Honor has launched its latest number series smartphones — the Honor 600 and Honor 600 Pro — in South Africa, bringing new upper mid-range devices to the market. The 600 Pro, in particular, is aimed at competing with the standard Samsung Galaxy S26, while offering a slightly cheaper prepaid price.

Honor’s launch also came with an announcement I’m particularly excited about — the arrival of the Honor Watch 6 in July.

Here’s what you should know about the devices and their prices in South Africa…

Honor 600 and 600 Pro specs

The new smartphones from Honor bring a few tweaks to the series, including a new design, upgraded processors, and larger batteries. While not a huge reimagining of the smartphones, they bring enough changes for devices released a year apart to instill confidence that Honor’s smartphones aren’t stagnating. Earlier this year, the company said that it wouldn’t use AI as an excuse not to innovate.

In terms of design, Honor has changed up the camera island of the dual lens 600 and triple lens 600 Pro. The style, as pointed out by commentators, is extremely remniscent of the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera island. While I personally prefer the 400 Pro’s design, which made it stand out compared to competitors, Honor says that the new design is in line with consumer trends.

The size of the devices and displays have also been slightly adjusted. The difference won’t really be noticeable between the Honor 400 and 600, however the 600 Pro is a slightly smaller and slimmer device compared to its predecessor.

Each device also comes with a new processor — the 600 comes with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, while the 600 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 8 Elite. Notably, the Pro’s chipset is the same as last year’s flagship Samsung Galaxy S25 series.

Both devices also see a significant increase in their battery capacity to 7,000mAh. However, this comes with a slightly slower wired charging speed of 80W on the 600 Pro (compared to 100W).

According to Honor, this is due to the higher silicon content in the battery. This increases the energy density of the battery, allowing for a higher capacity in a smaller form factor. However, this also means a reduction in charging speed was necessary to offset heat generation and protect the longevity of the battery.

The resolution for the camera lenses on each device remains the same, but each phone’s 200MP lens now includes a 1/1.14-inch sensor that improves performance in low light. Notably, this is a larger sensor than some flagship devices.

However, while the specs of the Honor 600 and 600 Pro are impressive, there is one aspect that might give you pause: software support. According to Honor, owners of the devices will get two years of software updates and three years of security updates.

Considering brands like Samsung are now offering seven years of updates, Honor’s support promise is brief in comparison. This will get you through two OS ugrades, but if you plan to keep your device for more than two years, you may eventually miss out on the latest Android version.

You can see a summary of the Honor 600’s specs below:

• Display: 6.57-inch AMOLED display (2728 x 1264 pixels)
• Processor: Snapdragon 7 Gen 4
• Main camera: 200MP main camera + 12MP ultra-wide lens
• Selfie camera: 50MP
• Battery: 7,000mAh with 80W wired charging
• RAM: 8GB/12GB
• On-board storage: 256GB/512GB

You can see a summary of the Honor 600 Pro’s specs below:

• Display: 6.57-inch AMOLED display (2728 x 1264 pixels)
• Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite
• Main camera: 200MP main camera + 50MP periscope/telephoto + 12MP wide-angle lens
• Selfie camera: 50MP
• Battery: 7,000mAh with 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging
• RAM: 12GB
• On-board storage: 256GB/512GB

What about the Honor Watch 6?

Honor also announced that the Honor 6 would be launching in South Africa in July. The watch includes comprehensive health tracking features including blood pressure and heart rate monitoring. However, the headline-grabbing feature is its 35-day battery life.

Right now, there is a lot of room for competition in the local wearable market. I’ve been keenly waiting the arrival of more Honor smartwatches in the country, and I’m particularly glad to see the launch of one with such a compelling selling point. The smartwatch I’m currently using only lasts two days, so 35 days would feel like lightyears apart in comparison.

The Honor Watch 6 will cost R4,499 when it arrives in South Africa.

Honor 600 and 600 Pro price in South Africa

So how much do Honor’s new smartphones cost? The Honor 600 has a recommended retail price of R14,999. You can also get it on contract starting at R549 x 36 months.

Meanwhile, the Honor 600 Pro has a recommended retail price of R19,999. It is also available on contract starting at R799 x 36 months.

Image credits: Honor