Earlier this month smartphone brand Honor held a launch event for its latest device – the Honor 90 – in Dubai.

The event in question was to announce the smartphone for the entire Middle East and Africa region, with consumers in the UAE already capable of ordering and purchasing the device.

For South Africans, however, the wait is a tad longer. While Honor South Africa has not announced a specific launch date, the Honor 90 and 90 Lite are expected locally sometime in September this year, with an event also believed to happening in August.

While we await those finer details, we have been seeded with an Honor 90 5G for review.

We are still in the process of reviewing the phone, and will only publish a full review once local availability and pricing are confirmed by Honor South Africa, but in the interim, we can still unbox the phone and preview what consumers will get should they buy an Honor 90.

Starting with the packaging and there is something distinctly Huawei about what’s on offer.

Yes, we know. Honor and Huawei are two separate brands these days after announcing a split during the pandemic, but the packaging is quite similar to some of P series Huawei phones we have reviewed in the past.

As for the rest of the elements contained in the packaging, the usual suspects are present, according to what we have seen from other Chinese phone brands.

The Honor 90 series will ship in South Africa with a plastic cover for the phone, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable for charging, and an accompanying 66W charger. The latter is specced for the UAE, given that was the venue for the launch event, but Honor South Africa will ensure locally compliant chargers will be present for devices purchased on our shores.

Other components found in the packaging include the standard literature detailing the specifications and performance of the phone, as well as a SIM tray tool. Speaking of which, the Honor 90 is dual SIM in nature, but we will have to wait to see how it is specced for the local market.

With the accoutrements out of the way, we can focus on the device itself. Here the Honor 90 has a large 6.7″ display that features a punch hole which houses its 50MP front-facing camera.

The other notable aspect of the design is the camera array, with two large circular housing for the quartet of lenses on offer – 200MP wide-angle, 12MP ultra wide-angle, 12MP macro, and 2MP depth sensing.

The colour of this review model is called Diamond Silver, and it has both a mirrored and iridescent quality to it. There is also a unique diamond-shaped pattern etched on the lower portion of the rear glass cover, and from certain angles, makes the phone appear like a shiny piece of leather luggage.

We may reaching a little with that description, but there is certainly a lot going on when it comes to the aesthetics of the Honor 90.

It remains to be seen what other colourways will be coming to South Africa, but Peacock Blue, Midnight Black, and Emerald Green are listed on the international landing page of the phone alongside Diamond Silver.

As far as first impressions go, the Honor 90 5G is solid. Ultimately how well it compares to other phones from Chinese brands will depend on the pricing of this model, along with its performance. This as the premium mid-range space in SA is pretty stacked at the moment.

More should be revealed next month from Honor South Africa, and our review of the phone should follow shortly thereafter, so keep an eye out for it when it’s published.