HONOR’s newest midranger lands in the Philippines on October 1, with the brand now the country’s fourth-biggest smartphone vendor. Here’s what’s confirmed so far.
HONOR Philippines has set October 1 as the local launch date for the HONOR 600S, a cheaper addition to the HONOR 600 series that arrived in May. The company has confirmed three things so far: 5G, an 8,100mAh battery, and its AI Image to Video 2.0 feature, which turns a still photo into a short animated clip. Price and availability are still under wraps until launch day.
HONOR Philippines vice president Stephen Cheng said the goal was to bring the series’ AI and connectivity features to a wider audience, making them “accessible to even more users.” That is a practical pitch at a moment when phone prices in the country are climbing, and it comes from a brand that has spent the past four years working its way into the top of the local market.
What the Spec Sheet Says So Far
The 600S has already launched in Hong Kong, with Taiwan expected next, so most of its hardware is known, though the Philippine configuration could differ. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 4, an entry-to-midrange chip, with a 6.87-inch LCD screen at HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling. The 8,100mAh battery charges at 45 watts, and HONOR claims it keeps more than 80 percent of its capacity after five years under lab testing. The main camera is 50 megapixels.
The durability claims stand out most. The phone carries IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings, the international codes for dust and water resistance; IP69K is the strictest of the three, covering high-pressure, high-temperature water jets. HONOR also rates it for drops of up to 2.5 meters. It ships with Android 16 and HONOR’s MagicOS 10.
From Huawei Spinoff to Fourth Place
HONOR began as Huawei’s budget line and was spun off as an independent company in late 2020, after United States sanctions cut Huawei off from Google’s services and key suppliers. It relaunched in the Philippines as a standalone brand in 2022.
The climb since then has been steep. According to market research firm Omdia, HONOR took 10 percent of Philippine smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2026, enough to enter the country’s top five brands for the first time. In the second quarter it held that 10 percent share and moved up to fourth, level with OPPO in share but ranked ahead of it. Transsion, the company behind TECNO, Infinix and itel, still leads with 33 percent, followed by Xiaomi at 22 percent and Samsung at 16 percent.
Much of that growth has come from the midrange. HONOR has said, citing its own sales data, that the X9c 5G was the best-selling phone in the country’s ₱15,000 to ₱20,000 bracket in 2025. Its follow-up, the X9d 5G, carried the brand’s campaigns through early 2026.
Why the Timing Matters
The 600S arrives in a market that is getting more expensive. Rising memory costs have pushed brands to raise prices and trim their cheapest models, and the five biggest vendors now account for 91 percent of Philippine shipments. A phone pitched as the accessible entry to a flagship-adjacent series fits that squeeze. For reference, the 600S sells for HK$1,999 in Hong Kong, and the HONOR 600 it’s meant to sit under starts at ₱28,999 here. Its real test is the price HONOR puts on it on October 1, and how that number compares with what Xiaomi and Samsung are charging for similar battery life and durability.
ElysPlanet will update this piece with official Philippine pricing and availability after the launch.
Launch: October 1, 2026 (Philippines)
Confirmed for PH: 5G, 8,100mAh battery, AI Image to Video 2.0
From the Hong Kong launch (PH configuration may differ): Snapdragon 4 Gen 4; 6.87-inch 120Hz LCD; 45W charging; 50MP main camera; IP68/IP69/IP69K; 2.5m drop rating; Android 16 with MagicOS 10
Price: not yet announced