HONOR Magic 5 Pro Review: The best HONOR smartphone to date

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: design and finish

The design of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro takes many features from previous models. Softly shaped curves, a filigree handle and clear, modern lines characterize the aesthetic style of this smartphone. The most striking design feature remains the circular camera unit on the back, which elegantly and seamlessly emerges from the back.

Measuring 162,9 x 76,7 x 8,77mm and weighing 219g, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro is one of the larger models on the market. However, the curvy design and the high weight ensure a pleasant and high-quality hand feeling. Due to the large camera unit, the device is a bit more top-heavy than some other models. It also doesn't lie flat on a flat surface and wobbles minimally, depending on where you touch the display.

In terms of colors, HONOR is limited to “Black” and “Meadow Green” in Europe. In other markets, the smartphone is available in other colors, such as orange leather. My test device, which had a black piano lacquer look, was extremely susceptible to fingerprints. As soon as I unpacked it for the first time, the back of it was paved. In contrast, the smartphone in matte Meadow Green is said to be less susceptible to fingerprints, but also feels more slippery in the hand.

Regardless of the color, the back is made of tempered glass that flows boldly into the aluminum frame. Unfortunately, HONOR does not provide any further information on the type of glass used. However, it is quite robust, so that after a month of use without a case, I could not see a single scratch. Like its predecessor, the HONOR Magic 4 Pro, this model is also dust and waterproof according to IP68.

HONOR also sticks to the layout of the controls. The volume rocker and the on/off button are placed on the right side of the frame and are easy to reach. Below is the SIM tray that can hold two nano SIM cards. Finally, there is an infrared transmitter at the top that can be used to control televisions, among other things.

Before we take a closer look at the display, let's take a quick look at the included accessories. HONOR ships the smartphone with a clear TPU protective case, a 66W fast charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable. A thin protective film is already attached to the display, but it started to peel off on the sides after the test month.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Screen

With a screen-to-body ratio of 92,33 percent, the 6,81-inch curved display takes up almost the entire front. The display glass, also not named here, is curved towards the sides, which contributes to the pleasant hand feel. In the upper left corner of the display there is a pill-shaped recess that is a matter of taste. It houses the front camera and the 3D depth sensor.

screen brightness

Although the structure of the display is similar to that of the HONOR Magic 4 Pro is very similar, HONOR has made some improvements. The biggest of these is the increased display brightness, which generally reaches up to 1.300 nits and even approaches 1.800 nits outdoors or when playing HDR content. This offers a clear advantage for readability in sunlight, which was also confirmed by the outdoor test.

High-frequency PWM dimming has also been improved, increasing it to 2.160 Hz. This minimizes screen flickering at low brightness levels, which in turn helps prevent eye strain. I'm usually prone to this, but I haven't had any problems with the HONOR Magic 5 Pro.

Smart screen resolution

The native resolution of the OLED panel is still 1312 x 2848 pixels, which corresponds to a pixel density of 460 PPI. While there are plenty of flagship phones that offer higher resolutions, the difference is barely noticeable to the naked eye and higher resolutions tend to use more power.

In the display settings you can choose between four different resolution levels - High (1312 x 2848), Standard (1148 x 2492), Low (984 x 2136) and Intelligent, which automatically reduces the resolution to save battery power.

Colors

In addition, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro's display can display 10-bit color depth with over a billion colors. It supports both the DCI-P3 and the sRGB color space. The color mode can be switched between Normal and Vivid in the settings, with the smartphone automatically switching to the optimal color space.

In my personal opinion, the color representation is crisp, but not overdone. A measured DeltaE value of 1,7 with standard settings (sRGB) proves the precise color reproduction of the display.

refresh rate

The LTPO display also impresses with its dynamic control of the refresh rate from 1 Hz to 120 Hz. At the HONOR Magic 4 Pro dynamic adjustment has not always worked reliably. This has improved significantly with the HONOR Magic 5 Pro and there were no visible slowdowns in the display during my use.

