Honor 50 test: an attractive smartphone … and equipped with Google services! – Digital

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The mobile has a quadruple photo sensor, including a wide-angle 108 Mpx whose lens opens at f / 1.9. It is accompanied by an 8 Mpx ultra wide-angle module (f / 2.2), but also macro and depth modules of 2 Mpx each (f / 2.4 optics).

What to compare it for example to Realme GT, which offered a suitable rendering, much more balanced besides than that of the A52s 5G.

Main module: 108 Mpx, f / 1.9, eq. 26 mm

The Honor 50’s 108MP main module captures snapshots of just under 12MP (3904 x 2928px) by default. It takes advantage of the technology of pixel-binning, but for its part merges nine photosites into one (instead of four most of the time) in order to capture more light when it runs out.

Realme GT (26mm eq, f / 1.8, ISO 249, 1/125 s)
Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 503, 1/100 s)

By day, the shot is pretty good, but one thing is clear: the photo of the Realme GT, certainly better defined, offers more sharpness and sharpness. This can be seen in particular on the cover, or more simply thanks to the color charts at the bottom left.

These same small balls allow us on the other hand to note that the colors of the Honor 50 are more vivid. This higher saturation tends to strengthen the general contrast. The face of the lion makes it possible to realize this.

Realme GT (26mm eq, f / 1.8, ISO 6464, 1/15 sec)
Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 6400, 1 / 10s)

In darker conditions, the Honor 50 opts for a largely accentuated contrast. This allows him to roughly render the scene despite obvious underexposure and desaturated colors. We still lose a lot of readability.

The Realme GT captures significantly more light, which allows for better color retention. Despite the appearance of digital noise and an obvious loss of detail (see faces), the rendering is much better.

108 MP mode

It is of course possible to capture pictures in full definition (12032 x 9024 px). This mode does not always bring a significant change on smartphones. We isolated a zone of identical size (0.90 Mpx) on each of the images. You can thus see the difference in definition.

Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 284, 1/50 s)
Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 503, 1/100 s)

In bright conditions, this mode impresses. It allows to obtain a precision and a sharpness largely superior to those of the initial cliché. The colorimetry is also modified, and the colors are a little too saturated. The gain is obvious, and we advise you to use this mode for the most important shots. On the flip side, the photos weigh up to 30 MB. Even on a 128 GB model, this can quickly become a problem.

Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 6400, 1 / 10s)
Honor 50 (26mm eq, f / 1.9, ISO 6400, 1 / 10s)

At night, the Honor 50 does not transform the test. Unlike the previous scene, the gain here is almost zero. Unless you absolutely want to crop the shot, we don’t recommend using it. Especially since the pictures weigh about 20 MB.

Ultra wide-angle module: 8 Mpx, f / 2.2, eq. 17 mm 120 °

Like all of its congeners, the Honor 50 is equipped with an ultra wide angle. Unfortunately, this type of sensor is rarely efficient in this price segment. The smartphone is no exception to the rule and delivers unconvincing performance on our formidable test scene.

Realme GT (16mm eq, f / 2.3, ISO 191, 1/60 s)
Honor 50 (17mm eq, f / 2.2, ISO 163, 1/50 s)

No big surprise, even during the day. The result is more or less similar for the two smartphones. Once again, the rendering of the Honor 50 is a little more contrasted (see the lion), but less clear than that of the Realme GT. We see once again that a slightly pinkish tint has fallen on the photo on the left.

Realme GT (16mm eq, f / 2.3, ISO 7104, 1/15 sec)
Honor 50 (17mm eq, f / 2.2, ISO 4340, 1/15 s)

At night, the Honor 50 doesn’t shine at all, but does better during exercise than Realme’s model. The scene is admittedly difficult to read, but still remains more usable than that of its competitor. You should not expect miracles, however.

Front module, video

A 32 Mpx sensor whose lens opens at f / 2.2 is available at the front. The rendering is good, but we expected more sharpness. The module seems to have a little trouble coping with light peaks and the overall color seems a bit pale to us. We would therefore have liked a slightly more saturated result – even if it is possible to retouch on the fly. As with its competitors, it is always more complicated when the light is lacking. In portrait mode, the bokeh is well simulated on short hair, but can be easily deceived in case of flyaways. The wide viewing angle, on the other hand, makes it easy to take group selfies.

The smartphone is capable of filming up to 4K at 30 fps, which has become normal in this sector. Once again, the white balance is not optimal. We could also expect better in terms of autofocus and stabilization. We therefore recommend the Full HD mode at 60 fps, which is much more pleasant to consult.