There was a time when Honor stood for a brand for young adults looking for quality at an affordable price. A little sister of the ogre Huawei, which offered quite similar products, but aimed at a young and connected target, has been sailing alone for a few years now. She has broadened her audience and has abandoned just online sales to see further and bigger. From now on, the Asian manufacturer also wants to play on the high-end court and counts on its premium brand.
The Magic5 Pro is thus its new flagship, capable of shining for its design, photographic quality, autonomy and power. But at a price far from affordable models. At 1199 euros, it is clearly positioned against market leaders such as the iPhone 14 Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S23 or the Xiaomi 13 Pro. Do you have the means for your ambitions? We spent some time with him to check it out.
Its advantages
Photo: Versatility
The Magic range’s number one asset is its photography ambitions. The Magic5 Pro is equipped with a triple photosensor on the rear that plays on versatility (50 Mpx main sensor with laser autofocus, 50 Mpx 122° ultra-wide angle, 50 Mpx telephoto). Added to this is a ToF depth sensor, as well as color temperature and flicker sensors that, together with built-in algorithms, will work to improve photo reproduction.
HDR rendering is detailed and color accurate. It’s mostly true to preview and the camera shoots fast so you don’t miss a movement or a moment. In addition, the brightness is quite balanced, “burnt” areas in the background are rare. The Magic5 Pro also works great in low light or at night, without even having to use the dedicated mode. Even in complete darkness, the device distinguishes the subject, even if the result will inevitably lack precision.
The zoom is also a very strong point of the device. It offers 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. To get to that level, it’s better to put the Magic5 Pro on a stand for more stability, but the rendering is quite qualitative for a zoom with which photos always lack precision.
Portrait mode is very effective with a well-cropped subject and sharp background blur, which gives depth and is quite nice. The selfie thanks to the dual 12 Mpx front camera does its job, but nothing extraordinary. At night it will be a little more collected, with the sensation of creating a luminous area around the face. The artificial intelligence catch-up (which can be activated or not) allows you to beautify the subject, in a less marked way than with other manufacturers (you can check the shape of your face, your tint, your features… without being excessive).
Above all, the AI allows you to automate the choice of the photo sensor depending on the scene (if you get too close, the smartphone switches to macro mode. It offers ultra-wide angle if it distinguishes many elements). This is quite useful when you want to quickly take a photo. Another rather interesting element: the intelligence built into the Magic5 Pro is a great support for photos on the move. He is particularly capable of understanding a jump and capturing the highest point on the fly to immortalize it.
The smartphone offers a very comprehensive and efficient Pro mode, as well as a RAW mode for taking very high-quality photos for easy editing later. Note that in video, the Magic5 Pro holds its own particularly well. It lets you shoot in 4K at 60fps, in HDR10+, or in a more customizable 10-bit mode.
A very elegant and original design
It has the merit of originality. Where the competition places photosensors in squares, rectangles, or bare top left, Honor chooses a domed center circle at the back. It could have been unsightly, it is elegantly designed and we ended up forgetting about the imposing size of the module. Even the triangular positioning of the lenses blends in with the whole. The only defect that we can find is that it is potentially wobbly placed on a table, but ultimately like the others, in another genre.
Available in green or black, the Honor Magic5 Pro has a coating that does not take fingerprints. Despite its rather large size, the phone is quite easy to handle with its longer form factor. The only drawback of the design – rather thin screen protector, which will not like contact with keys or any other elements and easily “bursts” (but not necessarily scratches).
A high color and quality screen
The 6.8-inch AMOLED display is nice, bright, contrasty, and bright in all circumstances (1800 nits max brightness). Honor had promised a technology that does not tire the eyes, that adapts to the brightness of the environment and the time of day. The result is real comfort for the eyes.
The curved edges of the device, pushed to the max, make it extremely immersive, especially when watching videos or photos. This adds to the elegance and sets it apart from competitive edges that have gone straight in the footsteps of the iPhone. It could be slippery, but Honor had the good idea to provide a transparent case that prevents soapy effect. There is a selfie sensor (12 Mpx) and a 3D sensor on a tablet to enable facial recognition. This is meant to be even more secure and responsive. Under the screen, there is also a fingerprint reader to unlock the device that reacts well and quickly.
To top it off, it’s HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced certified. This latest technology will particularly benefit compatible Marvel content offered on Disney+.
power to do it all
The Honor Magic5 Pro incorporates the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or the Xiaomi 13 Pro. Suffice it to say that it is capable of anything without flinching. You can try it in the type of greedy games. Fortnite, Asphalt EITHER Genshin Impact. It supports resource loading and barely gets warm. It is smooth when opening and closing applications, linking with each other. The Qualcomm chip also contributes its knowledge of photography and autonomy for the greater good of the whole.
Autonomy and recharge
Complete at all levels, it does not forget the load or autonomy. The Honor Magic5 Pro shows a good day and a half of quite intensive use (mobile games, browsing, email, video, calls, etc.). It has a 66W fast charge and a charger supplied to connect to a power outlet. It is also compatible with wireless charging (up to 50W). We recovered close to 80% battery in just over 30 minutes and a full charge in almost 45 minutes.
Conclusion
We searched for reservations for this high-end smartphone and didn’t really find any, except to quibble a bit. It is true that the price is far from the ambitions of Honor’s past, which promised first-class mid-range for less than 500 euros. Making the emancipation, the Chinese manufacturer will walk on premium toes and does it perfectly well. The Magic5 Pro is a success on every level, from photographic versatility (even if the ultra-wide angle is far from the most impressive in its category) to the ability to offer long battery life and fast charging. All this with an excellent design and screen. If you have the necessary 1200 euros (for 512 GB of ultra-fast storage and 12 GB of RAM anyway), you will get your money’s worth, with some concessions compared to the more expensive models.
And if you want reasons not to crack, MagicOS’s home interface isn’t the most ergonomic or fluid, but we survived it. We can regret that at this price, the Magic5 Pro does not support Wi-Fi 6E.
Source: BFM TV
