Honor Magic V and Honor Magic4 Full Hands-on Review

Introduction:

The Honor brand has grown in popularity since it departed from Huawei. The company employs approximately 11,000 people as of last week, with 55 per cent of them working in R&D. Honor presently has 180 million active users and serves over 100 markets.

The Honor Magic4 series debuted in China last week, and we had the opportunity to test out the top-tier Magic4 Pro during the weekend at MWC. In addition, we finally got a close look at Honor’s first foldable phone, the Honor Magic V, which was revealed in January.

Both devices are part of Honor’s premium smartphone lines, which will compete with more expensive smartphones on the market.

Honor Magic4 Pro is a smartphone by Honor:

Honor has dubbed its symmetrical camera system on the rear the “Eye of Muse,” a fitting moniker given how appealing it can be. Now that we’ve gotten over the aesthetics, let’s look at what makes this thing tick beneath that gorgeous glass.

A special LTPO OLED on the front supports high-frequency PWM dimming. Honor also improved this generation’s charging technology, with both wired and wireless charging reaching 100W.

At a glance, these are the specifications for the Honor Magic4 Pro:

• IP68 Water-Resistant Body
• 6.81-inch LTPO OLED display with quad-curve glass; 120Hz adaptive refresh rate; HDR10+; 1000 nits (peak); 1312 x 2848 px; 19.5:9 ratio; 460 ppi
• Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730; Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm)
• recollection: (non-expandable) 256GB RAM (8GB), 256GB RAM (12GB), and 512GB RAM (12GB)
• Android 12, Magic UI 6, Google Play Services (depending on market/region)
• Rear cameras: 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0m, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF; Main (wide): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0m, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF; 50 MP, f/2.2, 122, 1/2.5″ Ultrawide: 50 MP, f/2.2, 122, 1/2.5″ Optical zoom: 3.5x, 64 MP, f/3.5, 90mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.0″, 0.7m, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x
• Flicker sensor; 8×8 dToF (depth and low-light AF);
• 12 MP, f/2.4, 100 (ultrawide), 1.22m; TOF 3D (depth/biometrics sensor) front camera
• 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10-bit video capture
• Fast-charging 100W, 100% in 30 minutes (advertised); 100W Wireless SuperCharge, 90% in 30 minutes (advertised); reverse wireless charging 5W; battery: 4,600 mAh
• A-GPS; Qualcomm Ultrasonic 3D fingerprint scanning in-display GLONASS (1), BDS (3), GALILEO (2), up to tri-band; Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD; NFC

Magic of Honor V:

Honor’s new foldable device, the Honor Magic V, is the first foldable gadget to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU. It praises the folding device’s “Waterdrop Hinge” for its no-gap design.

The inward-folding display reveals a 7.9-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a resolution of 1984 x 2272 pixels. On the other hand, the external cover display is a 6.45-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate.

At a glance, these are the specifications for the Honor Magic V:

• Body: The aluminium frame has a glass front and a glass/eco leather back. 160.4 x 141.1 x 6.7 mm unfolded; 160.4 x 72.7 x 14.3 mm folded
• Internal display: 7.90-inch Foldable OLED; 90Hz, HDR10+, 1894 x 2272 px; External display: 7.90-inch Foldable OLED; 90Hz, HDR10+, 1894 x 2272 px; 6.45-inch OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080 x 2560 px; 431 ppi cover screen
• Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730; Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm)
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM (non-expandable), 512GB 12GB RAM (non-expandable).
• Android 12, Magic UI 6, Google Play Services (depending on market/region)
• 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), PDAF, Laser AF + 50 MP, f/2.0, 20mm (wide), PDAF + 50 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (wide), PDAF + 50 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 122, (ultrawide)
• Selfie camera: 42 MP, f/2.4, (cover display) (wide)
• 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+ video capture
• Fast-charging 66W, 50% in 15 minutes (advertised); reverse wireless charging 5W; battery: Li-Po 4750 mAh
• Miscellaneous: Fingerprint scanner on the side; A-GPS. GLONASS (1), BDS (3), GALILEO (2), QZSS (2), up to tri-band; Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD; NFC

Honor Magic4 Pro is a smartphone by Honor:

Although Honor has been independent of Huawei for a year, the Honor Magic4 Pro has a Huawei feel.

Because of the phone’s razor-thin bezels, it has a very tiny frame, making it difficult to grasp. The overall design is very curvy, from the rounded corners to the 3D rear glass panel, down to the highly curvy quad-curve display and the round camera cluster on the back; the overall design is very curvy – no right angles here.

A 12MP selfie camera with a 100-degree field of view is housed in the pill-shaped cutout, and a ToF depth sensor aids portrait selfies while also enabling 3D face biometric unlock. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic 3D in-display fingerprint scanner, which is also found on the Galaxy S22 series, is housed in the lower half of the display. Honor claims that the new fingerprint scanner is 40% faster than the optical reader on the Magic3 Pro.

This large 6.81″ OLED panel boasts a resolution of 1,224 x 2,664 pixels and displays HDR10+ imagery with 100% DCI-P3 coverage. The display is also touted as the industry’s first LTPO panel with 1,920 Hz PWM dimming (for reference, the iPhone 13 Pro does PWM dimming at 480 Hz). LTPO also denotes an adjustable refresh rate of 1-120 Hz, with a 360 Hz touch sampling rate.

It has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8-12 GB of RAM, and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage (no expansion slot). The phone runs the latest Magic UI 6 (based on Android 12) and has access to the Google Play Store. The new Honor Share function makes file sharing between the phone, tablet, and laptop much more manageable.

