Honor Magic5 Pro -Review - Coolsmartphone

Following on my review of the Honor Magic5 Lite I’ve been sent through the Honor Magic 5 Pro for review.

The Honor Magic5 Pro is another intriguing top cameraphone that has recently entered international markets. Its distinctive style, first rate hardware package, and intriguing camera kit will make it stand out. Additionally, it’s an ex-Huawei device with access to the whole Google suite and 5G networks.

Honor split from Huawei in 2020, and since then, it has introduced a number of handsets free of the US penalties that were placed on Huawei. For those looking for a smartphone without restrictions that is similar to the Huawei P or Mate, the top Magic range has always been a fantastic option. And the new Magic5 Pro most accurately fits that description.

With better camera specs, a brighter display, the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU, and a larger battery, the Honor Magic5 Pro improves on the Honor Magic4 Pro (and Huawei Mate 50 Pro).

A sizable 6.81-inch HDR10+ OLED panel with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate and 1312p resolution is present. It boasts a promising 12MP camera with a 3D ToF system inside the pill-shaped cutout, is covered by curved glass, and is protected by that. There is also an optical fingerprint scanner under the screen if Face ID unlock is not your thing.

As previously noted, the Magic5 Pro is equipped with the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The most recent LPDDR5X RAM and UFS4.0 storage chips are also included. Additionally, there is the first standalone antenna architecture in the market, which is said to eliminate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection interference.

The rear camera configuration follows a familiar concept but should provide better performance. The 50MP camera boasts a big sensor as well as a brilliant wide-angle stabilised lens. A 50MP ultrawide camera with autofocus is also available for macro photography. The 50MP zoom camera with a 3.5x periscopic telephoto lens is possibly the most intriguing, since the big sensor should allow for up to 10x high-quality lossless zoom. Another 3D ToF system is present. The Honor Magic5 Pro runs Android 13 with the most recent EMUI-like MagicUI 7.1. It includes the entire Google infrastructure and apps, so you don’t need to worry about anything.

Specs:

Body: 162.9×76.7×8.8mm, 219g; Glass front, glass back or eco leather back; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
Display: 6.81″ LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1800 nits (peak), 1312x2848px resolution, 19.54:9 aspect ratio, 460ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
OS/Software: Android 13, MagicOS 7.1.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.6, 23mm, 1/1.12″ 1.4µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/3.0, 90mm, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.0, 13mm, 122˚, 1/2.5″, AF; Depth: TOF 3D.
Front camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/2.4, 100˚, 1.22µm; Depth: TOF 3D.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10-bit video; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@60fps.
Battery: 5100mAh; 66W wired, 50W wireless, Reverse wireless, 5W reverse wired.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); Infrared port; stereo speakers.

Good Points:-

Premium design: The Honor Magic 5 Pro has a sleek and stylish design that is sure to turn heads. It is made of high-quality materials, including a curved glass back and a metal frame.
Powerful processor: The Honor Magic 5 Pro is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which makes it one of the most powerful smartphones on the market.
Long-lasting battery: The Honor Magic 5 Pro has a large 5,000mAh battery that can easily last for two days on a single charge.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro has a triple-lens rear camera system that takes stunning photos in any situation. The main sensor is a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens, and there is also a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto lens.
Fast charging: The Honor Magic 5 Pro supports 66W fast charging, which means you can get a full charge in just 45 minutes.
Wireless charging: The Honor Magic 5 Pro also supports 50W wireless charging
IP68 water resistance: The Honor Magic 5 Pro is water resistant to a depth of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about using it in wet conditions.
Fingerprint sensor: The Honor Magic 5 Pro has a under screen fingerprint sensor of the optial varity which I found to fast, reliable and accurate.
Face unlock: The Honor Magic 5 Pro also supports face unlock, which I found to easily be as fast and reliable as the offering from IOS.
Android 13: The Honor Magic 5 Pro runs Android 13, which is the latest version of Android.
IR Blaster ( I didnt know who much I missed one of these handy little additions)
Magic UI 7.1: The Honor Magic 5 Pro also has Honor’s Magic UI 6.0 skin, which is a user-friendly interface that adds some extra features to Android.

