The first time I installed Google Camera on a Honor phone, I was not really expecting much. My Honor 90 already had a stock camera that was good enough for daily shots. But the moment I took a low-light photo with GCam, the difference was honestly hard to ignore. The shadows actually had detail. The colors looked closer to what my eyes were seeing. That’s when I understood why so many Honor users keep coming back to this little app.
If you also want to download Google Camera 9.7 for all Honor phones, you’re in the right place. I’ll walk you through it step by step, the same way I’d explain it to a friend.
Contents
Google Camera Vs Stock Camera
Google Camera, often called GCam, is the official camera app Google built for Pixel phones. It uses something called computational photography, which is just a clean way of saying the software does the heavy lifting that the hardware alone can’t. The app stacks multiple frames, runs them through machine learning models like HDR+ and Night Sight, and gives you a cleaner final shot.
On a Honor phone, Honor’s Magic UI camera is good for portraits and daylight shots, but its night mode tends to oversmooth faces and lose texture in shadows. GCam takes the same sensor and gives it smarter software to work with.
The good news is that developers in the modding community have ported these features to work on non-Pixel phones, including almost every Honor model. GCam 9.7 is one of the more stable builds out there right now.
Advanced Features
Let me explain what actually makes Google Camera 9.7 worth installing on a Honor phone. If you want the full breakdown of every mode, see our Google Camera features guide.
HDR+ Processing. This is the core engine. It captures several frames in a split second and merges them into one balanced photo. Highlights stop blowing out. Shadows stop crushing. This is the single biggest reason people install GCam.
Night Sight. This one feels like magic the first time you use it. It pulls a usable photo out of almost pitch-black scenes. On a Honor phone, the difference between Night Sight and the stock night mode is usually obvious.
Astrophotography Mode. On supported Honor phones with a tripod or a steady surface, you can actually shoot the night sky. Stars show up in the final image.
Portrait Mode. The edge detection here is sharper than what most Honor stock apps offer, especially around hair, glasses, and curly outlines.
Super Res Zoom. Digital zoom that doesn’t fall apart at 4x or 6x. More on this below.
Top Shot. Captures a few frames around your press and helps you pick the best one.
Additional Options
Beyond the headline features, GCam 9.7 has a few quiet extras that I think are worth knowing about.
RAW Capture (DNG files). If you edit photos in Lightroom or Snapseed, RAW gives you a lot more flexibility. You can recover blown-out skies or push shadows without the image falling apart.
Custom Config Files. This is where things get interesting. Modders create config files (XML files) that fine-tune GCam for specific Honor models. So a config made for the Honor 90 will squeeze better results from a Honor 90 than the default settings will. You drop the config into a folder, load it inside the app, and your camera quality jumps almost instantly.
Based on what I’ve seen across XDA Developers and the GCam Telegram channels, using the right config for your exact Honor model often matters more than the GCam version itself.
Download and Installation
The Pixel Camera can be downloaded for all Honor phones from our website (https://gcamapk.org).
It is important to know that some features may not work on every Honor device, but most users still get the improved image processing and advanced modes.