In addition to the dynamic refresh rate, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro offers additional flexibility by giving users the option to set the refresh rate to a fixed value in the settings. It is possible to set 60Hz, 90Hz or 120Hz depending on which user experience is preferred.

A lower refresh rate, such as 60Hz, can help save battery because there are fewer frames to render per second. On the other hand, higher refresh rates of 90Hz or 120Hz offer a smoother and more engaging visual experience, especially when using applications or games that support high refresh rates.

image enhancer

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro is also impressive when it comes to streaming HDR content. It offers official HDR10+ certification and Widevine L1 DRM support, making it well-equipped for Netflix and other streaming providers.

Functions such as the frame rate booster (MEMC) and the video optimizer (SDR to HDR) complete the package. MEMC stands for Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation and is a technology that artificially adds frames to videos to make them appear smoother. Video Enhancer (SDR to HDR) is able to upscale Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content to make it appear like HDR content, which can improve viewing of older or lower quality videos.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Performance

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro relies on the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which brings considerable speed and performance into play. The octa-core processor is divided into a 1+2+2+3 configuration. This means that the processor contains a primary 3.2GHz Cortex-X3 core, two 2.8GHz Cortex-A715 performance cores, two additional 2.8GHz Cortex-A710 performance cores and three 2.0GHz Cortex-A510 power efficiency cores.

The CPU is joined by an Adreno 740 GPU, which masters an exciting feature for the future of mobile games with ray tracing.

In Europe, the smartphone is only available in the memory version with 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. In other regions, the device is also available with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, and even in a limited edition with a whopping 16 GB of RAM. LPDDR5X RAM and UFS4.0 memory was installed, which ensures the fastest read and write speeds and thus particularly smooth performance.

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro delivers solid results in benchmarks, even if the competition with the same chipset is sometimes a bit faster. Using AnTuTu as an example, I was able to achieve around 112.000 points after several runs. In comparison, competitors such as the current Xiaomi 13 series achieve around 125.000 points.

Everyday performance is much more important and the HONOR Magic 5 Pro cuts an excellent figure there. The smartphone always ran smoothly and showed enough graphics performance for a smooth gaming experience in mobile games.

The device struggled in the stress test. After just a short time, the performance was throttled, so that after 45 minutes of continuous load, only 52 percent of the actual CPU performance was still available. However, this "thermal throttling" didn't make a noticeable difference in everyday life.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Software

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro runs on MagicOS 7.1, a proprietary Android system built on top of the latest Android 13. Although traces of the shared past with Huawei's EMUI can still be found, MagicOS has detached itself and is now different in some aspects. The most relevant difference is the full support of the Google Apps suite.

HONOR's update policy has converged with major smartphone brands in recent years. Accordingly, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro will receive a total of three OS updates and five years of security patches. However, HONOR is still a little behind when it comes to distributing the security updates, so that the patch from the previous month is usually only delivered in the following month.

Despite its diverse UI extensions, MagicOS 7.1 is designed to be clear and user-friendly. Users of Huawei's EMUI will find their way around particularly quickly. Some of the most notable features of MagicOS are the in-house voice assistant "YOYO", the "Magic Text" function, which allows you to extract text from images and documents, and the numerous customization options for fonts, app icons and backgrounds.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Connectivity

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro convinces with a wide range of current connectivity standards with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC and Dual SIM 5G .

For cellular connections, it offers far-reaching frequency coverage down to the sub-6GHz range. However, there is no compatibility with the faster 5G mmWave networks. The reception performance and voice quality for phone calls are excellent in both directions. In addition, voice calls via mobile data and WiFi (VoLTE & VoWiFi) are supported, which worked without problems in the Telekom network.

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro's "AI Privacy Call" feature improves privacy by preventing outsiders from listening in on phone calls. The “AI Privacy Call” was already introduced with the HONOR Magic 4 Pro, where it did not work entirely smoothly. With the HONOR Magic 5 Pro, the function has been further improved, but you can still eavesdrop on phone calls in the immediate vicinity.

