Honor’s first phone since its split from Huawei is an affordable flagship

honor v40 render 1

Credit: Honor

Honor has announced the V40.
It’s the first smartphone from the company as an independent firm.
The launch is limited to China at present, but Honor does not rule out the possibility of global availability.

Honor is now no longer under Huawei‘s wing, and while that comes with its freedom from US-related pressures, it’s also a daunting prospect to not have support from a major smartphone maker. Nevertheless, the first device from its new era is now here.

The Honor V40 was largely developed when Honor was part of its former parent company, and its aesthetic suggests this, too. Upfront, the phone carries the dual camera oval cutout like the P40 Pro, while at the rear, the top-left aligned camera housing is also reminiscent of the Huawei flagship. That said, there’s enough to differentiate it from the Honor V30.

It wears a 6.72-inch OLED display that tapers at its edges but packs a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz sampling rate — both figures a buff over current Huawei wares. The 10-bit panel also supports HDR10, while dual speakers should improve the binge-watching and gaming experience.

The Honor V40 ditches Kirin silicon for the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus chipset mated to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. This cocktail is powered by a 4,000mAh battery which can be topped up using 66W wired charging or 50W wireless charging.

As for camera smarts, the Honor V40’s rear array is dominated by a 1/1.56 inch 50MP RYYB primary camera that stands up top like the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra. Although the design is exciting, the rest of the array isn’t. It’s joined by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro snapper. A 16MP selfie camera sits alongside a secondary sensor in the oval selfie camera cutout.

Honor V40: Price and availability

For now, the Honor V40 will be limited to China. The phone will debut at 3,599 yuan (~$556) for the 128GB version and 3,999 yuan (~$618) for the 256GB option. Colorways include Magic Night Black, Titanium Silver, and Rose Gold which is a little warmer than Apple’s flavor.

When asked about details of an international debut, Honor told Android Authority in an email that “a lot of things are in progress” but didn’t dismiss or confirm potential availability beyond China. It also remains unclear if the phone will come with Google Mobile Services should it see a wider launch.