The just-announced Honor 200 series is a series of Android phones, centered around the Honor 200 Pro and 200 Lite, aimed at beating the best budget phones and the best Android phones overall. Google and Samsung should take note.

Previous Honor "N-series" phones like the Honor 90 have targeted budget phone buyers, but the launch of the 200 series means that Europe is getting a Pro version for the first time (sadly, neither phone has yet a US version is not available). Armed with some premium features, this particular model hopes to undercut entry-level flagship phones like the Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8, but offers more in certain areas.

You can read more about these phones below, but if you're already convinced by the offer, the Honor 200 and 200 Pro models are available today from Honor itself, with general pre-orders starting June 21 and 26, respectively.

The basic 200 will sell for £500, which is the same as the Google Pixel 8a and slightly higher than the Samusung Galaxy A55. The Pro, on the other hand, is priced at £699, a sub-flagship like the Pixel 8 and OnePlus 12R; as for the Lite, it starts at £279, making it an even better budget option for those who need it.

While the 200 and 200 Lite each look like powerful phones, the 200 Pro is naturally the star of the series. And its focal point is the camera, which is particularly well suited for portrait mode photography.

The Honor 200 Pro features a 50MP main camera (with a large 1/1.3-inch sensor) and a 50MP 2.5x telephoto camera to support portrait photography. In addition to this, there is a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera on the back, plus a 50MP selfie camera in case you need to take a picture on the front; the inclusion of a telephoto camera is noteworthy, as Google and OnePlus, its two main rivals, do not offer telephoto cameras.

These portraits benefit from a collaboration between French photographers Studio Harcourt and Honor, who together designed an "AI portrait engine" that is designed to capture compelling and dramatic portraits. There will also be Harcourt Vibrant, Color, and Classic modes available for use when shooting portraits, and the studio will add its own color profiles, including its signature monochrome style.

Honor gave the 200 series a unique look with a rectangular camera block and a combination of glossy and wavy matte texture on the back. Also, the choice of three colors, Moonlight White, Ocean Cyan, and Black, is an attractive, albeit scarce, option.

The 200 Pro has an IP65 rating for protection against dust and water, but is a bit behind the competition; the OnePlus 12R has IP64, but the Pixel 8a and Galaxy A55 have IP67, and the Galaxy S24 is IP68, on par with flagship models.

In typical Honor style, the 200 Pro has a large, bright 6.78-inch OLED display, which the company rates as capable of 4,000 nits peak brightness. Also like Honor's Magic6 Pro, the 200 Pro features a quad-curved display. This may sound like a nightmare for those who don't like the curved left and right edges typical of some flagship phones, but it means the phone is comfortable in portrait and landscape.

As for the display, Honor's usual set of eye-health features are also present on this phone. These include 3840Hz PWM dimming to avoid eye fatigue, Natural Tone to adjust screen color based on ambient brightness levels, phone usage patterns, and time of day, Adaptive Dimming, and Circadian Night Display.

The silicon heart of the Honor 200 Pro is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, an up-and-coming chip designed to bring top-notch AI to inexpensive phones. It is not expected to outperform the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 found in the best Android phones this year, but it should be able to provide all the power needed for everyday activities.

Honor's latest MagicOS 8. 0 software (based on Android 14) will provide the interface, which will showcase AI features such as dragging elements to different apps via the Magic Portal feature for instant search and navigation results, and the Magic Ring cross-device feature for accessing Honor's laptop and The company is touting AI features such as accessing apps and files on a cell phone from a tablet. Also included is Honor's take on the iPhone 15's Dynamic Island with Magic Capsule's persistent notifications and widgets for apps in use.

Honor currently only offers a full four-year software update and a fifth-year security update for its phones. Google's Pixel 8a's seven-year update schedule surpasses this, but at this price point it is the exception rather than the rule.

A large 5,200 mAh battery provides the power needed to run the Honor 200 Pro and can be replenished with 100W wired and 66W wireless charging options. The 200 Pro also comes with 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage by default, which is a good amount of memory compared to the basic specs of rival phones.

We have already been impressed with the Honor 200 Pro's photography capabilities in our hands-on review, but more testing is needed before we can draw full conclusions.

However, we already know that, as with previous Honor phones, US users will have to sit it out. Unless you want to go through the hassle of importing a global version instead of getting one of the best cheap phones already available in your country.

However, for me in the UK, the honor 200 and especially the honor 200 Pro occupy an interesting position in the smartphone market. the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A55 are great budget phone options, but the camera, battery size, display and other areas, the Honor 200 Pro has sacrifices that the Pixel 8 and OnePlus 12R do not, and the comparison between the Honor 200 Pro and the Pixel 8 and OnePlus 12R is similar, not only in camera but also in the three points above, and in pricing that makes the Galaxy S24 seem a bit more expensive.

Honor has always been competitive in the mid to upper tiers of the smartphone market, and the Honor 200 series looks like its most compelling effort to date as an alternative to Samsung, OnePlus, and Google. But stay tuned for a full review that corroborates all of that.