HONOR Magic 6 Pro review: Should you buy it?

One of the eye-catching options on the HONOR Magic 6 Professional’s spec sheet is its 180-megapixel 1/1.49-inch telephoto zoom digicam, so let’s begin there. That’s a ton of pixels, greater than a lot of the finest digicam telephones pack into their main digicam, and HONOR places this picture knowledge to some fascinating makes use of.

First, the telephoto digicam sports activities a local 2.5x zoom. Hardly very far, however this may be prolonged to a lossless 5x shot. Past that, you’ll discover AI upscaling to spice up picture high quality a bit higher than your typical digital zoom. This sensor is paired with a 50MP ultrawide and a big 1/1.3-inch 50MP primary digicam with a self-adjustable f/1.4 to f/2.0 aperture. That’s a small aperture variation that’s unlikely to make an enormous distinction to mild seize or depth of subject however helps maintain macro pictures a bit extra in focus.

Wanting on the broader bundle, publicity and HDR may be very stable on all lenses. Colour saturation is a bit on the excessive aspect, with vivid greens and blues, whereas an additional dose of distinction offers photos a social-ready pop. Generally this works nice, however different occasions it’s not fairly to my style. It’s considerably inconsistent. You’ll be able to tweak how laborious the degrees are pushed with HONOR’s Pure, Vivid (default), and Genuine coloration profiles, the latter providing probably the most vital change in look.

The triple digicam array offers loads of capturing flexibility too. The 13mm ultrawide takes a giant step again whereas avoiding widespread points like an aberration or a skewed coloration pallet. Likewise, the 108MP 2.5x telephoto is nice for framing pictures, notably for reasonable macro photos, and offers reasonable-looking photos at 5x as properly. I really like versatile zoom cameras and the 180MP, 2.5x zoom is my favourite of the lot.

Low mild efficiency is awe-inspiring, though you may name the outcomes unrealistically vivid. Even with little or no mild, the Magic 6 Professional’s digicam is ready to pull out an distinctive quantity of coloration from all its lenses and satisfactory particulars from the principle snapper too. See the outcomes versus the Pixel 8 Professional’s Night time Sight above.

Nonetheless, regardless of the massive sensor dimension, the small pixels within the 180MP zoom digicam don’t maintain up properly at lengthy distances or in dimmer lighting. Small particulars shortly fall away, and HONOR’s AI-based upscaling (which isn’t current in Professional mode) introduces artifacts to scrub up the picture. The 100% crop comparability (under) towards the Pixel 8 Professional at 10x showcases the harshness, overprocessing, and lack of element that HONOR’s digicam offers at vary. The Pixel is much from excellent, however the softer presentation is a minimum of simpler on the eyes. Likewise, I noticed smudged textual content and a normal lack of element when utilizing this digicam in decrease mild, even with out pushing the zoom as far.

Portrait images can be hit-and-miss. Out of the field, the portrait mode defaults to a 2x zoom, which means a 27mm focal size cropped from the principle sensor. Acquainted sufficient, if not excellent, however this lens appears to wrestle with picture desaturation in indoor lighting, commonly producing washed-out portraits with an nearly detrimental movie impact. This disadvantage isn’t current open air, the place coloration saturation is, if something, too vibrant for portraits, highlighting purple pores and skin blemishes. Switching to the two.5x digicam inverts the issue; saturation is overblown in indoor lighting. The digicam setup actually shouldn’t be this inconsistent with regular daylight, particularly for all necessary portraits. The two.5x digicam’s 67mm focal size offers a extra pure face form and, paired with a big sensor and extensive aperture, is much less reliant on software program for bokeh. I’m undecided why HONOR doesn’t use this lens by default. It must be excellent for portraits and is the higher lens, in my view.

Selfies are a extra constant affair, with strong pores and skin textures and tones in each indoor and outside lighting. Once more saturation ranges are a bit pushed, however not aggressively so. The extensive aperture and decent-sized digicam sensor pay dividends for selfie lovers. The one disadvantage is the ultrawide focal size; it’s nice for becoming all your folks in however comes on the expense of very slender face shapes.

Video recording is equally compelling, albeit with a couple of caveats. 4K 60fps is accessible on all lenses this time, although transitions are made with a leap moderately than clean mixing. HONOR’s highly effective Night time Video mode works nice however is restricted to the principle lens. Film mode is probably the most enjoyable video characteristic, providing software program bokeh that’s one of many extra correct implementations I’ve seen, and eight LUT choices to closely affect coloration grading, permitting for an enormous number of moods. You may get severely inventive right here, because of nice high quality stabilization and strong dynamic vary seize.

The Magic 6 Professional packs a robust video enhancing suite to take issues additional. There are conventional minimize and align instruments to splice movies collectively, sharpness and distinction toggles, filters, numerous results, and different modifiers. Sadly, HONOR locks a few of its filters, background, and different choices behind a VIP membership that prices $7.99 a month or $64.99 a 12 months. I can’t say a handful of additional results looks like good worth when Google One prices simply $1.99 a month or $19.99 a 12 months to unlock further Google Images enhancing instruments, 100GB of cloud storage, a VPN, and extra. However maybe critical video creatives will see the added worth right here.

So the digicam is (largely) good, however what about the remainder of the cellphone?

