Honor View 30 Pro: Review, price and specification – Smartphone

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Hit by the embargo of the United States, the Huawei-Honor duo does not stop at its momentum, however. After the Mate 30 Pro, offered in France since the end of 2019, it's the Honor View 30 Pro's turn to find its way to France. Main consequence of the sanctions which affect the Chinese company, the mobile does not embed the Google services.

An absence which does not prevent Honor from using Android – the basis of this system is free of rights – but which cuts access to the applications of the American giant. The most notable of these absences is undoubtedly that of the Play Store, the official and well-supplied application store for Android smartphones. If it is possible to work around this problem by going through alternative shops, everything will not work identically on the View 30 Pro. Indeed, many applications rely on the tools offered by Google for geolocation or payment, for example, and will not be able to function properly on the Huawei mobile. Other apps require certification of the smartphone by Google and do not work without it. This is the case for example with Netflix.

Huawei and Honor offer their own application store (AppGallery), but this is much less provided than the Play Store. Many of the most popular applications are missing. The filling of the shop of the Chinese manufacturer is progressing, but at a pace that is not very sustained at the moment. At the time of writing, Huawei is developing its own mobile services to completely replace those of Google.

For the moment the Mate 30 Pro and the View 30 Pro are not to be put in all hands. You have to go through more or less complex steps to get around the absence of Google services. If you do not intend to complicate your life, go your way.

To return to the View 30 Pro, it is the top of the range for Honor. For the moment, no official date has been communicated regarding the marketing of the mobile in France. The View 20 having been launched at € 549 in 2019, we can expect to see the View 30 Pro land in the same price order.

The general lines of the View 30 Pro evoke those of its predecessor, the View 20. At the front, the screen enlarges slightly, reaching 6.57 inches diagonally, still framed by very fine borders. The display occupies almost 85% of the front panel, but that does not allow easy use of the View 30 Pro with one hand. While the front camera remained discreet on the View 20 (a simple small hole in the screen), the use of two modules at the front on the View 30 Pro necessarily increases the surface of the orifice. This enclave turns out to be a little more disabling on full screen content, like games or videos.

The finishes of the Honor View 30 Pro are excellent and the smartphone enjoys a certain elegance. Special mention for the back in matt glass with attractive reflections. The choice of this coating gives an advantage to the Chinese mobile, since it does not turn into a playground for fingerprints. An advantage that will necessarily speak only to those who do not use protective covers, of course. Still on the back of the View 30 Pro, we note the presence of a particularly prominent photo module. These few millimeters of protrusion expose the module more to impact in the event of a fall.

The Honor View 30 Pro positions its fingerprint reader on the right edge. A choice that will appeal to right-handers, the sensor ideally landing under the thumb. On the other hand, for left-handers, the use of the fingerprint reader is more complicated. The ideal would have been to place the sensor under the screen, but it would have been necessary to use an Oled panel, which is not the case for Honor's mobile.

In terms of construction, few things differentiate this View 30 Pro from more expensive models. It still lacks the seal. Honor has not certified her smartphone against splashes and other dives in the water. If it can accommodate 2 nano-SIM cards at the same time, the Chinese mobile cannot take advantage of a memory expansion by microSD.

audio

The Honor View 30 Pro does not include a 3.5 mm mini-jack plug. However, the manufacturer provides a USB-C adapter that allows you to connect a wired headset if necessary. Overall, this adapter delivers satisfactory performance. Only the slightly limited power can handicap users of very greedy helmets.

For multimedia, only one speaker is used and it is quite average. Placed on the lower edge of the View 30 Pro, it is rather powerful, but the control is not really there. The sound produced lacks precision as soon as we exceed 60% of the maximum volume. The rendering is also centered on the high mids. This will be suitable for the transcription of the voices, but much less for music or films.

The passage to the Oled is still not on the menu for the View family of Honor. The View 30 Pro must be content with a 6.57 inch (16.7 cm) diagonal IPS panel, for a Full HD + definition (2400 x 1080 pixels). What obtain a resolution quite comfortable for all uses. On the other hand, IPS obliges, the contrast ratio does not take off very high. We measure it at 1,154: 1, which places it in the average for IPS technology and very far from the results of the Oled. The screen of the View 30 Pro is not a master of the management of reflections. We measure a reflectance of 58%, well above most competitors, usually below 50%. Fortunately, the brightness can increase to 512 cd / m² and rather effectively limits reflections. In the dark, no problem viewing the View 30 Pro screen. The brightness can drop below 2 cd / m². Perfect not to be dazzled.

The colorimetry of the display was taken care of by Honor. However, going through the telephone settings is mandatory to obtain the best possible result. You must choose the "normal" color mode and place the color temperature cursor halfway between "hot" mode and "default" mode. Once these parameters are applied, we note a delta E at 1.7 and a temperature at 6 407 K. Values ​​which place the View 30 Pro in the category of very good students.

