Honor made a convincing pitch to affix large gamers of the smartphone world final yr, with the launch of the Magic 4 Pro – its first flagship smartphone to launch outdoors of China.
It was a powerful step in the proper route, and Honor now desires to construct on that momentum with the brand new Magic 5 Professional. It is a flagship telephone with flagship specs, and
For that cause, there have been some strides forwards this yr by way of on-paper specs, however how do they play out in use? This is our full evaluation.
Honor/Pocket-lint
Honor Magic 5 Professional
Really helpful
Honor’s new flagship telephone is an actual transfer ahead for the corporate because it makes an attempt to tackle the massive opponents on this area. Its show is attractive, its cameras carry out effectively throughout the board and its a lot highly effective for something you may throw at it. Its design and UI should still divide opinion however total there’s so much to like right here.
- Good design and construct
- Unimaginable, vibrant show
- Highly effective {hardware}
- Spectacular digital camera efficiency
- Rear digital camera design might divide opinion
- 4K video is proscribed
- Some bloatware nonetheless current
Design and construct
- Dimensions: 162.9mm x 76.7 x 8.77mm (HWD)
- Colors: Meadow Inexperienced and Black
- Weight: 219g
The Honor Magic 5 Professional takes just a few design notes from with the Magic 4 Professional, whereas additionally learns some classes, too. It is nonetheless a dual-glass design, with glass panels on the back and front, however this time spherical, it is providing a matte end to cut back the fingerprints we discovered the mirrored Magic 4 Professional to select up.
This end is just out there within the new color means although – a slightly fetching Meadow Inexperienced – so the ever-popular black retains its shiny credentials for individuals who love that look (and do not thoughts protecting it polished). The matte design feels extra like plastic than it does glass, which we do not thoughts, however the added texture does not really add far more by the use of grip. That is fairly a slippery telephone, so that you’re in all probability going to need to add a case for peace of thoughts.
Just like the 4 Professional, the sting of the show has a slight curve to it on all sides, and that is matched on each back and front – one thing Honor calls its Symmetrical Design. Whereas curved shows would possibly divide opinion, there is no doubt this does assist it to take a seat properly in your hand, and it appears to be like pretty too.
The silver aluminium body that runs across the fringe of the telephone is flat although, and thicker on the highest and backside than it’s on the edges. There are simply two bodily controls housed right here – a quantity rocker and an influence button on the proper hand facet – with stereo audio system to the highest and backside, joined by the SIM tray and USB-C charging port alongside the underside edge too.
There isn’t any denying the primary point of interest within the Magic 5 Professional’s total feel and look is the daring digital camera design on its again panel, and the way you’re feeling about how that appears might be a giant deciding consider whether or not that is the telephone for you. It is a centrepiece of the design and one we had quite a lot of feedback on from family and friends throughout testing.
Whereas some producers could also be making an attempt to make the digital camera bump smaller, the bump on the Magic 5 Professional sits much more prominently than it did on the 4 Professional, a lot in order that it lifts the telephone as much as an angle when resting on a desk. We do not thoughts it although, and contemplating the emphasis on the cameras on this telephone, having them be such a distinguished a part of the design is not any actual shock.
Show
- 6.81-inch LTPO OLED show
- 1312 x 2848 pixels, 461ppi
- 1-120Hz sensible refresh fee
- As much as 1800 peak brightness
Just like the Magic 4 Professional, the Magic 5 Professional presents a big 6.81-inch LTPO show with a sensible refresh fee as much as 120Hz, so it could actually scale up and all the way down to go well with what you are doing, whereas additionally preserving battery. There are some variations and enhancements although, which we’ll get to shortly.
As we talked about above, it has the quad curve show, which appears to be like pretty and feels nice to carry, and we had no points with the sides missing in responsiveness – a typical grievance from all these design. It is in all probability as a lot about private style as it’s about efficiency now, although avid gamers should still want a flat design to make sure all content material is the place they will most simply see it.
