Hands-On

Wandering in Taiwan through the lens of the HONOR 200 Pro

Portrait, move over! We’re here to explore the sceneries~

Published

June 14, 2024

MJ Jucutan

The HONOR 200 Pro has just been unveiled in Paris, France, promising studio-level portrait photography experience since it was co-created with Studio Harcourt.

While I admire HONOR’s pursuit of excellence in that department, I never fawned over a smartphone’s portrait capability. Let’s face it: I don’t take portraits. I have no use for it since I capture sights, sceneries, and moments that evoke certain feelings, especially when traveling.

That said, we still know that the HONOR 200 Pro features a 50-megapixel Portrait Main Camera coupled with a Super Dynamic H9000 sensor. It also comes with a 50-megapixel Portrait Telephoto camera with a Sony sensor.

With that in mind, we used the HONOR 200 Pro to spectacularly capture our trip in Taiwan.

I get mystified by how this city screams your name

The HONOR 200 Pro takes vibrant shots. That was the first thing I said upon seeing the photos on my laptop. It looks even more colorful at its 1.5K quad-curved floating OLED display.

It was also able to give off dramatic shots, once you found a perspective that uses natural light. Whether on auto or ultra-wide angle, the HONOR 200 Pro knows how to set the mood even with a vivid profile.

The city looked and felt alive, even when enveloped by a gloomy sky. Colors continuously pop, giving justice to the Pride-themed pedestrian walkway in Ximending.

Alleys, streets, and even the platforms inside the train stations looked lively. Normally, you’d use a smartphone’s Pro Mode to capture a subject with moving background.

The HONOR 200 Pro captured the moving vehicles — both cars and train — while focused on a subject splendidly, even on an ultra wide angle mode.

I’m not one to complicate the process of taking photographs, especially when traveling. My number one rule is if it looks good in its default/auto setting, it’s a fantastic camera for the average consumers.

Let’s be frank here: People like to do point-and-shoot when traveling. Complicating the process means taking away the beauty of the present. A smartphone must have capable cameras to snap on the go, and make every sight worth capturing when passing by.

The HONOR 200 Pro, somehow, delivers. Especially in helping me relive my memories vividly in Da’an and Nangang District.

A food to remember

Taiwan is home to clean, good food. I swear, my gut has always been feeling great every time I visit the country. That said, one of the highlights of any trip will always be the food you order and eat. It’s a showcase of what the place offers.

Even with rich-colored photos, I had trouble with the sharpness for all the food shots we took. They come off soft, with less contrast, albeit still mouthwatering to look at. I have to believe it’s because the smartphone’s cameras were built for taking portraits.

This is why the cup of coffee from Logos looked like it was taken out of a mirrorless camera. The f/1.9 aperture gave a beautiful depth of field that was usually present in flagship smartphones.

Take note: We didn’t even use Portrait mode for it. The bokeh is just so good.

I picked the petals, he loves me not~

Interestingly, since the HONOR 200 Pro is equipped with the HONOR AI Portrait Engine, it’s excellent in isolating its background to provide a rich depth and blur, without compromising the picture quality.

Even on places with busy backgrounds such as trains and platforms, it produces a balanced photo that manages exposure in bright areas, while preserving details in the darker parts.

Houtong Cat Village

On a rainy day, I took the train going to Houtong Cat Village, a mountainside village located in Ruifang District in New Taipei City. The place is known for, well, cats.

Every cat cafe comes with their own cats that you can play around as you dine and caffeinate. That said, most cafes are dimly lit.

The HONOR 200 Pro managed to take somewhat sharp yet vividly bright photos. When the photos were posted on Instagram Stories, it still piqued curiosity for folks planning their visit in Taiwan.

The Old Street

When in Houtong, find your way to Jiufen Old Street which is roughly 20 minutes away from the Cat Village via Train and Bus.

We didn’t halt our visit even when it was raining hard. Instead, the atmosphere gave off dramatic vibes captured vividly using the HONOR 200 Pro.

Most alleys were empty, since people hate getting soaked in the rain and getting their shoes wet. We took the opportunity to capture the lively streets and establishments.

The popular spot known for the Spirited Away vibe still looked fantastic even when fog was enveloping the place. It was the only challenge when shooting during a foggy and rainy atmosphere since the exposure gets tricky. Nevertheless, the HONOR 200 Pro still managed to give a picturesque shot.

Eventually, we sought solace at SIIDCHA Teahouse, a modern-esque teahouse with rooftop view of Jiufen. Since there were no overlooking views to watch, we sat around and dried ourselves after being drenched in the rain.

We enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a slice of cupcake, since we’re coffee-holics.

Leaving Jiufen, we were able to catch a glimpse of the fog enveloping the street. We were hauntingly stunned by the scene unraveling before us.

The night is still young

Going back to Taipei, the city is most alive at night. The lights give life and love to the mesmerizing streets filled with stories of people frolicking and passing through.

So long, Taiwan. I’m glad that your beauty and the experience was captured fondly using the HONOR 200 Pro. Even for a Portrait-focused smartphone, the HONOR 200 Pro proved to be a worthy travel companion.

HONOR 200 Pro

That said, the HONOR 200 Pro was able to give us a spectacular performance while out on a trip. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, supported by a 12GB RAM with 512GB of storage.

Not once did it lag, and we got to capture our favorite moments through photos and videos. It also lasted a while, thanks to its 5200mAh Silicon-carbon battery.

The HONOR 200 Pro comes in Ocean Cyan, Moonlight White, and Black. It retails for £ 699.99 via HONOR.com/uk.

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

@manilaconnoisseur

Naka 99 pesos pala ‘yung large Golden Milk Tea ni @highlandscoffeeph until February 28! Oolong base, cream, and okay pala ang chickpeas as sinker along with red jelly. #highlandscoffee #goldenmilktea #oolongmilktea #freeupsize

♬ Kìa Bóng Dáng Ai – Pháo

@manilaconnoisseur

Laging sold out ‘yung fun run? Try The Conqueror Virtual Challenges. Stay motivated in your running era, make every run count, and get cool medals after every completed challenge. You can even get a free run or discounted bundles! @theconquerorchallenges #virtualrun #funrun #runningera #staymotivated

♬ original sound – Manila Connoisseur – Manila Connoisseur

But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

oplus_16

The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.