Bad Points:-

Expensive: The Honor Magic 5 Pro is a expensive smartphone, and its a brand the masses have yet to hear of and may not want to pay a premium for
No headphone jack: The Honor Magic 5 Pro does not have a headphone jack, so you will need to use wireless headphones or an adapter if you want to use wired headphones.
No expandable storage: The Honor Magic 5 Pro does not have expandable storage, so you are limited to the amount of storage that comes with the phone.
When ever you placed the phone face down it always felt like I was going to damage the camera glass
Poor GPU stability; throttles a lot.
So-so zoomed videos.
4K videos limited to 15 minutes.

Honor Magic5 Pro Unboxing:-

The Honor Magic5 Pro comes in a standard black package. The retail package includes a 66W charger, a 6A USB-A-to-C cable, and a soft transparent case.

The Magic5 Pro comes with a thin protective film that was placed at the manufacturing. I removed it because, well I just didnt like the feel of it under my fingers, it was of poor quality and a smudge magnet. However, we are confident that many individuals would appreciate having it.

Design, construction quality, and handling

The Honor Magic5 Pro is a dual-glass smartphone with a curved design, similar to the Magic4 Pro, with similar features such as the pill-shaped display cutout and the circular camera island on the back. The phone, like the previous one, is IP68-rated for dust and water protection.

The global version of Macig5 Pro is offered in Meadow Green (our colour) and Black, both with glass panels on both ends. There is also an orange eco leather back variant, but it is only available in China.

The front panel is composed of glass and has a modest arc on both sides, but the device does feel flat in the hand. The back features the same curvatures as the front, but the camera glass is a great showstopper here, grabbing your whole attention. Finally, the aluminium frame is thicker at the top and bottom and narrower across the left and right sides.

This matt covering on the back panel makes it feel less like glass and more like plastic. This is OK, but the panel is fully fingerprint and smudge resistant. However, don’t anticipate much of a grip. Although whenever I placed the phone rear side down it always felt like I was going to damage the camera glass.

The glossy metal frame also does not help with grip, however we must say that the Meadow Green Magic5 Pro looks stunning with its unique paintjob and matching shining frame. While there isn’t much grip (unless you use a case), the Magic5 Pro has a beautiful and recognisable appearance that is fairly likeable.

The 6.81-inch OLED screen with narrow, uniform bezels dominates the front. The 12MP selfie camera and the ToF 3D technology for face scanning are visible through a pill-shaped cut out on the upper left corner of the device.

Although the protective glass is curved, particularly along its left and right sides, the OLED panel is flat as usual underneath.

There is an under-display fingerprint scanner placed centered around the bottom of the screen. It’s quite convenient, fast, and plenty reliable. Easily as good as the one on my latest S23 Ultra, with a nice feature of being able to change the animation to one of your choosing.

The secure 3D face unlock also works as stated; once set up, it looks to be a notch faster than on the most recent iPhone models.

The last item you probably don’t see at the front is the earpiece – its outlet is exceedingly narrow, nearly undetectable – and it’s located above the screen, just before the frame. It’s worth noting that the speaker in this location has two sound outputs, one front-facing and one top-firing.

The matt back panel is a visual feast, with a camera housing jutting-out with a flat glass surface enclosed by a metal ring. The 50MP periscope zoom camera, the 50MP primary camera, and the 50MP ultrawide camera are all visible here. A single-LED flash, a flicker sensor, a multi-spectrum colour sensor (next to the flash), a microphone, and yet another ToF 3D system for depth mapping and autofocus help are also present.

The camera island is large, and while the phone will never sit flat on a table, it will not wobble due to its enormous size and support. I’ve already mentioned that the phone has an additional speaker grille at the top. The IR blaster and another microphone are also visible here.

