As a person who reviews dozens upon dozens of different kinds of phones every year, I've long struggled with whether I prefer a foldable or a slab phone. Book-style foldables, like the Galaxy Z Fold or Honor Magic V series, are synonymous with multitasking and productivity, something I find myself using a lot as a remote worker.

But these phones have always come with significant tradeoffs in other areas. From worse battery life and camera quality to poorer heat management and durability issues, it felt like choosing a foldable phone was only good for a specific type of person. That's what makes the Honor Magic V6 different.

It's a foldable phone with a gorgeous, eye-friendly pair of OLEDs, the world's highest-capacity battery in a foldable, a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, amazing software, and cameras that finally don't make me miss using a standard flagship phone. It's the first time I've felt like a foldable phone came with zero compromises, and it's easily the best foldable experience to date.

By the numbers

The Honor Magic V6 is available across Europe, the Middle East, and throughout Asia. The phone retails for £1,999.99 in the UK, RM 7,699 in Malaysia, and CNY 8,999 in China, with the launch expanding to the remaining locations throughout June 2026. Early orders include lots of freebies from Honor, including headphones, watches, and projectors.

The Magic V6 is available in four colorways — Gold, Red, White, and Black — and just one configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Honor includes a charger and a fancy case in the box, so you're fully set with just the phone purchase.

A tough design and the best displays in the business

The Magic V6 is more of a tweak on the Magic V5's design. I dislike the squarer edges on this versus the Magic V5, but the V6's substantially smaller camera island makes all the difference in the world regarding weight, size, and overall balance when holding it. It also doesn't protrude from my pocket as the V5 did because of the reduced camera island size.

This phone looks as elegant as the Galaxy Z Fold 7's thin design, but with a centered camera island, it doesn't feel off-balance like that phone does. Honor also managed to make this one IP68 and IP69 rated, so you can take it to a sandy beach and then toss it in the dishwasher to get all the grime off at the end of the day. I just wish Honor would move the inner selfie camera into a corner so it doesn't get in the way of some content.

Honor's OLED displays are the best in the business, too, providing not only leading brightness output and 10-bit color reproduction among foldable phones, but also excellent eye care solutions like the myopia-reducing defocus feature, as well as user-selectable dimming options up to 4320Hz PWM dimming for flicker-sensitive people.

For the first time ever on a foldable, both displays feature an anti-glare layer that substantially reduces glare from any light source, making it easier to see outside. It's not quite the same type that Samsung uses on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but it's a huge leap forward for foldables.

With the release of MagicOS 10, Honor addressed most of my biggest complaints with its Android flavor. The Magic V6 gets all the best foldable Android multitasking tools out of the box, including an optional persistent taskbar on the bottom of the larger display, 3-way 90:10 split-screen multitasking, and even more enhancements to its unique Magic Portal sharing feature.

There's even a new optional "stack" recents UI that apes iOS, which I'm happy with since that UI is substantially better than the awful default Android one. The inner screen still defaults to the 6-app grid, which is perfect for a tablet-like display.

But there are still some weird quirks that bother me daily. Many apps "don't support" split-screen, which makes absolutely no sense. Splitting these apps on the large screen would just make them the same ratio as the smaller outer display. I also still get annoyed with the app drawer, which takes a long time to open if you quickly go home and try to pull up the drawer again.

MagicOS is pure magic

And while those are annoying complaints, I truly enjoy Honor's ecosystem of products and how well they work together. I get message and call notifications on my Honor laptop, can easily run my phone's apps on that same machine, quickly transfer files between them, set up a hotspot (that doesn't use my carrier's hotspot data), and more.

Honor also heavily touts its interoperability with Apple products — something I care very little about — but it will undoubtedly come in handy for plenty of people. From Mac one-tap sharing and screen casting to notification sharing between the Magic V6, Apple Watches, and iPhones, plus native AirPods controls. There's a lot to explore here. And, yes, it supports the new Apple AirDrop/Google Quick Share interoperability for each iPhone to Android file sharing.

Battery life is what you would expect from a phone with a 25% silicon-carbon 6,660mAh battery inside. A full day's heavy use is a walk in the park for this phone, and I often get well into the second day before even considering charging. I don't have a North American-compatible 80W charger for this phone (the one on the box is for European power), but my 65W U.S. chargers were able to give me more than 70% battery in less than 30 minutes.

As with other book-style foldables, sustained performance on the Honor Magic V6 is best when the phone is unfolded. I put a lot of hours into the Monster Hunter Outlanders open beta while reviewing this phone and never ran across performance issues, even at the highest settings.

The best cameras in a foldable phone

The Honor Magic V6 has the best camera on any foldable outside of China. If that's all you needed to hear, you can stop here. I've taken over 1,000 photos using this phone since I received it in March, and am constantly blown away by its quality.

Most foldables up to this point have very obviously worse cameras than their similarly priced non-foldable flagship phones, and while the Magic 8 Pro is still slightly better, this is the first time I haven't felt compelled to have one of those phones in my other pocket just in case I needed to take a better photo.

I put it head-to-head against the Motorola Razr Fold's camera and found that Honor generally won the competition. However, Motorola's processing tends to do a better job of balancing highlights and shadow detail in more extreme scenes.

But Honor's telephoto experience won nine times out of ten, delivering higher-resolution, more detailed photography with gorgeous depth of field, and the Magic V6 beat the Galaxy Z Fold 7's cameras in every scenario I tested.

Verdict

If money were no object and I had to choose any foldable in June 2026, it would be the Honor Magic V6. That, of course, implies that I'd even be able to buy one in North America, which is an obvious problem since there's no official after-market support here, even if you buy one through an import company. That's particularly a shame since it works so perfectly on the T-Mobile U.S. 5G network.

But if you live in Europe, Malaysia, or any of the other markets where Honor sells the Magic V6, this is absolutely the best foldable money can buy. It's gorgeous, has the most durable build of any foldable, sports the best displays (without sacrificing eye health features), has the best camera of any foldable outside of China, uses the highest-capacity battery, and has tons of fun software features you're going to love.

It's hard to imagine foldables getting much better than this.

What you need to know

• The Honor Magic V6 is launching in Malaysia; however, one major highlight is the company's new seven year stance on updates.
• The company announces that it will support the entire Magic series with seven years of Android OS and security updates for U.K. and EU users.
• Android Central had a chance to sit down and talk with Honor about the improvements to the Magic V6, and everything from its thin profile to a strong hinge got discussed.

Honor has continuously highlighted its newest book-style foldable, and now this device is arriving overseas.

The company shared details about the Magic V6's launch in Malaysia, which carries a massive announcement for the future of Honor. Time is running out for the pre-order period for the Magic V6 in the country. Honor states June 11 is the final day consumers in the region can confirm their device early for RM 7,699 (~$1,891). Consumers are also in for a few pre-order benefits/exclusive gifts.

What's more, Honor announced that it will support the Magic V6 and the entire Magic series with seven years of Android OS and security updates.

This is a commitment it's willing to stick by for users in the U.K. and the EU. Honor says it plans to fully commit to "long-term software support, security, and value for users."

Joining the Magic V6's debut in Malaysia is the Honor and Yoni Alter collaboration. This collaboration sees the Chinese OEM working with the designer/artist on a phone case that is passionately red, just like the Magic V6.

Feel the Magic

Honor wanted to do something special with the Magic V6 this year. It teased the phone in February, discussing how a foldable phone could be so thin, yet also durable for everyday life. Those early teasers gave us a good look at its design, while also showing off the device in a striking red colorway. Moreover, the phone was confirmed to feature a unique back panel texture that looked soft to the touch.

Another major highlight was the phone's durability. Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich sat down with Honor to go over the Magic V6 and what consumers could look forward to. Among the topics, heartier hardware was brought up. It's specifically the white colorway for the Magic V6 that qualifies as "the world's thinnest foldable." Unfolded, the device measures 4mm, while folded sits at 8.75mm.

It brings the Magic V6 closer to a standard phone feel (the Galaxy S26 Ultra is 7.9mm). The other colorways are slightly thicker, but Sutrich says it's hard to tell the difference even with proper measurement tools. Elsewhere, the Magic V6 boasts the 2800MPa Honor Super Steel hinge material, withstanding 500,000 lifetime folds.

What you need to know

• Honor has officially confirmed that the Robot Phone will launch globally in Q3 2026.
• The Robot Phone features a gimbal-like camera system that can automatically track movement.
• Honor partnered with ARRI to bring more advanced cinema-style video features to the phone.

Honor's Robot Phone, which ended up winning one of our best showcase awards at MWC 2026, finally has a launch window.

At MWC, Honor officially showcased the Robot Phone after first teasing it late last year as a concept. Back in Barcelona, the company only confirmed that the phone would launch in the second half of 2026, but it has now narrowed things down further, officially confirming a Q3 2026 launch window.

Honor has been heavily hyping up the Robot Phone ever since its first teaser. We also got to see it in person at MWC, and for those who don't remember, the Robot Phone features a gimbal-style camera system on the back that can automatically track your movement. It's almost like having a DJI Osmo Pocket built directly into a smartphone.