The Magic4 Pro has a security chip that secures passwords, biometric identification data (facial ID and fingerprints), and other services like electronic payments.

The battery capacity remains unchanged from last year’s model at 4,600 mAh, but wired and wireless charging speeds have increased to 100W. (from 66W). A conventional charger can charge up to 100% in 30 minutes, while a wireless charger can charge the battery from zero to 50% in 15 minutes. Because wireless charging isn’t as efficient as conventional charging (despite the same power rating), getting to 100% takes a little longer – about 5 minutes longer.

The Magic4 Pro’s back looks similar to the Magic3 Pro’s. The bezels are slightly slimmer, at 0.94mm versus 1.89mm on the Magic3 Pro. Even the pill-shaped cutout for the dual front cameras on the front is more petite. Honor reduced the length and height of this opening by about a millimetre.

“Eye of Muse” is a three-camera film:

Even though the Magic4 Pro has five sensors on the rear, Honor considers it a triple camera system. The lower-left sensor is an 8×8 dToF sensor that helps focus precision in low light, while the lower-right sensor is a flicker sensor. There’s a 50MP wide-angle camera (1.56″ sensor), a 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera (122°, 1/2.5″), and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera (1/2″) in the centre.

According to Honour, the cameras are capable of ‘Multi-camera Fusion Computational Photography’ according to Honor. When the zoom level is set between 0.6X and 1X, it will construct an image using data from the broad and ultra-wide cameras. When shooting at 2X and 3.5X magnifications, frames from the telephoto and main cameras are combined. The technology reverts to Multi-frame Fusion using a single camera outside these ranges, between 1X and 2X zoom and above 3.5X zoom.

We’ve taken some test shots to see how the cameras perform. We’ll wait to remark on the images until we can shoot in all of our typical photo locations.

The extensive camera has a 122° field of vision and shoots photographs at the exact 50 MP resolution as the main module (albeit the sensor is 1/2.5″ instead of 1/1.56″). The camera on the UW also has autofocus and can reach near enough to take macro photographs.

A periscope lens with a focal length of 90 mm is also included in the camera trio. Although this is a short periscope, the high-resolution 64 MP sensor and Multi-camera Fusion technology allow for zooming flexibility.

We just had time to obtain some sample images with the Magic4 Pro; we didn’t have time to shoot videos. We will undoubtedly put the phone’s video skills to the test for the comprehensive review. It can record 4K video at 60 frames per second in an “IMAX Enhanced” 10-bit Log format.

The feature that takes a photo while Honor has improved the recording video. In most cases, a phone will grab the most recent frame and store it as a JPG. The Magic4 Pro, on the other hand, does the entire Multi-frame Fusion process for the still image without pausing video recording. This should result in a significant improvement in image quality.

Magic of Honor V:

The Honor Magic V is a formidable opponent. When closed, the phone is 72.7 mm thick, and the cover display is 6.45″ diagonal with a 21:9 aspect ratio. Those figures aren’t out of the ordinary for a modern rigid phone unless you’ve got two of them.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3, on the other hand, features a slim and tall 25:9 cover display with a much smaller footprint. The Oppo Find N’s cover display has an even smaller aspect ratio, 18:9, although it’s still modest at 5.49″.

The Magic V display is spectacular. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ compatibility. But enough about the cover; the show’s true star is found on the inside.

The internal display is a 7.9-inch foldable OLED panel with a 90Hz refresh rate, 1,984 x 2,272 px resolution, and HDR10+ compatibility. This is the first foldable to be certified as IMAX Enhanced. It’s also the first to feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, but more on that later.

The hinge of a foldable display is currently the focus of innovation. Honor created a hinge that allows the phone to be fully closed (without a gap). This has the extra benefit of swallowing the crease. The folded OLED screen is tucked in a teardrop shape to alleviate its strain.

High-strength titanium alloy, zirconium liquid metals, and high-strength carbon fibres make up the Magic V’s body. This results in a highly sturdy frame that is also relatively thin – 14.3 mm (which is quite light for a foldable). It is one of the heaviest foldable we’ve handled, weighing around 288g (a little more for some colours). And the weight is palpable in your palm and your pocket.

On the plus side, the battery is quite substantial, with 4,750 mAh. It’s also quick to charge; at 66W, it can achieve 50% capacity in 15 minutes.

The triple 50 MP camera system is also intriguing; cameras are typically a foldable’s Achilles’ heel. We didn’t have time to shoot camera samples during MWC, so we’ll have to wait for the full review to look closer at the camera quality.

Returning to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, it is paired with 12 GB of RAM – foldable has an excellent screen for multitasking, but they also require significant RAM. It can fit a lot of programs, games, and films in any case. Storage starts at 256 GB, with a 512 GB option available.

Conclusion:

Honor has built a special camera arrangement for the Magic4 Pro despite not having a prominent camera manufacturer to work with. The company’s work in image processing shines out in particular, but the hardware appears to be pretty capable.

It also looks good; placing all those sensors pleasingly isn’t easy. The 6.81″ display on the front may be too big for some, but this is one of the most capable OLED displays on the market if you can live with that.

The Honor Magic4 Pro is priced to compete with Apple’s flagships and the finest Android manufacturers at €1100. That raises the stakes, but Honor has put together a compelling bundle that has no apparent flaws. Aside from that, we should probably figure out how many OS upgrades the phone will get and how long it will continue to receive security fixes.

On the other hand, the Honour Magic V is one of the greatest foldable we’ve seen so far. Most people are out of reach, but well-heeled early adopters will adore it. Unfortunately, we are currently unaware of any plans to make it available outside of China, so it may be out of reach even if the price isn’t an issue.