Daylight Performance and Image Styles
The Honor 200 Pro is known for its natural and vibrant image style, while the Xiaomi 14T Pro offers Leica vibrant and Leica authentic modes. In daylight, the Honor generally produces brighter images, whereas the Xiaomi delivers stronger contrast. When using telephoto lenses, the Xiaomi tends to capture sharper images with more intense colors. However, the Honor excels in digital zoom clarity. There were some instances where the Honor’s authentic mode oversaturated colors, sometimes giving them a cartoonish look, while its natural mode was quite similar to its vibrant mode. The Honor’s main lens is notably brighter most of the time.
Portrait Mode: A Matter of Style
The Honor 200 Pro boasts a special collaboration for its portrait mode, providing three distinct styles: Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Colour, and Harcourt Classic. In Harcourt Vibrant mode, the Honor generates more vivid colors and greater brightness. Harcourt Colour offers warmer tones, similar to the Xiaomi, while Harcourt Classic is a dedicated black and white mode. But the Xiaomi holds it’s own with it’s portrait mode quite well.
Front Camera and Video Capabilities
In front camera shots, I appeared paler on the Honor 200 Pro, while the Xiaomi 14T Pro produced more vibrant colors. The Honor 200 Pro also includes a noise reduction option, to keep the voice in focus. Both phones are capable of shooting 4K video at 60 frames per second using their main lenses. When recording video at 60 frames per second, I again appeared paler on the Honor Pro. The Honor provides 1x and 3x zoom options, while the Xiaomi relies on digital zoom. Both phones support the use of all lenses while recording in 4K at 30 frames per second.
Night Mode and Low-Light Portraits
In night mode, the Xiaomi 14T Pro produces brighter ultra-wide shots but tends to overexpose highlights. The Honor, with its already intense colors, further oversaturates them in authentic mode. The Honor struggles with its ultra-wide lens in low light, but its telephoto lens performs exceptionally well. Both phones face challenges with lens flare in difficult low-light scenes, but the Honor does a better job of separating the subject from the background.
Overall Impressions
Ultimately, the price difference between the two phones isn’t considered a significant factor in choosing between their cameras. The Honor excels in portrait shots due to its diverse styles and better color accuracy in Harcourt Vibrant mode. The Xiaomi also performs admirably, particularly with telephoto lens portraits. I overall prefer the vibrant mode, since the authentic mode on the Honor oversaturated the colors, leading to a cartoonish look at times. Color consistency between lenses is a issue on Honor phones, so this isn’t an exception. The Honor captures better photos in low light, especially with the ultra-wide lens, while the Xiaomi tends to produce flatter-looking shots with its ultra-wide lens, both day and night.