Effectively, the revamped design is bound to separate the gang. I like the feel of the again and the gray-green of the Epi Inexperienced colorway. Nonetheless, I discover the steel accents across the gargantuan digicam housing moderately gaudy, and the added bezel round every digicam solely makes the array extra pronounced. It’s actually an announcement piece. I’d go for the black when you’re not after a head-turner.

The Magic 6 Professional is exclusive in a couple of different methods. It’s one of many few Android telephones sporting a front-facing 3D depth sensor for quick and safe truth unlocking (most telephones use optical recognition, which is much less safe). HONOR debuts its discrete Safety Chip S1 that homes necessary credentials away from the central processor. A sturdy IP68 ranking, snappy Wi-Fi 7 assist, and a great-looking 120Hz dynamic refresh OLED show spherical out the high-end specs that you’d count on at this worth level. Be in little doubt, it is a correct flagship bundle.

Battery life is a step up from its predecessor, and is among the finest telephones we’ve handed by way of our battery check suite. The one less-than-stellar result’s 4K video recording, however even right here, we’re taking a look at simply over 4 hours of steady capturing. Hardly a priority. General you’re simply taking a look at a day of heavy use from a full cost and presumably even longer with lighter workloads. All-day battery life doesn’t come at the price of efficiency both; it is a potent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 implementation that retains up with rivals just like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely.

When you have to high up, the HONOR Magic 6 Professional helps as much as 80W wired charging with a appropriate SuperCharge plug. Nonetheless, there isn’t a plug or cable within the field this time. HONOR will promote you a 100W mannequin for £50, discounted to £15 when bundled with the cellphone. We made do with a 66W plug we had mendacity round from final 12 months, which charged the cellphone to full in about 44 minutes.

If you happen to don’t fancy shopping for a HONOR changer, notice that the cellphone helps USB Energy Supply PPS at a moderately pedestrian 23W. It takes over an hour to cost the cellphone to full when not utilizing a SuperCharge adapter. Extremely-snappy 66W wi-fi charging can be supported with a appropriate HONOR stand.

Magic OS software program returns for an additional outing. There doesn’t appear to be a lot instantly completely different from the model I noticed on the Magic 5 Professional a 12 months in the past, apart from being based mostly on Android 14. The theme continues to be closely harking back to the EMUI days with a sprinkling of iOS components. “AI” app suggestions and resizable folders adorn the house display screen, and a left/proper notification/fast settings menu swipes make up the important thing components. Magic OS has a couple of methods to name its personal, together with textual content extraction from photos, Magic Portal to shortly drag and drop photos between apps (although this solely works in some situations), and Air Gestures which are extra gimmicky than time savers. HONOR’s software program does the trick when you look previous the pointless extras just like the HONOR App Market, however it struggles to face out for genuinely helpful additions to the core Android components, particularly within the face of adventurous concepts like Samsung’s Galaxy AI.

Three years of OS updates and 5 years of safety updates is your lot for long-term assist. The safety updates are in all probability adequate to see you to the tip of the handset’s lifecycle. Nonetheless, different manufacturers assist their telephones for as much as seven years at an analogous worth. These after a very long-term buy ought to undoubtedly try the competitors.

Priced at slightly below the market’s ultra-premium fashions, the HONOR Magic 6 Professional can get away with the odd flaw and nonetheless be thought of a stable buy. That stated, there’s glorious competitors at this worth, and it’s possible you’ll discover that one other model fits your wants barely higher.

• Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus ($1119.99 at Amazon): Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Plus has a barely older digicam setup and is maybe not fairly as versatile as HONOR’s newest, however its photos nonetheless maintain up fairly properly. On high of that, you’ll obtain a robust Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, Galaxy AI options, and 7 years of updates. That is the cellphone to beat, even when it takes a bit longer to cost than the Magic 6 Professional.
• Apple iPhone 15 Professional ($999 at Amazon): If you happen to’re searching for a powerhouse cellphone, Apple’s iPhone 15 Professional stays a high choose, because of a benchmark-topping processor, good battery life, and stable cameras. It’s a barely smaller cellphone, is relatively gradual to cost, and also you’d should get used to iOS, however it’s laborious to go unsuitable right here.
• Google Pixel 8 Professional ($999 at Amazon): With regards to photography-focused telephones, Google’s Pixel 8 Professional is the king of consistency, and I’d advocate it over the Magic 6 Professional if you’d like nice photos each time. You additionally achieve seven years of assist with the newest Pixel however do commerce down a whole lot of different specs, together with a slower processor, slower charging, and worse battery life.
• ASUS Zenfone 11 Extremely ($899.99 at Amazon): One other cellphone that undercuts the competitors, ASUS’s powerhouse Zenfone 11 Extremely provides top-tier efficiency, quick charging, a stunning show, and all-day battery life. Once more, the digicam just isn’t the best possible, neither is the replace pledge, however ASUS’ extra stock-like software program would possibly go well with you higher.
• OnePlus 12 ($899.99 at Amazon): If you happen to’re seeking to spend rather less however nonetheless need top-tier efficiency, quick charging, and an enormous battery, the OnePlus 12 is a good different. The lower cost trades off for an IP65 ranking and an iffier digicam setup, however it’s a stable all-around choose at a notably lower cost.