The Honor Magic 6 Pro is undoubtedly one of the best camera phones you can buy

For an organization that was once identified for reasonable smartphones, Honor places a number of emphasis on high-end units nowadays.  

The foldable Magic V2 could be its most groundbreaking system, however the Magic 6 Professional isn’t far behind by way of ambition. 

At £1,099/€1,299, it’s Honor’s most costly smartphone in Europe, although that may change if the Magic 6 Final ever makes it out of China. 

Sadly for Honor, the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google all make compelling units round this value. And nearly as good because the cameras are on the Magic 6 Professional, most individuals will likely be higher off with a distinct system. 

See our information to the very best smartphones you should buy for the highest options.

Design & Construct

• Premium glass and aluminium design
• Large rear digital camera module
• IP68 ranking

The design of the Magic 6 Professional makes it very clear what Honor needs you to deal with. Its enormous rear digital camera module dominates the again of the cellphone, taking on virtually half of the complete area on the again. 

Regardless of needing area for 3 lenses and a flash, Honor might’ve achieved this with out making it look so outlandish. In case you wanted to know, this can be a digital camera first, smartphone second system. 

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

The way in which the Magic 6 Professional appears will divide opinion, however I truly fairly prefer it. It’s very clear that this can be a severe little bit of images package, but the glass surrounding the digital camera module nonetheless blends seamlessly into the again of the cellphone. I additionally discovered that my finger rests just under it very naturally. 

The remainder of the again feels boring by comparability, particularly within the muted ‘Black’ end, which appears extra like gray in individual. You may swap issues up by going for ‘Epi Inexperienced’ as an alternative, with a matt coating on each avoiding any seen fingerprint smudges. 

I nonetheless wouldn’t suggest going case-free, although, given the Magic 6 Professional’s tendency to slip out of your pocket or off a desk. Extra grip may be very a lot wanted. 

A case additionally gives safety, although sturdiness is already good. The cellphone feels very well-made, with a mix of powerful aluminium and glass that exhibits no indicators of damage and tear after greater than two weeks of utilization. 

Honor makes use of its personal ‘Big Rhinoceros Glass’ on the show, which is supposedly in a position to ship even higher shock and drop resistance than Gorilla Glass. Nevertheless, it’s price noting that there’s a pre-applied display screen protector that’s liable to accumulating scratches.

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Like most flagships, the 6 Professional additionally has an IP68 ranking, which means it may survive submersion in as much as 1.5mm of water (for as much as half-hour) and is absolutely protected in opposition to mud.  

A weight of 224g makes the cellphone really feel premium, although I want it was only a bit lighter. At 9.7mm, it’s not significantly slim both, although that is usually the case on enormous telephones like this. 

Elsewhere, the vibration motor on the Magic 6 Professional is strong, and delivers lifelike haptic suggestions whereas gaming, typing or just navigating apps. 

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.8-inch OLED show
• 120Hz refresh fee
• Twin stereo audio system

The Magic 6 Professional has one of many largest cellphone shows round, but in addition the most effective. 

Its 6.8-inch panel is on par with the Galaxy S24 Extremely by way of dimension, although curved quite than flat edges make it simpler to carry than Samsung’s cellphone. As an OLED, you get the mixture of vibrant colors and deep blacks that make it excellent for gaming or watching movies. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

A 120Hz refresh fee isn’t absolutely the highest round, however only a few apps can go above that anyway. The whole lot nonetheless feels silky-smooth and responsive, even when on the default ‘Dynamic’ mode. As an LTPO display screen, this permits it to maneuver between 1-120Hz relying on what you’re doing, serving to to preserve battery life. 

Once more, the Full HD+ (2800 x 1280) is a small step down from the 1440p and even 4K shows on some telephones, however I doubt you’ll discover. Element and readability are nonetheless superb, even within the optionally available greyscale ‘eBook mode’. 

I used the Magic 6 Professional outdoors extensively, together with on vibrant sunny days. Visibility was glorious all through, with a most recorded brightness (with auto adjustment turned off) of 780 nits coming into its personal. 

The Magic 6 Professional’s show isn’t the very best in school in anyone space, however it has no weaknesses both. 

