It is a matter of time before Honor enters the thin-phone Olympics. But for now, the Honor 500 series isn’t it. Having said that, while the new Honor 500 and Honor 500 Pro may not be running for the thinnest title, they are pretty lean. The series adopts a brand-new look that feels like a blend of the Pixel 9/10 series and the new iPhone Air. They are, IMO, quite thin and light given what they are.
Interestingly, Honor does not play by the rule book where the non-Pro [CH] is the small device and the Pro [CH] the larger one. Both models share the same physical footprint and display size. Each phone measures 155.8 mm long, 74.2 mm wide, and 7.75 mm thin. The Pro is just a tad heavier at around 201 g, while the standard variant is about 198 g.
They each feature a 120 Hz 6.55-inch AMOLED FHD+ (2,736 × 1,264) display with 1.07 billion colors, identical brightness, and LTPS display backplane technology, but the Pro boasts Natural Color Display 3.0. Another key difference is the system-on-chip. The Pro benefits from the 3 nm Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the regular model is powered by the 4 nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4.
There is no mention of RAM and storage type/version in the official specifications available to us, but our sources indicate LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 storage. The Pro also has a larger storage ceiling (1 TB vs. the standard model’s 512 GB max), a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor instead of an optical sensor, CIPA 5.0 stabilization performance, and Honor’s C1+ enhanced RF optimization chip.
Both devices pack an 8,000 mAh battery. However, the standard 500 offers 80 W wired charging and 27 W wired reverse charging, while the Pro adds 50 W wireless charging on top of that.
The final key difference lies in the rear cameras. The non-Pro model has a dual-camera setup: a stabilized (OIS) 200 MP AI main camera with a 1/1.4-inch sensor co-developed with Samsung, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera. The Pro features a triple-camera setup with the same two cameras plus a stabilized (OIS) 50 MP telephoto. Both share the same 50 MP front-facing camera.
Aesthetically, the two devices are almost identical, sharing the same metal center frame and glass back. Other shared features include 2D face recognition, Live Photo, AI photo button, the usual positioning and sensors, Honor Image Engine 3.0, IP68/IP69/IP69K ratings, stereo speakers, NFC, infrared, Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7, USB 2.0 Type-C, and dual nano-SIM support.
The new Honor 500 Series smartphones have been launched in China with a starting price of 2,699 yuan [CH] for the Honor 500 and 3,599 yuan [CH] for the Honor 500 Pro.
Images: Honor [CH].