The pill-shape cutout for the front-facing digital camera, additionally introduced over from the Magic 4 Professional, will proceed to divide opinion as effectively. It may be hidden in some apps by inserting a big black bar in the direction of the highest, however that is dependent upon if that’s supported, and loses you a good slither of display actual property.
As soon as once more, you get biometric face unlocking, which works shortly and reliably, although there’s additionally a fingerprint scanner beneath the display as again up. We had just a few incidents the place it did not recognise our fingerprint on first scan however total the face unlock received to the job fast sufficient so it wasn’t wanted anyway.
At 461ppi, the display on the Magic 5 Professional is crisp and detailed in use, however above all – it is vibrant. Whereas Magic 4 Professional might obtain 1000 nits of brightness, the Magic 5 Professional can go to 1300 nits, and packs Novel Show Luminance Enhancement know-how to push that as much as a peak HDR brightness of 1800 nits.
Color accuracy specifically has been a giant focus for the Magic 5 Professional, and the result’s that it has the bottom Delta E rating – which measures color distinction between the native color and the way it seems – of any smartphone.
That is backed up by dual-luminance calibration, set at a typical 120 nits indoor brightness and 800 nits outside brightness, to make sure the colors you see are robotically adjusted accordingly relying on the place you’re looking at them.
That is all supported by a brand new discrete show chipset, which guarantees to enhance the standard of video and gaming throughout the board, because of delivering a better body fee and improved video enhancement for smoother, extra detailed pictures. The results of all of that is that it’s at the moment sitting on the high of the DXOMARK rating for smartphone show, with a rating of 151. By comparability, the Samsung S23 Extremely scored 148.
This all comes good in observe too and watching movies on the Magic 5 Professional is a real delight, with an excellent color steadiness, deep blacks and unbelievable brightness via HDR highlights that basically pack a punch. It is a unbelievable display for watching motion pictures on the go, and up there as the very best we have examined.
There has additionally been a fairly heavy concentrate on eye consolation within the Magic 5 Professional, which is not a nasty factor contemplating how lengthy we spend in entrance of our telephones. However Honor has applied a number of applied sciences to strive to make sure our eye well being is a precedence.
Firstly, it has the trade’s first LTPO show with 2160Hz PWM dimming know-how, to minimise display flickering and assist enhance eye fatigue. It is one thing the corporate began with the Magic 4 Professional, however it’s pushed additional nonetheless this yr. It will be a type of belongings you may not discover the advantages of till you have been utilizing the telephone for some time, however it’ll be there doing its bit for you anyway.
There has additionally been a discount in blue gentle output (and a certification from TÜV Rheinland for being Circadian pleasant in addition), plus the inclusion of dynamic dimming that simulates the pure gentle and adjusts your show to ease eye pressure.
Whereas we perceive the goal with the latter, we do someday discover these computerized dimming options a bit of bit irritating, so we’re completely satisfied to see that that is one thing that may be turned off.
Cameras
Triple predominant digital camera system
- 50MP Vast Digital camera (f/1.6, customised 1/1.12 inch sensor)
- 50MP Extremely-wide Digital camera (f/2.0, 122-degree FOV)
- 50MP Periscope Telephoto Digital camera (f/3.0, 3.5x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom, Sony IMX858 Sensor)
Entrance-facing digital camera:
- 12MP(f/2.4 aperture)
- 3D Depth Digital camera
As we have come to anticipate from flagship telephones, there’s a big selection of cameras on the rear of the Honor Magic 5 Professional, packing in three large sensors on the again.
It is 50MP all spherical, with a return to the periscope-style telephoto lens that we noticed on the Magic 4 Professional. That guarantees the identical 3.5x optical zoom and an impressive-sounding as much as 100x digital zoom – although handle your expectations sizeably for the efficiency at these larger zoom lengths.
There’s a bigger sensor this yr too, which Honor says can absorb 24 per cent extra gentle than the iPhone 14 Professional Max, and 13 per cent greater than S23 Extremely, for improved low gentle efficiency.