The HONOR Magic 2,4 Pro has demonstrated strong connection performance and high data rates in the common WiFi frequency range of 5 and 5 GHz. However, there doesn't seem to be any support for the 6 GHz range because the smartphone didn't want to connect to it.

The smartphone uses the satellite systems GPS, Glonass, Beidou and Galileo for navigation, which results in a quick and precise location determination. The built-in e-compass also ensures precise alignment.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: fingerprint scanner and face recognition

In addition to the classic unlocking methods, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro can also be unlocked biometrically. One option is the optical fingerprint scanner, which is invisibly hidden under the display. Although that HONOR Magic 4 Pro used a higher-quality Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor here, I was always able to unlock the HONOR Magic 5 Pro reliably and quickly.

Another option is 3D face unlock, which works just as efficiently. After the one-time setup, face recognition reliably unlocks the smartphone even in poor lighting conditions.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Audio

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro delivers outstanding performance in terms of sound quality. It has one of the loudest speaker systems that can be found in a smartphone.

With a stereo setup consisting of two speakers - one above and one below - it delivers exceptionally good audio quality, which is further enhanced by DTS:X Ultra sound. The two speakers are perfectly balanced and deliver an impressive sound with excellent vocal reproduction and sufficient bass.

For the users of Bluetooth headphones, the HONOR Magic 5 Pro offers additional value. It supports the almost lossless LDAC and aptX (HD) audio codecs, which further enhance the listening experience.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Battery

The battery of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro has an impressive size of 5.100 mAh and is thus a good deal larger than the 4.600 mAh battery of the HONOR Magic 4 Pro. In addition, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 works much more efficiently than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 of its predecessor.

These positive changes result in an impressive battery life: I usually only had to charge the smartphone every two days. Heavy users (games and streaming) load approximately every 1 to 1 1/2 days. Although the charging power has been reduced from 100 watts to 66 watts for wired charging and 50 watts for wireless charging, charging the device remains pleasantly fast.

In just 15 minutes, the smartphone is already half charged and in 45 minutes the battery is fully charged. In comparison, it takes a complete charging process of the HONOR Magic 4 Pro only 30 minutes. That's 15 minutes less, but the slightly longer charging time of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro didn't bother me in everyday life. Reverse loading is also supported and can be enabled in settings.

HONOR Magic 5 Pro: Camera

The highlight of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro is its camera, which HONOR aptly calls the “eye of the muse”. The camera system consists of the following sensors:

•  50 MP Sony IMX878 main camera | f/1.6 aperture, 1/1.12" sensor size and 1.4 μm pixel size
•  50MP OV64B Ultra Wide Angle Camera | f/2.0 aperture, 1/2.5" sensor size and 122° ultra wide angle
•  50 MP Sony IMX858 Persiscope Camera | f/3.0 aperture, 1/2.51" sensor size, 0.64 μm pixel size, 3,5x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom, OIS

Compared to the previous model, HONOR has made some significant improvements to the Magic 5 Pro's main camera. The bespoke Sony IMX878 sensor with its large f/1.6 aperture ensures excellent light-capturing capabilities and is now also optically stabilized (OIS), which is a significant improvement.

The camera equipment also includes an 8x8 dToF laser focus system, which is responsible for autofocus and depth mapping. A single-LED flash, a flicker sensor and a multi-spectrum color sensor have also been integrated.

main camera

The main camera of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro is undoubtedly one of the best smartphone cameras currently available. What is particularly impressive about the photos taken by the HONOR Magic 5 Pro is the advanced image processing. The smartphone manages to brilliantly display even fine details - a task that many cameras with smaller Quad Bayer sensors often fail at.

