In - depth review of Honor 400 series: How did the new king of the mid - range market come into being?
On June 30, 2025, Honor officially confirmed that the global activation volume of the Honor 400 series had exceeded the milestone of 1 million units, breaking the record for the fastest activation of Honor phones to reach one million in the past three years. The sales volume on the first sales day increased by as much as 195% compared with the previous generation, and it won the sales championship of new products during the 618 period in the price range of 2,500 - 4,000 yuan.
What exactly is the charm of the Honor 400 series that enables it to stand out in the highly competitive mid - end market? After a month of in - depth experience, I found that this product, which is called a "product that listens to advice" by netizens, indeed brought a lot of surprises.
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The Honor 400 series has achieved a qualitative leap in appearance design. The whole series uses a finely - crafted matte metal middle frame, completely saying goodbye to the plastic texture of the previous generation products. The cool touch when holding it in the hand instantly enhances the product's class. Inside the ultra - thin 7.8mm body lies a giant 7200mAh battery. This technological breakthrough is amazing.
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On the front is a 6.55 - inch OLED straight screen with a centered single - hole design. The control of the four - side bezels is extremely excellent, and the screen - to - body ratio is as high as 93.7%. The ultra - narrow bezels combined with the carefully adjusted screen R - corners give it a visual charm similar to that of the iPhone.
The right - angle bezel design does not sacrifice the holding comfort. The slightly curved design on the back allows the phone to naturally fit the palm. The weights of 196 grams (standard version) and 204 grams (Pro version) are evenly distributed, and you won't feel fatigued even after long - term use.
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Display experience: A new height in eye - protection technology
The whole Honor 400 series is equipped with a 6.55 - inch 1.5K resolution OLED screen (2376×1264), supporting an adaptive refresh rate of 1 - 120Hz. The measured peak brightness can reach 5000 nits, and you can clearly read the content even in the noon sunlight. The eye - protection technology is the biggest highlight of this screen. It uses a 4320Hz ultra - high - frequency PWM dimming technology, far higher than the common 3840Hz standard in the industry, effectively reducing the harm of stroboscopic light to the eyes.
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The Honor Oasis eye - protection screen also integrates AI defocus vision relaxation and motion sickness relief display technologies and has obtained the German Rheinland TÜV eye - protection certification. The Pro version additionally adds the AI dry - eye friendly function (improving the tear film index by 19%) and natural color display 2.0 (reducing visual fatigue by 18%). In actual use, this screen is especially comfortable when reading e - books. After reading continuously for two hours, the eye fatigue is significantly lower than that of other OLED phones. In the heavy - rain scenario, its AI heavy - rain touch mode makes the operation with wet hands still sensitive and reliable.
Performance: The Snapdragon 7 Gen4 in the standard version uses TSMC's 4nm process and a 1 + 3+4 three - cluster architecture, ensuring smooth daily use without pressure. It can run stably in the 90 - frame mode of "Honor of Kings", but the frame rate will drop to about 45 frames when running in the Sumeru City of "Genshin Impact". The Snapdragon 8 Gen3 in the Pro version shows flagship - level strength. The measured average frame rate in the 60 - frame high - quality mode of "Genshin Impact" reaches 58.3 frames, and the body temperature is controlled at 45.2°C. Combined with the surround - type stereo dual speakers and the Z - axis linear motor, the game immersion is excellent.
The heat dissipation system uses a combination of high - performance VC liquid cooling and high - thermal - conductivity graphite (the VC heat spreader in the Pro version reaches 9148mm²). Even after long - term gaming, there will be no obvious frequency reduction. After 20 minutes of playing "Genshin Impact", the Pro version only consumes 8% of the power, and the energy - efficiency performance is satisfactory. The giant 7200mAh battery is the biggest highlight of the Honor 400 series. The whole series is equipped with the third - generation Qinghai Lake 7200mAh battery, with an energy density as high as 880Wh/L, which is 36% higher than the previous generation.
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The measured data is amazing: After 8 hours of continuous screen - on time under the 5G network, there is still 32% of the battery left. In the heavy - use scenario (including benchmark tests, video playback, and gaming), the phone lasts for 14 hours from full charge to depletion, and there is still some battery left. When the battery is only 2% left, the phone can still support 50 minutes of calls. In terms of charging, the 80W fast - charging in the standard version can charge 39% of the battery in 15 minutes, and it takes about 38 minutes for a full charge; the 90W fast - charging in the Pro version is even faster and supports 50W wireless charging. This kind of battery life performance makes battery anxiety a thing of the past. When traveling on business, I don't need to carry a power bank at all, and the 7200mAh battery can easily support a whole day of heavy use.
Imaging system: The real power of 200 million pixels
The Honor 400 series has achieved an over - class challenge in imaging:
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Main camera: The whole series is standard - equipped with a 200 - million - pixel Samsung HP3 sensor (1/1.4 - inch large - size sensor) and supports OIS optical image stabilization. Through the 16 - in - 1 pixel fusion technology, the single - pixel size can reach 2.24μm, and the noise in low - light shooting is reduced by 50%. AI algorithm: It is equipped with Honor's self - developed AI RAW edge - side large model and cloud - side telephoto enhancement model, supporting the AI intention recognition engine and dual - native ISO HDR. The newly added AI dynamic capture function increases the success rate of motion focusing by 47%. Telephoto difference: The standard version is equipped with a 12 - megapixel ultra - wide - angle macro lens; the Pro version adds a 50 - megapixel telephoto lens (Sony IMX856), supporting 3x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom, and is known as the "king of long - range shooting in this segment". In actual shooting, the 200 - million - pixel main camera shows amazing resolution. When shooting ancient buildings, you can clearly see the texture of each tile on the wall after zooming in. The telephoto lens in the Pro version is especially useful when shooting the long - distance view of a concert, and the image quality is still usable at 20x zoom. The portrait mode adds Kodak NC/CC film filters and Elegant style, with natural background blurring and precise hair processing [5](@ref). The whole series supports LivePhoto and realizes cross - platform mutual transmission with the iPhone.
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Ultimate purchase guide: The Honor 400 is suitable for users with a limited budget who focus on battery life and daily experience. The price of 2,124 yuan offers a metal middle frame, top - level waterproofing, and amazing battery life, making it a cost - effective model in the mid - end market. The upgrade value of the Honor 400 Pro: By spending an extra 800 yuan, you will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen3 flagship chip, a 3x optical zoom telephoto lens, a 90W + 50W fast - charging combination, and Wi - Fi 7 and other advanced configurations, achieving a comprehensive leap in performance and imaging. Li Jian, the new CEO of Honor, emphasized at the press conference: "Truth is power." The Honor 400 series has no flashy gimmicks. Instead, it uses the real 7200mAh battery life, the real 200 - million - pixel image quality, and the real IP68 + IP69 protection to open up a new path in the highly competitive mid - end market. In the 2,500 - yuan price range, it hardly has any obvious shortcomings. That's why it can create the amazing record of a 195% increase on the first sales day. If you are looking for a well - balanced mid - end flagship without shortcomings, the Honor 400 series is worth being the top choice in your shopping cart.
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