MWC is a hell of a week among tech journalists with hundreds of announcements about smartphone technology coming in a short amount of time. Today alone there are many long articles to be published because we know many among our readers want to know if this newly launched device is worth it?
This is our first look at the Honor Magic5 Pro which will try again to be the best smartphone. Is the magic ability of Magic5 Pro equivalent to Harry Potter or just a clever illusionist like David Blaine?
SPECIFICATIONS
Honor Magic5 Pro
Screen 6.81″ OLED 2, lTPO
WQHD+, 120Hz, HDR10+
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor (4nm)
1 X 3.19 GHz Cortex X3 chip
4 X 2.8 GHz Cortex A715
3 X 1.8 GHz Cortex A510
Adreno 740 Graphics Chip
RAM 12GB LPDDR5X
Internal Storage 512GB UFS 4.0
Primary Camera 50MP f/1.6, OIS (Wide Angle)
50MP f/2.0 (Ultra Wide Angle)
50MP f/3.0 (Telephoto 3.5X)
Selfie Camera 12 Megapixel f/2.4
3D ToF
5100 mAh battery
66W wired charging
50W wireless charging
SIM/Telephony Dual SIM nano / 5G
NFC Yes
No Audio Jack
Waterproof IP68
Scan System Under-screen fingerprint scanner
Selling Price ~RM 5700* (12/512GB)
* = Converted from Euro currency
SCREEN
From the front, the Magic5Pro is the same as the Magic4 Pro. There is still a 6.81″ OLED LTPO 120Hz that has a relatively large oval hole for the 3D facial recognition system. Not many Android devices support this feature but Honor sees that there is still a demand for it. The sides of the screen are also curved. All four bezels of the screen are so thin it looks almost frameless.
The device felt smooth and fast when we tested it for a period of just a few hours. Because of the LTPO screen, we can feel the screen works well. The usage experience is comparable to the screens of Xiaomi 13 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra. One advantage of the Magic5 Pro screen is that it can achieve a brightness of up to 1800 nits.
Very bright but unfortunately we couldn't try the Netflix app to see if HDR content can be displayed or not. The only thing that can be tested is YouTube with a very bright screen with very satisfactory color quality.
During a short session before the device was launched, an Honor representative said that DXO Mark gave the device's screen an excellent score after it underwent tests. There is an under-screen fingerprint scanner that is easily accessible. But we couldn't fully test this because the device needs to be logged in first and the test session is too short.
DESIGN
The body of the device has also not changed much. The rounded metal frame is matched with a back and front panel made of glass. The model we received is Meadow Green which looks quite stylish. The device feels balanced in the hand despite having a very large camera bump.
This year's bump is not as extreme as last year's model. For those with trypophobia, this year's camera bump only has three large, evenly sized lenses. A flash light and a 3D ToF sensor are also placed on this bump. It is placed in the middle making the design look stable and symmetrical.
Inside the hump is a 50MP wide-angle lens with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 50MP 3.5X optical zoom telephoto lens. Honor does not use a 1″ sensor on the wide angle lens. A rather interesting result because it does not follow the steps of Xiaomi and Vivo. On the front, there is a 12MP selfie camera paired with a 3D ToF sensor for a face scanning system.
Power and volume buttons are placed on the right side. On the top there is also an infrared emitter and a grid for stereo speakers. Finally below there is a USB-C port, a speaker grille and a nano-sized dual-SIM tray. The left and right sides are rounded for comfort when holding but the bottom and top have a flat finish allowing the device to "stand" on the table.
Let's just say the rear panel, despite being made of glass, has a rather rough finish. The device does not feel slippery and more importantly does not get dirty easily. With a design like this there is no issue of the device getting dirty quickly. Honor gives away a transparent silicone frame with every purchase. With this the beautiful back panel is not hidden from the eyes.
