HONOR MAGIC5 PRO Review – Flagship Smartphone with the Fastest Capture

The Magic5 Pro takes on the competition by providing best-in-class specs both inside and out. With its remarkable design, cutting-edge features, and performance enhancements, the HONOR Magic5 Pro is a powerhouse and it’s a smartphone that demands your attention, something the company has done well as it got accolades during its Mobile World Congress reveal.

It’s a testament to HONOR’s dedication to building innovative and powerful smartphones that cater to the diverse needs of consumers and in the HONOR Magic5 Pro’s case, it is a top-notch camera system.

Here’s what sets HONOR’s flagship device apart from other flagships in the market.

Camera Powerhouse

Besides being good to look at, the HONOR Magic5 Pro’s camera is one of the best mobile shooters the company has produced this year.

The HONOR Magic5 Pro’s camera system pushes the boundaries of mobile photography, incorporating a customized image sensor, the all-new HONOR Image Engine, and an array of advanced AI-driven features.

Its triple rear camera is comprised entirely of 50MP lenses at different focal lengths in what it calls its Falcon Camera System. It has a super sensing 23mm main lens, a 13mm ultra-wide and a 90mm telescope array.

The main camera uses a large Samsung 1/1.12 inch sensor, which comes in with a fast f/1.6 aperture and optical image stabilisation (OIS) which means you not only capture images in incredibly low light settings, say for example a dark setting indoors, but you also capture an impressive amount of detail and colour reproduction to crystal clear quality which is something most other 2023 smartphone flagships struggle to do.

The HONOR Magic5 Pro’s Ultra-Wide comes in with a 122° field of view and has a large f/2.0 aperture capturing most details in a big shot you’d expect from this lens.

And finally, its periscope telephoto lens is the first to debut the new Sony IMX858 Sensor, bringing exceptional light-sensing capabilities, supporting up to 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom.

Using its onboard Ultra Fusion Computational Optics algorithm, it pushes the HONOR Magic5 Pro’s camera’s imaging capability to drastically improve image clarity at these zoom levels.

This also makes me a great macro photography lens as well. In addition, it features optical image stabilisation (OIS) as well as electronic image stabilization (EIS) technology so even if your hands shake a little when you’re shooting on zoom, you’ll still capture a clear image.

The customised sensor ensures lifelike colours and vivid details in captured images, while the HONOR Image Engine drastically improves capturing speed and image clarity. What sets the standard however is its Millisecond Falcon Capture technology which optimises the imaging process, resulting in faster startup, focus, shutter reaction, and imaging speeds. This makes it one of the only flagship smartphones with the fastest capture.

AI Motion Sensing Capture enables users to effortlessly capture fast-moving subjects and precious moments in striking detail. While Super HDR Imaging Process and Super Dynamic Vivid Display provide a true-to-life image capturing and viewing experiences.

Moreover, the IMAX Enhanced Movie Master feature empowers users to shoot and edit cinematic-quality videos on the go. Overall, the HONOR Magic5 Pro’s camera system delivers an unparalleled photography experience that rivals even professional equipment.

With so many enhancements packed in and a top-notch camera array, it’s no surprise that the HONOR Magic5 Pro has won the DXOMARK Camera Gold Label.

Design and Display

At first glance, the HONOR Magic5 Pro has a curved screen on all sides and its back texture makes it easy to hold. You know this is an HONOR device by its tell-tale star Wheel Triple Camera design for its camera.

With a resolution of 1312×2848pixels, it’s incredibly colour accurate out of the box and comes with HDR10+ support. The HONOR Magic5 Pro boasts a stunning large 6.81-inch LTPO Quad-Curved OLED Floating Display that delivers a peak brightness of up to 1800 nits.

It’s also packed with a slew of eye care features like a circadian night display, and dynamic dimming among others making it certified to be one of the best eye care displays on a smartphone. It is worth noting that it has the industry’s first LTPO display with 2160Hz PWM dimming technology to remove unnoticeable screen flickering that can cause eye fatigue.

The refresh rate can be applied between 1-120hz, which can be optimised for when you’re viewing movies or playing video games, and this helps the battery life for long viewing sessions.

With that said, in 2023, it’s one of the best-looking displays we’ve seen so far. It has even taken the lead for the best display in a flagship smartphone for the DXOMark smartphone rankings.

The HONOR Magic5 Pro is designed with IP68 water and dust resistance, offering great protection from dust, rain, and water. It can also withstand being submerged in water of depths up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. It comes in two great colours, Black and Meadow Green, inspired by the wonder of nature.

Battery

The 5100mAh battery offers long-lasting power, providing up to 17.06 hours of YouTube playback and 11.76 hours of Snapchat browsing on a single charge. With 66W wired and 50W wireless HONOR SuperCharge support, users can quickly recharge their devices on the go.

Performance

The HONOR Magic5 Pro delivers top-tier performance with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, boasting a 35% faster CPU and 25% increased GPU performance.

Running MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13, the device offers a personalized user experience with features like MagicRing for seamless device integration, HONOR Notes for convenient work and study tools, and Magic Text for smart text recognition and interaction.

The device’s self-developed standalone antenna architecture enhances Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, reducing latency and improving overall transmission speeds.

The Magic5 Pro also focuses on privacy and security, featuring a discrete security chipset, AI Privacy Call 2.0 to prevent sound leakage during calls, and industry certifications for data protection.

Gamers will appreciate the GPU Turbo X feature, which optimizes graphics and ensures smooth, high-quality gameplay with lower power consumption. The smartphone’s ultra-fast UFS4.0 storage and LPDDR5X dynamic memory further elevate its performance capabilities.

Verdict

It comes as no surprise that the HONOR Magic5 Pro takes top honours in being one of the best camera smartphones for photography, its blazing fast capture speeds have exceeded our expectations.

You are getting a system when it comes to photography with the HONOR Magic5 Pro, its unique technology to put three 50 MP lenses are varying focal lengths means as a smartphone photographer you no longer have to worry about missing that perfect shot or worrying whether you can capture something in low light settings. The fact that this puts a very good hardware setup and pairs it with software that consistently gives you a great image is a solid reason to get it.

With the HONOR Magic5 Pro, you’re getting flagship smartphone specs at a price range that beats most of the competition this year without question.