© Lemon squeezer
It was one of the stars of MWC 2023. This is the Magic5 Pro, the latest flagship of Chinese Honor. Like Xiaomi, the one who took his independence from “the one whose name must not be pronounced” is betting on ultra-premium to conquer the hearts of users.
A bold bet, especially since Honor, like Xiaomi, goes the opposite of what has made its reputation: excellent value for money.
With the Magic5 Pro, Honor intends to show that it also knows how to make excellent high-end smartphones. And that it’s not just Samsung and Apple in life. Really?
To be clear, we replaced our Galaxy S23 Ultra with the Magic5 Pro for almost a month. So, a successful bet ?
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
To play his act, the Magic5 Pro puts on his best costume. Its green/blue glass cape sparkles in the light like a disco ball. Wow effect guaranteed!
Beyond its impeccable design, the Magic5 Pro is distinguished by its imposing photo module, called Star Wheel . Round in shape, it occupies a good third of the rear surface. This aesthetic choice (inspired by Antoine Gaudí) has the merit of being original… and practical. Unlike modules offset on one side, this allows you to handle the smartphone placed on a flat surface without it moving.
At the front, the screen waterfall(dives towards the edges) occupies almost the entire surface. Since the borders are almost non-existent, Honor has positioned the fingerprint sensor under the screen. The front sensor is placed in a capsule-shaped punch and allows unlocking by 3D facial recognition.
In use, the Magic5 Pro is very pleasant to handle… with two hands. In cold weather, the frosted glass on the back tends to slip from the hands. Of course, the smartphone is IP68 certified, but we prefer to avoid any dangerous maneuvers.
Because the Magic5 Pro is a beautiful baby.Its dimensions and weight (162.9 x 76.7 x 8.8 mm for 219 g) place it in the behemoth family. If giant smartphones aren't your thing, move on. Otherwise, it's hard not to fall for this Magic5 Pro.
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
To impress. This is the objective that Honor has set for itself with its Magic5 Pro. As for the screen, it’s a real success. Equipped with a AMOLED LTPO 2 panel of 6.81'', this new star displays content on a QHD+ screen in 19.5:9.~60 format ~/p>
And what a screen! A billion colors, brightness of 1 300 nits (peaking at 1 800 nits in HDR), HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced certification, refresh rate of 120 Hz, it's all there.
With this latest hardware, the Magic5 Pro necessarily produces an image of excellent quality. The screen is simply beautiful.
For those who are more fussy, precise adjustments are available in the display settings. You can adjust the colors, fluidity or improve the image.
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Like the majority of high-end smartphones of 2023, the Magic5 Pro features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, Qualcomm's latest innovation. It comes with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM as well as 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
This technical arsenal allows Honor's latest flagship to display very high scores on the various benchmarks, testifying to its high level of performance.
The Magic5 Pro can do it all, quickly and well. In a month of testing we have never succeeded in failing him, despite our desire to push him to the limit. 4K editing, demanding games, photo editing, nothing scares him.
We have just detected a slight tendency towards heatingafter several tens of minutes of 3D gaming, but nothing that leads to a situation of discomfort. In case of overheating, the system temporarily reduces performance anyway (throttling) to calm this fever.
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
Performing well is good. But ensuring a complete tour is better. Thanks to its 5 100 mAh battery, the Magic5 Pro puts on a show for a day and a half, if you're particularly demanding. It will last two days with normal use and activating energy saving modes at the end of the day.
Without being the most durable (a little over 19 hours in multi-purpose use according to the 01Lab lab), the Magic5 Pro still ranks among the best smartphones on the market in this area.
Delivered with a 66 W charger (compared to 100 W for the previous generation), it recharges to 57% in 20 minutes (according to 01Lab data) and regains all its energy in 49 minutes. It is therefore not the fastest but its performance remains very good.
Let's add to this 50 W wireless charging (which unfortunately we were not able to test because we were not equipped with this type of charger) and reverse charging. In summary, the winning trio essential to any good ultra-premium smartphone, plus the charger provided (hello Apple and Samsung).
