Honor Magic4 Pro and Magic V hands-on review

Introduction

Since splitting from Huawei, the Honor brand is on the rise. As of last week, the brand has over 11,000 employees, and 55% of those employees focus on R&D. Honor currently caters to over 100 markets and has 180 million active users.

The Honor Magic4 series launched in China last week, and we got to check out the top-tier Magic4 Pro during MWC over the weekend. Plus, we finally got a close look at the brand’s first foldable: the Honor Magic V – announced back in January.

Both devices represent Honor’s premium lineups of smartphones, ones that will compete with more expensive devices on the smartphone market.

Honor Magic4 Pro

The “Eye of Muse” is what Honor is calling its symmetrical camera setup on the back – an appropriate name considering how pleasing it can look. Now, enough about looks, let’s see what makes this thing tick under all that pretty glass.

On the front is a unique LTPO OLED that supports high-frequency PWM dimming. Honor also stepped up the charging system this generation, hitting 100W both wired and wireless.

Honor Magic4 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: IP68 water resistance
• Display: 6.81-inch LTPO OLED; quad-curve glass; 120Hz adaptive refresh rate; HDR10+; 1000 nits (peak); 1312 x 2848 px; 19.5:9 ratio; ~460 ppi
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm); Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730
• Memory: (non-expandable) 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM
• OS/Software: Android 12, Magic UI 6, Google Play Services (market/region dependent)
• Rear cameras: Main (wide): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF; Ultrawide:50 MP, f/2.2, 122˚, 1/2.5″ Telephoto: 64 MP, f/3.5, 90mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.0″, 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom
• 8×8 dToF (depth and low-light AF); flicker sensor
• Front cameras: 12 MP, f/2.4, 100˚ (ultrawide), 1.22µm; TOF 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor)
• Video capture: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10-bit video
• Battery: 4,600 mAh; Fast-charging 100W, 100% in 30 minutes (advertised); 100W Wireless SuperCharge, 90% in 30 minutes (advertised); reverse wireless charging 5W
• Misc: In-display Qualcomm Ultrasonic 3D fingerprint scanner; A-GPS. Up to tri-band: GLONASS (1), BDS (3), GALILEO (2); Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD; NFC

Honor Magic V

The Honor Magic V is Honor’s new foldable offering, and it’s the first foldable device running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. It touts the folding device’s no-gap design, thanks to its “Waterdrop Hinge”.

The inward-folding display opens to a 7.9-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 1984 x 2272 px resolution. Meanwhile, the external cover display is a 6.45-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Honor Magic V specs at a glance:

• Body: Glass front; glass/eco leather back; aluminum frame; Unfolded: 160.4 x 141.1 x 6.7 mm; Folded: 160.4 x 72.7 x 14.3 mm
• Display: Internal display: 7.90-inch Foldable OLED; 90Hz, HDR10+, 1894 x 2272 px; Cover screen: 6.45-inch OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080 x 2560 px; 431 ppi
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm); Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730
• Memory: (non-expandable) 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM
• OS/Software: Android 12, Magic UI 6, Google Play Services (market/region dependent)
• Rear cameras: 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), PDAF, Laser AF + 50 MP, f/2.0, 20mm (wide), PDAF + 50 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 122˚, (ultrawide)
• Selfie camera: (Cover display) 42 MP, f/2.4, (wide)
• Video capture: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+
• Battery: Li-Po 4750 mAh; Fast-charging 66W, 50% in 15 min (advertised); reverse wireless charging 5W
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner; A-GPS. Up to tri-band: GLONASS (1), BDS (3), GALILEO (2), QZSS (2); Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD; NFC