Honor Magic 6 Pro: A camera-powerhouse flagship with a wealth of premium features
Honor's Magic 6 Pro premium flagship. Picture: Noel Campion.
Honor is known for emphasising photography, and the Magic 6 Pro lives up to this image with its cutting-edge array of cameras.
At its core is a main camera equipped with a dual-aperture lens, offering flexibility in various lighting conditions. The super-high-resolution telephoto cameras deliver excellent zoom capabilities, and a dual selfie setup with a wider-than-average front camera and a 3D Time of Flight (ToF) sensor for depth sensing further enhances its camera system.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro's design is undeniably premium. The device features a prominent round camera bump packed with a cutting-edge triple camera setup.
The back panel comes in two options: soft, grippy faux leather in green and a sleek glass back in black. My black review unit looks stunning, and I love the classic styling much better than the green, but seeing a diverse choice is good.
The front has curved sides and flat top and bottom edges. While I prefer a flat display with less rounded corners, the phone feels comfortable in the hand.
The body is crafted from aluminium, providing durability and a solid feel. The device boasts an IP68 rating, offering robust protection against dust and water.
The front glass incorporates a layer of silicon nitride coating on its nanocrystal glass, which Honor claims provides superior protection. Known for its hardness and scratch resistance, silicon nitride enhances the display's strength and durability. While Honor says the glass has ten times more protection, I still like that it comes with a pre-installed screen protector.
Display
The Honor Magic 6 Pro sports a stunning 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display with an adaptive dynamic refresh rate of 1 to 120Hz. This display offers a high resolution (2,800 x 1,280px) and, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling is silky smooth, and animations are fluid. Images and text appear razor-sharp with a pixel density of 453 PPI (pixels per inch).
The display supports HDR10+ video playback and Dolby Vision for content that supports it. Brightness levels are impressive, with a whopping 1,600 nits of all-screen peak brightness in auto mode. And, if that’s not impressive enough, HDR can reach a peak of 5,000 nits, making it one of the brightest displays in the market.
I’ve always been a fan of an always-on display, but I also know people who prefer to turn it off. It doesn’t use much battery, and the Magic 6 Pro has a gorgeous full-screen AOD similar to the latest iPhones.
Under the hood, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage—no expandable storage. This chipset has improved performance and efficiency compared to its predecessor, ensuring smooth multitasking and snappy app launches. In my benchmark tests, it scores in line with other flagships with the same processors.
Gaming enthusiasts will appreciate the enhanced ray tracing capabilities for more immersive gaming experiences. None of the games I played on the Magic 6 Pro struggled, and I didn’t see any frame drops, just silky-smooth visuals.
Battery life is another area where the Honor Magic 6 Pro excels. With a large 5,600mAh battery capacity, the device easily lasts a full day of heavy usage, and on lighter days, I managed nearly two days of battery use.
The device supports Honor’s SuperCharge80W wired charger, but unfortunately, you’ll have to buy it as an optional extra. It will work with other chargers, too, but speeds will vary depending on power and compatibility. Wireless charging is supported up to a max of 66W, and again, you’ll have to purchase the optional Wireless SuperCharge or use a standard Qi-compatible wireless charger, albeit at slower charging speeds.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro's stereo speakers deliver top-notch audio quality, with well-balanced vocals, clean highs, and satisfying bass.
For security, the device offers an optical in-display fingerprint reader that is both speedy and accurate. The icing on the cake is a 3D face unlock feature backed by the ToF (Time of Flight) hardware, which offers a secure and convenient alternative to authentication. The tech is similar to Apple's FaceID, which means it will work in darkness and is secure, unlike most phones, which use 2D images from standard cameras.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro runs on Honor's Magic UI 8.0, based on Android 14. Honor promises four major OS updates and five years of security patches, ensuring the device's longevity and ongoing support.
The user interface is intuitive and user-friendly. It features large folders for easy app organisation and customisable widgets for in-house apps. New additions include air gestures using the front-facing camera and Magic Portal functionality for seamless interaction between apps and the sidebar.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro introduces various innovative features to enhance the user experience. Status icons around the camera bump provide quick access to media playback controls, similar to Apple's Dynamic Island feature.
The Magic Portal functionality allows users to highlight content on the screen and drag it onto the sidebar for quick actions like searching or taking notes. Most handset makers are touting AI features as the next best thing, but I’m still not convinced, just yet. Magic Portal is interesting and has some neat tricks, but I’ve not used any of them after testing. I’ve had the same experience with Samsung’s AI. However, your mileage may differ. AI will take time to become more useful and do tasks for us without feeling like a party trick.
Photography enthusiasts like me will find plenty to love about the Honor Magic 6 Pro's camera capabilities. The main 50MP camera has a dual-aperture lens that can switch between f/1.4 and f/2.0 for creative depth-of-field effects. In photo mode, the aperture will auto-select, but you can switch between apertures manually in Pro mode.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 (2018) was the first smartphone to use a camera with a dual aperture, so it’s interesting to see it reappear in the Magic 6 Pro. Those who don’t care about the tech and want to take great photos don’t need to worry, as the phone's AI will automatically adjust the aperture to suit the scene and lighting conditions.Â
I took hundreds of shots and found the f/2.0 aperture slightly sharper than the f/1.4. I had to pixel peep to see a difference. However, in low light, the f/1.4 will produce better results. Something I wasn’t expecting from a camera phone is amazing starbursts from the main camera. I thought this would only be possible using expensive lenses and dedicated cameras. It’s not a software trick either, but rather the effect of the physical aperture blades on the lens when stepped down to f/2.0.
The telephoto camera has a massive 180MP sensor (f/2.6, OIS), an excellent 2.5x optical zoom, and up to 100x digital zoom. Photos taken with the latter need more detail and clarity, making them unusable, but those taken at up to 30x zoom are usable. The telephoto camera captures detailed close-ups and performs admirably in low-light scenarios.
While the telephoto lens shouldn’t be used at 100x, I have taken many of my favourite photos. You can take creative photos and videos with this lens, whether by getting close to your subject for a macro shot or a close-up of something further away. You can achieve silky soft, natural background blur without needing any post-processing
The 50MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.0, EIS) rounds out the rear camera trio. Daylight shots are sharp, with excellent detail and dynamic range. The night mode captures impressive photos with well-preserved highlights and accurate colours in low-light conditions.
Around the front are dual selfie cameras with a wider-than-average front camera and a 3D Time of Flight (ToF) sensor for depth sensing. You get a .08x and a 1x field of view, but only the 1x can produce a bokeh effect. The clarity and detail in good light are excellent, and the portrait mode is top-notch, with natural background blur and edge detection.
While the main camera's 4K video recording exhibits some softness and darker exposure, electronic stabilisation effectively smooths out footage. The telephoto camera's 4K video offers better detail and colour reproduction. The ultra-wide camera's 4K video captures decent sharpness but struggles with colour rendition in low-light scenarios.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro impresses on multiple fronts, from its stellar camera capabilities to its premium design and robust performance. Its vibrant display, long-lasting battery, and fast charging further solidify its flagship status. While it may not be the absolute best in video recording compared to some competitors, its photography prowess and innovative features make it a compelling choice for those prioritising camera quality and overall performance. If you're in the market for a camera-centric smartphone with top-tier features, the Honor Magic 6 Pro deserves serious consideration.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
