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Regarding photos and battery life, the Honor Magic6 Pro adheres to the standard for top Android phones; nevertheless, its display technology and Magic Capsule interface deviate from the norm. Although its AI features are not as spectacular as those of competitors, its photography is still rather good, and purchasing this phone in North America will still be difficult.
Pros
- Strong photography across all cameras
- Large, long-lasting battery
- Display offers eye health and Magic Capsule features
- Better value than other top phones
Cons
- No U.S. availability
- Weaker performance than average
- Unimpressive low-light photos
- Lightweight AI features at launch
I've enjoyed testing the Honor Magic6 Pro because it's another example of Honor mastering the fundamentals of a flagship phone while also giving it a unique personality boost with a few unusual added features. However, it's not as easy as you may assume to endorse this phone.
The Magic6 Pro won't be available for purchase in the United States, but its price should be competitive. Honor claims that the phone will have some clever AI functions, however the features that are now on offer are very simple. Additionally, although its cameras are well-equipped and capable of taking great pictures, they struggle in dimly lit environments. In addition, if receiving the maximum amount of assistance after purchase is a concern for you, there is the issue of a somewhat reduced software update schedule.
We'll go into detail in our Honor Magic6 Pro review to show you how the phone manages to amaze despite some inconsistent performance. To give the game away too soon, though, customers who can concentrate and recognize the things this Honor flagship can accomplish that its competitors cannot will find it easy to overlook its shortcomings.
Specs of the Honor Magic 6 Pro
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Starting price | TBC |
| Display | 6.8-inch OLED (2,800 x 1,280), 1 - 120Hz |
| Rear cameras | 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 18MP 2.5x telephoto |
| Front camera | 50MP selfie |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 512GB |
| Battery | 5,600 mAh |
| Charging | 80W wired, 66W wireless |
| Software | Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0 |
| Size | 162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9mm |
| Weight | 225 grams / 229 grams |
| Colors | Black, Epi Green |
HONOR MAGIC6 PRO: AVAILABILITY AND PRICE
Pre-orders for the Magic6 Pro will open on February 25 and the device will retail for 1,299 euros.
This pricing places the Magic6 Pro in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, OnePlus 12, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro, which is a formidable group to take on account of the higher default RAM specification. No matter how affordable the Magic6 Pro ends up being, we can also quite reliably anticipate that it won't be sold in the United States, even if it will still be available there.
Honor Magic 6 Pro: Layout and Presentation
The Honor Magic6 Pro, like the majority of top Android flagship phones, has a 6.8-inch OLED display with an adjustable refresh rate of 120Hz. One noteworthy distinction, though, is that Honor continues to provide curved screen borders on all four sides of the Magic6 Pro, whereas the majority of other manufacturers now employ flat edges. Utilizing curved panels has never caused me any problems, and Honor's four-sided design allows you to benefit from rounded edges' ergonomic properties even while holding the phone horizontally. Still, it can be a deal breaker for certain customers.
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Honor states that the Magic6 Pro can reach 5,000 nits of brightness, but in real life, you're more likely to see a more sensible 1,600 nit "global peak" rating. When compared to the OnePlus 12 and Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Honor phone performed better than the Samsung and trailed the OnePlus by a little margin at maximum brightness. However, we were unable to test the Magic6 Pro in our lab.
Honor has improved the display of the Magic6 Pro to include 4,320Hz PWM dimming, which reduces the subtle flickering that occurs on mobile screens. This results in what Honor calls the healthiest phone screen available, coupled with the reintroduction of popular display features like Dynamic Dimming, Natural Tone, and Circadian display.Although I don't think it had a significant impact on my eye fatigue or quality of sleep, I should note that I don't use phones as often as the average owner does, and I've only owned the Honor for a few weeks rather than months or years.
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| (Image credit: Tom's Guide) |
You have two options if you wish to purchase a Magic6 Pro: the Black model, which has a matte-textured glass back, or the Epi Green model (above), which has a PU back with ripples on it. I'm really on Team Green for this phone's case since it's a pretty light green color and the ripples make the phone lovely and gripping.
The Magic6 Pro, according to Honor, has an upgraded "NanoCrystal Shield" display material for improved drop resistance and is rated IP68 for dust and water resistance. Although we didn't personally test these qualities, it's good to know that they will last.