Inside the display screen is an optical fingerprint scanner. Whereas I’d just like the goal space to be larger, it’s one of many higher ones I’ve tried, persistently and rapidly unlocking the cellphone.  

You would possibly choose to make use of face unlock, although, given it’s now safe sufficient for use to authenticate purchases and log in to banking apps. 

The front-facing digital camera combines with a devoted 3D sensor to make it attainable, and it’s completely seamless. It even works properly at nighttime, making this the closest factor we’ve seen to Face ID on an Android cellphone. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Nevertheless, you’ll should put up with an annoyingly giant cut-out on the prime of the show. Whereas watching movies, it actually interrupts the viewing expertise. Is that this a worthwhile trade-off for a seamless unlocking expertise? That comes down to non-public choice, however it’s for me. 

The Magic 6 Professional has stereo audio system, although it doesn’t depend on the earpiece for normal audio. Sound is evident and crisp in all situations, with extra bass than you would possibly count on for a tool of this dimension. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset
• 16GB RAM, 512GB inner storage
• 5G and dual-SIM help

Honor hasn’t made any compromises in terms of efficiency on the Magic 6 Professional. 

Not solely do you get Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the one mannequin out there within the UK provides a bumper 16GB of RAM. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Mixed, they make sure the Magic 6 Professional delivers a few of the greatest efficiency you’ll get on any smartphone. Throughout most on a regular basis duties, it feels just like the cellphone has an embarrassing quantity of energy in reserve. 

Throughout intensive testing, I primarily used it for net looking, messaging, watching movies, taking a lot of pictures and the occasional name. All through all of that, there wasn’t even a touch of hesitation or slowdown, which might’t be stated for all flagship telephones.  

As anticipated, this nice efficiency makes the Magic 6 Professional a potent gaming machine. Throughout three titles identified to be very demanding – Name of Obligation: Cell, EA Sports activities FC Cell and Asphalt 9: Legends – gameplay remained {smooth} and responsive, with no noticeable dropped frames.  

Even throughout gaming periods, the again of the cellphone solely will get barely heat to the contact, and by no means turns into uncomfortable. Except you’re actually severe about cell gaming (through which case I’d suggest a devoted gaming cellphone), this may fulfill all of your efficiency wants. 

Honor Magic 6 Professional benchmarks

Whereas there’s no help for expandable storage, the 512GB on supply right here is greater than sufficient for most individuals. You may put two SIM playing cards in as an alternative to utilize that 5G help, whereas there’s additionally Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4 and NFC right here. 

Cameras

• 50Mp variable aperture primary lens
• 180Mp periscope telephoto
• 50Mp ultrawide
• 50Mp selfie with separate 3D depth sensor

Honor isn’t pulling any punches in terms of digital camera {hardware} on the Magic 6 Professional. There are a complete of 4 lenses throughout the back and front, plus a separate 3D depth sensor. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Let’s begin with the 50Mp primary lens, which is the one you’ll most likely use most frequently. It has a variable aperture, which means it’ll robotically transfer between f/1.4 and f/2.0 focal lengths relying on the scene. 

There are two key advantages in comparison with a daily lens. The primary is in difficult lighting circumstances, the place the sensor can regulate how a lot mild it permits with a view to maximise element. 

And I’ve to say, the Magic 6 Professional is the very best low-light smartphone digital camera I’ve ever tried. Even in very dimly lit scenes, pictures are nonetheless brimming with element and noise is stored to a minimal. It additionally manages to brighten the picture with out wanting synthetic, one thing many cellphone cameras wrestle with. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

The opposite is for portrait-style pictures, the place you might have further management over the extent of background blur – together with after the shot was taken. Once more, the Magic 6 Professional excels on this space, and its edge detection is second to none. 

After all, this primary lens may be very succesful for normal pictures, too. Even within the default 12.5Mp mode (the place a course of often called pixel binning has mixed 4 pixels into one), element and dynamic vary are excellent. 

Publicity is dealt with properly, and hues are likely to pop. My solely criticism is it’s not significantly true to life, although this saturated look is well-suited for sharing on social media. 