In fact, Honor even took the Robot Phone to the Cannes Film Festival's China Night event to showcase it again. During the event, the company also announced a partnership with ARRI, the German camera maker known for high-end cinema and motion picture equipment. That partnership could mean the Robot Phone ends up bringing some genuinely serious video capabilities.

It's honestly good to finally see Honor confirming the launch timeline. And with a Q3 launch, the Robot Phone will go directly up against several major devices expected around the same time, including the Pixel 11 series and even Apple's first foldable iPhone.

We still had a lot of questions around durability and long-term reliability when we first saw the device at MWC, but thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wait much longer to properly test all of that.

What we still don't know, though, is which markets the Honor Robot Phone will actually launch in. Considering Honor's track record, we expect the device to debut in China first and then potentially make its way to global markets later on, if at all.

Android Central's Take

The Robot Phone was easily one of the wildest things I saw at MWC this year, and honestly, I'm glad Honor has finally given us a launch window. The ARRI partnership just makes this even more interesting.

What you need to know

• "Wide" fold rumors continue, but suggest that overseas makers, such as Honor and Vivo, might have versions of their own in the pipeline.
• Vivo's version could appear as the "X Fold 6," per a tipster's post online, while another allegation says Honor is working on one that could debut next year.
• Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide surfaced again, and it's cameras are looking a little typical.

Industries are typically competitive, and these rumors say the "Wide" foldable competition is heating up with new Chinese challengers.

There are a couple of tipsters on Chinese social media (Weibo) who have claimed that a couple of phone makers are looking into wider foldable phones. A post by Gizmochina highlights a post by Smart Pikachu, claiming Vivo is already working on a "Wide" Fold with a notable upgrade (via PhoneArena). The tipster points users toward an alleged "Vivo X Fold 6," adding that "those who like large folding designs" should seek that device out.

This tipster's allegations conclude by stating Vivo might "greatly improve" the display crease for its wider foldable. Joining the wider fold train is another tipster, Guan Tongxue, who says Honor wants a piece of the pie, too. Its expected timeline is still unknown, but the post claims it's "only a matter of time" before we see its market reveal.

What's more, Honor might equip the phone with a triple camera setup. Gizmochina did a little more digging, finding other rumors that said Honor could prepare for a debut sometime in Q1 2027. If true, then perhaps we can expect to see something late this year to hype us up.

Samsung's moving along

Of course, we're looking at this as a potential competitive future for Samsung. We've been seeing rumors about a "Wide" Fold 8 for a while, and there was even an animation leak. Samsung's been working on One UI 9 (beta just hit the Galaxy S26), and there was a supposed animation for the "Wide" Fold 8's displays. Though it was just a quick animation, it really gave us an idea of how much wider this foldable could be.

Most recently, there was a rumor about its cameras, and they seem pretty... tame. Supposedly, the Fold 8 Wide could feature a 50MP main lens and a 50MP ultrawide with 8K recording capabilities. There's a notable missing feature here: a telephoto lens. That's something that will seemingly separate the regular Fold 8 and this wider variant, should the rumor prove true.

What you need to know

• Honor announced that it's entering Android 17 Beta 3 with the Magic 8 Pro, and it's bringing developers along, too.
• Devs will get access to Honor's expanded "Bubbles" feature for multitasking, as well as the inclusion of the RAW14 format for photos.
• Significant security defenses are rolling onto the Magic 8 Pro, as it gets going in Android 17 Beta 3.

Android 17 slows down for no one, and Honor announced its entry into testing with developers on a notable phone.

On May 12, Honor announced in a press release that its Magic 8 Pro will be "among the first in the industry" to support Android 17 Beta 3. Now that it's onboard, Honor states developers can get involved with the early testing to see what's coming up and to begin refining their work. Leading off what's possible in the Android 17 beta for the Magic 8 Pro is Honor's expanded "Bubbles" feature. This cutely named feature is said to enhance the multitasking capabilities.

Honor states, "This allows apps to be quickly minimized to a floating icon and recalled from anywhere on the screen, creating a seamless multitasking experience." Moreover, users can keep important tools at the ready even when switching between other apps on their phones.

The photographic capabilities of the Magic 8 Pro were a bright spot during its launch, and its Android 17 Beta 3 involvement continues that focus. This beta reportedly brings native support for the RAW14 image format. This has become the industry standard for "high-end digital photography." Third-party camera/editing programs will be able to utilize Honor's optics and sensors to capture and handle everything one would need for their photos.

The visual experience of your phone gets a boost in Beta 3. Honor says that users can now hide app labels, while developers get the option of tailoring the Photo Picker "by modifying the grid view aspect ratio." This gives more options, such as 1:1 (square) or 9:16 (portrait display). Android 17 Beta 3 will also expand Dark Themes access to cover more of the system.

Major strides forward

In the beta, users will find that Honor's Quick Settings menu has split their Wi-Fi and mobile data into separate tiles. This should help with quicker management of those connections. Moreover, a redesigned screen recording menu lets users decide more adequately how much of their screen or app they'd like to capture.

With a new Android OS beta comes increased security protections for users. Honor's system will provide a Location button, enabling apps that require "precise" locations to only do so for the "current session." Honor states this should help users reduce how much private information they're sharing with apps (background tracking). Additional defenses help protect Android users from "injection attacks" over a network and more, thanks to Post-Quantum Cryptography adoption.

Android Central's Take

Honor's really been on its AI kick as of late. I mean, there was that whole Robot Phone, remember? While we can expect it to have loads of AI software ready if users want them in Android 17, it's good to see it still focusing on other areas. The photography upgrades it talked about sound appealing. I enjoy taking photos, so seeing RAW14 coming into play sounds great. It's not something everyone will use, as RAW files are typically good if you're editing pictures. I'm sure there will be more than feel more common and practical for everyone else, too.

What you need to know

• Honor's new 600 series undercuts rivals with UK pricing starting at £370, while a £200 launch discount makes the lineup even more aggressive.
• The phones feature AI Image to Video 2.0, which lets you turn three images into cinematic clips using natural language.
• The Honor 600 Pro packs flagship ambitions with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 200MP night camera, 120x zoom, and a massive 6,400mAh battery.
• The MOLLY Limited Edition, created with POP MART, turns the Honor 600 Pro into a collectible-style device with custom software and packaging.

Honor today launched its newest premium mid-range phones in the UK, and the prices are set to challenge both Samsung and Google.

The new Honor 600 series starts at £370 for the Honor 600 Lite. The standard Honor 600 costs £550 for the 256GB model and £600 for the 512GB version. The top-tier Honor 600 Pro with 512GB of storage is priced at £900. Honor is also offering a £200 launch discount on its online store, making the prices even more competitive.

Honor is marketing the Honor 600 and 600 Pro as phones that sit between premium mid-range and flagship models, especially in terms of cameras, AI features, battery life, and durability.

AI video feature has a subscription catch

One of the main highlights is the new AI Image to Video 2.0 system. It seems designed to compete with other brands’ AI features, letting users combine up to three images and use natural language prompts to create short, cinematic video clips lasting three to eight seconds. That said, it'll ask for a fee following an initial trial period.

The camera hardware is another big draw. These phones feature a 200MP Ultra-clear Night Camera with a large 1/1.4-inch sensor and AI-powered image processing for better low-light photos. Both models also have a 12MP ultra-wide camera and a 50MP front camera.

The Pro version adds a 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto lens with up to 120x zoom. Honor also highlights advanced stabilization, claiming it can match entry-level mirrorless cameras.

Battery life is also impressive. Even with a slim design, Honor has included a large 6,400mAh battery, which the company says can last up to two days. All models support 80W wired charging, and the Pro adds 50W wireless charging plus reverse wired charging for other devices. Honor claims the battery will stay healthy for up to five years with 1,600 charging cycles.

Display-wise, both phones have a 6.57-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 8,000 nits.

For durability, the Honor 600 series has IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings for water and dust resistance, plus SGS-certified protection against drops and crushing.

Performance varies by model. The standard version uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor, while the Pro steps up to the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is built on a 3nm process.

There’s also a surprise: the Honor 600 Pro MOLLY Limited Edition. Made with POP MART, this special version includes the flagship hardware along with MOLLY-themed designs, custom packaging, and exclusive software features.

What you need to know

• Honor is rolling out a massive April update for the Magic 8 Pro this week, bringing 200x focal length to its telephoto and Honor Connect.
• Users can send files through Connected Files to their Mac from their phones; however, you will need Honor WorkStation on your Mac for this to work.
• Several home and lock screen updates come through, making it easy to manage folders and one-tap actions for widgets.

Honor's latest flagship phone, which boasts major features for mobile photography, is receiving a major MagicOS patch.

Late this week, Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich spotted an April 2026 security update rolling out for the Honor Magic 8 Pro. Sutrich has provided a changelog of the incoming changes, and they are plentiful. Honor states the update is 1.2GB, and leads off with a few camera refinements. While in PHOTO mode, the Magic 8 Pro's telephoto focal length has been extended to 200x. Additionally, the "shooting effect" for the camera has been optimized.

