This year marks Honor's 10th anniversary, but the Chinese tech company still feels and behaves like an upstart new brand eager to prove itself — and that's because it sort of is. Its first seven years happened under Huawei's massive shadow, which meant the brand was relegated to sub-brand status. Then came the U.S. sanctions on Huawei, which also crippled Honor's appeal throughout most of 2019 and 2020.

But a lifeline was thrown Honor's way in late 2020 when Huawei sold the brand to a group of buyers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. This new independence allowed Honor to not only regain access to chips and Google services it was cut off from by American sanctions, but for the first time ever, Honor could produce premium flagship devices. And at last week's Mobile World Congress, Honor showed them off, launching a pair of flagship phones for European and Asian markets.

The devices are priced in the premium territory, with the foldable Magic Vs retailing for €1,600 ($1,700) and the conventional slab Magic 5 Pro starting at €1,199 ($1,266). These prices raised eyebrows, as they're directly in line with the best phones from far more established players like Samsung and Apple. However, according to Honor CEO George Zhao, Honor's products have better hardware, so why wouldn't they be priced at the highest end?

Can the Honor Magic Pro 5 compete? 'See for yourself.'

Speaking specifically of the Honor Magic 5 Pro, Zhao challenged a room full of media and reviewers (including myself) to test the devices. "Our Magic 5 Pro can compete with the Galaxy S23 Ultra and other top competitors. You can compare yourself — to be frank, the Honor Magic 5 Pro is better. You can review the phone and see for yourself."

Exactly how is the Magic 5 Pro better? XDA will have to evaluate the device longer to give our verdict, but the phone's main camera does feature a larger image sensor and faster aperture than anything offered by Apple, Samsung, or Google.

This new premium focus also comes in time. According to data released by research and analytic firms IDC and Canalys, global smartphone sales plunged in Q4 of 2022, But flagship market shares actually rose, meaning people are buying fewer smartphones, but they're buying flagships if they do.

Zhao said Honor's focus ever since going independent has been on making premium products using the latest technology and components. The days of Honor being a sub-brand pumping out mid-rangers are over, and Zhao sounded happy about the strategy shift. "If you just chase higher volume devices [such as budget or mid-range phones], you will lose [consumers] in the end. To win consumers is to give the best components."

What it takes to expand worldwide

In a previous interview with XDA, Honor's EU chief Tony Ran had said the company's goal is to make Europe Honor's "second home market," and Zhao was keen to mention that Honor's approach with the Magic 5 Pro backs that up. While Xiaomi and Oppo essentially showed off at MWC old devices that had already been on sale in China for months, the Magic 5 Pro was kept under wraps until the Barcelona show.

"The European market is very important to us, hence why we launched the Honor 5 Pro globally first, before the China launch," Zhao said.

He added that launching for the global market first required major commitment from Honor, because it's difficult to develop hardware and fine-tune software for both the China region and global variants simultaneously. Brands often have to choose, and Xiaomi and Oppo consistently choose to develop for the China market first. "In Europe, there are a lot of certifications that we need to pass and specific software requirements from each operator. It's a long process."

But this is good practice, according to Zhao. "I see Honor as a startup. We launched our local [European] operations from scratch, and day by day, we are improving operational efficiency."

Perhaps another sign that Honor is going prioritizing the European market is that it launched a large foldable phone in the region while other Chinese brands have been hesitant to do so. Oppo opted to only launch its smaller clamshell foldable in Europe, while Xiaomi and Vivo have not made their foldables available outside of China at all.

Zhao said he believes large foldables make more sense than smaller clamshell devices. "The future of foldables is a combination of tablet and smartphone," he said. "The challenge, of course, is the additional weight and thickness of foldables. But we made progress with the Honor Magic Vs [which has a 12.9mm thickness that is thinner than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4's 14.2mm], and we are working hard on the next breakthrough. When that happens, we think the foldable scene will see explosive growth."

Of course, Zhao had to address the elephant in the room too: Is he concerned about scrutiny from the U.S. government?

"Why should we worry about this? Our business model is like Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi," Zhao said. "We collaborate closely with suppliers and partners, and are compliant with all local laws and regulations. We will continue to develop our business in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Middle East."

But what about the U.S. market?

Zhao smiles. "That is a competitive market, and we need time to prepare for it."