Stefan Andres
Honor announced its new dual flagship strategy today at the Mobile World Congress. Both product lines bear the Magic name – one is the traditional number series, the other the Magic V foldables. We’ll cover the Honor Magic Vs in a separate post. The focus today was on the unveiling of the new Honor Magic5 and Magic5 Pro flagships, while an Ultimate model is not in sight for the time being.
Honor Magic5 Pro
The Honor Magic5 Pro comes with a triple 50 megapixel camera setup. The main camera has a 1/1.12 inch sensor and a bright f/1.6 aperture. In contrast, the Magic4 Pro had to make do with a 1/1.56 inch sensor and an f/1.8 aperture. Finally there is optical image stabilization (OIS). The 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 122-degree field of view also got a brighter aperture of f/2.0 (compared to f/2.2).
The periscope module has changed significantly. It now has a 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 sensor instead of 64-megapixels. The lens still offers 3.5x optical zoom, albeit with a brighter f/3.0 lens versus f/3.5. Honor’s Ultra Fusion Computational Optics system is also on board and should offer high-quality digital zoom of up to 100x magnification.
The camera system is supported by a number of sensors. These include a 3D ToF laser for focusing, a multi-spectrum sensor for color temperature and a flicker sensor. Honor has partnered with Guinness World Records to make the Magic5 Pro the official camera in a slam dunk record. This very scene was captured automatically with the AI Motion Sensor Capture mode. With the IMAX Enhanced Movie Master you can record videos and edit them directly on the Honor smartphone. 4K videos with up to 60 fps in HDR10+ or Magic Log 10-bit format are possible.
The 6.81-inch LTPO display is curved on all four sides and supports a 120 Hz refresh rate. Like the Magic4 Pro, it has a resolution of 1,312 x 2,848 pixels, which corresponds to a pixel density of 461 ppi. HDR peak brightness is 1,800 nits, nearly double the 1,000 nits of its predecessor. High-frequency PWM dimming is possible up to 2,160 Hz. Honor calibrated the display for color accuracy at two brightness levels – 120 nits indoors and 800 nits outdoors. The 10-bit panel supports HDR10+ and has an IMAX Enhanced certification. There are also stereo speakers with DTS:X Ultra.
Selfie camera with 3D depth sensor
On the front there is a pill-shaped cutout with two sensors in the upper left corner. One is a 12-megapixel sensor for the selfie camera with an aperture of f/2.4 and a fixed focus, the other is a 3D depth sensor. Together they enable 3D face ID, but there’s also an under-display fingerprint sensor.
It is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in combination with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. MagicUI 7.1 runs as the interface based on Android 13. There is also some Honor hardware, including the Discrete Display chipset, which increases the frame rate in games and calculates an always-on HDR effect for videos. Co-developed with Qualcomm, the Discrete Security chipset stores sensitive information such as passwords and biometrics.
Additionally, according to Honor, the Magic5 Pro has the industry’s first Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standalone antenna architecture. This is said to increase Wi-Fi 6 performance by up to 200% and reduce latency by up to 30%. The 5,100 mAh battery charges with a cable with 66 watts and wirelessly with 50 watts. The necessary charger is included in the scope of delivery.
Honor Magic5
The Honor Magic5 is similar to the Pro but has a slightly smaller 6.73-inch display. The maximum HDR brightness is 1,600 nits, which is still significantly more than the Magic4 Pro. A more noticeable difference is the camera. It features a 54-megapixel 1/1.49-inch wide camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 32-megapixel telephoto camera.
The Magic5 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, but the memory configuration is only 8/256GB. The base model is also a millimeter thinner than the Pro, but has the same capacity of 5,100 mAh and also supports 66-watt wired charging. However, you have to do without wireless charging.
Prices and Availability
The Honor Magic5 series will be launched in the second quarter. The regular Magic5 comes in blue and black, while the Magic5 Pro comes in Glacier Blue, Meadow Green, Coral Purple, Orange, and Black. The Honor Magic5 Pro is only available in a 12/512GB configuration, which retails for €1,200 ($1,270/£1,055/£105,000). The 8/256GB Magic5 comes in a fair bit cheaper at €900 ($950/£795/£78,500).
