Honor 500 series launch date confirmed: what to expect from Honor’s new camera flagships

Honor has finally stopped teasing and started talking. After weeks of posters and cryptic hints, the company has officially locked in the launch date for its next numbered flagships: the Honor 500 and Honor 500 Pro. The duo will be unveiled in China on November 24 at 7:30 PM local time (11:30 AM UTC), and they are not just routine upgrades. With a fresh design, huge batteries and serious camera hardware, the 500 line looks like the start of a new chapter for Honor’s mainstream flagships.

The first big change is design. Honor is abandoning the familiar vertical camera island in favor of a bold horizontal strip that runs across the upper back of the phone. It is a look that instantly separates the 500 series from the Honor 400 Lite and, according to early fan reactions, already feels more premium and cohesive. Both models are confirmed to carry 200 MP main cameras, while the Honor 500 Pro goes all-in on imaging with a Samsung HP3 sensor, a 50 MP 3x periscope telephoto believed to be based on Sony’s IMX858, and a 12 MP ultrawide with a wide-open 117-degree field of view. On paper, that combination positions the Pro as a true camera specialist for the series.

From the front, Honor is sticking to a manageable size rather than chasing tablet-like screens. Both phones are expected to share a 6.55-inch OLED display with rich colors and high contrast. Promotional images suggest slim bezels all around, although a vocal slice of the community is still begging for perfectly symmetrical borders and a proper IP66 or IP68 water-resistance rating. One common joke online is that even the default wallpaper looks a bit too inspired by certain iPhones, right down to the soft gradients. Still, compared with the more budget-oriented Honor 400 Lite, most long-time users seem to prefer the cleaner, more squared-off look of the 500 line.

Battery life is shaping up to be one of the headline features. Honor is reportedly squeezing an 8000 mAh cell into both the Honor 500 and Honor 500 Pro, paired with 80 W wired fast charging. For context, that capacity is closer to small tablets than typical 2025 flagships. Power users in the comments are already dreaming about a future Honor 600 with a 7-inch panel and an even larger battery, but even they admit that 8000 mAh, combined with a power-efficient OLED panel, should deliver multi-day endurance for most people. Of course, the trade-off may be a slightly chunkier frame, yet many would happily accept a few extra grams if it means not hunting for a charger every evening.

Under the hood, Honor is clearly aiming at the flagship crowd, at least with the Pro. The Honor 500 Pro is confirmed to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite platform, paired with up to 16 GB of RAM and a huge 1 TB storage option. That spec sheet puts it firmly in the top tier for gaming, high-resolution video recording and heavy multitasking. The non-Pro model is widely expected to ship with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, a slightly cut-down but still powerful chipset that should easily handle social apps, photography and demanding games without breaking a sweat.

The one lingering hardware question concerns the camera setup on the vanilla Honor 500. Honor’s marketing materials proudly list the Pro’s ultrawide camera, which has led some readers to worry that the base model might quietly lose this lens. Others argue that it would make little sense for a mid-to-high-end phone in 2025 to ship without an ultrawide at all, especially when even budget devices manage to include one. Early leaks hint that the standard 500 will keep an ultrawide, just with a more modest sensor than the Pro’s IMX858-backed telephoto and 117-degree ultrawide combo. Until launch day, though, that point remains one of the key details to watch.

Beyond raw specs, community reactions are already shaping the narrative around the 500 series. Some people complain that the official renders make the camera bar look cheap and toy-like, wondering whether the real device will feel more solid in the hand. Others are surprisingly positive, praising the back panel as a big upgrade over the 400 Lite and calling the blue finish in particular the first Honor in a while that genuinely stands out. A few loyalists are even building wishlists for the inevitable Honor 600, asking for tougher IP ratings, a Mediatek-powered variant and even larger screens, as if the 8000 mAh battery were just a warm-up.

Availability, however, may be where excitement meets reality. Comment sections are full of the same question repeated in different words: will the Honor 500 or Honor 500 Pro ever be sold outside Mainland China? Looking at past launches, many fans expect this generation to stay local while the even-numbered family does the world tour. Some insiders are already pointing to a possible Honor 600 series launch in 2026 as the next truly global wave, leaving the 500 line as an early preview for those willing to import. If that pattern holds, the 500 series could end up as one of the most capable China-only releases of the year.

At least buyers in Honor’s home market will have plenty of visual choice. The Honor 500 and Honor 500 Pro are coming in Blue, Pink, Black and Silver, covering everything from playful pastel to understated professional. If Honor can combine competitive pricing with this new design language, 8000 mAh batteries and serious camera hardware, the 500 series might become a reference point for mid-to-high-end phones in China – and a strong hint of what the rest of the world may get when the rumored Honor 600 family finally steps onto the global stage.