As regular, the three cameras will all work collectively, in addition to on their very own to get you the very best photograph doable within the circumstances, and the Magic 5 Professional will swap up the lens robotically to make sure you get the very best outcomes. The all-new Millisecond Falcon Seize algorithm guarantees to make sure that occurs shortly too, even at night time, because of the brand new Tremendous Evening Seize mode.
It is a vastly succesful set of cameras, and you might be in good fingers throughout just about all lenses.
The principle digital camera is the star of the present right here, and produces clear sharp pictures with unbelievable a color steadiness that typically veer in the direction of hyper sensible, however are enticing and effectively balanced none the much less.
At night time, the Magic 5 Professional does simply because it says it ought to, and pulls in an entire lot of sunshine to carry even close to pitch black photographs to one thing enticing, sharp and low of noise. Sometimes it’ll take any parts of sunshine and create a falsely vibrant image, which could not be the look you’d need from an evening shot, however it’s spectacular nonetheless.
The selfie digital camera is ok for what it must do, in good gentle. Portrait mode is enabled by default once you swap the digital camera, and is offered in 2x (the default) or 1x zoom – each of which serve up stable and robust edge detection for essentially the most half, with adjustable bokeh.
AI Movement Sensing goals to offer steady, clear photos of shifting pictures too, and we actually discovered that to be the case. Even at 3.5x and 10x zoom, it captured racing horses in motion with next-to-no blur – although pictures did lose some element on the bigger zoom lengths.
The results of all of that is one other DXOMARK stamp of approval. Presently, the Magic 5 Professional is sitting on the high of the worldwide digital camera rankings with a rating of 152, in comparison with the iPhone 14 Professional Max at 146 and the Google Pixel 7 Professional at 147.
{Hardware} specs
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 12GB RAM
- 512GB storage, 12 GB RAM
- Adreno 740 GPU
- 5100mAh battery, 66W wired charging/50W wi-fi
The Honor Magic 5 Professional is powered by Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, with a lift of 12GB of RAM from 8GB within the Magic 4 Professional and double the storage too, now as much as 512GB. It is good and quick in use and we have had no points in any respect with it from a efficiency perspective, getting solely barely heat when gaming – however actually nothing to be involved about.
Sadly, the Magic 5 Professional doesn’t get the 100W charging of the 4 Professional, however it nonetheless presents a really respectable 50W wi-fi charging functionality/66W through the in-box charger, and an improved battery capability, as much as 5100mAh from 4600mAh. We discovered it’s going to take round 45 minutes to cost from empty, however you may get a great 15 per cent increase in round 5 minutes for those who’re in a pinch.
We had no issues getting via a full day of fairly moderate-to-heavy use with that, and we observed round an 11 per cent drop in battery streaming a 90 minute film on 50% brightness at 50% quantity.
The Honor Magic 5 Professional will run the most recent Magic OS 7.1, primarily based on Android 13. It nonetheless has its quirks and comes with some pre-installed apps that add to some bloat – however it’s removed from the worst offender. You’ll nonetheless be left with a few of Honor’s apps duplicating Google’s suite of apps that additionally comes put in, however so much could be deleted. You will must tinker with it to get it working the way you need it, however there’s largely not so much to complain about her upon getting.
Verdict
The Honor Magic 5 Professional exhibits Honor inching ahead in its makes an attempt in the direction of actually difficult the main Android telephones in the marketplace proper now. The Magic 5 Professional has so much to like, and little or no that lets it down.
It is vastly highly effective, has a stunning show, cameras that carry out effectively throughout the board and a stable design. The digital camera bump and design might divide opinion however we did not thoughts it – it is a speaking level on the very least.
The UI continues to be barely heavy handed for our style however it’s fairly customisable and we expect most individuals can discover a completely satisfied medium right here.
Even higher is that it is available in cheaper than a few of its opponents, just like the Xiaomi 13 Professional, in order that makes it much more enticing for anybody on the lookout for a photography-focused flagship smartphone.
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