PhoneSentral Tech in Simplicity
This HONOR Magic5 Pro review was made possible after HONOR sent me one unit a month ago.
The smartphone is quite an all rounder having Ultra-High Density battery technology, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Processor and a Falcon Triple Main Camera imaging system.
In case you are wondering, the HONOR Magic5 Pro also won the world’s first DXOMARK screen test, and was also ranked first in the world for the DXOMARK Image test.
Being able to use the smartphone as my main smartphone for one month meant I could really test it out as compared to any other smartphones.
And thanks to that one long month of use, I can firmly tell you this is quite a device, which is worth every penny, thanks to its highly impressive camera system, and how smooth it runs.
Design and body
I have stated how I felt about this smartphone when I first opened its box and adjusted all its settings in my hands-on preview post.
Here i go more in-depth, but before I go on to the rest of the HONOR Magic5 Pro review, let me mention that the camera bump does make the Magic5 Pro sit awkwardly when placed on a flat surface, and in my opinion, looks rather out of place.
But then again, other smartphones also feature a camera bump, but liking it as I said, is a matter of choice.
But that’s the only thing I found less favourable about HONOR Magic5 Pro.
The rest of the design is stellar.
I may not favour green, but this particular Meadow Green shines with its blinking diamond matte finish with the smartphone feeling very premium in my hands.
The volume button is responsive and the curved screen makes it easy to hold.
It weighs 219g, lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max which is about 244g.
Screen and display
The screen of the Magic5 Pro is a 6.81-inch LTPO Quad-Curved Floating display. It has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, with a resolution of 1312 x 2858 pixels.
It’s 1800nits brightness level means reading the smartphone under strong sun light is not a problem.
Other than that, to the naked eye, the screen is super nice, and super sharp and photos and videos just pop out nicely. This may be the Video Quality Enhancement Discrete Display Chipset at use which is certified with HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced.
The 120Hz refresh rate means gaming is snappy and scrolling is also without lag. This may be due to the Video Quality Enhancement Discrete Display Chipset which enhances video quality and boost up frame rates.
Aside from that, the smartphone also comes with Dynamic dimming and Circadian Night Display, both to comfort the eyes when looking at the screen, and to allow ease when going to bed.
Audio system
The Stereo audio system is impressive with dual speakers located on both end chins of the smartphone.
HONOR says the smartphone uses DTS:X Ultra sound system, and I think the clarity and pitch perfect music and movie audio is testament to the brand.
Aside from that calls calls also sound great from the other end as well.
Processor, RAM and storage
For the Malaysian market, the Magic5 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen2 processor which is paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space.
The processor performs very well when playing games and doing multitasking.
FIFA mobile I love playing loaded fast and the gameplay was smooth while Mobile Legends also loaded very fast and was without any lags.
Playing games also doesn’t heat up the smartphone despite playing it for about an hour or so.
Since I use the phone more for business, the 512GB storage is much appreciated as I can easily store documents and keep photos I’ve taken. The 12GB of RAM ensures multitasking could be done without any lag.
Software
The HONOR Magic5 Pro comes installed with MagicOS 7.1 which is based on Android 13.
I’ve used a few other Android based operating system before, but I am slowly getting really fond with the MagicOS.
Not only is the software pretty light, it also feels very snappy when being used.
If you have an array of HONOR devices at your disposal, then the Cross-Device Connect will be something one would appreciate, making work easily synced across HONOR platforms.
Aside from that, the 3D Face Recognition feature detects my face within less than a second, and the Fingerprint sensor is also very speedy when I unlock the smartphone.
System updates are frequent as well, and I can customize the theme as well as settings at will.
The software also has a special eBook mode which turns the smartphone icons into greyscale mode to reduce eye strain when reading on the screen for long periods of time.
Camera
The camera is the biggest selling point of the HONOR Magic5 Pro and it was awarded first place in the DXOMARK image test.
