Honor Magic5 Pro review: The new Android camera king?
With the Honor Magic5 Pro, the former Huawei subsidiary has launched its second flagship smartphone. We tested the device extensively in everyday use.
Contents
design and finish
The Honor Magic5 Pro is a very chic and high-quality smartphone that immediately catches the eye. The case is made of glass and metal and feels good in the hand, but is very heavy at 219 grams. The cameras stand out from the device in a small “hill”.
It doesn’t lie flat on the table either, but at least it doesn’t wobble to one side. In terms of color, the device is available in green or black, although I like the green much better due to the matte back. With IP68 certification, it is also protected against dust and water.
Honor’s Magic5 Pro feels good in the hand. (Image: BASIC thinking)
Honor Magic5 Pro: The display
The display of the Honor Magic5 Pro is a real eye-catcher. It is a 6.81-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 1312 × 2848 pixels and a variable refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hertz. It is curved on all four sides, which takes a little getting used to at first.
The colors look vivid and contrasty, the brightness is sufficient even for strong sunlight. It is very noticeable that the device already has a screen protector pre-installed. This also sticks so precisely on the display that I wouldn’t be able to do it so well myself.
The display of the Honor Magic5 Pro is rounded on all sides. (Image: BASIC thinking)
There is an optical fingerprint sensor under the display, which reliably and quickly unlocks the device. However, compared to many other Android smartphones, there is an even faster and more secure way to unlock the device.
The Magic5 Pro has two camera sensors installed in the display, which ensure reliable face recognition. The front camera design is much more striking than that of the competition.
the performance
The Honor Magic5 Pro houses the latest flagship SoC from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. I have already praised this in an overclocked version in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and this also applies to Honor’s Magic5 Pro.
Thanks to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, every smartphone game runs smoothly on the Magic5 Pro. (Image: BASIC thinking).
In general, the software runs really fast and really well thanks to the hardware. This is also due to the whole 12 gigabytes of fast LPDDR5 RAM and the 512 gigabytes of UFS 4.0 memory. Games run very smoothly even over long periods of time, and apps are saved in the background for a long time.
However, some animations could be even smoother, but this is also due to the software, which I will go into more detail about later in the text. By the way, the device does not get warm either, the only exception was a long video shoot with the device.
Honor Magic5 Pro: The sound
The Honor Magic5 Pro has two full speakers installed, which also benefits the sound. While the first speaker is on the lower frame, as is the case with most devices, the second speaker is not placed in the display but in the upper frame. This creates a loud, powerful sound, which is particularly noticeable with voices in songs or podcasts. There is no 3.5 millimeter jack, but headphones can be connected via USB-C.
The Honor Magic5 Pro has two full speakers. (Image: BASIC thinking)
The cameras
The highlight of the Honor Magic5 Pro are the cameras. The device has three sensors with 50 megapixels installed, which are divided into wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle and telephoto. All three sensors have optical image stabilization, so the up to 100x zoom doesn’t wobble that much when taking a picture.
The Honor Magic5 Pro has three cameras with 50 megapixel sensors. (Image: BASIC thinking)
The wide angle delivers sharp and detailed shots, even in dark environments. At night, the light partially scatters colors and details. Manufacturers such as Samsung or Google are even further ahead in this discipline.
The ultra-wide-angle sensor in particular can stand out in the device, since many other manufacturers have relied on sensors with a lower resolution in recent months. The recordings are also very sharp and this also up to the edge. Especially devices without a high-resolution ultra-wide-angle lens have a lot of noise at the edge of the photos. The ultra-wide-angle camera also has a macro mode, with which small objects can be displayed large.
We took some test photos with the Honor Magic5 Pro again and put you in this Gallery provided.
The telephoto camera also takes good photos as long as they stay in the optical range (up to 3.5x). As soon as the digital zoom starts, the photos are no longer sharp and rich in detail, over 10x the pictures are sometimes just pixelated.
Videos are possible in 4K with 60 frames per minute, but unfortunately this number of minutes is limited to 15. This is particularly annoying for video creators like me, since they like to tear the maximum from time to time.
Honor Magic5 Pro: The software
The software was my biggest criticism of the previous model, which made it very difficult for me to recommend the Magic4 Pro despite the ingenious hardware. This is a little different with the Honor Magic5 Pro, the software now seems much more mature, but still very “Huawei-heavy”. The device runs MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13. However, I would prefer a new approach with a “lighter” design style.
Honor still has many of its own apps, some of which are more or less useful. I particularly like the gallery app, which offers many custom settings and filters. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t have needed the “Honor Market”, which is very reminiscent of the Huawei App Gallery (although Honor emphasizes how independent they are two years after the sale of Huawei).
Also very pleasing: Honor now promises three major OS upgrades for this device, as well as five years of security patches. More than necessary for this price, but Samsung still offers four and five years.
battery pack
The Honor Magic5 Pro has a 5100 mAh battery that can be recharged with 66 watts via cable or 50 watts wirelessly. This is very fast for the price range compared to Samsung, Apple or Google, but the predecessor could be charged with 100 watts.
Even wired and wireless, which Honor marketed very strongly. The company does not give an exact reason for the step backwards, I just think that this technology was probably very expensive, too expensive to be able to continue to use it. The priority was to increase battery capacity rather than charging speed.
The Magic5 Pro’s battery is recharged with 66 watts via cable. (Image: BASIC thinking)
The device still lasts longer than average, which will also be due to the new processor from Qualcomm. I’m always able to get through the day without any problems and with a 5-10 minute charge, a long evening in Berlin’s bar district was no problem either. However, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra still lasts longer.
If you want, you can also charge headphones or your smartwatch on the back of the device, as long as they support the Qi charging standard. So Honor made a few adjustments to the battery, and in the end they were the right ones.
Honor Magic5 Pro: Conclusion
The Honor Magic5 Pro is an impressive smartphone with many pros and a few cons. It has one of the best displays, with the best workmanship and a large battery with fast charging, as well as one of the best cameras in an Android phone. I still miss an own design language in the software, as well as a better zoom camera.
In addition, the limitation of videos in 4K to 15 minutes is annoying. If you are looking for an alternative for your old Huawei smartphone and are willing to pay 1199 euros for a successor, you will be very satisfied with the Magic5 Pro. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or Google Pixel 7 Pro can also be mentioned as alternatives.
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