Honor is coming to MWC with its flagship phone, the Honor Magic5 Pro, a beautifully crafted device that combines elegance and performance in a sleek body. The successor of the Honor Magic4 Pro, the new Honor Magic5 Pro got significant upgrades and is the poster child for Honor’s “human-centric” approach to technology.
“Committed to addressing the real needs of customers, HONOR adopts a human-centric approach to product innovation, offering intuitive technology solutions to improve the daily lives of everyone,” said George Zhao, CEO of HONOR Device Co, Ltd.
The specifications list is impressive across crucial aspects of the phone, including design, display, camera, and system performance. We have had the phone for a couple of days, and here are our first impressions. After spending more time with the unit, we will write a complete review, so stay tuned!
The Honor Magic5 Pro with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage will be available for €1199.
Design
The Magic5 Pro is built around a slim chassis with glass on both sides and a large 6.81” dual-curved screen, which means that the curve is present on the front and the back, making the edge look and feel extra thin.
The star of the show is the Star Wheel Triple Camera Design, an evolution of the “Eye of Muse” iconic design featured in the Magic4 Pro.
At the center of the device, the Star Wheel beautifully merges into the back cover with curves reminiscent of landscapes or modern architecture. Gracefully combining art and technology, the design language made of harmonious curves was created to pay tribute to Gaudi.
At 8.77 mm and 219g, the Magic5 Pro is a hair thinner and lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (8.9 mm, 233 g), which features a same-size display.
The waterproof IP68 chassis is very agreeable, both to the eye and to the hand, thanks to the dual-curved ultra-narrow bezels on both sides that make the device comfortable to hold. Our review unit is Black, and four additional color versions will be available, depending on the markets: Glacier Blue, Meadow Green, Coral Purple, and Orange.
Display
The 6.81″ LTPO display with Quad-Curved Floating Screen has the same 1312 x 2848 resolution as the Magic4 Pro and delivers up to 120Hz refresh rate for the ultimate mobile gaming experience and “butter-smooth” scrolling.
The 1800 NITs peak brightness is impressive, which is one of the highest brightness levels that we have seen on the mobile market. It is even higher than the Galaxy S23 Ultra (1750 NITs).
Camera
The Star Wheel houses a triple camera module with three high-resolution 50MP sensors.
The wide camera features a 1/1.12-inch sensor with an f/1.6 aperture and OIS, which is an improvement over the f/1.8 featured in the Magic4 Pro.
The ultrawide gets an improved f/2.0 aperture that will capture more light than the f/2.2 ultrawide optical system of the Magic4 Pro.
Honor decreased the resolution of the telephoto camera from 64MP with OIS to 50MP with OIS, a wise decision knowing that having more megapixels is not a critical technical requirement for zoom cameras.
The dToF Laser Focusing Sensor is new to the Magic5 Pro and accelerates the focus process by determining if the subject is very close or far from the camera.
The front camera has a 12MP resolution with f/2.4 aperture and a 3D depth sensor.
Performance
Qualcomm’s fastest SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powers the Honor Magic5 Pro, and we have profusely benchmarked that processor. You can read our complete Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 overview to learn the key functionalities and new features.
Honor offers 12GB of RAM for heavy users, an improvement over the previous generation that featured only 8 GB. That memory will help the phone run smoothly even if you like having tons of apps. If you want to install lots of apps, this is even more important than processor speed.
Thanks to the GPU Turbo X system optimization, the Magic5 Pro should get a little bit extra graphics performance to maximize hardware utilization.
Battery
The 5100 mAh battery is the highest capacity found on the current high-end smartphone market, and it should provide a very good battery life. We are grateful to Honor for offering the 66W charger in the box, knowing that big brands adapters can cost up to $50. Some OEMs do not provide fast chargers with their high-end devices, even when they cost over $1000.
The Magic5 Pro delivers 50W wireless charging which is high for wireless charging. The ability to charge fast a high-performance smartphone is an important feature because it alleviates battery anxiety.
Conclusion
The Honor Magic5 Pro is a very exciting smartphone that looks great in hand or from a technical perspective. In the next few days, we’ll put it through its paces and see how it behaves in the real world with the near-final software. In the meantime, stay tuned and subscribed to our various social channels.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Editorspick, Honor, MWC, MWC 2023, Snapdragon and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.