There are two AI options inside the digital camera app, although neither are significantly efficient. The AI Images mode recognises what you need to take a photograph of and adjusts the scene accordingly, however I can’t inform the distinction in comparison with a daily shot. 

And the AI Movement Sensing is supposed to maintain topics in focus whereas transferring round quite a bit, however it didn’t cease footage of a canine from being blurry most of the time. 

Nevertheless, for zoom pictures the 180Mp, f/2.6 periscope telephoto may be very spectacular. It solely provides 2.5x optical zoom, however can crop in on 180Mp pictures to present you 5x with none noticeable drop-off in picture high quality – that is very spectacular. 

Even 10x pictures are very usable, although I wouldn’t suggest going far past it. The 100x digital zoom is simply there for the sake of it. 

Sadly, the 50Mp, f/2.0 ultrawide lens isn’t fairly nearly as good. The 122-degree subject of view may be very helpful in some situations, although it lacks the optical picture stabilisation (OIS) of the opposite cameras. In consequence, pictures are liable to wanting blurry and a few dynamic vary is misplaced. The contrasty colors are additionally much more pronounced right here. 

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

The 50Mp selfie digital camera delivers clear, crisp selfies, whether or not you need the lifelike background blur or not. Even when it’s mainly pitch black, the display screen illuminates your face and captures a really first rate picture. 

I feel the 3D depth sensor subsequent to it helps rather a lot, even when its primary goal is for the safe face unlock. 

Should you’re severe about images, there are a great deal of pro-level images options right here – together with the flexibility to manually regulate that aperture. However typically, that is additionally a superb level and shoot digital camera, which is a very powerful factor for most individuals.  

All 4 lenses can seize detailed video in 4K, although OIS on the primary and telephoto sensors makes them higher suited to something with a number of motion. 

So, is the Magic 6 Professional the best possible digital camera cellphone you should buy? Maybe not – the Google Pixel 8 Professional, Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely, iPhone 15 Professional Max, Xiaomi 14 Extremely, Oppo Discover X7 Extremely and Vivo X100 Professional all have one thing to say about that – however it’s not far off. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 5600mAh carbon-silicon battery
• 100W wired charging, 66W wi-fi
• No charger in field

The Magic 6 Professional doesn’t have your common battery. Firstly, quite than the standard lithium-ion cell, it’s made out of a mix of carbon and silicon. 

The primary good thing about that is the flexibility to suit a bigger battery into the identical area. And the cellphone’s 5600mAh capability is among the many largest round. 

That doesn’t assure nice battery life, however I’m happy to verify that the Magic 6 Professional is likely one of the longest-lasting smartphones you should buy. 

For most individuals, this can be a two-day cellphone most of the time. Even on these demanding days, with a lot of cell knowledge, utilization, excessive brightness and GPS, you’ll normally finish the day with cost to spare.  

I can’t inform you how a lot of a reduction it was to depart for a full day of sightseeing in Barcelona and never have to fret concerning the battery operating out.  A rating of 14 hours and 52 minutes within the PCMark battery take a look at displays this – it’s properly above common.

The charging state of affairs is a bit more sophisticated. Whereas the Magic 6 Professional helps wired speeds of as much as 100W, the required charger isn’t included within the field. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

The one one I had out there was at 65W, which solely reached 10% in quarter-hour and 22% after half an hour. In different phrases, frustratingly gradual. 

It’s an identical story for wi-fi charging, the place most Qi chargers can’t output on the Magic 6 Professional’s most of 66W. Reverse wi-fi charging is accessible too, however a lot slower. 

Software program & Apps

At launch, the Magic 6 Professional runs Honor’s MagicOS 8.0 pores and skin. It’s based mostly on Android 14, however differs from the inventory model on Pixel telephones in a number of methods. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

The one you’ll discover first is the ‘Magic Capsule’, which most individuals will recognise as a replica of the iPhone’s ‘Dynamic Island’. Its performance is presently just like Apple’s model, permitting you to rapidly management music and timers and reply to notifications or incoming calls. 

A future software program replace will assist you to work together with it utilizing your eyes, however I don’t see it offering any profit to the consumer expertise. 

