Honor Phone Deals

Honor phones include Google services

The most common question about Honor concerns Google apps, and it comes from the brand's history rather than its present position.

Honor was a Huawei sub-brand until 2020, when it was sold and became an independent company. Huawei phones lost access to Google services because of trade restrictions applied to Huawei. Those restrictions did not follow Honor after the separation, so Honor handsets ship with the Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail and the rest of the Google ecosystem in the normal way.

If you have been avoiding Honor because you associate it with the Huawei situation, that reasoning no longer applies.

Software support has improved, unevenly

Honor's update commitments have risen considerably in recent years, but the improvement is concentrated at the top of the range.

Older Honor devices typically received between two and four Android version upgrades. Recent Magic Pro models moved to three upgrades with five years of security patches, and the commitment was extended further on the Magic 7 Pro and the Magic V6, which carry up to seven years.

Mid-range and budget Honor handsets have not moved as far. As with most Android brands, the brand-level figure describes the flagships rather than the range, so check the specific model you are comparing.

The practical test is the same one that applies across this site. If the support period is shorter than the contract length, the handset will spend part of the term without updates, and that belongs in the comparison even though it does not appear in the price.

Foldables and thin flagship designs

Honor competes directly at the top of the market with foldables and with unusually thin flagship designs, and its Magic range sits at flagship pricing.

The considerations are the same as for any foldable. Check the contract length, since these handsets are commonly sold on the longest terms to bring the monthly figure down. Check how many networks stock the model, because premium and folding handsets are carried by fewer networks and see less competition on price. And compare the total against Samsung deals and iPhone deals at the same total cost rather than at the same monthly price.

Where the value sits

Honor's mid-range handsets frequently appear among the more competitive total costs we track, and the brand tends to offer higher specifications at a given price than the better known names.

The trade-off is usually software life and resale value rather than hardware. A mid-range Honor may carry a shorter update commitment than a comparably priced Samsung or Pixel, so weigh that against the specification advantage if you intend to keep the handset for a full long contract.

Our guide to what storage size do I need on a phone covers how to judge the storage tier you need, which matters on any model without a memory card slot.

What to compare when choosing an Honor phone

Check the support commitment for the specific model rather than the brand, because Honor's improvements are concentrated in the Magic flagship range and have not extended evenly across mid-range and budget handsets.

Compare on total amount payable across the full term. Honor frequently offers stronger hardware specifications at a given price, so the question is usually whether that offsets a shorter update period on a long contract.

If you are comparing a premium Honor against a flagship from another brand, check how many networks stock it, since a model carried by only one or two sees far less competition on price.

If you are moving from another provider and want to keep your existing number, our guide on how to keep your number when switching explains the process. If you are deciding how much data to pay for, our guide to what is a good data allowance covers what different types of use consume.