Honor explained its new “dual flagship” strategy today; both product lines, one being the traditional number series and the other being the Magic V foldables, share the “Magic” moniker. There have been exciting Magic Vs developments, but we’ll talk about those in another article.
Today’s main event was the introduction of the new Honor Magic5 and Magic5 Pro flagships (no Ultimate, not yet, at least).
Honor Magic5 Pro :
The Star Wheel Triple Camera system is an evolution of the “Eye of Muse” camera ring design from the previous version. What you need to know is that the camera has switched to a triple 50MP setup after putting marketing titles aside.
The primary module has a bright f/1.6 aperture and a 1/1.12″ customised sensor. In terms of light-gathering capacity, this is a vast improvement over the Magic4 Pro, which had a 1/1.56″ sensor and an f/1.8 lens. And Honor turned on optical image stabilisation for the primary camera (the Magic4 Pro skipped OIS). The f/2.0 lens on the 50MP ultra wide-angle (122°) camera is also brighter than the f/2.2 aperture.
The periscope module has undergone major modification. Instead of a 64MP camera, it now has a 50MP Sony IMX858 sensor. With a brighter f/3.0 lens instead of f/3.5, the lens still provides 3.5x optical magnification and adds an Ultra Fusion Computational Optics technology to provide high-quality digital zoom up to 100x.
A variety of sensors, including a 3D ToF laser for focusing, a multi-spectrum sensor for colour temperature, and a flicker sensor, as well as sophisticated software functions, support the camera system. The Magic5 Pro will serve as the official camera for the attempt on the World’s Highest Between The Legs Slam Dunk mark thanks to a partnership between Honor and Guinness World Records. And using the AI Motion Sensor Capture mode, it did it instantly.
Users can record and edit movies on their phones using the IMAX Enhanced Movie Master. Speaking of recording 4K video, the phone can do so at 60 frames per second in either Magic-Log 10-bit log format or HDR10+.
If you glance around the phone, you’ll notice its curved design, which is said to have been influenced by Antoni Gaud’s designs. Gaud is the architect responsible for many daring and unique masterpiece buildings in Barcelona, where MWC is held annually.
The 6.81″ monitor has four curved edges. The large LTPO screen has a 120Hz refresh rate. It has the same 1,312 x 2,848 pixel size as last year’s model, giving it a pixel density of 461ppi.
It can achieve a maximum HDR brightness of 1,800 nits with an improved construction (close to double the 1,000 nits peak of the Magic4 Pro). It employs high-frequency PWM dimming at 2,160Hz when it needs to go low. Additionally, the monitor has been tested for colour accuracy at two different brightness levels: 120 nits indoors and 800 nits outdoors. This 10-bit screen is HDR10+ compatible. It also has a strong filmmaking background thanks to its IMAX Enhanced accreditation. The enjoyment potential is also increased by stereo speakers with DTS:X Ultra.
Upper left portion of the front has a pill-shaped cutout for a dual sensor. One is a 12MP sensor (f/2.4, fixed focus) for the face camera, and the other is a 3D depth sensor. This makes 3D facial recognition possible; the display also includes a fingerprint reader.
Time to talk about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which controls everything. Honor equipped it with 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage and 12GB of LPDDR5X Memory. The phone comes pre-installed with Android 13 and MagicUI 7.1. Since Honor also included a lot of custom hardware in the phone, this will only be a brief remark.
Additionally, Honor claims to have the industry’s first Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standalone antenna architecture, which should increase Wi-Fi 6 speed by up to 200% and decrease latency by as much as 30%.
The phone has a 5,100mAh battery that can be quickly recharged using 66W wired and 50W cordless SuperCharge. The package contains the required charger.
Honor Magic5 :
While dialled back, the Honor Magic5 is comparable to its Pro brother. The 6.73″ display—while still quite large—is the first in this. Maximum HDR luminance is 1,600 nits. However, this is much greater than the Magic4 Pro was capable of.
The camera on the standard edition has a 54MP main (1.49″), 50MP ultra-wide, and 32MP telephoto module, which is a more notable change.
Although the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset is the same in the Magic5, the RAM setup is 8/256GB. Additionally, the phone has the same 5,100mAh capacity as the Pro but is a millimetre thinner and enables 66W wired SuperCharge (no wireless, though).
Pricing and availability :
The period from April to June will see the release of the Honor Magic5 line. The Magic5 Pro is available in Glacier Blue, Grass Green, Coral Purple, Orange, and Black, while the standard Magic5 is available in Blue and Black.
The Honor Magic5 Pro is only offered in the 12/512GB version, which costs €1,200 (roughly $1,270/£1,055/105,000). At €900 ($950/£795/78,500), the standard Magic5 (8/256GB) will be considerably more reasonable.