MAGIC6 PRO HONOR: CAMERAS
The Magic6 Pro camera loadout from Honor boasts a few really special features. One camera that has an adjustable aperture is the 50MP primary camera. It is comparable to Samsung's variable aperture function, which was included on the Galaxy S9 and S10 primary cameras but has since been removed. The camera is normally set to a conventional f/2.0 aperture, however it will adjust to the wider f/1.4 settings while shooting in low light. You may easily switch between the two if you have Pro mode activated.
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The telephoto camera's optical zoom has been reduced to 2.5x telephoto f/2.6, but its resolution has increased from 50MP to an amazing 180MP. Though Honor continues to guarantee a 5x lossless hybrid zoom, it sounds disheartening.
Next is the 50MP front-facing camera, which replaced the 12MP sensor. It is still connected to a 3D time-of-flight (TOF) sensor, which is used, among other things, for depth detection. The 50MP ultrawide camera is the last feature and is reportedly the same as it was last year.
However, how does this stack up against the top two camera phones available today, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
We begin with a comparison of two very identical primary camera shots taken from the Magic6 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra, showing an antique metal park sign. The Samsung phone has a slightly warmer color tone, but both phones do a great job of capturing the faded paint and writing details.
Honor Magic6 Pro
Galaxy S24 Ultra
In order to get a better view of a seat and a flower bed inside the park, I switched to the iPhone 15 Pro Max as my comparison phone. Since the iPhone shoots 24MP primary camera images by default, the image is brighter and more detailed than the Honor's, but the Honor's deeper color makes the image more appealing.
Honor Magic6 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Standing in front of the BFI IMAX at night with the iPhone still pressed against it, the Honor picture appears somewhat washed out, particularly against the backdrop of the night sky. Though there's no issue with clarity or detail, the vibrant green tennis ball picture on the building's displays seems out of color as well.
Honor Magic6 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
The Honor Magic6 Pro provides more contrast than the corresponding 3x/5x photos from the Galaxy S24 Ultra in both of the zoom shots I took of this patch of flowers, one at 2.5x and one at 5x, but at the price of color.
Honor Magic6 Pro
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Even though the Honor ends up bleaching some of the purple off the petals, it's surprising that the image quality is consistent with the all-optical 2.5x shot considering that half of the 5x shot was taken with digital zoom.
Honor Magic6 Pro
Galaxy S24 Ultra
I compared the Honor's ultrawide shot of a tree with the Galaxy S24 Ultra once more, and this time I found that the Honor image has superior color, brightness, and contrast. Surprisingly, the two phones' grass and leaf colors varied greatly from one another.
Honor Magic6 Pro
Galaxy S24 Ultra
And last, a selfie photo shoot. Once more, the Honor and iPhone have a lot in common when it comes to brightness and tone. However, the iPhone has extracted a bit more contrast from the areas where the light strikes my skin and hair, but the Honor has done a better job with its portrait effect.
Honor Magic6 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Testing has shown that the Honor Magic6 Pro's cameras—including the 2.5x telephoto—are unquestionably flagship-worthy, provided that you don't mind that your images tend toward desaturation. Of the Honor's images above, my active distaste is only for the night mode shot; the others are merely different in that they are personal favorites. Even so, that's a really remarkable outcome.
Honor Magic 6 Pro: Capabilities
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU, which powers other popular Android phones this year, is also included in the Magic6 Pro. However, it also has 512GB of basic storage and 12GB of RAM, which is a considerable amount of memory. Which is fortunate because there is no way for you to specify more.
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| (Image credit: Tom's Guide) |
After subjecting the Honor to our standard battery of performance tests, we discovered that while it falls short of competitors in terms of CPU power, it outperforms them in terms of GPU performance, outperforming both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. As of the time of writing, we were unable to complete our test of video transcoding using Adobe Premiere Rush.
| Performance Metric | Honor Magic6 Pro | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 score (single-core / multicore) | 1,927 / 5,927 | 2,300 / 7,249 | 2,783 / 6,945 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited (score / fps) | 5,065 / 30.3 | 5,007 / 29.9 | 3,481 / 20.8 |
The Magic6 Pro plays games with the same level of capability as its benchmark results would indicate, handling racing and first-person shooter games at maximum graphics without lag. Although Honor isn't marketing this as a gaming phone, it performs just as well as a phone targeted at gamers, such as the ROG Phone 8 Pro, without any of the latter's more distinctive features.
HONOR MAGIC6 PRO: CHARGING AND BATTERY
The Magic6 Pro has a larger 5,600 mAh battery than any of its competitors. In order to give more milliamp-hours in a smaller space, this battery also uses silicon carbon instead of graphite, which is the material utilized in typical lithium batteries. Honor is also bragging about its upgraded power management chip, which allows for better battery management both at normal temperature and in the cold.