© Lemon squeezer
© Lemon squeezer
Honor knew it: to compete with Apple or Samsung, it was essential to offer an impeccable photographic experience. To put all the chances on its side, the manufacturer has therefore gone all out on the equipment. The Magic5 Pro camera module therefore consists of:
- a 50 Mpxl sensor (1/1.2” size); wide-angle lens (f/1.6); hybrid laser autofocus + phase detection; optical stabilization
- a 50 Mpxl sensor (1/2.5” size); ultra-wide-angle lens (f/2.0); 122° viewing angle; autofocus
- a 50 Mpxl sensor; telephoto (f/3.0); 3.5x periscopic optical zoom; dual optical and electronic stabilization
- a ToF sensor evaluating the depth of the scene to be shot
At the front, selfie enthusiasts can rely on a 12 Mpxl sensor (1.22 μm photosites) accompanied by a wide-angle lens (f/2.4) and of a 3D module for facial recognition.
Let's take a quick look at the performance of the front sensor since it is identical in every way to that of the Magic4 Pro.
Selfie quality is good but sometimes tends to overexpose the background in bright environments. Also remember to deactivate the AI if you don't want to look like a doll, as the beautification mode tends to force the smoothing of the skin. The self-portrait mode turns out to be correct, nothing more, the fault of hazardous clipping in certain situations.
Let's get down to business: what is the 50 Mpxl triple sensor of the Magic5 Pro worth?? We expected a lot, with Honor promising wonders during its conference. Overall, we were not disappointed.
Daytime, outdoors or indoors, the images produced with the three optics are of excellent quality.You won't be surprised to learn that the main sensor is of course the most impressive. But the telephoto lens and the ultra-wide-angle are not unworthy, even if the shots produced by the latter lose some sharpness. Be careful once again with the AI which tends to boost colors too much in broad daylight, especially the sky or the treetops.
At a distance, the Magic5 Pro is very convincing. The 3.5x zoom is impressive, particularly in its retention of details. Beyond that, we gradually lose quality but the photos remain usable up to a 30x or even 50x zoom. The promise of 100x zoom shots remains purely marketing, the results being more like a watercolor than a photograph.
Ultra wide angle
Big angle
3.5x zoom
10x zoom
Ultra wide angle
Big angle
3.5x zoom
10x zoom
3.5x zoom
100x zoom
Le portrait mode is also successfulwith two zoom levels and the use of the ToF sensor to better manage depth of field. We still hoped for more, especially on complex scenes. Photos of flowers or trees are sometimes missed, so we turn to the standard mode, the main sensor already allowing us to obtain a convincing natural blur.
Portrait (3.5x zoom)
Portrait (standard)
In low light and at night, the Magic5 Pro does well (especially its main sensor) but never reaches the level market references. The loss of detail is greater and the result varies too much depending on the sensor used.
Finally, we should point out that the Magic5 Pro has AI Motion Sensing Capture technology, allowing you to capture moving subjects. To capture the moment, the smartphone records images one second before pressing the button and stops 0.5 seconds after. He then chooses the most successful photo. All this, without you having time to blink, obviously.
The magic of cinema
The Magic5 Pro is at least as good at video as it is at photos. Capable of filming up to 8K (without optical stabilization) or in 4K at 60 fps (which we recommend), it produces excellent images.
Honor offers capture in HDR10+ (limited to 4K at 30 fps) or 10-bit LOG (a sort of equivalent of RAW for video, which videographers really appreciate). The videos produced are detailed and fluid with excellent stabilization.
To make the experience even more creative, Honor offers LUTs (a sort of colorimetric filter allowing you to bring a particular atmosphere to your production) or the Story mode which allows you to create videos adapted to the formats of social networks (notably TikTok) .
Only regret in this idyllic picture: the slow motion mode is limited to 240 fps when the competition goes up to 980 fps.
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1200 euros, this is the price requested by Honor to offer you the Magic5 Pro experience. A price which, like its competitors, seems exorbitant to us for a smartphone.
This pricing positioning is all the more difficult to justify as Honor is making a return to the market, after a few years of absence.
Yes, ultra-premium smartphones are selling well while the market is declining. But the ultra-premium segment is mainly driven by Apple and, far behind, Samsung.
Technically, it's difficult to fault the Magic5 Pro for anything. In its evening outfit, it has all the ingredients of a good premium smartphone. Efficient, enduring, gifted in photography and video, he knows how to do everything, quickly and well.
The only thing is: the Magic5 Pro costs 1 200 euros and is therefore positioned directly opposite the latest flagships from Apple and Samsung. The question is therefore simple: if you had 1,200 euros in your pocket, would you buy a Magic5 Pro, an iPhone 14 or a Galaxy S23 Plus? For many, “ the question is quickly answered.”
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