The responsiveness of the screen is also good. We measured a tactile delay at 68 ms, below the average of our comparison, and a correct afterglow time for IPS (14 ms).

The Honor View 30 Pro uses the same SoC as that of the Mate 30 Pro, namely the Kirin 990 developed by Huawei. Enough to deliver excellent performance overall thanks to the 8 cores divided into 3 distinct groups, used as needed. All this is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM on the model we are testing. On our SmartViser Review protocol, which simulates multitasking, the View 30 Pro obtains an index of 100.28 and ranks among the best in the exercise. This translates in practice by a very great fluidity, whatever the uses.

For ehealth games, Honor’s smartphone is capable of great things too. On our protocol, also developed in partnership with SmartViser, the View 30 Pro wins an index of 108, ranking once again in the top 5 of our comparison. In use, ehealth games, even greedy, run without slowing down, and this with graphics pushed to the maximum.

For the photo, Honor opted for 3 modules on the back. Enough to offer the user a rather wide range of possibilities. Here is the detail of these photo modules:

• Wide-angle module: 40 megapixel sensor, optical eq. 27 mm stabilized opening at f / 1.6

• Telephoto module: 8 megapixel sensor, optical eq. 80mm stabilized opening at f / 2.4 (what Honor calls "3x zoom")

• Ultra wide-angle module: 12 megapixel sensor, optical eq. 16 mm opening at f / 2.2

Main module

Like many smartphones now, the View 30 Pro has a very high definition sensor of 40 megapixels. However, as often, snapshots are captured by default in 10 megapixels. The mobile uses the process of pixel binning, which combines 4 pixels to form one and collect more light.

By default, in 10 megapixels, the Honor View 30 Pro does pretty well by day. The pictures retain a good level of detail despite the transition to 10 MP. Honor doesn't use as much emphasis as Samsung on its Galaxy Note 10+. Result, the photos are more natural and the colors less saturated with the Chinese mobile.

In low light, the Honor View 30 Pro maintains a very good rendering. Electronic noise is controlled, without resorting to too pronounced smoothing. What is interesting is that Honor's smartphone allows itself to trigger a little faster than the average, keeping its ISO sensitivity at a reasonable level. However, we note colors which fade quite clearly under these difficult conditions.

Telephoto module

Like the Mate 30 Pro, the View 30 Pro abusively offers a telephoto lens – as always on smartphones – called "3x zoom". Admittedly, its focal length equivalent to an 80 mm in 24 x 36 represents 3 times that of wide-angle optics, but it is a ratio between 2 fixed focal lengths and not a zoom covering the entire range focal separating them. The results obtained with this second module are average overall, even in broad daylight. The shots lack precision and the dynamics are in the cabbage. Opposite, a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ offers a telephoto lens offering better shots, but with a much shorter focal length, however. Note that Honor's mobile delivers photos in 10 megapixels by default, while the sensor has only 8. A software reel to resample the image goes through there and the quality is affected.

In more difficult light conditions, the Honor View 30 Pro has a hard time seeing clearly. We observe a vain attempt to counter the effects of electronic noise by a more than approximate smoothing. The rendering is very degraded and the smartphone fails to correct the white balance.

Ultra wide-angle module

During the day, the photos taken with the ultra wide-angle module of the View 30 Pro are not fantastic. We note a clear lack of sharpness and a once again disappointing dynamic. Opposite, a Galaxy Note 10+ does much better, like many of the competitors of the View 30 Pro.

At night, the result is simply poor. The electronic noise is erased by a very pronounced smoothing which makes lose all the details.

Portrait, ehealth and front module mode

The portrait mode of the View 30 Pro delivers generally satisfactory images. The quality is there when the light is sufficient, but the cutting of the subject in the foreground is random. When the background is complex, we note some badly cut areas.

For ehealth, the Honor View 30 Pro can increase to a UHD definition at 60 fps. However, for the best results, it is better to go back to Full HD. In this definition, the rendering is much more fluid and able to better manage the low lights.

Up front, Honor offers two options for capturing selfies. A classic module for shots of 32 megapixels quite successful and above all capable of beautiful things in low light. The View 30 Pro also offers an ultra wide-angle module, useful when taking group photos using the front camera. However, the quality then drops sharply, especially in low light.

The Honor View 30 Pro can rely on a 4,100 mAh battery to power itself. A comfortable accumulator coupled with a screen definition that is content with Full HD +, everything seemed to be in place to make a marathon runner. However, on our SmartViser protocol, which simulates mixed use of the mobile, the View 30 Pro only takes 14 h 45 min, which gives it a rating of just 4 stars. It remains far from the leaders of the discipline, like the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 or the Oppo Reno2. In practice, Honor's smartphone will be able to last almost 2 days in the event of moderate use, but will hardly exceed a full day in the event of more sustained use.

With its 40 W charger, the View 30 Pro requires 1 hour to charge.

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