Honor Connect is another area that's getting focused on in this patch. Users can access Connected Files to "view and download images, videos, and other files from your phone directly to Mac." Users will need to install Honor WorkStation on their Mac and follow the on-screen procedures to link up. Elsewhere, if you've linked your Honor and iPhone together, Easy Hotspot turns the latter into a hotspot for the former.

The home screen gets a quick dismiss option for folders and the ability to uninstall multiple apps at once. For the lock screen, Honor details customized one-tap actions for widgets for frequently used features. Users can now set their preferred fingerprint icon and animation.

The remainder of the changelog is as follows:

• AI button enables one-touch access to a variety of features, including quick services, sound modes, and flashlight.
• After lighting up the lock screen, you can swipe down to access the Control Center. This provides quick access to frequently used features without unlocking the phone.
• Screenshot editing now features AI edit, allowing you to add text and perform Magic ReTouch with a single tap.
• Notification center allows you to pin notifications to the top.

Making it magic

The patch notes end with system stability improvements, fixes for occasional stuttering, and optimizations for the phone's battery life.

Photography is a major part of the Honor Magic 8 Pro, which was a key talking point for the brand during Snapdragon Summit 2025. Honor introduced the world to its Dual Engine approach for on-device AI. Magic Color is the company's new path ahead, an AI engine that helps users in their day-to-day when taking photos and making edits. Honor also deployed a photography kit for the Magic 8 Pro, which makes it feel like you're holding a traditional mirrorless camera (but it's a phone).

Android Central's Take

Aside from the useful camera updates, I think it's interesting to see Honor furthering its collaboration with Apple for Android to iPhone (or Mac) file transfers. This is a trend going on in the industry, with other OEMs doing the same for their devices. It feels like this all started when RCS finally hit iPhones. Jokes aside, Honor's latest flagship Pro model also debuted in the U.K. earlier this year, bringing stronger AI and photography to our friends across the pond.

I love smartphones, and amongst them, recent Honor phones like the Honor Magic 8 Pro and Honor Magic 8 Pro Air have both left me smitten for different reasons. Yet, despite this, I went into my review of the Honor 600 Pro with lower expectations than those of the company's flagships.

For many reasons, this proved to be a blessing, as the Honor 600 Pro consistently surpassed my expectations, even though I was judging it by the same standards as Honor's Magic flagships.

The Honor 600 Pro takes the best of the Magic 8 Pro and makes it more accessible. There's a giant 7,000 mAh battery with 80W charging and 50W wireless charging, a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with 12GB of RAM, and a nifty new AI feature that sets this apart from all other phones.

Of course, the camera plays a huge role as well, and the triple camera is excellent, as it shouldn't come as a surprise. The 200MP primary camera is paired with a 12MP Ultrawide and a 50MP telephoto, offering up to 3x optical zoom and up to 120x total zoom. In short, it appears to be a flagship camera system on paper, and it mostly delivers on that promise in real-world performance.

It doesn't have 'Magic' in its name, but the Honor 600 Pro oozes magic in its delivery. Here's why it is a strong contender for your next phone.

Every Android phone needs to copy Honor's Image to Video

If there's one reason you buy the Honor 600 Pro, it's Honor's new Image to Video 2.0 feature. Simply put, it's magical, and it left my 4-year-old niece in love with the phone. Like last year, this feature is exclusive to Honor, as they built it in conjunction with Google Gemini, but unlike last year, it’s had a sizable upgrade that makes it infinitely more useful.

Now, you can combine up to three images and ask the Honor 600 Pro to create a video in either portrait or landscape mode (at 9:16 or 16:9 aspect ratio, respectively). Unfortunately, it’s still limited to eight seconds, and there are limits on how many you can generate for free each day or month, but the results are spectacular.

Like the current trend of vibe coding and prompting, you can use simple text to describe what you want to be created, and the phone does the rest. It’s also worth noting that it can generate audio, and whether it’s names or words — such as a Happy Birthday greeting — the generated audio sounds extremely good.

Although this is based on Gemini’s upgraded multimodal model, an industry first, this feature remains exclusive to Honor phones. It’s a significant step up over last year, and is among the best and most unique AI features on any Android phone to date.

This is my new favorite phone size

The Honor Magic 8 Pro features a 6.71-inch display, whilst my other favorite Honor phone, the Magic 8 Pro Air, has a 6.31-inch screen. The Honor 600 Pro sits firmly between these at 6.52-inches and this is my new favorite size for a phone, especially when I want to use it one-handed.

Like most flagships, the display is AMOLED with a 120Hz Dynamic Refresh Rate, but it also has a few features that stand out. First, there’s a peak brightness of 8,000 nits, and it’s insanely bright, especially under the harsh afternoon sun here in Kuala Lumpur. Then there’s the 3,840 Hz PWM Dimming Rate, along with other eye-comforting features such as Motion Sickness Relief and Low Blue Light.

All of these features continue Honor’s trend of focusing on providing relief for those with eye conditions, and I have found that the Honor 600 Pro's display is particularly pleasant to use at night or in low light compared to other phones. It’s hard to make a bad smartphone screen, but the Honor 600 Pro ranks above average overall, especially with its flat sides that make for a more pleasant in-hand and one-handed experience.

The Honor 600 Pro has outstanding hardware in all the right places

Look beyond AI, and you’ll find a phone that has outstanding flagship hardware in all the right places. There’s IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, as with many flagships, but there’s also IP69K, like the Honor Magic 8 Pro and Honor Magic 8 Lite.

In practice, IP69 and IP69K refer to the same level of protection against high-pressure jets, and, as I discovered, a phone with IP69 — such as the Honor Magic V6 — can survive a full trip through a washing machine. The Honor 600 Pro is also certified by SGS for drop and crush resistance, although I haven’t tested this.

Then there are the cameras, and Honor has chosen to equip the Honor 600 Pro with the same primary and telephoto cameras as the Honor Magic 8 Pro. The 200MP primary camera takes great photos in all lighting conditions, while the 50MP telephoto camera is as capable as I remember the Magic 8 Pro to be.

The 12MP ultrawide camera leaves a little to be desired, but that’s a small blip on an otherwise great all-around camera. Like many phones, there’s some AI processing and artifacting, but it’s not overly egregious and helps ensure that photos captured at longer focal lengths have clean edges and lines.

Then there’s MagicOS, and for the most part, this also delivers a flagship experience. The Honor 600 Pro runs on Android 16 out of the box, with Honor’s MagicOS experience on top, and like the best Honor phones, it delivers a polished software experience. Honor’s theming makes it relatively easy to customize the phone, and I particularly like the level of control that you have over the font theme, size, and weight.

The Honor 600 Pro has outstanding performance and battery life

The Honor 600 Pro is powered by the previous-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, rather than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the Honor Magic 8 Pro and many of the best Android phones, but it still delivers flagship performance in all the right ways. This is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage, or 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The battery life is particularly impressive, regularly delivering 6 hours of screen time with plenty of battery to spare. Even under heavy use — such as during camera testing or a long Google Maps navigation session — the Honor 600 still delivered a very respectable four hours of screen time with battery life to spare. When the battery does need a recharge, this is where the 80W wired charging comes in handy, charging the phone to full in around an hour.

Like most smartphones, the large battery makes the Honor 600 Pro a great emergency power bank, but unlike the best Samsung phones, Honor has equipped the reverse charging feature with a maximum speed of 27W. That’s extremely rapid, and significantly better than most phones, although it’s worth noting that both Honor and Xiaomi have other phones that offer this reverse charging speed.

The Honor 600 Pro is a great purchase at the right price

I’ve been very impressed with the Honor 600 Pro, and at the right price, this is an excellent choice for your next smartphone. However, the key factor is the right price tag, and while we don’t know what the UK or EU pricing is, the Malaysian pricing does give us some indication.

The Honor 600 Pro starts at RM3,099 (approximately $785 or £580), with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while the 512GB version costs $50 more. However, it’s worth noting that the UK and EU pricing is likely to be much higher once import fees, taxes, and customs rates are taken into account. At the right price, this is an excellent purchase, and I’d also expect Honor to have many pre-order deals that either reduce the price or include free accessories.

The Honor 600 Pro comes in three colors, and while I’ve got the white one here, I’ve seen the Black and Orange. Although the black variant is perfectly decent, the white version is my preferred choice. Why those two colors? Honor confirmed that the Orange version won’t be coming to the UK, and it’s unclear which global markets it will be sold in, if any.

Overall, I’ve been impressed by the Honor 600 Pro, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants core flagship features at a more affordable price. It offers the best of the Honor Magic 8 Pro at a lower price, and has a unique AI feature that sets it apart from many of the best Android phones. It’s not perfect, but the Honor 600 Pro is still an excellent smartphone.

Honor's mid-range stars are changing things up a bit this year, and while the company is still offering two versions of its latest Honor 600 series, it seems the company is focused more on the base model this year than the Pro version. As such, no matter where you live, it's more likely you'll be able to find an Honor 600 instead of the more expensive Honor 600 Pro.

But given my experience with the Honor 600 over the past week, there are a few reasons you'd probably want to spend more, anyway. Despite a lower cost, the Honor 600 uses the same near-bezelless 8,000 nit OLED display as the Pro model, the same giant battery, and a near-identical design and build (complete with IP69K resistance).

