Honor 400 5G VS Honor 400 Smart 5G

Both phones share the same IP65 water resistance rating, meaning neither is fully submersible but both handle dust and water jets without issue — a practical, real-world protection level for everyday use. Neither adopts a rugged or foldable form factor, so they sit squarely in the standard smartphone category.

Where they diverge meaningfully is in physical footprint. The Honor 400 5G is notably more compact: at 7.3 mm thick and 156.5 mm tall, it occupies just 85.2 cm³ of volume. The Honor 400 Smart 5G, by contrast, measures 8.4 mm thick and 166.9 mm tall, pushing its volume to 107.7 cm³ — roughly 26% larger. That extra bulk is noticeable in the hand and pocket, and the 5 g weight difference, while small on paper, compounds the sense that the Smart is the bulkier sibling.

For users who prioritize one-handed comfort and pocketability, the Honor 400 5G has a clear design edge. The Honor 400 Smart 5G's larger chassis likely accommodates a bigger battery or display, but purely on ergonomics and portability, the standard 400 5G wins this category.

The display gap between these two phones is substantial. The Honor 400 5G uses an OLED/AMOLED panel, which delivers true blacks, higher contrast, and more vibrant colors by lighting pixels individually — a technology that also enables its Always-On Display feature at minimal battery cost. The Honor 400 Smart 5G, by contrast, relies on an LCD IPS panel, which requires a constant backlight and cannot match OLED in contrast depth or color punch, particularly in dark environments.

The resolution difference compounds this gap significantly. At 460 ppi, the Honor 400 5G renders text and fine detail with exceptional sharpness — well above the threshold where individual pixels are perceptible. The Honor 400 Smart 5G's 261 ppi is noticeably softer, especially when reading small text or viewing detailed images up close. Despite the Smart offering a marginally larger 6.77″ screen versus 6.55″, its lower resolution means the extra screen real estate does not translate to more visual detail.

The shared 120Hz refresh rate is the one area of parity, ensuring smooth scrolling and animations on both devices. However, the overall display advantage rests firmly with the Honor 400 5G — its OLED technology and significantly higher pixel density make it the superior choice for media consumption, readability, and everyday visual quality.

The silicon powering these two phones tells very different stories. The Honor 400 5G runs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, built on a 4 nm process, while the Honor 400 Smart 5G uses the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 on a larger 6 nm node. A smaller semiconductor process generally means more efficient transistors — translating to better performance-per-watt and less heat generation. The 400 5G's higher 6W TDP versus the Smart's 4W reflects a chip that can sustain greater computational bursts, not inefficiency.

Memory architecture further separates the two. The Honor 400 5G pairs 12 GB of DDR5 RAM at 3200 MHz with a peak memory bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s, while the Smart offers 8 GB of DDR4 at 2133 MHz and only 17 GB/s bandwidth. In practice, the 400 5G can keep more apps resident in memory, switch between tasks faster, and feed its GPU data more quickly — all of which matter for gaming, multitasking, and demanding apps. Storage follows the same pattern: 512 GB versus 256 GB, doubling the available space for media and apps. The 400 5G also supports multithreading, which the Smart does not, giving it an additional edge in CPU-heavy workloads.

Across every meaningful performance dimension — chipset generation, process node, RAM capacity and speed, memory bandwidth, and storage — the Honor 400 5G holds a clear and consistent advantage. The Honor 400 Smart 5G is a competent everyday performer, but users who game, multitask heavily, or plan to keep their phone for several years will find the 400 5G's headroom considerably more future-proof.

The camera hardware difference here is stark. The Honor 400 5G fields a 200 MP + 12 MP dual rear system, while the Honor 400 Smart 5G makes do with a 50 MP + 2 MP pairing. A 200 MP sensor captures an enormous amount of detail, enabling aggressive cropping, high-fidelity large-format prints, and better pixel-binning in standard shots. The Smart's secondary 2 MP lens is largely a depth-assist sensor with limited practical utility, whereas the 400 5G's 12 MP secondary lens represents a genuinely usable wide or depth camera. Adding further separation is the 400 5G's optical image stabilization (OIS) — absent on the Smart — which meaningfully reduces blur in low-light shots and during video recording.

The selfie camera gap is equally pronounced. The Honor 400 5G packs a 50 MP front shooter compared to the Smart's 5 MP, a tenfold difference in resolution that directly impacts portrait clarity, detail retention when cropping, and overall selfie quality. The 400 5G's front aperture of f/2.0 also edges out the Smart's f/2.2, admitting slightly more light in dimmer conditions.

