Tech Blog #232 | Honor 500 Pro : Flagship things in a Mid-range...

Honor just shook up the mid-to-upper segment with the Honor 500 Pro. Instead of sticking to mediocre upgrades, #Honor seems to have thrown almost everything it could at this phone, from a massive battery to a flagship-level chip and a serious camera setup. The 500 Pro looks like a bold attempt to blur the lines between #mid-range and flagship devices. Let’s break down what it brings and how it fits into the slice of the market where most buyers hesitate before spending.

The first thing that stands out is the display. Honor equipped the 500 Pro with a 6.55-inch 120Hz LTPO OLED screen with a 1.5K resolution. It’s bright, sharp, and smooth in scrolling and animations. The flat panel keeps touch input predictable and everyday handling comfortable. Honor also includes high peak brightness for outdoor visibility and eye-comfort features that many mid-range rivals lack.

Under the hood, the phone surprises. Honor packed a #Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is more commonly seen in higher-end flagships than in a phone at its price point. Alongside up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of storage, performance is strong for gaming, heavy multitasking, content creation, and more demanding apps. You’ll notice the difference compared to typical mid-range performance.

One of the biggest talking points is the battery. The Honor 500 Pro comes with an 8,000mAh battery, which is enormous by today’s standards. It supports 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, plus 27W reverse wired charging to top up accessories or other phones. With this cell size, battery life easily stretches through a day and into the next with moderate to heavy use.

Camera hardware here is ambitious. The rear triple cameras are led by a 200MP main sensor that captures lots of detail. There’s also a 50MP telephoto lens with optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide shooter with autofocus. On the front, there’s a 50MP selfie camera that shoots high-resolution photos and smooth video. Real-world camera quality usually depends heavily on processing, but the hardware on paper is class-leading in this segment.

Honor has also focused on biometrics and durability. It uses a 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner that unlocks the phone quickly, even with slightly wet or dirty fingers, which often trips up optical sensors. The phone also carries IP68, IP69, and IP69K dust and water resistance, meaning it can handle immersion and even high-pressure water jets. That level of protection is rare outside top flagships.

Software comes in the form of MagicOS 10 on top of #Android 16. The experience feels smooth and modern with useful customisations. Honor includes connectivity standards like Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and 5G, so you’re well covered for future network speeds and accessories.

It’s not perfect though. The phone is currently only officially launched in China, and there’s still uncertainty about when or if it will come to global markets. Some users online have also mentioned minor quirks like vibration feel and slight UI behaviour variations, which are common in early impressions of new phones.

So, the Honor 500 Pro brings a compelling mix of flagship-level performance, huge battery life, robust cameras, and serious durability into one package. If you want long battery life without compromising speed or imaging, this phone punches way above its class. But if you’re looking for an ultra-compact design or official global availability right now, you might want to consider how those priorities weigh against what the 500 Pro offers.