoto or Wireless charging.

You can buy the Honor 400  from Honor’s website now, and remember, there will probably be “early bird” discounts or offers* available for those who get their orders in early and pre-register at honor.com/uk. Pricing starts from £399.99 with 256GB storage, £449 with 512GB storage. If you prefer to buy from a brick and mortar store, then you can do so from the 22nd at EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, Argos, Currys. The phone will also be available from Amazon and Very as well.

*There are indeed offers available, as shown in the picture below, also a discount is available on the 512GB version by using the code “A4000UK50” at checkout to get £50 off.