Honor narrows the flagship gap

What is it?

The Honor 600 Pro, a new premium smartphone, shows the tech world what it looks like to be a bit of a wannabe. Despite hit-or-miss AI features, including bizarre video generation and entertaining dance animations, the new “number series” device might be the “flagship killer” the Chinese company claims.

A sleek 6.57-inch AMOLED display, slim bezels, prominent camera housing, and an extra side button deliver a premium feel for the 600 Pro. The device has a polished and modern appearance, but the similarities to Apple’s iPhone design are hard to ignore, especially in an orange variant.

The 600 Pro is positioned below Honor’s Magic Series. However, the gap in capabilities appears surprisingly small on paper. Both the Magic8 Pro and 600 Pro feature Snapdragon 8 Elite chipsets, although the former uses a more recent Gen 5 version. The devices each include a 120Hz display, IP68/IP69K protection, and wireless charging.

For the 600 Pro, these flagship-level specifications translate well into daily use. Performance is fast and responsive when scrolling through apps, multitasking, and gaming. The 120Hz display delivers a fluid experience. The 7,000mAh battery comfortably delivers more than a full day of use and recharges in under an hour.

One omission is LTPO display technology, which would have allowed refresh rates to scale as low as 1Hz and improves power efficiency. Instead, the screen switches between fixed refresh-rate steps. In everyday use, however, the difference is rarely noticeable.

Honor AI

The 600 Pro packs numerous AI-driven features, although the experience varies wildly between useful and outright gimmicky. A dedicated AI button on the side of the device is at the core of this experience.

Users can customise single, double, and long presses to trigger different AI tools, including Honor AI, Google Lens, AI Photo Agent, AI Screen Suggestions, and AI Memories. The button works well as a limited shortcut system, although the features can feel complicated.

Assigning shortcuts to apps like Google Maps or WhatsApp would have made the button far more practical in daily use. Even Gemini, which can still be launched by swiping up from the bottom corner of the screen, cannot be assigned to the shortcut button.

Some AI tools show real promise. Magic Portal intelligently recognises text and images on-screen, then suggests contextual actions like creating a calendar entry, opening Google Maps, launching ChatGPT, or saving information to notes. However, the feature can struggle with accuracy and occasionally feels overly aggressive, opening pre-emptively while scrolling through webpages or social media.

AI Memories is another ambitious feature that can replace the traditional three-finger screenshot shortcut. Instead of saving standard images, the system can categorise and organise information intelligently. However, AI Memories currently feels more like a slightly better screenshot manager than a productivity breakthrough.

AI image editing delivers similarly mixed results. AI Photo Agent, which is not directly integrated into the gallery experience, supports natural language editing prompts. However, the system can become bizarrely confused. In testing, the AI altered skin tones and facial features, while struggling with group shots when asked to edit four people simultaneously.

AI Upscale often produced unnatural cartoon-like portraits, while AI Outpainting created visible distortions around expanded image areas. AI Magic Colour performed more convincingly, adding vibrancy without dramatically damaging image quality.

The image-to-video feature feels more experimental than practical. Accessible through the gallery’s Create menu, the tool animates still images into short clips within roughly three minutes. Results remain inconsistent, with altered facial features and unrealistic animation effects.

When combining two images of different cats, the generated clip was decent, although shifting hues in one cat’s eyes made the AI-generated nature of the video obvious. The device has a limited number of daily prompts for the Google AI Pro feature and includes a three-month trial before requiring a subscription.

More consistent results came from features like Urban Groove and Graceful Ballet, which generate animated dancing clips with music from still images. However, the same visual inconsistencies appear here too.

Many of the basic editing tools are well-executed, but several other AI features feel gimmicky. Fortunately, the cameras themselves deliver a far more convincing experience.

The main 200MP camera, 50MP telephoto lens, and 50MP selfie camera capture strong detail and handle mixed lighting conditions well, producing natural-looking colours and balanced portraits. The 12MP ultrawide camera follows closely behind, although finer details become less clear upon close examination.

While the camera specs sound similar to those of the Magic8 Pro, some differences remain. The 600 Pro combines a 200MP main camera with a 50MP telephoto lens, while the Magic8 Pro uses a 50MP main camera and a 200MP telephoto camera. The result is significantly stronger long-range zoom capabilities on the Magic.

When using the 7x zoom on the 600, an AI-enhanced zoom toggle becomes available. Here, AI is done right. The difference is not hugely noticeable at first glance, but zooming in on a captured image reveals finer detail in the AI-enhanced version, particularly in cat and human hair.

“When the new latest AI functions come out to the market, Magic Series will always be the one to have it at the first place,” Fred Zhou, Honor SA CEO, told Gadget during the launch event last month (May 2026).

“We say Honor AI is for everything, for all the consumers. After six months after Magic Series launch, we also put the AI functions, like the AI deep fake [detection] from Magic Series to 600 series. But when next generation some new AI advanced technologies, Magic will always be the first one to have this [technology].”

Performance and software friction

During gaming, the device does not overheat, while the stereo speakers deliver loud and clear audio. The under-display fingerprint scanner and facial recognition are reliable, with almost no need for second attempts.

Software usability is less polished. Many AI functions remain disabled by default, forcing users to dig through settings menus to discover features like AI subtitles, AI call translation, and Smart Sensing. Honor’s AI-heavy approach can feel overwhelming, with overlapping tools and unclear feature naming occasionally creating friction instead of convenience.

The software experience is weighed down by bloatware when setting up. Multiple pre-installed apps, duplicate services, and persistent feature suggestions make the interface feel unnecessarily cluttered at times. Even after removing an excessive number of pre-installed games, more appeared on the once-clean page screen an hour later.

How much does it cost?

The Honor 600 Pro is available at a recommended retail price of R19,999, or from R799 per month over 36 months. A lower-tier Honor 600 is available at R14,999, or from R549 per month over 36 months. Both are available in orange, while the 600 Pro is also offered in golden white and the 600 in black.

Does it make a difference?

The Honor 600 Pro delivers much of the flagship smartphone experience at a lower price. Premium features such as wireless charging, a high-end chipset, strong cameras, and excellent battery life make the device feel far closer to Honor’s top range than expected.

What are the biggest negatives?

• Some AI features feel inconsistent and gimmicky.
• Many useful features are disabled by default.

What are the biggest positives?

• Outstanding battery life with fast charging.
• Bright and fluid 120Hz AMOLED display.
• Excellent cameras.

* Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and deputy editor of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.