Nevertheless, I do genuinely consider that that is the very best answer if you would like two sensors on the entrance of your cellphone. Reasonably than being wasted area, the Magic Capsule is genuinely helpful in some conditions. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Magic Capsule makes use of AI to an extent, however there are additionally different devoted synthetic intelligence options. 

Magic Portal is by far probably the most spectacular, permitting you to seamlessly drag and drop textual content and pictures from one app to a different. I used to be in a position to begin Google Maps navigation to an deal with shared in Gmail or search Google utilizing a picture from the Gallery with only one step. 

Not many third-party apps are supported proper now, however this could proceed to get higher over time. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

AI Privateness Name is designed to scale back sound leakage whereas on the cellphone, serving to your personal conversations to remain that. Whereas not excellent, it does a greater job in that regard than most telephones I’ve tried, whereas nonetheless making certain glorious name high quality. 

There’s additionally Magic Ring, which lets you simply share data between Honor units or use the Magic 6 Professional’s digital camera as a pill or laptop computer webcam.  

Alongside helpful app solutions, simple textual content extraction from pictures, air gestures and the flexibility to sense once you’re it, the Magic 6 Professional already has a complete suite of AI options. 

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Nevertheless, the consumer expertise as a complete isn’t probably the most pleasing. With so many vibrant icons, fixed pop-ups and annoying bloatware, MagicOS feels very cluttered. 

Once I first arrange the cellphone, all of it felt a bit overwhelming. Over time, you may get it wanting and dealing the best way you need it to, however I discovered this requires turning off some optionally available options. 

All these choices additionally make it troublesome to search out key options or choices. Discovering issues in settings or just looking for apps took method longer than it wanted to. 

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Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Dominik_Tomaszewski / Foundry

Is that this a dealbreaker for you? It isn’t for me, however that is removed from perfect. 

There may be excellent news in terms of software program help, which is the very best it’s ever been on an Honor cellphone. From its late 2023 launch in China, the Magic 6 Professional will get 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety updates, which may be very respectable if not market-leading. 

Value & Availability

As you most likely guessed, the Magic 6 Professional is an costly cellphone.  

The one model out there in Europe, providing 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, prices £1,099/€1,299. 

Within the UK, you should buy one from the Honor web site and by way of Amazon.

Nevertheless, there’s no possibility to purchase on contract, so that you’ll should afford the upfront value after which get a SIM-only deal in case you don’t have one already. 

And like all Honor units, the cellphone isn’t being offered within the US. You would possibly be capable to import one, however there’s no assure it’ll work with US carriers. 

At this value, the Magic 6 Professional goes toe-to-toe with the very best flagship telephones round. The Google Pixel 8 Professional (from £999), Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely (from £1,249) and iPhone 15 Professional Max (from £1,199) are all nice choices, and all three have extra inexpensive options of their lineups. 

Must you purchase the Honor Magic 6 Professional?

Probably, however provided that you’re a really particular kind of smartphone consumer.  

One who takes a lot of pictures, and cares concerning the high quality being on par with the very best digital camera telephones round.  

Somebody who wants top-tier efficiency and shows, and likes the concept of the iPhone’s Dynamic Island and Face ID however on Android. 

If that’s you, and also you don’t thoughts the excessive asking value, the Magic 6 Professional could be the cellphone for you.  

But when it feels a bit of costly, you don’t significantly just like the design or a slick software program expertise is vital to you, there are higher choices elsewhere. 

Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset  
• 12GB RAM 
• 512GB inner storage 
• 6.8-inch, 2800 x 1280 LTPO OLED show, 120Hz 
• 50Mp, f/1.4-f/2.0 variable aperture primary digital camera with OIS  
• 50Mp, f/2.0 ultrawide digital camera  
• 180Mp, f/2.6 2.5x telephoto digital camera with OIS  
• 50Mp, f/2.0 front-facing digital camera with 3D depth sensor  
• 5600mAh battery  
• 100W wired charging  
• 66W Qi wi-fi charging  
• 5G  
• Twin stereo audio system  
• Wi-Fi 7  
• Bluetooth 5.3 
• NFC  
• IP68 water and mud resistance  
• Magic OS 8.0 (based mostly on Android 14)  
• 162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm 
• 225g