The dual SIM tray, primary microphone, USB-C port, and second speaker are all located on the Magic5 Pro’s bottom. There is nothing on the left side of this Honor. The volume and the power/lock keys are on the right. The freestanding antenna architecture, which Honour claims is an industry first, is something you can’t see but should benefit from. The phone contains separate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas located around the phone to resolve mutual interference and increase speeds and minimise latency of both types of connections.

Display:-

The Honour Magic5 Pro has a high-resolution 6.81-inch LTPO OLED screen with 10-bit colour depth, a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. The display appears to be identical to the Honour Magic4 Pro’s, with the pill-shaped cutout and curved protective glass, although it should be significantly brighter. The actual resolution of the OLED panel is 1312 x 2848 pixels, or 460ppi density. It features a 10-bit colour depth and can display more than a billion colours.

Honour also upgraded the high-frequency PWM dimming technology, increasing its frequency to 2,160Hz (from 1,920Hz). This should improve the experience much more in low-light conditions, and there should be no ghosting. The sole noticeable enhancement over the Honour Magic4 Pro panel is the brightness, which can reach up to 1,800 nits while viewing HDR material and 1,300 nits when displaying normal content. In comparison, the previous display had a maximum brightness of “just” 1,000 nits.

Other prominent features include a Frame Rate Booster and Video Enhancer, both of which may be enabled or disabled for any suitable programme (Netflix, YouTube).

The Frame Rate Booster does what it says: it raises the frame rate of videos by injecting a black frame between each one, resulting in 60fps videos. MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) is a feature present on most current televisions. We don’t enjoy utilising it since the false black frames cause blurring in fast-paced sequences, although it may be effective in making certain forms of video content appear smoother.

The Video enhancer converts non-HDR videos to HDR ones by boosting the colour and contrast, although the results aren’t spectacular. Nothing compares to the actual thing.

All this means this is a gorgeous display to look at.

Battery:-

The Honour Magic5 Pro has a larger battery with a capacity of 5,100mAh, up from 4,600mAh on the Magic4 Pro. The phone has the latest flagship Snapdragon chipset – 8 Gen 2 – which is more powerful and efficient than the 8 Gen 1 seen in the Honour Magic4 Pro. These enhancements resulted in me being able to use the phone for 2 full days before a recharge.

On the point of charging the Honour Magic5 Pro has 66W fast wired charging and 50W fast wireless charging capabilities. This meant I was able to charge from empty to full in just 45 mins. Furthermore, the phone supports both reverse wired and reverse wireless charging (through settings).

A quick clip showing how fast the device charges.

Operating System & Chipset:

Magic OS 7.1 on top of Android 13
The Honour Magic5 Pro is powered by an in-house MagicOS 7.1 operating system on top of an Android 13 core. And, unlike Huawei’s software releases, which are constrained in some way, it’s a fully working Android 13, with full support for the Google applications suite.

With version v7, Honour has rebranded its Android overlay from UI to OS in an attempt to distance itself from its Huawei EMUI roots. A lot has been shared over the years between Magic OS (or UI) and EMUI, and elements of that common past remain, so if you’ve used a reasonably recent Huawei phone, you’d be right at home, but there are distinctions. Naturally, where the two differ, the Magic Vs aligns with Honor’s latest non-bendy models, even if they may still be on prior Magic versions.

The Honour Magic5 Pro is powered by the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU, LPDDR5X RAM, and UFS4.0 storage chips.

The SD8G2 features an octa-core processor with one primary core, four performance cores (2+2), and three efficient cores (1+2+2+3). This means that the CPU has 1×3.2GHz Cortex-X3 CPU cores, 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 and 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 CPU cores, and 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510 CPU cores.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset includes a Ray Tracing-capable Adreno 740 GPU. It remains to be seen whether and how this is employed in genuine mobile games in the future.

Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and dual-SIM 5G are all supported by the Macig5 Pro.