So this year, I'm focusing on the most affordable model, especially in light of the ludicrous price increases on electronics. Many people might hold on to their current phones for a bit longer because of these prices, but if you're in the market for a new mid-range option, Honor offers something compelling that might just sway you.

The Honor 600 debuted in Europe and the UK at €649.99 / £549.99 for the 256GB model, and €699.99 / £599.99 for the 512GB model. Honor is running a launch promotion across Europe (excluding the UK) that brings the price of each model down to €499.99 and even includes 12 months of screen insurance.

Honor is outclassing not only every mid-range phone with this build quality and design highlights, but the company has somehow eclipsed every flagship phone in certain areas, as well. As has become expected from the company these days, the Honor 600 sports an IP69K build that's drop and crush-resistant, so this phone should last you a good long time and still look good.

An AI button can be found on the right side under the power button, and its functions are not only customizable, but it also acts as a camera shutter button. The overall look is decidedly iPhone 17, without a doubt, but Honor trades out Apple's industrial look for something far more elegant, and I really appreciate that, despite enjoying Apple's design this time around.

The raised camera housing is made of a different composite material than the back and features a transparent, pearlescent sheen that complements the matte back. I dislike the flat sides of the phone, but the brushed aluminum feeling is at least great. Lastly, this is a smaller phone than I'm used to using, which, quite frankly, was weird at first but, ultimately, a breath of fresh air.

And while all of that is nice, the real star of the design is the near-bezelless display, which sports the world's first bezel sub-1mm. It's weird to think a mid-range phone would be the first to achieve this, and it's even a uniform 0.98mm bezel the entire way around the phone, too!

That display is simply gorgeous, sporting a true 10-bit panel with no temporal dithering and wonderful eye-friendly features like DC dimming and 3840Hz PWM dimming, plus most of Honor's Eye Comfort Display system, including motion sickness relief, defocus eyecare, and a personalized contrast test. Honor also offers a full suite of color adjustment options, though, including saturation, contrast, and many other properties that most smartphone companies omit.

Honor says the peak brightness output of this display is 8,000 nits, but that's usually in a small portion of the display. I measured the actual normal brightness output to peak around 3,000 nits during HDR playback, which is phenomenal for any class of phone, particularly a mid-range one. Even Samsung's best flagship phones peak at 2,600 nits.

The Honor 600 also offers far more competitive performance than last year's Honor 400, delivering 40% better performance than that phone in Geekbench and 3DMark tests.

Despite the phone's small size and meager 190g weight, it packs a massive 6,800mAh (7,000mAh in China) battery that lasts for days and days on a single charge. I don't think I've ever had a phone with battery life like this, and it's also nice that it supports 60W charging, too.

Now, not everything about the build is rosy. As is unfortunately the case with most Honor phones, the haptics in this one are pure junk. It's honestly better to just turn them off since they're so bad. Thankfully, that's the worst part of the experience, which is pretty minimal.

As is the case these days, Honor is playing up its new AI features as a big selling point of the phone. The company's AI key on the right side is well-designed and great to use, with quick on-screen AI context buttons that appear when long-pressing the key. This surfaces the most common AI features for what's on screen, including saving a screenshot to the AI memories automatic note-taking software.

This time around, most of the new AI features are found in Honor's Gallery app. The AI Photo to Video feature Honor launched last year got a big upgrade on this phone with the launch of V2.0, including the ability to add up to 3 pictures and a prompt to create a 3-8 second video clip of a moment that never happened. The video below was created by the Honor 600 using three pictures of my cat.

And that brings me to question the point of these types of features. Sure, it's fun to try it out and make a fake video from pictures you actually took, but I don't forsee any situation where I actually want to make a video from a photo and use it. I prefer authenticity in my image and video capturing, and this doesn't follow that. It's very cool and works well, though, so if this concept is appealing, this is the way to do it.

Now, the other two new AI features are far more useful, in my estimation. Moving Photo Eraser upgrades the magic eraser tool to preserve moving photos while still removing people or objects from them. It works as well as any other magic eraser-style tool, but the addition of motion photo capabilities is astounding.

Moving Photo Breakout Collage is another amazing feature that creates a collage of a bunch of photos and even includes motion photos in the collage. This way, you can have still images and motion photos side by side in a very social media-friendly photo collage, and it works simply brilliantly.

The camera itself is pretty darn good, too. The main 200MP sensor captures crisp photos with great dynamic range and accurate colors. Zooming in leaves quite a bit to be desired, but Honor's AI enhancement for photos taken beyond 6x zoom works impressively well and legitimately helps replace a physical 2x telephoto camera in many situations.

My biggest problem with this mode is that it's not always available, and there's no way to force it on, either. Thankfully, if you hate the look, you can disable the feature entirely.

Overall photo quality is among the best in this segment, including very good motion capture quality. Flagship Honor phones still do a better job of capturing moving objects, but the Honor 600 will do it better than the vast majority of phones in its price range.

The Honor 600 is an excellent follow-up to the Honor 400 series and, so long as there's not a massive price increase after launch, it remains one of the best values in the segment. Honor offers better displays, build quality, and battery size than other phones in this price range. Google, Nothing, and Samsung are the company's biggest competitors, but I find that I would choose Honor over these other options because Honor nails the basics best.

Samsung and Google offer more lifetime software upgrades than Honor by a year, but I don't think that genuinely adds more value at this price point. This is a solid phone with great support and plenty of reasons to choose it over the competition, especially if battery life, charging speed, build quality, and display quality (and comfort) are your top reasons for choosing a phone.

What you need to know

• The new Honor 600 and Honor 600 Pro were just announced at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Both phones feature a 200MP primary camera and a 12MP Ultrawide lens.
• The Honor 600 Pro also gains a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and up to 120x zoom.
• Both also feature large 7,000 mAh Silicon-Carbon batteries and superfast charging, although EU versions feature smaller batteries.

Honor has just unveiled two new smartphones in Malaysia that bring the best of the Honor Magic 8 Pro range at a more accessible price point. This includes the Honor 600 and the Honor 600 Pro, which share the same underlying hardware platform but differ in that the latter features a telephoto lens.

Both phones feature a large 7,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery and 80W charging, as well as 27W reverse charging, while the Honor 600 Pro also supports 50W wireless fast charging. That's the global variant, while models sold in Europe have a smaller 6,400 mAh battery. Both phones also feature the same 6.57-inch display with up to 8,000 nits peak brightness and a 3,840Hz PWM Dimming rate.

Both phones also share a 200MP primary camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera. The Honor 600 Pro also features a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and up to 120x zoom.

The Honor 600 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, while the Honor 600 is powered by a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor. This is paired with 12GB of RAM and between 256GB and 512GB of storage. Like Honor’s flagship phones — as well as the recent Honor Magic 8 Lite — both come with an IP69 and IP69K rating, the latter being the first time we’ve seen it on a smartphone.

One of the standout features is Industry-Exclusive AI Image-to-Video 2.0, powered by the industry’s first unified multimodal generative video model. Now you can combine up to three images and prompts to create a high-quality video in portrait or landscape mode, up to eight seconds long.

The Honor 600 series is expected to launch in several global markets in the coming weeks, but it has launched today in Malaysia, starting at RM2,599 ($657). That’s for the Honor 600 with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, while the Honor 600 Pro costs RM3,099 (~$784) in the same configuration, and RM3,299 (~$834) for the 512GB version.

Both phones come in three colors: White, Black, and the now-familiar Orange, which was also seen on the excellent Honor Magic 8 Pro Air.

Android Central’s Take

None of the Honor 600 series specs are new or particularly groundbreaking, and there’s a lot to be determined based on the eventual price, but it’s an excellent all-around phone. In particular, the second-generation Image2Video feature is especially impressive; it’s so good, my 4-year-old niece already wants this magic phone.

The Honor 600 series also offers a compelling alternative to the Galaxy S25 FE in several key markets, but like all Honor phones, it won't be sold in the U.S.

After 18 years of reviewing technology, it’s quite rare that smartphones can truly surprise or excite me, but last year marked a big moment. I love small phones and thin phones, which bucks the trend of bigger devices, and the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge both left me enamored when they were announced.

Yet neither became my main phone for one key reason: compromises. Both phones feature considerable compromises compared to their non-thin counterparts, especially as the latter become increasingly thinner with each generation.

The reason seemed simple: a thin body would naturally lead to several compromises in performance, battery life, charging, and camera performance. At least it seemed to be until a couple of weeks ago when I started using a new thin phone that proved that Samsung and Apple got it wrong.

Meet the best thin phone ever made: the Honor Magic 8 Pro Air. It’s so good, it’s my favorite phone to use right now.

The Honor Magic 8 Pro Air is slightly thicker than the Galaxy S25 Edge and the iPhone Air, but this is a worthwhile trade-off. The Magic 8 Pro Air measures 6.1mm thin, compared to 5.6mm for the iPhone Air and 5.8mm for the Galaxy S25 Edge, but while it's 0.6mm thicker, you’ll be grateful for it.

The reason? Much better cameras, a much larger battery, and considerably faster charging. The result is the only thin phone that feels like it doesn’t really compromise the flagship phone experience, especially compared to the competition.