Download GCam APK for Specific Honor Phones
- Honor Magic 6 Pro
- Honor Magic 6
- Honor Magic 6 Ultimate
- Honor Magic 5 Pro
- Honor Magic 5
- Honor Magic 5 Ultimate
- Honor Magic 4 Pro
- Honor Magic 4
- Honor Magic 4 Ultimate
- Honor Magic 3 Pro+
- Honor Magic 3 Pro
- Honor Magic 3
- Honor Magic Vs
- Honor Magic Vs2
- Honor Magic V2
- Honor Magic V
- Honor V40
- Honor V30 Pro
- Honor V30
- Honor 100 Pro
- Honor 100
- Honor 90 Pro
- Honor 90
- Honor 90 Lite
- Honor 80 Pro
- Honor 80 GT
- Honor 80 SE
- Honor 80
- Honor 70 Pro+
- Honor 70 Pro
- Honor 70 Lite
- Honor 70
- Honor 60 Pro
- Honor 60 SE
- Honor 60
- Honor 50 Pro
- Honor 50 SE
- Honor 50 Lite
- Honor 50
- Honor 30 Pro+
- Honor 30 Pro
- Honor 30 Lite
- Honor 30
- Honor 20 Pro
- Honor 20
- Honor 20 Lite
- Honor 10 Lite
- Honor 10
- Honor X9b
- Honor X9a
- Honor X9
- Honor X8b
- Honor X8a
- Honor X8
- Honor X7b
- Honor X7a
- Honor X7
- Honor X6a
- Honor X6
- Honor X5 Plus
- Honor X5
- Honor X40 GT
- Honor X40
- Honor X30 Max
- Honor X30 Pro
- Honor X30i
- Honor X30
- Honor X20 SE
- Honor X20
- Honor Play 8T
- Honor Play 7T
- Honor Play 7
- Honor Play 6T Pro
- Honor Play 6T
- Honor Play 6C
- Honor Play 5
- Honor Play 4 Pro
- Honor Play 4
- Honor Play 3
- Honor View 30 Pro
- Honor View 30
- Honor View 20
Compatible Devices
Here’s the good news. GCam 9.7 works on a wide range of Honor phones. Based on reports from the GCam community, here’s what runs it well:
- Honor Magic (flagship): Magic 6 Pro, Magic 6, Magic 5 Pro, Magic 5, Magic 4 Pro, Magic 4
- Honor Number: Honor 100 Pro, 100, 90 Pro, 90, 80 Pro, 80, 70 Pro+, 70 Pro, 70, 60 Pro, 60
- Honor X: X9b, X9a, X8b, X8a, X7b, X7a, X40, X30, X20
- Honor Play (gaming): Play 8T, Play 7T, Play 6T, Play 5
Most modern Honor phones run Snapdragon, Dimensity, or Kirin chips, and almost all of them play nicely with GCam ports.
This isn’t confirmed for every single model, so if you don’t see yours listed, it’s still worth a try. Many users have reported success on phones not officially listed in our all Android phones guide.
Using Night Sight and Portrait Mode
These two features alone are reasons enough to keep GCam installed on your Honor phone.
Night Sight. Open GCam, swipe to Night Sight mode, hold the phone as steady as you can (a small tripod helps but isn’t required), and tap the shutter. The exposure runs for about 3 to 6 seconds. Don’t move. The phone takes multiple frames and stacks them. The result is a photo that looks like it was taken in much brighter conditions.
A small tip from my own testing on a Honor 90. If you have a flat surface nearby (a railing, a table, even a stack of books), rest the phone there. Sharpness improves a lot.
Portrait Mode. Tap Portrait. Frame your subject between 1.5 feet (about 0.45 meters) and 8 feet (around 2.4 meters). GCam handles the background blur using a depth model. You can adjust blur intensity after the shot, which is something many Honor stock apps don’t let you do as flexibly.
Super Res Zoom
Super Res Zoom is one of those features that quietly does something impressive.
Most phones lose detail the moment you zoom past 2x. GCam takes a different approach. When you zoom, the app captures a quick burst of slightly shifted frames (thanks to natural hand movement) and combines them into a single higher-resolution image. You get sharper detail without needing a dedicated telephoto lens.
This works really well on Honor phones that have a single main camera or modest zoom hardware. On the Honor 90, I noticed a clear improvement at 3x and 4x compared to the stock zoom.
For the best results:
- Zoom to your target focal length before pressing the shutter
- Keep your hands steady but don’t fight natural micro-movements (the algorithm actually uses them)
- Use it in daylight for the cleanest output
A Quick Note on Stability
GCam mods are made by independent developers, not by Google. So updates aren’t always perfect. If one version crashes on your Honor phone, try a slightly older 9.x build. GCam 9.7 is one of the more stable releases this year, but small bugs do show up depending on your Honor model and the Magic UI / MagicOS version it’s running.
What This Means for You
If you’ve been disappointed by your Honor camera in low light, or you want better portraits and zoom shots without buying a new phone, downloading Google Camera 9.7 is one of the highest-value 10 minutes you’ll spend on your device. No cost. No root needed. Just better photos.
Once you pair GCam 9.7 with a config tuned for your exact model, your phone basically gets a free camera upgrade. I’ve seen older Honor phones produce shots that look surprisingly close to what a Pixel produces.
Go ahead, download Google Camera 9.7 for your Honor phone, load a good config, and take a few test shots tonight. You’ll see the difference right away.
Related guides: GCam for Huawei phones · GCam for Samsung phones