After three hours of continuous use, the Honor Magic6 Pro's battery life dropped to 18% in my YouTube battery test. The OnePlus 12 depleted by 18% and the Galaxy S24 Ultra by 21% in the same test. The OnePlus 12 appears to be capable of excellent longevity on a charge, as seen by some of the best phone battery life numbers we've ever received during our testing.
Both 66W wireless and 80W cable charging are supported by the Magic6 Pro. We were unable to independently test the speeds since Honor no longer includes chargers in the package when shipping its phones. When the phone is plugged in, Honor predicts that a full charge will take 40 minutes. However, until we are able to confirm this in real-world testing, take it with a grain of salt.
HONOR MAGIC6 PRO: SPECIAL FEATURES AND SOFTWARE
To begin with, the Honor Magic6 Pro is powered by Magic OS 8.0, a latest Android update based on Android 14. Even if you can't use them all just yet, Honor is offering the Magic6 Pro some sophisticated AI capabilities through its own OS.
Magic Portal, a component of the Magic6 Pro's "intent-based UI," serves as the hub of the device's current artificial intelligence suite. The phone offers several applications you might wish to send the highlighted text to once you press, hold, and drag it to the edge of the screen. Honor claims that the phone learns which applications you use most frequently and surfaces those in the bubbles. You can do the same with photos as well.
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| (Image credit: Tom's Guide) |
This is a clever technique to make coordinating various services or events between applications easier. Comparing it to features like generative photo editing and instantaneous text summarization and translation that Samsung and Google have included in their most recent phones, it still appears a touch unambitious. Magic Portal isn't that impressive right now, but maybe future upgrades to the intent-based user interface will boost the Magic6 Pro's artificial intelligence even more, and maybe Honor's strategy will work better in the long term than Google and Samsung's generative stuff.
The Magic Capsule is a new design feature that has been staring at you (quite literally) the entire time. It is an enlarged front camera punch-hole that, like the Magic5 Pro, offers secure facial recognition unlocking, but it is now positioned in the top center of the phone's display, much like the iPhone 15 series.
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Similar to previous Huawei phones and the Google Pixel 4 series, the Magic Capsule allows users to navigate the phone's UI using air motions in addition to face unlocking. You can use different hand gestures to scroll up, down, side to side, capture screenshots, and go back a screen, but you generally won't use this in place of standard taps and swipes too often unless the spacing and speed of movement are exactly perfect.
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| (Image credit: Tom's Guide) |
Additionally, the phone may utilize the clock, screen-sharing, and phone widgets from the Capsule for iPhone Dynamic Island design. Similar to the iPhone, this is useful for monitoring the status of one program while viewing another, all without the usual picture-in-picture window getting in the way.
For the Magic6 Pro, Honor has pledged five years of security upgrades and four years of complete Android updates. This is comparable to what OnePlus provides for the OnePlus 12, but it falls short of what Samsung and Google have promised in terms of security updates and seven years of Android for their most recent smartphones.
Conclusion on the Honor Magic 6 Pro Review
Honor has once again demonstrated with the Magic6 Pro that it is capable of producing hardware befitting of a flagship phone on par with the other manufacturers, and as such, it should not be disregarded. It has amazing photographs, a seemingly long battery life, a gorgeous display, and some intriguing added features like Magic Capsule.
Additionally, compared to other smartphone screens, this one should theoretically be better for your eye health. Although the pricing is unknown at this time, we may anticipate that the Magic6 Pro will provide a decent value for money, matching the features and performance of phones that cost several hundred pounds more.
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It goes without saying that many TG readers will find it problematic that they cannot purchase this in the United States. Nevertheless, customers might not enjoy the Magic6 Pro's slower update schedule, lower CPU scores, and poorer low-light photography. Furthermore, even if its AI features don't appear to be as important as those of competitors' devices, we are still unable to assess how excellent they are at this time.
However, based on our testing, the Honor Magic6 Pro could be the phone for you if you're currently attempting to make place for a top-tier phone within a less-than-ideal budget. Or perhaps you think having features like cutting-edge battery technology or a Dynamic Island on an Android phone sounds ideal.
Strong options include the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and OnePlus 12, particularly if you're in the US and unable to purchase Honor phones. However, given its special combination of cost, battery life, and display characteristics, the Magic6 Pro could be the best option.