HONOR Magic6 Pro
RM4,499.00
Pros
- Awesome display
- Great camera
- Battery life is great
- Good AI features
- Highly durable display
Cons
- Can't think of any...
The year is 2024. And the race for the best camera phone is still going on. I have come across so many phone makers and brands who kept pushing on the photography capabilities of their flagship phones, trying to get ahead in the mobile photography game. Surprisingly enough, many have succeeded in producing awesome camera systems on their flagship mobile devices, only to be taken over by another brand.
Most of us will know that a certain fruit company has been making great mobile cameras and a certain South Korean giant brand is not far behind. They are probably the go-to brands for most of us because of the reliability and awesome mobile camera system.
Not anymore. Everyone is now turning their focus on HONOR, who have been making awesome phones with an equally awesome camera system. Enter the HONOR Magic6 Pro – the new master of photography, according to DxOMark.
I have been using the new HONOR Magic6 Pro for the past two weeks or so and it has never left my side. It is my current main phone and also my go-to shooter right now. And from my two weeks or so experience, the HONOR Magic6 Pro has been splendid. There is nothing anyone can do to let me stop using the Magic6 Pro now.
So for this review, I will go deep into the heart of the brand new HONOR Magic6 Pro and why it is the best for photography right now. Of course, it will be based on my personal experience and testing.
First Look and Design
The most obvious difference between the Magic6 Pro and the Magic5 Pro is the camera bump. Although it looks similar, the new HONOR Magic6 Pro went for a much squarer camera bump that made it look more premium, in my opinion. The main camera comes with HONOR’s Tele-Falcon camera system with the ability to capture 180MP resolution at 2.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. More about the camera later on.
Around the front, we have a new “Magic Screen”, utilising HONOR NanoCrystal Shield which is said to be 10 times stronger than regular glass. It even received a 5-star certification in SGS Glass Drop Resistant Ability, making it by far, the strongest screen on a smartphone to-date. I can vouch for this because I did some rigorous tests and scratches during the media briefing. And the screen remains undamaged even when I tried very hard to scratch it.
The display screen impresses me with its ability to withstand hard drops. It uses an advanced material with a 50% improvement in crystal density, resulting in enhanced shock absorption capabilities up to 10 times, providing exceptional durability to withstand accidental drops and scratches.
The display is nothing less than awesome. Measuring at 6.8” all-range, low-power LTPO Eye Comfort Display at 5000 nits peak brightness with Always on Display, it is one of the best displays you can get on a flagship phone. In fact, I feel that it is even better than that on an iPhone or Samsung flagship devices. Yes, it is that good.
It comes with the industry’s highest 4320Hz PWM dimming with certification by TÜV Rheinland for its awesome display, it is currently leading the whole bunch of flagships in terms of display technology. Using the HONOR Magic6 Pro at night or in low light areas will not strain your eyes. With that being said, you will have a good night’s sleep even after you use the phone right before sleeping. I know, because I do this all the time.
On the right side of the device, there’s the usual volume rocker and power button. The buttons feel very sturdy, yet easy to press upon. Nothing much on the left side while at the top, there’s one of the two speakers and an IR blaster that acts as a universal remote control for any compatible home appliances. I actually use this IR blaster to control my TV and air-conditioner at home. And it works like a charm.
As for the bottom side of the device, we can see the bottom firing speaker, the SIM tray that supports 2 SIM cards, and the USB-C charging and data port. Under the display near the bottom, there’s the under display fingerprint sensor. This has to be the fastest and most accurate fingerprint sensor that I have used, slightly ahead of Samsung flagships.
The front facing camera is another welcome wonder. HONOR improved their front facing camera this time and now it has more features than just taking selfie shots. It now comes with a 50MP camera sensor and the TOF 3D camera for depth and biometric capabilities in the pill shaped cutout. Unlocking the phone with facial recognition is now faster, and more accurate than ever, matching to those by iPhones.
90% of the time, I unlock the HONOR Magic6 Pro with the facial recognition feature. And it is fast, very fast. I initially set it up without wearing my glasses, and I wear glasses when I unlock the phone. It can still recognise me and I’m able to unlock the phone immediately. It is that fast and good.