It’s also worth noting that Honor managed to do all of this in a body that’s smaller than the competition as well, which makes the Magic 8 Pro Air even more enjoyable to use.

The Magic 8 Pro Air features a vibrant 6.31-inch display, complete with Dolby Vision and 6,000 nits peak brightness, and it resonates with me because I love small phones; this is much more comfortable to use in one hand than the 6.5-inch display on the iPhone Air (which is near perfectly sized) and the 6.7-inch display in the Galaxy S25 Edge, which I find a little too large.

If Honor had picked a larger display, it might not have been as enjoyable for me, but there’s a strong chance they could have made it thinner as well. Regardless, this is among the best-designed phones I’ve used in years, and as we’ll see, it finally addresses the key compromises of other thin phones. It also comes in four colors — Black, White, Purple, and Orange — and yes, I’m using the now-very-familiar Orange variant that looks just as stylish as my iPhone 17 Pro.

Battery and charging are key areas in which the Magic 8 Pro Air excels compared to the competition, and simultaneously solves the biggest issue with other thin phones.

The iPhone Air features a 3,149 mAh battery, with Apple also making a separate iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack that close to doubles the capacity. At around 7mm thick, this more than doubles the iPhone Air's overall thickness to ~13mm when used together. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 Edge features a larger 3,900 mAh battery with no official Qi2 battery pack.

In comparison, the Magic 8 Pro Air excels considerably, featuring a 5,500 mAh battery with support for 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. For context, this is larger than the battery in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, or even folding phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It takes around 50 minutes to charge the Magic 8 Pro Air to full, which is also faster than both the iPhone Air and the Galaxy S25 Edge.

I was shocked by the battery size, and then even more shocked when it delivered the exact all-day battery life I’ve been waiting for from a thin phone. Over the past few weeks, the battery life has averaged around 5-6 hours of screen time per day, which is more than enough, but I’ve also had it go over seven hours when used mostly on Wi-Fi. This is incredible, and simply put, the Magic 8 Pro Air is the first thin phone to offer true flagship battery life.

The camera is another area in which the Magic 8 Pro Air excels. The iPhone Air features a single 48MP camera, while the Galaxy S25 Edge features a 200MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera. Yet both lack the full range of camera features you’d find in either company’s flagship phones, which is another reason some customers may have opted against the thin variants.

The Honor Magic 8 Pro Air doesn’t have such compromises.

The Magic 8 Pro Air shows that thin phones can have great cameras, thanks to a 50MP main camera with f/1.6 aperture, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with 3.2x optical zoom.

This is virtually identical to the camera system found in the new Honor Magic V6 folding phone, but the Magic 8 Pro Air also has a much better 50MP selfie camera.

I’ve been waiting for a thin phone that actually delivers in the camera department, and this is the first phone not to disappoint: the Honor Magic 8 Pro Air is the first thin phone to actually deliver a flagship camera experience, and it’s absolutely wonderful to use in real-world usage.

Thin phones often struggle with cooling under heavy performance, but the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 processor inside the Magic 8 Pro Air stays noticeably cooler than any other thin phone, even when using on-device AI features.

Similarly, Honor’s software is well-optimized for both the form factor and the lack of thermal window, and the phone has yet to struggle, crash, or lag in any way. Yes, it runs a Chinese ROM, so you can’t set a different default launcher, but aside from that small point, Honor’s Magic UI is fantastic and intuitive to use.

There’s also full support for Google Apps, support for eSIMs — which is extremely rare on Chinese phones — and even a SIM tray, which is missing from the iPhone Air. This could easily launch globally with very few tweaks to the UX.

The under-display fingerprint sensor works well, but I do wish Honor had adopted a fingerprint sensor on the power button instead. And just to prove it’s truly a flagship, there’s also IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, with the latter proving to be a key differentiator that many non-thin phones don’t even offer.

The Magic 8 Pro Air is the best thin phone ever made.

This is a big statement, and the caveat is that there aren’t that many. Having tried every thin phone — including the Tecno, Huawei, and Motorola versions that are limited to China or elsewhere — one thing is clear: the Magic 8 Pro Air is the best thin phone ever made.

I’ll take it a step further: it’s one of the best phones ever made, thin or otherwise. Honor has proven that thin phones can be made without many compromises, and in doing so, it’s set a benchmark for other companies to follow. If a thin phone can be this good, what does it mean for non-thin phones going forward? Regardless, it's already one of my favorite Android phones, and aside from the best folding phones, it's setting a benchmark that I'm not sure the competition will beat.

The only downside to the Magic 8 Pro Air? It’s exclusive to China only, at least right now. It starts at ¥4,999 (~$717) for the 12/256GB version in China, with the top variant costing ¥5,999 for 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It would be more expensive in global markets, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Honor needs to bring this to global markets. It’s that good that every country deserves to be able to buy this.

I can't say exactly when I was last excited about a new tablet release, but it's been at least a few years. Most tablets are slight iterations of the previous version, and while that can be said to some degree about the Honor MagicPad 4, it's the display that's got me really excited this time around.

It's not just because Honor replaced last year's lackluster LCD display with a higher quality OLED one, but this is the first OLED I've ever seen with 5320Hz PWM dimming. No, that's not a typo, and it means that Honor continues to push dimming frequency in the right direction while most of the competition either ignores the problem or feels current solutions are "good enough" for most people.

It's one of the things I love about Honor devices these days, and it ensures that the vast, vast majority of people interested in buying the tablet will be able to enjoy a comfortable experience in addition to an extremely high quality one. Here's why Honors latest is the best tablet display I've used to date.

A display for everyone

As part of the spec sheet, I noticed that Honor has specifically started listing its displays as "low modulation" OLEDs in addition to ones that support high-frequency PWM dimming. This is important because it means that Honor's display not only operates at a frequency that's deemed safe by the IEEE standard for lighting, but it also goes above and beyond what the competition is doing.

The plain facts are that OLED tablets from Apple and Samsung simply do not qualify as "safe" under these lighting standards. They're not even close, either, as they mainly rely on a 240Hz PWM dimming rate at all brightness levels. The result is a subset of the population that physically cannot use these devices without incurring substantial head pain from them. I've got a quick 5-minute explainer video here, if you want to learn more.

That's where companies like Honor come in. Pushing PWM rates higher and lowering the modulation are two key factors in ensuring that even the most sensitive users can enjoy a modern device instead of having to use something from 2013 with outdated security patches and features.

The trick to getting the best results on the Honor MagicPad 4 is to set it to 165Hz in display settings. The problem is that there's no way to force the peak refresh rate. If you're running the display at 20% brightness or below — which is when the tablet switches from DC to PWM dimming — the display will oscillate between 4320Hz and 5280Hz, depending on the content on screen.

I'm not sure if this will bother any flicker-sensitive users, but rapidly switching between dimming rates has been known to bother some people, though those reactions are usually recorded at much lower dimming frequencies than 4320 or 5280Hz. The only way to guarantee that the display doesn't switch dimming rates is to set it to 60Hz in display settings. Since this is an LTPS panel, it'll run at 60Hz all the time, which means a 4320Hz PWM rate at 20% brightness.

Honor could really do with a setting to properly force the peak display refresh rate for folks who want to see the best at all times or want to ensure dimming frequencies don't shift. I'm not a huge fan of Honor advertising this as 5280Hz. That's not because it's not true — the display certainly can reach 5280Hz PWM dimming — but because it's only true under very specific and difficult to guarantee circumstances.

Despite using 10-bit OLED panels in most of their recent phones, the 165Hz OLED panel here is only an 8-bit panel. That's not problematic in and of itself, but the spec sheet for the tablet clearly lists that it's boosting color volume using a nasty trick called temporal dithering to alternate pixels between two colors to make your eyes see a color that "doesn't exist."

It sounds cool on paper, and some display enthusiasts love this trick because it can make displays more vibrant, but it does so in a way that can trigger epilepsy-level conditions in some people. The MagicPad 3's display used this trick, but it doesn't seem like the MagicPad 4 actually does, based on my extensive testing. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that all of the tablet's blue light blocking options don't use dithering to alter things. It's true blue light blocking from the hardware level.

There's no guarantee that Honor won't enable the 2-bit "enhancement" in an update, but, for now, this panel seems dither-free. I'm fine with companies offering a vibrant color mode for enthusiasts that want obnoxiously vibrant, cartoony colors, but it's important to offer a dither-free option for folks who suffer from flicker sensitivity.

My only real "disappointment" is that the display doesn't get as bright as the company's phones. I use this HDR white YouTube video for every display review because it gives me the peak HDR values using a common app that everyone has, and the highest I saw the display hit was just shy of 1,200 nits. By comparison, the Honor Magic 8 Pro's display hits 3,600 nits using the same test.

Given the huge size difference between this display and a phone's, however, it might be for the best that it doesn't hit that same peak value. Don't want to get blinded while just trying to watch a movie, after all. And it's still plenty bright while watching content on YouTube or Netflix, especially when that content supports proper HDR levels.

What I've been waiting for

Overall, this is a huge step up from the MagicPad 3's display, not just in motion clarity and refresh rate, but also because it doesn't have to use dithering to display 10-bit colors properly. Not only that, but this tablet is a much more manageable size than the MagicPad 3, which I found to be simply too large for any real utility.