The color reproduction is realistic and the white balance is almost flawless. The contrast is high in all images and the dynamic range is well balanced. Here is a selection of test shots I took in different scenarios:

The main camera's recording quality remains on a very good level even under difficult lighting conditions. If it gets too dark for the camera, it automatically switches on a night mode, which, however, does not differ from the night mode that can be selected manually in the app. The test shots were taken at dusk and at night:

Despite the difficult conditions, the details of the images remain sharp, the colors are realistic and the image noise is minimal. Depending on the situation, night mode can cause photos to be overly artificially lit and lose their realism.

periscope camera

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro's periscope camera offers optical zoom up to 3,5x and digital zoom up to 100x. Up to a zoom level of 3,5x, the results are impressive, with high levels of detail, correct coloring and exposure. Due to the focal length, details can appear a little blurred when zooming in beyond the 2x zoom closer to the subject.

After the 3,5x magnification, the quality of the images slowly decreases and at 10x magnification it exceeds the limit from which one can still speak of good image quality. The 50x or 100x magnification is a nice gimmick, but it stays that way. Here the HONOR Magic 5 Pro cannot keep up with the zoom capabilities of a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Ultra wide angle camera

The ultra wide-angle camera of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro is also impressive. The sharpness of the photos is well balanced and the corners are well corrected. Image noise is barely noticeable, while colors appear vibrant and lifelike. Contrast could be a bit stronger, but overall dynamic range is remarkable.

Another feature of the ultra wide-angle camera is the super macro mode, which is automatically activated by the camera app when it is needed. The change works more or less reliably, but can also be triggered manually. The mode offers 1x and 2x zoom, but the 2x option only artificially upscales, which affects the overall quality of the photos.

The macro shots are appealing. They offer a detailed and sharp image center with good contrast and a lush dynamic range.

Front camera

The front camera is equipped with a 12 MP sensor that has a wide-angle 18 mm lens with an aperture of f/2,4. As is usual with many front cameras in smartphones, the focus is fixed.

However, there are three focal lengths to choose from, which correct the shooting angle according to 18 mm, 21 mm and 26 mm. The 18 mm mode delivers the best quality with high detail resolution, great sharpness and natural subject reproduction. In the other two modes, the photos lose some of their sharpness due to scaling.

Video

The HONOR Magic 5 Pro offers a variety of video features that generally deliver good results. All cameras allow recording videos with a resolution of up to 4K. The main camera and the periscope camera support 4K videos with a frame rate of 60 frames per second.

The 4K videos recorded with the main camera are characterized by a lot of detail, excellent sharpness, true-to-life colors and a good dynamic range. There can be some noise in low light conditions, but the special night mode for videos can remedy this. It expands the dynamic range, improves color reproduction and reduces noise, but at the expense of resolution, which in this mode is reduced to 1080p at 30 frames per second.

The periscope camera makes it possible to record videos with a magnification of 4x to 10x. However, the quality of the videos depends heavily on the magnification selected. At 4x magnification, the videos are still good, with a reasonable level of detail and good contrast. It looks worse with a 10x magnification. Here the picture clearly loses details.

Videos recorded with the ultra-wide-angle camera are also convincing. However, the resolution is limited to 4K with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The front camera also supports 1080p videos with a frame rate of 60 frames per second. This versatile video set makes the HONOR Magic 5 Pro an excellent choice for anyone who would like to record high-quality videos with their smartphone.

video capabilities

Finally, it's worth mentioning that the Honor Magic 5 Pro also offers some notable video features. A highlight is the “Film Mode”, which provides special cinematic functions for video recordings. In this mode, the aspect ratio is expanded from 16:9 to 21:9 to create a cinematic look. It also offers a slow-motion effect, enables 4K HDR recording and provides pre-built look-up tables (LUTs) to influence the coloring of the video.

In addition to the film mode, there is also a "LOG mode". This mode records video in 10-bit at 4K resolution and frame rates of 24, 30, or 60 frames per second. LOG mode is particularly useful for videographers who want greater flexibility in post-processing their footage, as it maintains greater dynamic range and more detail in the shadows and highlights.