4 days ago
New Honor 400 Pro makes Artificial Intelligence feel natural with seamless excellence
The application of AI is so seamless and the results of it so intuitive on HONOUR's brand new marvel that after testing the HONOUR 400 Pro, we are calling it natural intelligence.
HONOUR has recently launched its new 400 Series of phones, comprising two models - the 400 and 400 Pro - and has again proven with this new launch that it isn't without reason that the brand has emerged as one of the most popular and talked about names on the global mobile phone market of late.
The brand's success is built on an assembly line of stellar models in the past few years. From the ultra-slim Magic V3 foldable and the advanced Magic 7 Pro to its Porsche Design V2 foldable, the X9C range - and more, HONOUR is a brand that's made it a habit in recent times to consistently exceed the market's expectations with every successive model at almost every price range.
And now, in continuation of that habit, HONOUR has sprung the new 400 Series on an unsuspecting world. Out of the two models, the HONOUR 400 Pro is the new marvel, delivering an unparalleled AI photography experience with its extraordinary 200MP AI Camera and versatile AI Creative Editor.
But before we extol the virtues of its camera, a brief look at the overall specs reveals a phone that is full of the top, high-end features. Both 400 Series models come with outstanding durability given their IP68 and IP69 water and dust proofing ratings. They are also equipped with a robust 6000mAh battery, which is charged via a 100W HONOUR SuperCharge charger bundled with the 400 Pro. The screen is a cutting-edge 5000nit Ultra Bright Display, which is just what is needed for a phone that is exceedingly good at photography, videography and image editing.
The imaging tasks on the HONOUR 400 Pro are handled by a camera that has a three-lens array headlined by the 200MP Ultra-clear AI main camera, equipped with a 1/1.4-inch large sensor, f/1.9 aperture, and OIS + EIS dual image stabilisation. In our tests, the camera system provided an extraordinary photography experience, with an exceptional, groundbreaking clarity, no matter what the light conditions were.
Launching the camera app, we got an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, with six modes on tap to start with: Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro and More. Each of these proved to be centres of excellence by themselves, with further controls to customise the image just the way we wanted to get it. For example, in Night mode, the camera took care of the brightness and exposure, while all we needed to adjust was the zoom – and this was done seamlessly with a semi-circular jog dial on the bottom of the screen just above the shutter button.
Portrait mode made for great close-ups and headshots, while we found Photo mode to be the go-to for everyday photography of the sort that all phone users regularly do.
While Night mode provides a zoom range of 0.6-10X on the jog dial, Portrait mode has five steps of zoom of 1x to 6x. With the versatile photo mode, the zoom range is from 0.6x to 50x, while clear and fast zooming in and out was also possible in video with a range of 0.6-10X.
For serious photographers, the Pro mode is a real marvel, giving you as much of the total creative control as you can usually expect only from a high-end DSLR camera. Every creative aspect is at your command - from the ISO setting (50 to 6400), the shutter speed (30 seconds to 1/6400 of a second), aperture, white balance, field of autofocus, and much more. This feature-rich mobile phone makes a great case for ditching your high-end camera with its specs and image quality!
And then there is the More tab, which gives you even more control with such settings as slow-motion capture, panorama, time-lapse, night video, and even super macro for impeccable close-ups, among other features.
As testers, having used and experienced both several mobile phones and high-end cameras, we felt completely in creative control with the HONOUR 400 Pro, like we had seldom experienced with other devices.
And there's much more. Once you are done with shooting an image or video with your own creative impetus and input, you can turn it over to HONOUR's AI Image Engine, which we can only describe as groundbreaking.
With this engine, HONOUR has introduced some cutting-edge AI innovations in the 400 Pro, making it the first smartphone to achieve 30x telephoto shooting capability with the main camera.
HONOUR's built in AI features also includes the AI Creative Editor, which brings in a host of intelligent features that raised our images to the next level, such as AI Erase passers-by, AI Image to Video and AI Upscale.
With AI Erase passers-by, a single tap enabled us to erase unwanted people and crowds from our photos. For example, posing in front of crowded landmarks such as Ain Dubai, you can delete all distractions that come into the frame, allowing for a clean, clutter-free scene.
Meanwhile, the AI Image to Video feature, which is co-developed with Google Cloud, is a real breakthrough. It transforms still images into dynamic, high-quality video by leveraging Google's Veo AI model to accurately represent motion with enhanced realism. Supporting video output in MP4 format and Moving Photo in 16:9 or 9:16 ratios, this means that your still images can now be made Instagram ready as a short video. And, best of all, with this feature HONOUR provides free access for two months to the Google gallery from May 15 to August 31, with up to 10 daily uses at no cost.
The AI Image to Video feature is actually the biggest and most outstanding AI feature we have yet come across in a mobile phone. As cat lovers, we were able to take snaps of our furry friends in deep slumber and use the AI features to make their tails gently sway and chests rise and fall, making them seem 'alive' in the photo.
Selfies can also be brought to life using this feature. Snapping yourself in front of the waterfall inside Dubai Mall, you can show the downward motion of the falling water in the background, making the image bring back the moment spectacularly.
Whether shot in landscape or portrait orientation, the tool supports both 16:9 and 9:16 aspect ratios, so final videos can be optimised for social media, stories and reels.
Another AI feature, called HD Moving Photo, preserves the golden three seconds of vibrant live moments, allowing users to again effortlessly share or edit cinematic snippets on social platforms. HONOUR takes this further with Moving Photo Collage, a first-of-its-kind feature that allows users to combine 2-9 moving photos to seamlessly stitch live photos into dynamic storytelling moments.
And if you have old and damaged images, such as faded portraits, you can bring those cherished memories back to their pristine glory by using the AI Upscale feature, which is a tool that restores them wonderfully by eliminating scratches, enhancing resolution and improving clarity.
Available for purchase now in three colourways - Midnight Black, Tidal Blue and Lunar Grey, the colour of our test piece - the HONOUR 400 Pro is priced at Dh2,499 and comes with an on-shelf gift package of Dh879 worth of free goodies, which includes HONOUR's Clip earbuds, Choice smartwatch, and a HONOUR art case for the phone.
In the final analysis, AI is the buzzword in our times, but it still has to be executed well. And no one has done that better yet than HONOUR with its brand-new mobile phone - the HONOUR 400 Pro. This is a phone that will wow you with its use of AI, especially in the imaging department, and is the answer to all your photographic and video needs.