Magic5 Pro also passes the IP68 standard which allows it to be completely dust and water resistant. In terms of design no compromises were taken by Honor this year with everything comparable to other flagship devices on the market. At the same time this also means no micro SD card support and a built-in audio jack. Since this was done by other manufacturers, we had to conform to a trend started by Apple but which has spread to modern Android devices.
SNAPDRAGON 8 GEN 2
To ensure the device works perfectly, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip is used with it being matched with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Once again we understand that this is the only model that will be offered in the Malaysian market when the Magic5 Pro is launched in Malaysia later.
Looking at the specifications, the Magic5 Pro will have a performance with a usage experience comparable to the Xiaomi 13 Pro and S23 Ultra. What we can say is that this year Android flagship devices will compete fiercely as the software gets better and the hardware also gets more powerful.
But how does Magic5 Pro perform when compared to Xiaomi 13 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2), Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy), Vivo X90 (Dimensity 9200) and iPhone 14 Pro Max (Apple A16 Bionic)
Geekbench 6
Honor Magic5 Pro – 1860/4523
Xiaomi 13 Pro – 1868/5272
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 1922/5017
Vivo X90 – 1668/4000
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – 2524/6317
Antutu 3D
Honor Magic5 Pro – 1,043,271
Xiaomi 13 Pro – 1,252,296
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 1,171,384
Vivo X90 – 1,147,029
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – 974,941
USAGE AND SOFTWARE – MagicOS 7.1
The MagicOS 7.1 operating system is used with it being based on Android 13. The new Magic UI interface is no different from the previous iteration. There seems to be a trend among Android manufacturers where the launcher interface is no longer changed but instead only new features are added. Therefore Magic UI 7.1 is still very similar to Huawei EMUI. The legacy of this operating system has not been lost even though Honor is no longer under the Huawei umbrella.
The interface elements almost look like native Android with some Honor ecosystem support that allows it to be used with laptops and tablets more easily. Among other additional features included is virtual memory support of up to 7GB which allows the Magic5 Pro to have up to 19GB of RAM. It's too early to give any conclusions about this device but so far the device feels fast and very smooth. In the full review we will do a more in-depth test to test the performance of MagicOS 7.1
CAMERA
No 1″ sensor on the wide angle lens but just a 1/1.12″ 50MP sensor. Not what you wanted maybe but the images that were captured were not disappointing at all. Here are some samples that we managed to capture during the short test period. The colors look alive and the sharpness of the picture is also satisfactory.
Among the included camera modes are Falcon Capture to capture photos quickly, AI Motion Sensing and IMAX Enhanced video recording capabilities. With these features, Honor hopes that the Magic5 Pro can be a device with a high-performance camera
We also include zoom mode samples at 0.5x, 3.5x, 10x, 50x and 100x settings. Image sharpness starts to lose at the 50X setting and at the 100x setting the image we feel is unusable. But the device we are using is a device with early software. You will do the camera test again after receiving the full review unit later.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX
Here is what is received in the box with purchase.
1x Honor Magic5 Pro.
1x Silicone frame.
1x 66W Charger
1x USB-A to USB-C charging cable.
1x Manual.
1x SIM Pin.
CONCLUSION
On paper the Magic5 Pro has the potential to be one of the best devices of 2023. This is due to its flagship specifications, amazing camera system and attractive design. But after seeing the reaction of our readers on the price of the S23 Ultra and Xiiami 13 Pro, we feel that even if it is the best, it does not mean that the selling price is not considered reasonable by consumers in Malaysia.
In Europe the selling price of the device is 1200 Euros (~RM5700) which is very expensive when converted to Malaysian currency. At this time the selling price in Malaysia has not yet been announced. Honor Malaysia still has time to figure out the most compatible selling price for the local market.
Pro
Large OLED screen with LTPO and 120Hz
Powerful chip with fast RAM and memory.
Large battery with fast charging.
Still has an infrared emitter.
Has a 3D face scanner.
Cons
Not equipped with the 1″ sensor that most users want.
Android version update support is not as good as other manufacturers.