Two ToF 3D systems and four cameras:

On the rear of the Honour Magic5 Pro, there are three cameras: a 50MP primary, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 50MP telephoto. An 8×8 dToF laser focusing system for autofocus and depth mapping, a single-LED flash, a flicker sensor, and a multi-spectrum colour sensor (behind the white cover adjacent to the yellow LED flash) are also included.

The Magic5 Pro comes with a 12MP front-facing camera as well as another ToF system for autofocus and depth mapping.

The primary camera is equipped with a 50MP customised 1/1.12″ sensor with 1.4m pixels. It is housed behind a brilliant 23mm f/1.6 OIS lens. It’s worth noting that, as is customary, the camera app saves cropped photographs with a focal length of 27mm.

In terms of light-gathering ability, this primary camera vastly outperforms the Magic4 Pro, which had a 1/1.56″ sensor and an f/1.8 aperture. Even better, Honour added Optical Image Stabilisation to the main camera (the Magic4 Pro does not have OIS).

The 50MP ultra wide-angle (122°) camera has autofocus and a 13mm lens with a brighter aperture – f/2.0 vs. f/2.2 on the Magic4 Pro’s UW camera.

The third camera on the back has a 50MP sensor as well, however it is paired with a 90mm f/3.0 periscopic stabilised lens. This camera appears to crop slightly as well, as it saves photographs with a focal length equivalent to 95mm.

This phone includes two cameras, one of which is capable of shooting macro photos. The ultra-wide module can do it at a distance of roughly 2.5cm, while the tele camera can do it at a distance of 30cm. The UW camera is used for closeups in the Super Macro mode.

Photo Quality.

As opposed to many other 50MP imagers, the main camera saves 12MP photographs by default rather than 12.5MP. That’s because the camera app somewhat crops the edges, which is why the actual 23mm focal length is different from the 27mm one listed in the EXIF.

In any case, these 12MP stock images are without a doubt among of the best available today from a smartphone. There is no discernible noise, an incredibly high level of detail, and a balanced sharpness. Even better, the processing is fairly advanced, and every minute detail is beautifully rendered; even random detail is well-developed, which is difficult for smaller Quad-Bayer sensors to do. All of the photo samples have excellent contrast, and the dynamic range is acceptable but not excessive. In my opinion, this is the perfect approach.

As we previously stated, these photographs are unquestionably among the best in their class, comparable to the top models from Sony and Huawei., and Samsung. Shooting at 50MP with the High-Res setting and then reducing to 12MP is one approach to get less processed photographs. The 50MP photographs are quite nice, with sufficient detail and attributes that match the usual output in terms of colours, contrast, and dynamic range. Some photographs have obvious noise, but it isn’t distracting. You won’t gain greater detail if you shoot in 50MP and then downsize to 12MP, but like we mentioned, it will appear more natural. Nonetheless, given the balanced Honour processing,

The ultrawide camera stores 12.5MP shots by default, as it should – no cropping here. The photographs I took with the Honour Magic5 Pro are fantastic; they’re tremendously wide, with a lot of resolved detail and, once again, perfectly balanced sharpness and overall rendition. Corners are also expertly fixed. There is no obvious noise in the images, the colours are vibrant and true to life, the contrast is good, albeit somewhat lower than what the main camera provides, and the dynamic range is very broad. Overall, the ultrawide camera delivered decent performance and, once again, flagship-worthy images.

There is a distinct Super Macro mode, and it may also display as a toggle on the viewfinder if the camera app or AI (if enabled) determines that you require it. The Super Macro mode itself has 1x and 2x zoom capabilities, although we recommend avoiding the 2x option if possible because it is achieved by cropping and upscaling from the default 13mm view, which degrades overall shot quality. Closeup images taken with the ultrawide camera are particularly attractive – their centres are detailed and sharp, with developed objects that will undoubtedly reveal previously unseen details. The dynamic range remains broad, and the contrast is adequate.