The camera system features a Falcon Triple Main Camera set-up with a 50MP main camera, 30MP Ultra Wide camera and a 50MP Periscope Telephoto camera with OIS and EIS.
The camera system is the first to introduce the Sony IMX858 sensors with zooms up to 100X.
During my usage, I can testify that the camera system was indeed a joy to use as it performs admirably well regardless of situations.
Just to note, the photos shared below are taken without the use of a tripod.
Here’s a set of photos which I took using the smartphone with the lowest default zoom, until the longest zoom the phone can reach; 0.5x, 1.0x, 3.5x, 100x
As you can see, the 100x digital zoom produces an image which is quite grainy, but how many smartphones in this price bracket can actually zoom that far? The fact this smartphone can zoom that far is already something to shout about if you ask me.
Aside from that, picture of Sarawak laksa (food) also turned out really nice as you can see below.
It makes you hungry, kan? Something you’d expect a food photo can achieve.
When taking close ups, I got a photo below, despite the wind blowing slowly at the flower.
During the night, the night images turned out really amazing. Usually a night photo would take time to be captured, but not with the Magic5 Pro. The photo below took a second to capture and I did it without a tripod.
In my opinion, the lights at night just pop out and the images are really sharp.
The HONOR Magic Sensing is also something really impressive to have. It captures movement and jumping shots like a pro.
I asked a friend to jump as I used this feature, and in one take, I got the shot below.
Impressive!
Selfies also turned out nicely as seen below.
This selfie was taken in room light and I think it reflects my natural skin colour quite accurately.
In general, the camera of the HONOR Magic5 Pro deserves its award and praise. I like the colour tone it produces, and for a non-professional, default setting loving camera user like myself, it works wonders.
For content creators like myself, or those preferring video making, there’s a tonne of customisation for video recording. The recording is also very nice and stable as you can see below of a video I made in Legoland Malaysia.
To know more about different test and scenarios involving the Magic5 Pro camera, check out my dedicated post in regards to the phone’s camera in the link below.
Battery performance
In terms of battery life, the 5,100mAh battery can last for over three days if not used that much.
According to HONOR, this is the biggest battery on a flagship device in 2023 so far.
HONOR decided to increase battery capacity instead of giving the smartphone the fastest fast charging battery and I think this is the right way forward.
Anyway, the battery drain in considerably low.
I used the smartphone for gaming as well social media postings, and the battery could go on for 24 hours with still about 4 hours to spare.
Since the smartphone allows reverse charging, it can also be used to charge other devices.
To be honest, this is a feature I feel isn’t that important, but it is helpful when friends are in dire need of power.
The smartphone supports 50W Wireless HONOR SuperCharge and 66W Wired charging.
HONOR Magic5 Pro durability review
In terms of durability, the smartphone comes with an IP68 rating, so getting the smartphone wet is not something I was worried about when I using the smartphone.
The metal body also meant that I need not worry about it dropping as the most it would probably get is a dent although I decided to use the Magic5 Pro with the accompanying case the whole time I was using it to ensure it doesn’t get damaged unnecessarily.
I however won’t purposely smash the camera screen like the HONOR X9a 5G because the screen might not be as thick.
HONOR Magic5 Pro review verdict & availability
This impressive smartphone will be released in Malaysia soon. The retail price has not been announced, but I am guessing it will be about RM3K – RM4K. (just for reference, the Honor Magic4 Pro was RM3,999)
The Magic5 Pro should be released early this April, and pre-orders usually do come with great bargains during launch day.
To conclude this HONOR Magic5 Pro Review, I highly recommend the Magic5 Pro as an all-rounder smartphone especially for those who are interested to take quality videos and photos.
With a camera system which is as good as or maybe better than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the HONOR Magic5 Pro is perhaps more value-for-money to many, myself included.
That said, if a good camera is something you are looking for, but you do not intend to spend more, consider the Magic5 Pro because the camera is really worth every penny.
