HONOR 600S Review – AI Creativity Meets Everyday Practicality

In this HONOR 600S review, I spent 2 weeks exploring its capabilities, features, and how it fares in everyday use. Here’s my opinion.

First things first, a quick disclaimer before we proceed. This device was lent to me by HONOR Philippines through DBS (Davao Bloggers Society), but everything that is written in this HONOR 600S review are my own voice and in no way influenced by the brand itself. The review focuses mainly on exploring its features and running benchmarks rather than using it as my primary phone every day, so I’ll distinguish my actual experiences from anything that still needs further testing.

What’s Inside the Box

Since this is a loaner review unit, there might be a few differences in contents with the retail version. Inside the box we have the device itself. We also have a charger, USB-C to USB-A cable, SIM ejector tool, clear protective case, quick user guide, and the warranty card. You can watch my quick unboxing below.

Design, Build Quality, and Ergonomics

My review unit come in the Misty Purple colorway. The back panel looks beautiful, but feels plasticky. And though it’s smooth to the touch, it doesn’t actually attract fingerprints. So the phone stays looking clean without requiring constant wiping.

The device also feels comfortable to hold, even in one hand. It weights around 216.5g and is just 8.3mm thick. It also has rounded corners so it’s not uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time, which can help with fatigue when gaming.

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Buttons are reasonably located, which can be easily accessed. The dedicated AI key on the left side of the device, however, is sometimes awkward to reach with one hand. Since its intention is to provide quick access to AI functions, I would have preferred a more convenient placement.

HONOR advertises IP68+IP69+IP69K protection, along with five-star drop resistance. On paper, it can survive a controlled drop at up to 2.5 meters from the ground. I haven’t tested it on water or on a drop test since this is just a loaner unit. But it should survive in the rain with no problem.

Display Quality

The HONOR 600S has a 6.87-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1592×720 pixels. 720p is perfectly fine on a mobile device, but I do prefer 1080p, especially at this price point and if you work with photos and videos a lot with the phone. On the plus side, it features a 120Hz refresh rate, making scrolling feel smooth and gaming feel snappy.

Although not really having a full HD resolution, it still does offer a nice visual experience. Colors look pleasing and text are readable. And surprisingly, it looks bright even outdoors under the sun. Overall, the display quality is pretty decent, but it could be better.

Audio Quality

The device has dual speakers, and they can get pretty loud. Its volume can actually go up to 400%. Though very loud, dialogue on videos still remain clear and are quite enough for casual viewing. Audio quality is quite decent when watching videos on YouTube or Netflix.

Listening to music is a different story though. The bass are particularly weak, and high frequencies are not very impressive. There is a noticeable stereo separation when holding the phone horizontally, but the main speaker overpowers the other. Plus it doesn’t have great instrument separation.

This is important to note since modern phones also serve as an entertainment device. High volume is useful, but it great sound quality should be the priority. In this case, it would be better to just use a Bluetooth speaker or a wireless buds when listening to music.

Performance

Under the hood, the HONOR 600S sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 4. It’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (in my review unit, it also comes in a 6GB+128GB configuration). These combination has been great so far. My multitasking experience has been positive so far. Switching between apps doesn’t produce noticeable delays, and the software feels responsive during the tasks I’ve tested.

Gaming

I only tested it on a couple of games once. It can handle Mobile Legends: Bang Bang fine, but did struggle on demanding games such as Genshin Impact. The high refrsh rate also helped in having a smooth and responsive gaming experience. If you’re a casual gamer, it should handle your games without problems.

Benchmark Scores

Below are the benchmarks scores to compare with other devices.

• AnTuTu Benchmark: 651,309
• PCMark Work 3.1 Performance: 11,286
• PCMark Work 3.1 Battery Life: 24 hours, 3 minutes
• PCMark Storage 2.1: 60,155
• 3DMark Sling Shot: 2,903
• 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 1,908
• Geekbench 7 CPU single-core: 824
• Geekbench 7 CPU multi-core: 2,227
• Geekbench GPU Vulkan: 115
• Geekbench AI CPU: 572 single precision, 1,001 half precision, 1,125 quantized
• Geekbench AI GPU: 191 single precision, 308 half precision, 247 quantized
• Geekbench AI NNAPI: 131 single precision, 131 half precision, 369 quantized

The Geekbench GPU OpenCL test kept causing the phone to reboot and prevented me from obtaining a score. More investigation is needed to determine what caused this, so I just skipped the test for now.

Battery Life and Charging

The device is equipped with an 8,100mAh battery and supports 45W HONOR SuperCharge. The battery’s endurance looked promising during the duration of this HONOR 600S review. But it’s important to note that I only used the phone for tests and didn’t really use it as my primary device for a typical day.