Performance and Daily Use
For me, the HONOR Magic6 Pro is currently the best in its class. It has an awesome camera system and a highly durable body and screen. This is probably the only flagship phone that I dare to drop, voluntarily. Even if or when I accidentally drop the HONOR Magic6 Pro, I am not that worried. Of course, my heart will skip a beat when that happens.
When it comes to performance, I am highly confident that the HONOR Magic6 Pro can handle anything and everything I throw at it. The HONOR Magic6 Pro is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that provides all the processing power for daily use and entertainment. To support the already powerful chipset, my review unit comes with a 12GB of RAM + 8GB of HONOR RAM Turbo for a total of 20GB of RAM. That is more than enough to handle normal tasks and even better for hardcore gaming.
The HONOR Magic6 Pro that I’m using comes with 512GB of internal storage. If you have the extra budget, you can go for the 1TB with 16GB of RAM variant. But having 512GB of storage is more than enough for me as I use my 5TB cloud storage to store my photos and videos.
For productivity, this is where the HONOR Magic6 Pro does its magic, pun intended. The new HONOR Magic6 Pro is powered by AI, not only for its camera system but also for any daily tasks such as search and management. Since the HONOR Magic6 Pro is powered by the latest MagicOS 8.0 with Android 14, it also comes with HONOR’s Magic Portal. It is an AI feature to let you quickly search for details based on photos by dragging and dropping the image to the right edge of the screen. You can do many other tasks with this method.
You can drag a photo to the right edge of the screen to quickly share them to your Instagram, or drag a word or sentence that you want to keep to HONOR Notes. My favourite one is the ability to drag an address to Google Map or Waze to quickly search the location. My most used feature is the drag to search. No more copy and pasting a text to search for something or downloading a photo just to do a photo search.
Another feature that utilises the front camera pill cutout is the Magic Capsule. It works similarly to the iPhone’s feature where you can take a quick glance of the background activity such as the timer/stopwatch or listening to music. For managing your song playbacks, it worked with Spotify and YT Music. Simply tap the Magic Capsule and it will expand to show the current music status.
Finally, there is the Smart Folder feature that you can add on the home screen. Basically, you can create your own version of app shortcut with its functions on your home screen, making it easy for you to execute a task based on that app. For instance, I have my TikTok app placed on the home screen. With Magic Folder, I can have a few other TikTok features to appear alongside the main app to open the notification, or start recording a video and even clearing the cache memory. This can also be done with other popular apps like Instagram, Drive, YouTube and many more.
For other things like entertainment and gaming, the HONOR Magic6 Pro is equipped with stereo speakers with one of the best sounding audio on a smartphone. It is loud, punchy and crystal clear. Watching Netflix on this device is beyond awesome, thanks to the stereo speakers and great display. As for gaming, I simply can’t get enough of it.
As usual, I will have PUBG Mobile installed. If you’re new to my website, PUBG Mobile is my go-to game for my gaming test. It is graphic demanding and requires a powerful device in order to have a smooth and immersive gaming experience. Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with a good amount of RAM on this HONOR Magic6 Pro, gaming is nothing short of excellent.
I set the graphics to its highest settings at maximum frame rate and full HDR. The smoothness of the graphic is excellent. I experience no lag or stutter whatsoever during gameplay. I can go on for hours on this device and it can still sail through without any hiccups. It can truly match any gaming focused smartphones out there.
For a benchmark test, I put the HONOR Magic6 Pro through an extensive test with Antutu 3D and 3DMark benchmark. On both benchmark tests, the HONOR Magic6 Pro shows its full capabilities in graphic acceleration and stability. It scored an impressive 1617495 points on Antutu 3D, although some tests showed a score of over 2 million points, and it maxed out on the 3DMark Wild Life. So I did a test on 3DMark Wild Life Extreme instead and it scored 4692 points. That is very impressive when it comes with Wild Life Extreme. If you know, you know.
To use all that power, the HONOR Magic6 Pro needs a powerful and reliable battery. Fret not, the HONOR Magic6 Pro is powered (literally) by a huge 5600mAh Silicon Carbon battery, the first of its kind made by HONOR. It uses the Power Enhanced Chip HONOR E1, to deliver an impressive performance in low-temperature conditions, extending the device’s endurance even under extreme temperatures.
