HONOR Magic 6 Professional Palms-on Assessment: Closing the Hole

MWC 2024 is already kicking off with some main bulletins anticipated from tech giants. Following the worldwide launch of the Magic V2 foldable smartphone earlier in 2024, HONOR has now unveiled its newest flagship, the Magic 6 Professional. HONOR says it has improved the smartphone from the bottom up, bringing enhancements in images, show, efficiency, and, after all, AI, given the 12 months is 2024. I spent a while with the HONOR Magic 6 Professional, and listed below are my first impressions of the system.

Value and Availability

Magic 6 Professional begins at £1,099

The HONOR Magic 6 Professional is priced at £1,099 within the UK and is available in a single configuration with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. It is out there in two coloration choices: Black and Epi Inexperienced. Though the corporate’s dwelling nation, China, has three additional coloration selections (purple, inexperienced, and white), solely two are being launched globally.

Open gross sales for the HONOR Magic 6 Professional start March 8, 2024, however in the event you pre-order the system earlier than the open sale, you may seize £250 off and a free complimentary launch bundle value £359, which incorporates HONOR Earbuds X6, HONOR 100W SuperCharger and HONOR Pad 8.

HONOR Magic 6 Professional: Full Specs

Design and Show

Magic 6 Professional provides the most effective in-hand feels amongst all 2024 flagships

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Most likely the very first thing you may discover concerning the Magic 6 Professional is how snug it feels in your hand. HONOR has given the Magic 6 Professional a quad-curved entrance show with a complementing curved again and rounded corners, making it straightforward to carry — particularly in comparison with telephones just like the iPhone 15 Professional Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely, which have sharper edges.

The eco-leather again additionally provides to the grip, which is useful because the telephone is a bit thick at 8.9mm and weighs 225 grams. The metallic rails, that are golden on the Epi Inexperienced variant I’ve right here, encompass the system. Personally, I am not a fan of this, particularly contemplating how shortly the rails have scratched in just some days. Moreover, I miss the case that used to come back within the field, which HONOR now not consists of.

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Essentially the most outstanding characteristic of the again is the massive digital camera mannequin, housing the telephone’s triple digital camera setup (however extra on this later). When it comes to construct supplies and sturdiness, HONOR Magic 6 Professional is on-par with different flagships because of the IP68 score for mud and water resistance. On the entrance, the smartphone options NanoCrystal Protect, offering ten instances higher safety than common nanocrystal glass and added scratch resistance.

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Speaking concerning the show, you get a giant 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED display screen within the entrance with a decision of 1280 x 2800 pixels. This show — curved on all 4 sides — helps as much as 120Hz refresh charge and has a peak brightness of 1600 nits in excessive brightness mode. I’m wondering why flagship makers have stopped utilizing curved shows — the Magic 6 Professional’s show feels unbelievable to make use of, particularly when utilizing Android’s gestures. Outside visibility is great, and HONOR’s standard eye-protecting options, like 4320Hz PWM Dimming and Circadian Night time Show, are additionally included.

Digital camera

Going head-to-head with Samsung

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Coming to the cameras, HONOR is absolutely pleased with their new “Falcon Digital camera System” on the Magic 6 Professional. The principle setup features a 50MP main digital camera with a variable aperture (f/1.4 and f/2.0) and OIS. Alongside, there is a 50MP ultra-wide sensor with a 122-degree FoV and a 180MP Telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom, able to as much as 100x zoom — straight going head-to-head with Samsung, it appears.

From what I’ve seen in my transient time with the telephone, the first one performs simply as anticipated. Pictures are sharp and detailed, barely on the hotter facet, and colours are vivid and energetic — nearly what you anticipate from HONOR’s digital camera programs. Nevertheless, the zoom digital camera feels a bit ‘overhyped’; something past 8x or 10x ends in a loud picture. Photographs at 5x zoom, although, are sharp and detailed. I am skeptical concerning the 100x declare, however I am going to reserve judgment for the total overview.

HONOR can be touting sports activities images with the Magic 6 Professional, claiming that its AI-assisted digital camera can seize clearer pictures of transferring topics. I can affirm this to some extent; the telephone managed to take clear pictures of flowers even in windy circumstances. Check out some early samples beneath:

{Hardware} and software program

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Android 14, AI options: all the things you can ask for

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Contained in the Magic 6 Professional, you may discover Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The telephone runs on MagicOS 8.0, based mostly on Android 14 out of the field, with many AI-based options up its sleeves. The corporate is lastly debuting its Magic Portal for world markets with MagicOS 8.0 to simplify duties with AI.

One use case of the Magic Portal that HONOR confirmed was with Google Maps, whereby the person can simply drag and drop textual content into the app, and the Maps will acknowledge addresses in messages and direct customers to the situation – though I have not had the possibility to attempt it out but; HONOR guarantees an replace subsequent month. Different AI options embrace textual content recognition in photos and gesture recognition.

Nevertheless, some minor annoyances in HONOR’s software program, such because the absence of an app drawer and the lack to entry app information straight from the launcher, are nonetheless there. Moreover, there are these pesky notifications about power-hungry apps, reminding you each day of which apps are draining your battery probably the most — as soon as could be sufficient to get the message throughout.

Pocketnow / Sanuj Bhatia

Lastly, coming to the battery, HONOR has actually taken a leap right here. The Magic V2 is the slimmest foldable because of its silicon-carbon battery, and the Magic 6 Professional now includes a second-generation silicon-carbon battery. The Magic 6 Professional includes a massive 5600 mAh cell, and this battery has actually impressed me throughout my brief time with the system. And, as anticipated from HONOR, the telephone helps each 80W quick wired charging and 66W wi-fi charging.

First Impressions

To (lastly) wrap issues off, if HONOR’s software program can match the excellence of its {hardware}, we may have one thing actually exceptional on our arms. Sounds acquainted? It is what I discussed once I went hands-on with the Magic V2 again in September 2023, however the software program fell barely in need of expectations ultimately. But when the software program can actually complement the {hardware} this time, then Samsung, OPPO, Xiaomi, and different Android producers ought to regulate this.

Honor Magic 6 Professional

HONOR Magic 6 Professional is the most recent flagship from the model. It includes a massive 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED show, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a giant 5,600 mAh battery, a 50MP main digital camera with variable aperture, and a 180MP periscope telephoto lens with as much as 100x zoom.