PCMark battery test returned a battery-life result of 24 hours and 3 minutes. This is a controlled benchmark result, not a guarantee of everyday screen-on time. However, the device did remained powered on for more than a week while idle and without a SIM card. I’ve also used it for a full day and had plenty of juice left at the end of the day. By my estimate, it should power the device for a couple of days on a full charge no problem.

Charging is reasonably quick. Not as fast as some fast-charging phones on the market, but still decently fast.

User Experience

Running on MagicOS, the 600S’ interface feels snappy and looks clean. However, there are a few bloatware preinstalled that most users would find unnecessary. You can easily uninstall them though if you want to keep your home screen and app drawer tidy.

For security, it has a fingerprint sensor at the right side beside the volume buttons, it also doubles as the power/wake button. Unlocking the device using the fingerprint sensor is extremely fast, and sits perfectly where it can be access by my thumb no problem.

The configurable AI Key is useful in certain situations because it gives you a shortcut to its AI functions as well as other features. I did find the placement of the key a bit awkward to reach, which takes away some of the convenience.

Circle to Search is also present on the device. It works much like it does on other phones with Google’s AI-powered search tools. It’s useful when looking things up from your screen without having to switch apps.

AI-powered photo editing features are also featured in the HONOR 600S. Among them is the AI Image Removal. It works as intended and process edit quickly. It’s very handy when you want to quickly remove unwanted objects or people form your photo.

Camera Quality

Speaking of photos, the HONOR 600S features a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with an auxiliary lens and a 5MP front camera. The main shooter can capture relatively clear and crisp photos, especially in well-lit scenes. Low-light images are also decent, which makes it a very suitable for everyday photography.

1x Zoom

2x Zoom

4x Zoom

8x Zoom

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Zoom performance is less impressive. At 2x zoom, results are perfectly fine. At around 4x, noise is introduced but still better quality than its maximum zoom range. 8x is where the image quality becomes terrible. In my opinion, just stick to 2x zoom whenever possible.

Selfies are not as great as some other device, but it is acceptable for posting on social media. It also tends to overexpose images under harsh lighting or direct sunlight. That’s something to keep in mind when taking selfies outdoors. Below are more sample photos.

Video recording is fine, it can capture 1080p footage no problem. But there is no stabilization feature like some phones in this price range.

AI Image-to-Video 2.0

The camera’s connection to the phone’s AI capabilities is also worth considering. As mentioned earlier, AI Image Removal as well as other AI photo enhancements are really useful. Meanwhile, AI Image-to-Video 2.0 offers a different way to reuse photos creatively.

AI Eraser (Before)

AI Eraser (After)

AI Outpainting (Before)

AI Outpainting (After)

AI Upscale + Filters + Watermark Frames (Before)

AI Upscale + Filters + Watermark Frames (After)

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I personally enjoyed playing around AI Image-to-Video 2.0. It takes an existing photo and turns it into a short video using a prompt. This lets me experiment with different ways of presenting an image. I even tried editing an image of me transitioning to different outfits to see if it would suit me. I also animated a photo of my late grandmother, transforming an ordinary photo into a nostalgic short video.

HONOR’s photo AI features are definitely fun and a bit useful in some cases. But I realized that most AI features that are available in their flagship line are not present on the HONOR 600S. I do understand not including it, but it would have been nice to experience them as well on a budget-friendly device.

Our Verdict

The HONOR 600S is an interesting option if you want a phone that combines everyday functionality with AI tools you can have fun using. It has decent specs and cameras suitable for everyday use, and it has a promising battery endurance that can last for multiple days.

Its standout feature for me is the AI Image-to-Video 2.0. If found myself using it repeatedly because it was entertaining, and I also use it for some social media posts. I can see this being useful for casual content creation, social media posts, creative experiments, or simply bringing an ordinary photo to life.

Though having decent hardware and features, it does have some limitations. Audio quality when listening to music isn’t so great in my opinion. Image quality on zooms are also compromised. Whether they’re a deal breaker will depend on the user.

Who should buy it?

Users who enjoy experimenting with AI-generated content should consider the HONOR 600S. They can use its creative tools either for fun, for social media, or for both. It can also handle daily photography and everyday tasks well, so it would be a decent daily driver.

Who should skip it?

If you prioritize good built-in music quality or a high magnification zoom, you should look elsewhere.

Pricing and Availability

The HONOR 600S is available in two variants, in 8GB+256GB and 6GB+128GB configurations. They are priced at ₱19,999 and ₱18,999 respectively. The device can be purchased on HONOR concept stores and authorized resellers nationwide, as well as online via Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.

HONOR 600S Specifications