Everything combined makes this an incredibly impressive table to use for any kind of entertainment or work, especially with its thin design, excellent battery life, and those absolutely bonkers good IMAX speakers. I just wish Honor were able to make better use of the improved PWM rate, as it's really only available in apps that support the 165Hz refresh rate.

MWC is usually about cool demos and wild prototypes that may (or may not) ever reach the market. But I just saw something that feels like a prototype and yet is officially scheduled to launch in the second half of 2026.

Honor may be making headlines for its Magic V6 foldable phone, but the company has also been teasing its Robot Phone for about six months now. This is the first time at MWC 2026 in Barcelona that Honor has started (sort of) showcasing what the device can actually do in a more complete way.

A smartphone with a built-in gimbal

At first glance, the Honor Robot Phone looks like a regular smartphone with a punch-hole camera on the front and a large display. But the magic starts when you look at the back. The rear panel features a slideable cover that, once moved aside, reveals a 200MP camera that sits on a three-axis motorized arm.

From there, it behaves somewhat like a built-in DJI Osmo Pocket. The arm acts like a gimbal that stabilizes video using counter movements even when you move the phone around.

For content creators, this could be a big deal. Having smartphone convenience and gimbal-level stabilization in one device sounds genuinely useful.

But this is not just about putting a 200MP camera on a gimbal and calling it a day. Honor has integrated AI into the system so the camera can track you automatically while recording. Even if you move around, the camera keeps you in frame.

There are also additional features like AI SpinShot, which supports 90- and 180-degree rotational movements for cinema-like transitions.

It tracks you while you film

More so, Honor has even given its Robot Phone a brain so that it can react to the environment around, and there are even some playful elements built in. The camera module can react to music playing around it and even nod or respond to voice input.

During the demo, the Robot Phone was shown moving and dancing to Imagine Dragons' Believer. It was clearly a preset demo, but it showed what the system is capable of when fully functional.

Achieving all of this, Honor says, required significant engineering effort. The company claims it developed one of the world's smallest micro motors to fit an ultra-compact 4DoF (four degrees of freedom) gimbal system inside a smartphone.

On stage, CEO James Li said the micro motor is around 70 percent smaller than existing solutions and even smaller than a 1-euro coin.

The phone looks impressive and sounds genuinely innovative. I can see how it would appeal to creators who want to record stable videos without carrying a separate gimbal.

My first (and for now the only) concern after I've seen the demo is the durability. Fitting a three-axis motorized system inside a smartphone is all cool, but it does raise some questions about long-term reliability. But that is something we will only know once we properly test it.

We still don't know the full specs or pricing of the Robot Phone yet, apart from the fact that it has a 200MP sensor but that's about it.

That said, Honor says it plans to launch it commercially in the second half of 2026. So stay tuned for more coverage of what might be one of the most unusual, and interesting, smartphones we've seen in a while.

Last year's Honor Magic V5 was an incredible upgrade over the V3 in every way, but it was ultimately upstaged by Samsung's excellent Galaxy Z Fold 7. That's why this year, Honor is getting ahead of the game and announcing the Magic V6 at MWC 2026, and while the phone doesn't officially launch until some time in Q2, I've had the privilege of using an early version of the hardware for the past few weeks.

In addition to my own impressions of Honor's latest foldable masterpiece, I also got to interview Hope Cao, the Senior Product Expert for the Magic V6 at Honor. A small group of just me and two other journalists talked Cao's ear off for a solid hour, asking everything we could think of about what makes the Magic V6 special and how the company plans to beat Samsung at its own game this year.

The list is quite long. Honor has better displays than Samsung's phones, a larger capacity battery that's also thinner and charges faster, better camera hardware in a thinner camera island, the first foldable with an IP69 water and dust resistance rating, better haptic motors, some rather interesting integrations with Apple products, and tons of other software enhancements.

Heartier hardware

Once again, Honor is pushing the limits of what can fit into an ultra-slim foldable phone. The company says the Magic V6's white colorway is the world's thinnest foldable ever, measuring just 4mm unfolded and 8.75mm when folded. For reference, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is 8.75mm thin, while the recently announced Galaxy S26 Ultra is 7.9mm, making this feel exactly like a normal smartphone in your pocket.

The other colorways (including the gold one I've got) are a hair thicker, but I have a hard time telling the difference on my calipers. For me, the real win here is that the camera island on the back is about half the thickness of the Magic V5's. This was all done while simultaneously hardening the structure, achieving an IP69 water and dust resistance rating, and an even stronger hinge than before. To date, only a few flagship phones from OnePlus and Honor have achieved this rating.

"Targeting the issue of hinges being prone to failure," Cao said, "the V6 utilizes 2800MPa Honor Super Steel to fortify the mechanical core, which is almost twice the strength of Samsung's material." It sports the same 500,000 lifetime folds rating as the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the stronger hinge, better water resistance, and other factors mean this one should hold up even longer over time.

Displays are incredibly important to me, but not for the same reason as some other people. While the Magic V6's display upgrades all the usual parameters (peak brightness, refresh rate, etc), it also innovates by driving a higher PWM rate than ever and a new anti-reflective layer. These are also a pair of true 10-bit displays, so there's no nasty temporal dithering going on, either.

"Honor continues to lead in eye comfort technology, constantly pushing the boundaries of technical capability," Cao told me, and it's true, especially with these two new technologies stacked on top of everything that already makes Honor displays so great. If I'm going to pick any phone that's good for my eyes, it's going to be this one, not Samsung's. It's also got full stylus support on both screens (something never seen on a foldable), although I don't have a compatible stylus to test on.

Having an anti-reflective layer means the phone is easier to see in bright conditions, something I've lauded Samsung for on the Galaxy S24 and S25, and that technology can finally be found on a folding phone. The new anti-reflective layer is also said to be 33% stronger against drops and even features a 44% reduced curve depth for the inner screen's crease. It's also got properly even bezels on the outer screen this time around, which should help those of us with OCD.

Honor says it used a combination of engineering expertise and AI simulation to help it achieve these new benchmarks, including rigorous testing and development of even better battery technology. Honor started using electric car battery tech in its phones a few years ago, and now the company has bumped the amount of silicon in its batteries up to 25%, up from 15% in the Magic V5, giving the global model a 6,660mAh battery.

Cao told me that Honor wanted "to further break through the ceiling of battery capacity," so they "partnered with ATL to debut a new generation of silicon-carbon battery technology." This not only resulted in a higher-capacity battery but also one that's even thinner.

While that's the largest battery in any foldable to date, the Chinese model will sport an even larger battery over 7,000mAh that's comprised of an unbelievable 32% silicon content. Silicon tends to improve battery capacity and charging speed, but can degrade faster over time if not formulated correctly. We pressed Honor on this important aspect during the interview, and the company said it has been working closely with leading battery experts to ensure this doesn't happen.

To make things even better, Honor upgraded the camera from the Magic V5 with a new CIPA 6.5 stabilization engine. It still includes the excellent 50MP sensors for the main and ultrawide camera and 64MP telephoto camera, plus new processing enhancements made possible by a faster Snapdragon chipset and a new ISP. CIPA 6.5 means the phone can take longer exposures than ever, even while holding the phone freehand, resulting in better-balanced, more detailed images.

Some might be saddened about a lack of true upgrades on the camera system this time around, but Cao said Honor needed "to strike a balance between an ultimate imaging experience and ultimate hand feel, catering to both super- flagship imaging capabilities and a thin, light foldable experience."

"From a design perspective, slab flagship phones have more space to accommodate larger image sensors," which is why the Magic 8 Pro's camera can fit a larger 200MP 1/1.4-inch telephoto sensor inside. "Users require devices that are not only thin and light but also reliable," Cao continued, "with long battery life, high performance, and excellent imaging capabilities."

Magic OS 10 has also been upgraded for this release, with new features like a pinnable taskbar, the ability to run 3 apps side-by-side (identical to OnePlus's Open Canvas, which is now part of Android 16), and a bevy of new Apple interoperability features. I'm not as interested in this part since I don't own a MacBook or Apple Watch, but there are, apparently, quite a few people who would appreciate this.

"We are well aware that many high-end users are 'dual-device owners' (dual-phone users) operating across ecosystems," Cao said. "We are committed to establishing Magic V6 as the perfect companion for Apple, achieving a top-tier status in the industry regarding the interconnectivity experience with the Apple ecosystem." At least watching Honor show the tech off made me aware how genuinely cool it was that the Honor Connect app can allow cross-device notifications and screen sharing, plus a one-tap share option between Honor and Apple devices.

Frankly, it's hard to believe folding phones could get much better than this, but I'm sure engineers will continue to defy expectations, as they have done here. We're expecting the Honor Magic V6 to launch in China sometime in March, while the global rollout will happen a few months later in Q2.

What you need to know

• Honor unveiled the ultra-slim Magic V6 with IP68 and IP69 durability and a 6,600mAh battery at MWC 2026.
• Magic V6 is powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with upgraded triple-camera hardware.
• The Robot Phone features a built-in 4DoF gimbal and AI tracking for real-time motion capture.
• Honor also launched the 4.8mm thin MagicPad 4 with a 3K 162Hz display.