The phone is described as having a zoom range of up to 100x, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to shoot some 50x and 100x zoomed shots – these are the two fixed locations when you reach the zoom bar. Those are lacking in detail, but you can nonetheless make what’s available.

Portrait mode on the Magic5 Pro has 1x and 2x (default) modes, both of which use the main camera. The default portraits are 2x zoomed, and they are solid – the subject rendition and exposure are fantastic, the separation is superb, and the bokeh appears extremely natural. Everything else, including noise reduction, colours, and dynamic range, is excellent. However, the quality is not as good because these were clipped from the main camera. It’s not a true digital zoom, but the detail and crispness aren’t up to pace with the standard photographs below. Nonetheless, these will suffice for any occasion.

Finally, let us discuss the selfie camera. The 12MP selfie camera has three FoVs, which translate to 18mm, 21mm, and 26mm in 35mm equivalent, or as the UI names them – Wide, 0.8x, and 1x. The camera always stores 12.5MP photographs, however we believe there is a higher-resolution sensor inside, most likely a 13MP one. The 18mm selfies are exceptional and noticeably broad – the resolved detail is substantial and the clarity is excellent, the subject is natural, and it is not over-processed. The photographs are noise-free, the colours are true and attractive, the contrast is strong, and the dynamic range is above average.

Photo quality in low light.

The Honour Magic5 Pro claims and offers amazing evening photography. There is also a short Night Mode, but it turns out that the default shooting mode does the same thing, and all photographs from the default output and the Night Mode output are similar. The photographs from the main camera are nicely exposed, have a lot of resolved detail, and have minimal, if any, noise. The dynamic range is amazing, and the contrast hasn’t suffered in the least. And the colour reproduction is superb, with realistic and vibrant hues.

: Taken in almost complete darkness

Video recording:

The Honour Magic5 Pro’s cameras can record video in 4K resolution. Only the main and zoom cameras support 4K60. The remainder are limited to 4K30 video capture, though the front one can also capture 1080p@60fps. A annoying feature I discovered is that all 4K video capture modes are limited to 15 minutes, which is most likely due to file size and file system limitations. This would be a very discouraging barrier for video artists, vloggers. Stabilisation is provided on all cameras; the front and ultrawide utilise EIS, the primary uses OIS + EIS, and the telephoto appears to use solely OIS. Video stabilisation cannot be disabled.

The bitrate for the 4K@30 clips is 39-40Mbps. The audio is always taken in stereo with a bitrate of 250kbps, and the sound is usually free of wind and other interruptions and reasonably rich. The main camera’s 4K footage is superb, with plenty of resolved detail and excellent clarity. The colours are accurate, the contrast is good, and the dynamic range is ideal. The video is free of noise, and the processing appears to be extremely proficient.

Conclusion:-

The Honour Magic5 Pro is an extraordinarily powerful smartphone with some of the best display, speakers, chipset, cameras, and charging options on the market, all housed in a stunning and one-of-a-kind IP68-rated chassis. The camera experience was as high-end as it gets these days, with superb photo quality and natural-looking, balanced output across the board. The same can be said for the video experience, but I’ve seen a few higher-quality zoomed films on other flagships.The phone lasted me two full days of use, and when empty only took 45 mins to charge back to full.

The Honour Magic5 Pro isn’t flawless, but it’s close. The phone has a slick look, and the 2x digital zoom isn’t as lossless as on other phones ( I’m talking about phones with 1″ main cameras). The magnified movies are also subpar, and there is no 8K option. Surprisingly, all 4K videos are limited to 15 minutes, which is not ideal for video creators.

Finally, the GPU throttles a lot when running in peak performance, which is a thing you should have in mind if you consider competitive gaming. But even with these setbacks, the Honor Magic5 Pro is a solid offer with flagship specs and quality top to bottom. literally has everything and it’s not the most expensive offer on the market.

But with all that said I loved my time with the Magic5 Pro and having had the latest flagship from Samsung for past few years, I do think that the major manufacture’s have some serious competition to worry about.