Honor 50 review: A mostly triumphant return

Our Verdict

With its admission to Google apps restored, Accolade's latest phone is a good choice for midrange budgets, particularly if you desire a good display, quick charging and decent cameras. Give the Award 50 a miss if you demand your phone to have strong calculating abilities though.

For

Premium curved 120Hz display
Unique video modes
Rapid 66W charging

Against

Cameras can exist finicky
Inconsistent functioning
No U.South. availability

Tom's Guide Verdict

With its admission to Google apps restored, Honor'due south latest telephone is a proficient choice for midrange budgets, peculiarly if you want a good display, quick charging and decent cameras. Give the Honor 50 a miss if y'all need your phone to take strong computing abilities though.

Pros

+
Premium curved 120Hz display
+
Unique video modes
+
Rapid 66W charging

Cons

-
Cameras can exist finicky
-
Inconsistent performance
-
No U.S. availability

Accolade fifty: Specs

Starting cost: £449
Display: half-dozen.57-inch OLED, FHD (1080 x 2340)
Refresh rate: 120Hz
Rear cameras: 108MP main (f/ane.9), 8MP ultrawide (f/two.two), 2MP macro (f/ii.4), 2MP depth (f/2.iv)
Front camera: 32MP (f/2.2)
Chipset: Snapdragon 778G
RAM: 6GB/8GB
Storage: 128GB/256GB
Battery: iv,300 mAh
Charging: 66W wired
Operating arrangement: Android 11 with Magic UI iv
Size: 6.3 x 2.ix ten 0.31 inches (160 x 73.8 x 7.8 mm)
Weight: 6.17 oz (175 m)

Afterwards taking a year off from selling phones in Europe, Award is back with the obviously-named Honor fifty. Because Honor can once once again apply Google Mobile Services, y'all can utilize all the Android apps that yous're used to having on hand, making this a much easier sell for the average phone buyer.

Somewhat surprisingly for a phone marker the brand'due south revival, the Accolade 50 isn't a flagship, just a midrange device. That hasn't stopped Honor offer a surprisingly luxurious screen or a decent (admitting unreliable) camera bundle, which is good news given how competitive this function of the market can be.

The OnePlus Nord 2 remains the better all-round telephone in this toll range, specially given the Honor 50 is probably a fleck too expensive at its current price for what it offers. Don't let that stop you if y'all love both watching and taking smartphone video though, as this is where this phone shines brightest.

Laurels 50 review: Price and availability

The Honor l goes on auction today (Oct. 27), and tin exist currently be found on Honor's websiteor at Currys PC World. There won't exist whatever U.S. availability, which is in line with Laurels's behaviour even before its divorce from Huawei.

The toll of the Honor 50 begins at £449 for 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, with a £529 8GB RAM/256GB storage pick as well available. Given that the OnePlus Nord 2 starts at £399 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, and offers 12GB RAM/256GB storage for £469, the Award 50 on its face look like a bad bargain.

Honor 50 review: Cameras

Photography and videography are the dual cores of Honor'south pitch with the 50 series. The phone sports a 108MP main sensor, an 8MP ultrawide photographic camera and so 2MP macro and 2MP depth sensors rounding off the dorsum camera assortment. Honor embeds those lenses into 2 circular photographic camera bumps. The Honour fifty'due south front camera uses a 32MP sensor.

I compared the Honor fifty'south skills in producing yet images to the OnePlus Nord 2, currently the best mid-range phone available in the U.K. and Honor's biggest rival in this toll bracket. This shot of the London Underground sign hung higher up Tuffnel Park station proved tricky for the Accolade. It took several tries to get a shot that counterbalanced the bright autumn sky against the lit-up sign, but the final result was an prototype with warm, saturated color. The Nord 2'south photos were more consequent, but the image is colder and a chip drab.

I faced a different struggle with the Honor'southward cameras when I returned after to the aforementioned spot afterwards night had fallen. Smudges of light from other sources within the camera'southward view kept spoiling the clear heaven, although I was at to the lowest degree able to get a shot of the sign with much more consistency than I had earlier in the day. The Nord 2 once again proved more consequent, but the image is again non quite as appealing and rich equally the one I finally coaxed from the Honour 50.

I noticed the Honor 50's issue with image consistency again when taking this indoor shut-up of one of my housemate'southward decorate espresso cups. Even selecting the brightest shot captured by the Honor l, the Nord 2's image is far brighter. It seems that without strong low-cal sources around, the Honour 50 starts to lose its reward.

For the final comparison, I took portrait selfies with both phones. I really don't like the coloring of the Honor 50's shot — information technology's richer than the Nord ii's prototype, merely information technology gives my skin an unpleasant yellow tinge. I adopt the Nord two'due south bokeh mode also. It offers a slider to control the intensity of the effect, unlike the Honor, and does a better task of capturing all the pinpricks of low-cal coming through the gaps in the leaves behind me.

Honor 50 video in video view — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

On the video front end, Honor adds some special features in the grade of automatic dual-view and picture show-in-picture recording, allowing the use of two cameras at once without any post-production piece of work. This is clearly function of Laurels'due south attempt to pursue the TikTok and vlog-obsessed youth, but if yous've got the inventiveness to brand use of this feature, information technology feels similar a worthwhile inclusion to the Honor l.

Laurels l review: Brandish

The Honour fifty features a 6.5-inch OLED FHD 120Hz screen, with the selfie camera embedded in a central punch-hole notch.

Honor 50 front camera — (Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

Unusually for a telephone at this price, Honor has given the 50 a dramatically curved brandish. You typically just find curved displays like this on expensive flagships like the OnePlus nine Pro or Samsung Milky way S21 Ultra. This feature gives the phone a handsome look, merely it tin can exist divisive due to how information technology feels in the mitt and how it can interfere with using the brandish for some people. I didn't have trouble with mistouches when using the Award fifty.