Where the two phones align is in their shared feature set: both support phase-detection autofocus, continuous autofocus during video, slow-motion recording, HDR mode, and a range of manual controls. These are meaningful shared capabilities, but they cannot offset the hardware gulf. For photography, the Honor 400 5G is the decisive winner across both rear and front cameras, and OIS alone makes it the more versatile choice for anyone who shoots frequently or values video quality.

On the software front, these two phones are identical in every measurable way. Both ship with Android 15 and share the exact same feature set across all tracked specifications — from privacy controls like location and camera/microphone permissions, to productivity tools like split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, and widget support. Neither receives direct OS updates, and neither supports Wi-Fi password sharing or focus modes.

The shared feature set is genuinely well-rounded. On-device machine learning, offline voice recognition, dynamic theming, Live Text, and a battery health check are all present on both devices — capabilities that collectively reflect a modern, capable Android implementation rather than a stripped-down experience.

Since no software differentiator exists between the two, this category is a complete tie. A buyer's OS experience will be functionally indistinguishable regardless of which model they choose, making hardware specs the only meaningful basis for decision-making.

Battery life and charging speed pull in opposite directions here, creating a genuine trade-off rather than a clear-cut winner. The Honor 400 Smart 5G carries a substantially larger 6500 mAh cell versus the 5300 mAh in the Honor 400 5G — a 23% capacity advantage that, all else being equal, translates to meaningfully longer time between charges. For users who are away from an outlet for extended periods, that extra headroom is tangible.

Flip the equation to charging speed, however, and the advantage reverses. The Honor 400 5G supports 66W fast charging against the Smart's 35W, meaning the 400 5G can recover a significant portion of its battery in a short top-up session — useful for users who charge opportunistically throughout the day rather than overnight. Neither phone supports wireless charging, and both ship with a charger included, so there is no differentiation on those fronts.

The verdict depends entirely on usage pattern. Heavy users or those who travel without reliable access to power will benefit from the Honor 400 Smart 5G's larger battery. Users who prefer quick, frequent charges and are rarely far from a socket will find the Honor 400 5G's faster refill rate more practical. Neither product holds an unconditional edge — this is a genuine trade-off between endurance and charging convenience.

Audio is one of the few categories where the Honor 400 Smart 5G pulls ahead. Most notably, it retains a 3.5 mm headphone jack — absent on the Honor 400 5G — which matters to users with wired headphones or those who simply prefer a reliable, latency-free connection without dongles or adapters. Both phones offer stereo speakers, so spatial audio output is on equal footing for casual listening.

Over Bluetooth, the Smart also holds an edge. It supports both LDAC and aptX HD, while the 400 5G is limited to aptX HD alone. LDAC, developed by Sony, transmits up to three times more data than standard Bluetooth audio codecs, making it particularly valuable for wireless listening with high-quality headphones. The Smart's additional aptX support further broadens compatibility with a wider range of Bluetooth audio devices.

For audio enthusiasts, the Honor 400 Smart 5G is the clear winner in this category. The combination of a headphone jack, LDAC, and broader codec support gives it a meaningful advantage for anyone who prioritizes sound quality — whether through wired or wireless listening. The Honor 400 5G's aptX HD support is respectable but narrower, and the absence of a jack is a genuine concession for wired audio users.

Wireless connectivity favors the Honor 400 5G across the board. It supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), adding a generation of wireless capability over the Smart's top-end Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Wi-Fi 6 delivers better performance in congested environments — like homes with many connected devices or busy public networks — through more efficient channel usage. Its Bluetooth 5.4 also edges out the Smart's 5.1, offering improvements in connection reliability and energy efficiency relevant to users with multiple paired accessories. The 400 5G's peak download speed of 5000 Mbits/s versus the Smart's 2500 Mbits/s reflects its stronger cellular modem, which matters in areas with dense 5G coverage.

Two hardware features exclusive to the Honor 400 5G are worth flagging. A gyroscope enables accurate motion-based interactions — essential for augmented reality apps, immersive gaming, and precise navigation — which the Smart entirely lacks. The infrared sensor on the 400 5G also allows the phone to function as a universal remote for TVs and home appliances, a niche but genuinely useful convenience the Smart cannot replicate.

Shared capabilities — dual SIM, NFC, GPS with Galileo support, fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C, and 5G — ensure both phones cover the everyday connectivity essentials without compromise. But the accumulated advantages in Wi-Fi generation, Bluetooth version, cellular speed, gyroscope, and IR sensor give the Honor 400 5G a clear and consistent lead in this category.

The miscellaneous specs for these two phones are a perfect match. Both include a video light, and neither features sapphire glass, a curved display, or an e-paper panel — omissions that are entirely standard at this market tier.

This category is a complete tie. There is no differentiating factor present in the provided data, and a buyer's decision should rest entirely on the distinctions uncovered in other specification groups.