On a full charge, the battery on the HONOR Magic6 Pro can last up to two days, based on my personal test. The battery endurance is quite impressive, reducing only 15% after an hour of PUBG Mobile gaming. If I binge watch some YouTube or TikTok videos, it only reduces less than 10% after an hour. With that, I can continue using the phone for the rest of the day without any worry. To charge it up to 100%, it only took me about 45 minutes. With just 5 minutes of charge, it can go up at least 20%. All thanks to HONOR 100W SuperCharge charger.
Camera and Photography
The key selling point for the HONOR Magic6 Pro is the camera features. I don’t think I need to emphasise this because it is rather obvious. The impressive Tele-Falcon camera system worked better than I expected. And having to secure the top spot on DXOMark for camera in photography, it shows how good the camera system is.
To recap on the camera system, here are the key feature of the camera specifications:
- 50 MP Super Dynamic Falcon camera, f/1.4-2.0, 23mm (wide), 1/1.3″, Laser AF, PDAF, adjustable aperture OIS
- 180 MP, f/2.6, (periscope Tele-Falcon), 1/1.49″, PDAF, OIS, 2.5x optical zoom
- 50 MP, f/2.0, 13mm, 122˚ (ultrawide FOV), 1/2.88″, AF
- 50 MP ultra-wide selfie camera with 3D TOF sensor for depth and biometric
- Able to shoot up to 4K 60 fps, 3840 x 2160 resolution video
- Camera system is also powered by AI to capture fast moving action photos
The AI in the camera system worked as it should. This happened when I toggled the sports feature on. It can capture fast moving subjects with my having to tap on the shutter button. It will auto-capture the shot when it detects fast movements, therefore you will not lose the moment especially when taking photos of children. I use this feature all the time when taking photos of my fast moving kids. I am very thankful that the HONOR Magic6 Pro has this feature.
As for the Tele-Falcon zoom camera, I tested it by taking a photo of the full moon. I have the sample in the gallery below where you can have a look at. The 2.5x optical zoom is great. But going up to 100x digital zoom requires a tripod. But it can still capture a good handheld shot at 50x digital zoom. The ultra-wide camera is equally impressive. I’m able to capture good landscape shots without any distortion or warping around the corners.
For videos, the HONOR Magic6 Pro is able to capture 4K videos with 60fps. The video quality is quite impressive, making it one of the best phones to capture videos, almost as good as an iPhone. It also managed to capture good depth of field with bokeh backgrounds in videos. Not many phones are able to achieve this. So yes, the video capture is quite impressive on the HONOR Magic6 Pro.
Enough talking, now it’s time for you to check out the photo gallery below and be your own judge on the photo quality.
Conclusion
For an impressive feature and awesome display, the new HONOR Magic6 Pro wins hands down in my book. It also won my heart for photography and its camera capabilities. The AI features for daily use and multitasking are equally great and the same can be said for the AI in photography. Having to reach the top spot in DXOMark made the HONOR Magic6 Pro a flagship to be reckoned with.
The HONOR Magic6 Pro never left my side. The quick unlocking and facial recognition worked great, enabling me to unlock the phone quickly when I needed to snap quick photos or videos. It is my go-to device for gaming and entertainment as well.
It also wins when it comes to battery endurance. The silicon carbon battery is something new, but HONOR has managed to make it work by using it in the HONOR Magic6 Pro and the recently launched HONOR Magic V2 Fold. It does make the phone lighter and slimmer.
If you’re thinking of upgrading your device to something better as a flagship, look no further. I would recommend this to be your new flagship device that will definitely blow you away with its awesome feature and performance. I only have good things to say about the HONOR Magic6 Pro because it is what it is. It is the best of 2024 so far and I am sticking to my words, at least until the next Magic7 Pro. We’ll see how that one goes.
https://www.honor.com/my/phones/honor-magic6-pro/buy/The new HONOR Magic6 Pro is retailing for RM4,499.00 and you can get yours here: Buy New HONOR Magic 6 Pro – Price & Offer | HONOR MY