Honor 50 side view — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Watching the new The Batman trailer side by side on the Honor 50 and the OnePlus Nord 2 revealed that while the Honour phone manages a much brighter overall image on its slightly larger brandish, its colors are libation and the contrast isn't as assuming as what y'all become on the Nord two.

I think the Award 50 but falls backside the Nord 2 in this area, though the Honor phone gains some points back past having that 120Hz panel; the Nord 2 maxes out at 90Hz.

Accolade 50 review: Battery life and charging

Ability management is also a strong point of the Honor 50. The phone offers 66W charging out of the box, precisely 1 watt more than OnePlus does with the Nord ii.

Afterwards charging the phone myself, I found information technology reached 50% total in xv minutes and 87% full in 30 minutes, with 100% arriving at the 44-minute mark. That'due south pretty zippy, but the dual-jail cell bombardment design of the Nord 2 beats that, filling to 100% from empty in 30 minutes, despite having a slightly larger total chapters than the Honor fifty.

Honor 50 charging port — (Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

At 4,300 mAh, the Honor 50 has 1 of the smallest batteries in a telephone of its size currently on sale. Because the quality and brightness of the display this battery has to ability, I feared that this telephone won't last that long during a twenty-four hour period of normal employ. Merely after performing a rundown test by playing a YouTube video non-stop at medium effulgence over Wi-Fi, the Honor l actually lasted vii hours and 40 minutes — nearly an hr longer than the Nord 2 lasted on the aforementioned examination. Clearly Honor didn't demand all the actress chapters in the cease.

Honor 50 review: Other features

That's not the unabridged story involving the Honor l. Here'due south a quick expect at some of the phone's other features and whether they brand the Honor fifty a worthwhile purchase.

Honor l software: While this goes without proverb on nearly Android phones, the Honour 50 is the visitor's first phone in some time to use Google apps. Now that Laurels has spun out from the blacklisted Huawei, you can utilize its latest phones similar the Honor 50 as you would any other typical Android device.

Display of Honor 50 — (Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

Magic UI 4, the visitor's take on Android 11, all the same looks attractive too, pairing well with the fantabulous display. However I tin can't forgive the lack of an app drawer for more user-friendly access to everything you've downloaded. All your apps are just spread across multiple homepages whether you like it or not.

Honor 50 performance: The Snapdragon 778G chip in the Award 50 is paired with either 6GB or 8GB RAM. Despite my review unit of measurement using 6GB RAM — one-half the retention of the summit-tier OnePlus Nord two model — the Honor l kept upward on the Geekbench 5 general performance criterion. But in the gruelling 3D Mark Wild Life Farthermost graphical criterion, it did a fair bit worse.

	Geekbench v - Single core score	Geekbench 5 - Multi-core score	3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited - score	3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited - average frames per second
Laurels 50	785	2850	688	four.ane
OnePlus Nord 2	786	2,757	1,262	seven.6

Trying out Genshin Bear on on the Honor 50 made the phone uncomfortably hot after just a couple of minutes. Despite a generally stable operation with the game set to 60fps, there were still some distractingly jagged edges around the characters, some unfortunate pop-in and a couple of stutters. depending on the surround I was exploring.

Information technology'south a pity that in spite of the excellent display, the Accolade 50 is not going to make for an excellent gaming phone. Since I was trying out the 6GB RAM version of the phone, perhaps this consequence is reduced or eliminated with the 8GB model.

Honor 50 blueprint: Given Honor's intended audience is the "global youth", I'g impressed with how restrained and handsome the l tin be. The phone is on offer in 2 quite loud colorways: the letter-splattered Accolade Code or the glittery Splendid Starry version. But the glossy Midnight Blackness, Frost Crystal or Emerald Light-green editions are some sophisticated hues that look awesome draped over the curved back of the telephone.

Back of Honor 50 — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Emerald Light-green model I got to try proved to be very bad for picking up fingerprints, but after a wipe-downwards with a microfiber cloth, it is a hitting hue.

I am yet unsure what to make of the Honor fifty's rear camera block blueprint. The main camera sitting solitary in the top circle looks proficient, just squeezing all the other cameras into the lower circle makes me question what the point of all that unused raised space is.

Honor 50 back camera — (Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

Happily if yous aren't besides fussed by the aesthetics, the Honor l is a fab phone to handle. Its light, slim frame also makes the device actually piece of cake to carry and utilise for long periods, and I constitute the curved dorsum and front end only fabricated the phone easier to apply, and didn't crusade any unwanted taps on the screen.

Honour fifty review: Verdict

It's great to see Honor return to the regular Android fold with a competent device in the class of the Accolade 50. The new phone covers all the basics like you'd promise at this cost, while offering premium features in the form of its large, bright brandish and rapid charging. The cameras can sometimes go on up with the best in the category, merely it may crave some patience to become the best images possible.

With phones in this segment though, information technology's ofttimes about what the manufacturer has had to leave out to go along the cost down. For me it's the chipset, or perhaps the lack of RAM even in the telephone's highest specced version, that lets the telephone downwards. You shouldn't struggle if you're a typical user, but perhaps go for a phone like the Realme GT if you lot desire to become the most ability for your money at this cost point.

Anyone interested in the Honor 50 should probably check out the OnePlus Nord two showtime, since I feel it's a more consistent device overall. Any potential U.S. customers shouldn't exist likewise worried about the lack of availability either, since in that location are plenty of cracking phones yous can become in the States, like the Samsung Milky way A32 5G or the iPhone SE, that occupy the same spot that the Nord ii does in Europe.

Richard is a Tom'south Guide staff writer based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Mag Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he'south also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at piece of work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.