The Honor Magic series has always been the brand’s most focused on flagship series, bringing top-specs and premium design under an easy to swallow price tag, in which that in itself is supposed to be a recipe for game-changing levels of sales. For 2024 is the Magic 6 Pro, touting the usual upgrades expected of a series update.
New Design Elements
The Magic 6 Pro oozes flagship qualities from the get-go. It’s a large phone, but the curved edges and textured back make it surprisingly comfortable to hold. The Black version, which comes in a glass back, has a matte finish. My unit which is the Epi Green, comes in a pleather finish in a dull pistachio color way. Following up to that is an internal circular camera module that’s protect by glass, protect by another external rounded square rim that’s prominent and glossy. It’s only this area that’s a fingerprint magnet but it’s also unlikely that you’d touch it since its situated right on top, away from your prying hands.
In principle, it pretty much similar in layout as the Magic 5 Pro, with newer design elements implemented via new materials. That’s not a bad thing tough, as the Magic 5 Pro was also quite the good looking phone as well.
As usual for flagships, the Magic 6 Pro comes with IP68 certification to do away with water and dust.
Massive Display, Massive Spec Sheet
The Honor Magic 6 Pro comes with a massive 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with up to a 120Hz refresh rate. It does sound massive, but it’s actually not an unwieldly phone one bit. Bezels are relatively thin and the phone is curved, so it won’t feel like you’re holding a tablet.
For the Malaysian variant, the choice of chip is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, followed by the same 12GB RAM and 512GB storage configuration as seen on the Magic 5 Pro. Keeping the lights on is an above average 5600 mAh battery that supports Honor SuperCharge up to 80W. What’s also interesting is that the Honor Magic 6 Pro also has support for wireless charging, up to a staggering 66W! Also, those buying the Magic 6 Pro in Malaysia will come with the charger included in the box, which would be the SuperCharge 100W.
Triple Camera Setup
This is what I was quite excited for. The Magic 6 Pro comes with a triple camera setup that’s pretty unique. For starters :
The main 50MP sensor has a variable f/1.4 – f/2.0 aperture, which is a very unusual range, although on the bright side which makes it quite ideal for lowlight photos. It can be accessed via the Pro Mode in the camera. Alternatively, you are also able to access this mode via the dedicated Aperture Mode, but you will be able to get as bright as f/0.95 and as dark as f/16, though those values are digitally done as compared to hardware.
There’s also a 50MP Ultra Wide Sensor, which is locked to f/2.0, which is a sweet spot for bright but with a small tinge of darkness to give it some balance.
Finally, the star of the show is a 180MP Periscope Telephoto, which is quite an unusual pixel level as the industry standard for high megapixel sensors is 200MP. Well, it’s not really a contest anyway, and high megapixel sensors heavily rely on lots of lighting, and the f/2.6 value here is the darkest of all sensors, which will really rely on stong lighting to capture excellent images. This sensor can go up to 2.5x zoom on an optical level, and up to 100x digital. To ensure sharp images even during some sudden movement, this ‘Falcon’ telephoto camera incorporates OIS for stability. Fortunately, all sensors get this benefit, including EIS together, making doubly so that videos will be stable and photos free of blurs caused by movement after shutter capture.
Early Verdict
The Honor Magic 6 Pro holds a lot of promise, especially in both design and camera. While the design of the Magic 5 Pro was nice, it wasn’t a phone you could look at for a very long time and still feel interested about it. The Magic 6 Pro seems to fix that by incorporating new materials and finishes that make it feel comfortable and look more premium. The camera design is definitely a hybrid, borrowing lots of design from the Honor 90 which had both the rounded square and circular design for the camera module.
The camera system is focused on pushing plenty of pixels and detail, while the software side ensures good post-processing and AI that makes sure your shots involving constantly moving subjects remain sharp and free of blurs.
The full review is coming soon, so stay tuned!