Honor's MWC 2026 keynote has just wrapped up, and the company unveiled an impressive lineup of futuristic AI-focused devices along with new large-screen hardware.

Following last year's Magic V5 foldable, Honor introduced the Magic V6, improving on three key areas from the previous generation. Samsung briefly claimed the title of slimmest foldable last year with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at 8.9mm, but Honor is now taking that crown back. The White color variant of the Magic V6 measures just 8.75mm thin, while the Black, Gold, and Red variants come in at 9.0mm.

Honor's new foldable doubles down on durability

Durability is another major upgrade. The Magic V6 is now the first foldable to feature both IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance. While the Pixel 10 Pro Fold previously led with IP68 protection, Honor has gone a step further with IP69 certification. This means, in addition to splashes of water, Honor claims its foldable phone is also rated against high-temperature water jets at close range.

Honor has also doubled down on silicon-carbon battery technology. The Magic V6 features the company's fifth-generation silicon-carbon battery with higher silicon content for improved energy density. It packs a massive 6,600mAh battery with support for 80W wired fast charging and 66W wireless charging.

On the front, the Magic V6 features a 6.52-inch cover display and a 7.95-inch inner display, both supporting a 120Hz refresh rate. Honor claims the crease is less noticeable this time, and anti-reflective improvements have also been made.

The phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and comes with a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50MP primary sensor with f/1.6 aperture, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 64MP telephoto sensor.

Honor has not yet announced pricing or availability for the Magic V6, but it is expected to launch in the second half of this year.

Robot Phone steals the spotlight

That said, the real highlight of the event was the company's Robot Phone. Honor has been teasing this device for months, and it finally gave us a clearer look at what it can do.

Honor describes the Robot Phone as a "new species of smartphone" that combines traditional imaging capabilities with robot-grade motion. Instead of relying on the user to manually adjust the camera, the Robot Phone uses AI to detect motion and automatically track subjects in real time.

Honor says it had to rethink smartphone engineering at a "microscopic level" to integrate a robotic gimbal system inside a standard phone body. The Robot Phone uses a self-developed micro motor to power a 4DoF gimbal system.

According to Honor, this enables three-axis stabilization combined with AI object tracking to intelligently follow moving subjects. The device features a 200MP sensor, and Honor claims it narrows the gap between smartphone video and professional-level storytelling.

In addition to these devices, Honor also unveiled the MagicPad 4 at MWC 2026. The tablet is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, but the standout feature is its ultra-thin 4.8mm design. The MagicPad 4 is the thinnest Android tablet you can buy right now.

It features a 12.3-inch 3K display with a 162Hz refresh rate. We will be going hands-on with the MagicPad 4 in the coming days, so stay tuned for our full thoughts.

About two weeks ago, I unboxed the Honor Magic 8 Pro Photography kit. It's a delightful package that includes a special case for the phone, a MagSafe camera grip, a few different straps, lens adapters, and a telephoto extender.

The package is most similar to the Vivo X200 Photography Kit, although the Oppo Find X9 Pro's kit also features a telephoto extender in the box (but not the fancy camera grip). All of these kits are designed to transform your phone into something that looks and feels a lot like a professional camera.

Honor partnered with Telesin, a company that specializes in photography accessories for smartphones, GoPro cameras, and other portable camera products, making it easy to buy camera filters for your Honor Magic 8 Pro's Photography kit. Curiously enough, it doesn't seem like the company sells additional lenses, so we'll just check out what's in the box and whether it's worth your money.

A real upgrade for my phone's camera

The Honor Magic 8 Pro Photography Kit is an 8-piece set. Snap the phone into the very "camera-looking" case, pop the magnetic camera grip on, click in the lens extender, then open the camera app and enable the Teleconverter option on the left/top bar of the camera viewfinder. If this is your first time using it, you'll need to enable the Teleconverter accessory in the camera's settings.

When the Teleconverter mode is enabled, it'll restrict the camera to three supported shooting modes (photo, video, stage) and swap the zoom buttons out with 200, 400, 600, and 800mm options. You can also use the zoom wheel on the screen or on the camera grip to zoom in to a maximum of 5400mm. I'm not even sure what the "x" equivalent is on the normal viewfinder, but it's a very, very far distance zoom.

With everything attached (including the phone), the whole kit weighs 583g. That's just over double the weight of the 219g Magic 8 Pro on its own, but it's a far cry from the 1,081g my Panasonic Lumix GH-5 professional camera weighs. The camera grip operates via Bluetooth and has a built-in rechargeable battery, a USB-C port, and a 1/4-inch thread hole for standard tripod mounts.

The whole kit feels really good to use. The magnetic grip looks and feels just like a "proper" camera, including a two-step shutter button to lock focus before taking a photo (or recording video), a quick button to open the gallery, a mode-switching wheel, and a zoom switch for smooth zooming in and out.

If you're concerned about dropping the kit, you can install a wrist strap or a neck strap, both of which are included in the box. I don't particularly care for the location of the strap connectors, especially when using the longer neck strap, as they constantly get in the way of the screen or something else, since the holes are on the top side of the phone when held like a camera.

Since the camera grip is magnetic, it can be rotated in any direction you'd like. That makes it easy to take portrait and landscape photos or videos while still getting a great, ergonomic grip on the phone. It's amazing what something like this will do for stability!

To keep things straight, the telephoto extender measures distance in milimeters, while the phone's standard viewfinder (with the extender detached) measures in "x" levels. Here's the rough conversion, based on my findings (which you'll also find labeled in the sample images):

• 8.5x = 200mm
• 17.5x = 400mm
• 26x = 600mm
• 35x = 800mm

The telephoto extender produces better pictures and video in all lighting conditions compared to the built-in telephoto lens on the phone. There are no exceptions to this, which is always nice to say.

During the day, you'll notice noticeably enhanced detail, a significantly shallower/crisper depth of field, downright incredible subject separation without needing to use software portrait mode, and, of course, better zoom detail at any distance.

This extender takes the best portrait shots I've ever seen from a phone, and as I said before, it doesn't need software to do it, either. The separation of foreground and background in these types of shots is absolutely spectacular, and there's no way anyone could tell they were taken on a phone.

Macro photography has become a commonplace feature on phones, but I often prefer taking "macro" shots with a phone's telephoto sensor rather than the ultrawide camera. This is the only area where the photography kit's telephoto extender is a mixed bag. A photo of my cat lying on the other side of the couch looks better using the extender, but flower photography isn't as good as I'd hoped.

Part of this seems to be down to subject size/complexity. Smaller flowers, like those in the comparison below, were more difficult for the telephoto extender to focus on. I had to physically back up quite a bit and play around with zoom settings to find one that would actually focus on the flowers. For the built-in telephoto lens, all I had to do was tap the 3.7x zoom option on the viewfinder and take the picture.

Something you might notice so far is that the telephoto extender's color science is a bit different from the built-in telephoto lens. Honor says a combination of high-quality lens materials and an upgraded AI-powered color science algorithm is the reason, and I've found that it produces better colors in every situation.

The flower above is a perfect example. The golden hues of the standard telephoto's image might look nice, but the extender's color is actually the correct one.

Honor also says the telephoto extender improves the Magic 8 Pro's stability to CIPA 6.5, meaning you can hold the phone freehand while it takes longer-exposure shots. The higher the CIPA number, the longer the exposure can be without introducing blur, which inherently creates better, more detailed images (especially in low light).

The difference in low light is equally as striking as daylight performance, and in some cases, even greater. The 400mm option (17.5x zoom) seems to be the sweet spot for nighttime detail, as it's here where I found the most obvious differences between the standard and telephoto extender's photo quality.

Despite the substantial length of the telephoto extender — which almost always reduces the amount of possible light to the sensor — the capture time was no different between it and the standard telephoto lens, even in the darkest conditions. With the exception of one photo of a mural of a man (seen above), I also found the telephoto extender's photos had better light balance.

Ultimately, I'd love to see more lens options in the future, though, as it's cumbersome to switch to shorter focal lengths since this extender takes over the entire viewfinder. Overall, though, this is a phenomenal accessory if you're into telephoto capture. Folks with kids who perform on stage or people who frequent concerts will also find this to be an extremely valuable addition to their Magic 8 Pro.

What you need to know

• Honor teased its upcoming Magic V6 foldable this morning; however, it also showcased its striking red edition.
• This model's back panel offers a unique texture, which appears soft, almost like hair with wispy threads across the design.
• Honor also highlights the phone's thin, yet tough exterior, as a durability challenge pits the device as the "core" of a zipline to carry an adult.
• The Magic V6 and more will debut at MWC 2026 on March 1.

Are you looking forward to Honor's upcoming book-style foldable? The company teased its upcoming launch yesterday, but it's now teasing a massive update for it.

Honor revealed some details about its upcoming Magic V6 foldable to Android Central in a press release this morning (Feb 24). According to Honor, the Magic V6 is on its way with a striking red edition and a transformed back panel with a unique texture. While the company didn't state what this texture feels like, on a purely visual level, it appears light and wispy, almost like soft hair.

