AI is not only used in the Honor 600 Pro for image processing, but is also intended to improve night shots. But it is anything but a help.
With the 600 Pro, Honor is offering a smartphone with features that are just below the top model Magic 8 Pro - and yet it is more expensive at launch. The 600 is more compact and looks similar to the iPhone in orange. The manufacturer relies on a lot of AI, but even that can't save the image quality in the dark.
Stylish display, plenty of power and a good battery
The 6.57-inch AMOLED display leaves nothing to be desired. The resolution of 2728 × 1264 pixels results in a pixel density of 458 ppi and the refresh rate is high at up to 120 hertz. As befits this screen technology, the colours are vibrant and natural, the blacks are deep and dark and the brightness is high enough for use in the sunshine.
The display is wonderful.
The battery of the Honor 600 Pro has an above-average capacity of 6400 milliampere hours (mAh). In the PCMark battery test, it lasted 16:37 hours with the display at half brightness. That's okay, but not impressive. The Honor Magic 8 Pro only managed 15:10 hours and the cheaper Nothing Phone 4a Pro with its smaller battery on 17 hours. The best devices now achieve values of over 24 hours.
With a power adapter that supports Honor's SuperCharge technology, the smartphone accepts up to 80 watts. It charges wirelessly with up to 50 watts using the wireless version of the technology.
Whether wirelessly or by cable, the Honor 600 Pro can be charged quickly.
Honor uses Qualcomm's top chipset from 2025 with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The successor in the Magic 8 Pro achieves better benchmark values, but the 600 Pro still performs very well and offers significantly better performance than the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, among other things.
We run various benchmarks on the smartphones - namely: 3DMark, Geekbench and Antutu. The results of the respective test device then correspond to 100 per cent. The results of other devices are compared to this. The various benchmarks for CPU and iGPU performance then produce average values. The results are weighted equally in each case.
Honor only offers the 600 Pro in this country in a memory variant with 12 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of data storage.
MagicOS 10 is installed on the Honor 600 Pro, which is based on Android 16. In addition to the AI tools, it also offers the special feature «Honor Share». This service allows wireless connections with Apple devices. This should be particularly useful if you use an iPad alongside your Android smartphone. The device is supposed to receive function and security updates for six years. Annoying, but the pre-installed apps from third-party providers can be removed with just a few clicks.
Honor still needs to sort out its AI tools
The «Honor AI» includes countless AI tools. They are designed to translate, recognise deepfakes and cloned voices and simplify operation. I no longer have to search for menus in the settings, but can tell the smartphone which setting I want to change and how. This is awkwardly not possible in the settings. I have to open the «Honor AI» app and tap the «AI agent for settings».
AI is not only available in the Honor AI app.
In the «Honor AI» app, I also find the «AI reminders». This collects, sorts and analyses screenshots that I take using the AI button. These are not just simple screenshots, but also the complete text - from my test report, for example. The function reminds me of the «Essential Space» from Nothing, which I find more helpful. The fact that the AI reminders are also available as a separate app illustrates the confusing chaos that Honor has with its countless AI tools.
AI button provides orientation in the chaos
The AI button, like the other buttons, is located on the right edge of the 600 Pro. When the camera app is open, it functions as a shutter release. Beyond that, I can assign three functions to it: press once or twice and press and hold. In addition to launching the camera and Google Lens, I can only select AI tools for the assignment: the AI screen suggestions, the AI settings agent, the AI photos agent, the Honor AI or the AI reminders. This helps to sort out the AI chaos.
The AI button is located at the bottom right-hand edge.
The button doesn't change the fact that the AI image editing options are spread out. I can find some in the Gallery app, others only in the «AI agent for photos» in the «Honor-AI» app.
With the help of the AI, I can create suggestions for image sections in various formats, apply various AI filters or have the image enhanced. The AI guesses what else could be in the picture - the result ranges from spot on to completely wrong. The AI helps me to cut out, move or enlarge objects. There is also an eraser and I can even tell the AI photo agent what to do.
This is my template:
The original image from the main camera.
The following is an example of an AI colour filter and an AI style:
And then I had the original enlarged to 125 per cent.
The shot enhanced by the AI.
Sky, water and the bridge on the right can be logically continued by the AI. In the centre left, it starts to guess how the jetty and the harbour cranes in the background will continue. For comparison, the image from the ultra-wide-angle camera at the same point.
This is what it really looks like through the ultra-wide-angle camera.
Hui in daylight, pooh in the dark
For the three cameras of the 600 Pro, Honor also advertises the «AI improved night shot». However, I am not convinced by the image quality in the dark, but it is excellent in daylight. Honor describes the main camera as a «200 megapixel ultra-clear night camera». There is also a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera on the back of the smartphone.
Three cameras on the back.
Since I thought the 600 Pro, like its predecessor, was a mid-range smartphone, I also compared it to one. I only realised later that Honor had pushed it into the second row of top devices. That's why the comparison photos are from the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, which is only half the price. Nevertheless, the 600 Pro does not come off well.
The main camera generally delivers good image quality. However, a green cast is noticeable in the colour. And when viewed in its original size, the Honor appears oversharpened and the Nothing Phone slightly sharper, so the difference generally doesn't matter.
With the ultra-wide-angle camera and the telephoto camera, the differences between the Honor and Nothing are also minimal and almost irrelevant.
When it gets dark, Honor's advertised «200 megapixel ultra-clear night camera» performs worse than the Nothing with its night mode. And the 600 Pro isn't just bad, it's a pixelated disaster.
While the 600 Pro brightens up better with the ultra-wide-angle camera, it remains pixelated and unusable.
Both telephoto cameras don't convince me in the dark. I like the Nothing Phone a little better. I'll spare you the pictures.
If the disastrous result of the night shots is not due to the hardware but to the software, Honor could still improve things with an update.
In a nutshell
Good smartphone, with very pixelated photos in the dark
The Honor 600 Pro joins the second tier of top smartphones. Its performance is more than adequate and the display looks marvellous. The battery is perfectly fine and the cameras deliver excellent image quality in daylight.
The big catch: in the dark, the photos from the cameras are unusable and look as bad as I've only ever seen from inexpensive entry-level devices. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, which is only half the price, is the better choice for photos. We can only hope that Honor can improve the image quality with a software update.
If you want to use all of Honor's AI tools, the Magic 8 Pro is the better choice and costs a similar amount to the 600 Pro - or, if you're lucky, is even available for less money.
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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