Forgotten your Honor PIN? Why the year of manufacture determines what happens to your data

In November 2020, Huawei sold the Honor brand to a consortium. Since then, Honor has been an independent company with its own hardware and software. For a locked device, this means two completely different starting points.

The dividing line is roughly the Honor 50 from 2021. Earlier devices work technically like a Huawei from the same period; later devices work like a standard Android device with Google services.

Please always tell us the exact model when you enquire. With Honor, this is not a formality—it determines which approach is possible.

Models from 2019 and 2020 were subject to the same restrictions as Huawei. From May 2019, they were released without Google Mobile Services. Google's "Find My Device" is not installed on them, so the route recommended by every Android guide simply does not exist.

What is available instead is device finding through your Huawei or Honor account. It can locate the device, make it ring and erase it remotely. It cannot unlock it. The erase function is the very button that ends your chances of data recovery.

Since the Honor 50, Honor has once again shipped devices with full Google services. The interface is called MagicOS and is based on Android. For you, this means the standard Android route through your Google account is available, provided you know your login details.

At the same time, Google account protection applies. After a reset, the device asks for the Google account that was last signed in. Without this account, it remains unusable, and the reset has erased the data anyway. This is why a reset must never be the first step when important data is involved.

Regardless of the generation, the type of lock determines how large the search space is. The difference is substantial.

We can reliably unlock numeric PINs and swipe patterns. For a password containing letters and special characters, we can only tell you after diagnosis whether there is a way forward. Fragments you remember help: the length, the first digits or the direction of the pattern significantly reduce the search space.

Most cases we have to turn down fail because of something that happened before the device was sent in. Each of these steps overwrites the storage and cannot be reversed.

• Reset to factory settings through the menu or recovery mode.
• Erasing the device remotely through an Honor, Huawei or Google account.
• Installing new firmware or forcing an update.
• Continuing to guess. The system increases waiting periods, and some settings trigger an erase after a specified number of failed attempts.

Leave the device switched off until the case has been assessed. This costs nothing and keeps all options open.

We work in Bonn and accept devices from across Germany via insured shipping. The process provides a clear assessment before any costs are incurred.

1. 1You tell us the exact model, the year of purchase, the type of lock and what has already been tried.
2. 2We identify which of the two Honor eras the device belongs to and tell you whether sending it in makes sense.
3. 3In the workshop, we check the encryption, system version and condition of the logic board.
4. 4You receive an assessment with a binding price and then decide.
5. 5After successful decryption, we back up the data to an encrypted USB drive.

The price is around1.000euros and depends on the model, encryption and condition. This is not a fixed price; we provide the binding amount after diagnostics. If recovery is unsuccessful, only the processing fee of 29,90 euros applies.

If you would like to address the issue now, book a diagnostic assessment directly via Password unlocking. There you can see the process, how much the diagnostic assessment costs and how shipping works.

We would rather give you an honest refusal than accept a job that will fail.

• The device has already been reset or remotely erased.
• The case involves accidentally deleted files on a working device. We cannot recover deleted data.
• Someone without experience has previously worked on the device and damaged the logic board.
• The issue is a SIM lock or network unlocking. That is your mobile provider's responsibility.

No fixed price applies in cases of severe water damage, a bent or broken logic board, or previous repair attempts by others. We bill these cases based on the work involved and explain this in advance.

If your Honor dates from before 2021, it is also worth checking out Forgotten Huawei PIN, because the same technology is described there. Different rules apply to other manufacturers: Forgotten Xiaomi PIN and Forgotten Google Pixel PIN.

If your device no longer starts at all, the lock is not the problem. An overview of all cases is available under Smartphone data recovery.