Honor Magic 5 Pro in the MWC short test: “Hello new camera champion”

The Chinese manufacturer Honor, a former subsidiary of Huawei, always stands out from the crowd of smartphones presented annually at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona with unusual designs and top specs. The latest creation called Honor Magic 5 Pro is no different.

1. design and processing

2. screen

3. camera

4. processor and memory

5. battery and charging

6. Software: Android 13 with Google services

7. price and availability

8. network world means

Just in time for the presentation in Barcelona, ​​the photo laboratory DxO announced the result of its camera test of the Honor Magic 5 Pro. With 153 points, the cell phone now takes first place in the well-known DxOMark. That’s big advance praise. Does the Magic5 Pro live up to this in our short test? These are our first impressions that we were able to collect in the exhibition halls in Barcelona. A detailed test follows.

design and processing

It cannot be overlooked that the design of the Honor Magic 5 Pro differs only slightly from its predecessor. The front, consisting of an OLED display that is slightly curved in all four directions and a punch hole for two cameras on the top left, is almost identical to that of the Magic 4 Pro. Up to this point, the design is still relatively inconspicuous. The back of the cell phone is much more unusual: almost the entire upper half of the smartphone is taken up by the huge camera ring.

Honor Magic5 Pro in pictures

Honor presented the Magic5 Pro at the MWC in Barcelona. This is what it looks like.

This is also reminiscent of the predecessor. However, Honor has tweaked the design of the camera ring a bit: it now matches the color of the back and looks a bit more subtle. It is also incorporated into a small “mound” – there are no more sharp edges. To our surprise, the camera ring didn’t bother us when we used it. The smartphone always feels good in the hand. With the dimensions 162.9 x 76.7 x 8.8 millimeters, the mobile phone is neither particularly compact nor particularly large, and at 219 grams it is also on average heavy.

screen

Of course, Honor uses a high-quality OLED panel for the display. To be more precise, the display is 6.81 inches and has a resolution of slightly less than WQHD+ (2,848 x 1,312 pixels). The refresh rate is a maximum of 120 Hertz, but is variable thanks to the LTPO technology used, which effectively saves energy.

In any case, the large display is one of the highlights of this device. It looked really elegant in the exhibition hall, the colors and black values ​​are excellent as expected, and the panel was also very bright with an average brightness of 800 nits and a maximum brightness of 1,800 nits. Honor leaves absolutely nothing to be desired in this area.

camera

It is traditional that Honor places a special focus on the built-in cameras and their capabilities when marketing smartphones. The Honor Magic 5 Pro is no different – here we find a specially adapted IMX878 sensor from Sony with a resolution of 50 megapixels (MP) on the back as the main camera, accompanied by an IMX858 periscope sensor also with 50 megapixels. The third built-in lens is an OmniVision OV64B (also 50-megapixel), on the front there is also a 13 MP sensor for taking selfies and a 3D depth camera.

There is also a ToF sensor and a color temperature sensor on the back. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to put the camera to the test in the exhibition hall. Of course, we will catch up on this in the editorial office. However, the experts from DxO, who had previously had the opportunity to carry out a detailed test, praise the fast autofocus and difficult lighting conditions as well as the zoom capabilities.

processor and memory

With a smartphone that costs 1,199 euros, you can expect that no compromises will be made, especially with the processor. Honor fully meets these expectations with the Magic 5 Pro: A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is used, the fastest processor currently available for Android smartphones.

This ensures that the smartphone is ready for all imaginable tasks. The processor has 12 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of internal UFS 4.0 storage available. In our short test, we couldn’t find any negative points in terms of performance – the smartphone runs smoother than any other, all menus and apps open in a matter of seconds.

battery and charging

We can also be satisfied with the battery installed in the Honor Magic 5 Pro: It has an impressive 5,100 milliampere hours and can be recharged with 66 watts. If you prefer to charge wirelessly, you have to be satisfied with 50 watts. At this point, Honor also advertises that the device has the first battery made of silicon and carbon instead of a conventional lithium-ion cell. This increases the energy density by 12 percent and enables a more compact design of the device.

Software: Android 13 with Google services

The new Honor Magic 5 Pro uses Android 13 with MagicOS 7.1 as the operating system. The software updates are increased again: The manufacturer promises three major Android updates and security updates for five years. With the predecessor, that was one year less. Of course, Google services are also on board – Honor is still not affected by the US embargo.

price and availability

The Honor Magic 5 Pro will be available in Germany from mid-April 2023 for 1,199 euros (recommended retail price). The only storage configuration is 12GB + 512GB, the colors are Black, Meadow Green, Blue, Purple and Orange.

network world means

If the Honor Magic 5 Pro delivers what it promises in the practical test, manufacturers like Samsung and Xiaomi will definitely have to beware of the device. According to experts, a competitive camera paired with the absolutely best equipment that can be installed in a smartphone could make the cell phone an insider tip in 2023.