This powerful, passionate red edition isn't all that Honor's preparing for the Magic V6, as the post shares its laser focus on durability. Honor highlights that the Magic V6 is the "only foldable so far to achieve" IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance. Moreover, the brand has implemented "Advanced Display Protection" on its upcoming model.

Honor states this protection brings "Industry-leading 1.5% reflection rate, high wear resistance, and a reinforced inner screen with UTG glass and low-reflectivity coatings for enhanced clarity and impact resistance."

Last, but certainly not least, Honor's Magic V6 went through a gruesome durability challenge with Joe Weller in Thailand. Honor had Weller use the V6 as the "core supporting mechanism" for a zipline. The goal was to see if the Magic V6's strength could withstand the weight of holding onto an adult while also getting them across the gap. You can watch Weller brief screams of excitement on X while we await the challenge's full reveal. Honor adds that the Magic V6 was given a 2800MPa HONOR Super Steel Hinge for "structural integrity."

The Bold Magic V6 is on the way

We're expecting to see more from Honor regarding this device, but we'll have to wait about a week to get it. Yesterday (Feb 23), the company teased what it will reveal at MWC 2026 and, no, it's not a phone—it's a robot. Honor states that it plans to unveil its first humanoid robot as it enters the new space at MWC 2026. This AI-driven robot appears to have a camera on its head and an LED strip running down its chest.

The company previously teased its "Robot Phone" at CES 2025, which features a curious little gimbal camera on a phone that watches the world around you. At the time, the company said it wanted to bring the "brain of AI" to a device to "perceive" the world with us.

Aside from this, we have the red Magic V6 teaser; however, Honor says there's more to come. On March 1, 2026, at 1 PM CET (7 AM ET) in Barcelona, Honor plans to unveil the Honor Magic V6, along with the MagicPad 4 and MagicBook Pro 14 at MWC 2026.

Android Central's Take

The thing about the Honor Magic V5 was that the device was incredibly thin. I remember talking about it as a device that beat Samsung to the punch with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (which it kind of did). Now, Honor's pushing ahead with the V6 and the device remains quite thin, per its statement, but the durability is another factor. Honor says that it can create a thin device without "compromising" on its durability. If we see a thin phone, we're automatically thinking, "well, it's probably not that tough." Honor's looking to defy that and, personally, I'm willing to give them a chance to do that.

What you need to know

• Honor led smartphone growth in 2025 with an 11% rise in shipments, outperforming every major global brand.
• Global smartphone shipments grew 2% in 2025, with Apple and Samsung both posting strong 7% growth.
• Honor stood out among Chinese brands, while Oppo and Xiaomi saw declines of 3% and 2% respectively.

According to a new report, Honor had a strong 2025, posting 11% year-over-year growth, the highest among all smartphone brands last year.

A new report from Omdia revealed that global smartphone shipments grew by 2% in 2025, marking the biggest increase since 2021. Among all smartphone makers, Apple was the biggest beneficiary, with iPhone shipments growing 7% to 240.6 million units thanks to strong demand for the iPhone 17 lineup.

On the Android side, Samsung also had a solid 2025, reporting the same 7% year-over-year growth as Apple. This was driven by strong demand for the Galaxy S25 series and the much-improved Galaxy Z Fold 7. However, the flagship brand with the highest growth in 2025 was Honor.

According to the report, Honor posted a notable 11% growth, the highest of any flagship maker last year. The company released several high-profile devices, including the Honor Magic V5 foldable and the Honor Magic 8 Pro earlier this year.

In fact, Honor was also the only major Chinese brand to post strong growth, while Oppo and Xiaomi saw declines of 3% and 2%, respectively. Vivo, meanwhile, recorded a modest 4% increase.

The report doesn't mention Google's Pixel growth in 2025, although a previous report from Counterpoint Research indicated that Google also saw strong overall growth in its smartphone business last year.

Overall, the smartphone industry saw healthy growth in 2025, but the outlook for 2026 appears less optimistic. Rising memory prices and increased competition for components from data centers are pushing up manufacturers' internal costs, which are likely to be passed on to consumers and could lead to higher smartphone prices and, thus, slower sales.

Android Central's Take

It's quite refreshing, isn't it? Samsung and Apple have dominated the market for years, so seeing other Android brands show strong global growth feels like a welcome change.

It's also interesting to watch what Honor is working on next, especially its rumored Robot phone, which appears to blend gimbal-style camera hardware with AI features. While nothing has been confirmed yet, reports suggest Honor could unveil a new foldable phone and fully showcase the Robot phone at MWC 2025 next month.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. Magic 8 Lite: Design

Honor isn't making many alterations when it comes to the design of its latest phones. Both devices have roughly similar dimensions, but the Magic 8 Pro is heavier because of the aluminum mid-frame, giving it better rigidity. The Magic 8 Lite is made out of plastic, and while there are no issues with build quality, it doesn't quite have the same feel.

Thankfully, both devices get IP68 and IP69K dust and water resistance, so they should hold up just as well at the pool or in the shower. The Magic 8 Pro has a massive camera island, and it looks like a natural evolution of what we saw on the Magic 7 Pro last year. The Magic 8 Lite has a cleaner design, and if anything, I like the way it looks a little better.

Honor went with a plastic rear on both devices, with the Magic 8 Pro using a fiber-reinforced material that gives it a better in-hand feel. Outside of that, there isn't much to differentiate the devices at least when it comes to the design.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. Magic 8 Lite: Hardware

This is where you'll see a real difference between the two phones. With the Magic 8 Pro, Honor went with the latest Qualcomm silicon, putting the device on par with the iQOO 15 and the upcoming Galaxy S26. But the Magic 8 Lite gets the 4nm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, and although it is decent enough, it doesn't have anywhere close to the kind of power as the Magic 8 Pro.

Another limitation is the memory; the Magic 8 Pro gets the standard 12GB memory, but the Magic 8 Lite only gets 8GB, and Honor really should have included 12GB on both models. You don't get UFS 4.1 storage on the Magic 8 Lite either, and it misses out on Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and USB-C Gen 3.2. Basically, Honor made several changes to the Magic 8 Lite, and the result is a device that doesn't measure up to other phones in this category, much less the Magic 8 Pro.

The upside is that the Magic 8 Lite dominates when it comes to the battery; thanks to a massive 7,500mAh battery, the phone manages to last two days between charges. The Magic 8 Pro is pretty decent in this area as well, but the global model doesn't quite measure up to its Lite sibling.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. Magic 8 Lite: Cameras

The Magic 8 Pro has a trio of great cameras, and you get a similar level of versatility as the best Android phones. The main 50MP camera shoots outstanding photos in all situations, and the 200MP tele lens is great in its own right. It's not quite as good as the Vivo X300 Pro or the Find X9 Pro, but it is better than what Honor managed last year.

The Magic 8 Lite, on the other hand, gets a main 108MP module and a paltry 5MP wide-angle lens, and as you can imagine, the secondary lens is average at best. You don't get a dedicated telephoto, and that's annoying to say the least.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. Magic 8 Lite: Software

Normally, I'd say that the software is the same on these devices, but that isn't the case. The Magic 8 Pro comes with Android 16 out of the box, but the Magic 8 Lite is still on Android 15, and that's infuriating. What's even more egregious is that the Magic 8 Lite won't get as many software updates; with six guaranteed updates, the phone will get two fewer Android platform updates as the Magic 8 Pro.

Other than the update situation, the software is roughly similar on either device. Honor is badly in need of a visual overhaul, and while the brand insists that its software is built in-house, there are too many Huawei-esque influences still around. With other brands rolling out new interfaces and modernizing their software, the Magic 8 Pro and 8 Lite look a little outdated.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. Magic 8 Lite: Which should you buy?

Of the two, the Magic 8 Pro is clearly the better device, but that's obvious. The device doesn't really have any limitations, and it holds its own against the likes of the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Pixel 10 Pro.

The Magic 8 Lite also has a lot going for it, and that's particularly the case when it comes to battery life and ingress protection. If that's what you need, then yes, the Magic 8 Lite is a good choice. But the phone isn't quite as good when it comes to the cameras, or even the hardware, with Honor shortchanging buyers on small things like the Bluetooth modem. I also don't like that the phone is running Android 15 instead of the latest Android 16.

If you need the best that Honor has to offer, the Magic 8 Pro is the phone you should buy. If you need a mid-ranger with the best value, I'd suggest taking a look at the Pixel 9a or the Xiaomi 15T.

While the Galaxy S26 series is still a few weeks away, other brands have already beaten Samsung to the punch by launching their flagship smartphones. We already have several Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagships on the market, including the iQOO 15, Realme GT 8 Pro, Xiaomi 17, and more.

Honor recently unveiled the Magic 8 Pro with a flagship-grade set of specs and features, putting it head-to-head with rivals like the OnePlus 15. It brings a large display, a capable camera setup, a big battery, and long-term software support, making it a serious contender in the premium segment.

Both phones offer a very similar overall package, but if you are deciding between the Honor Magic 8 Pro and the OnePlus 15, which one makes more sense for you? Let us take a closer look at how the two flagship phones compare.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Pricing and availability

Honor unveiled the Magic 8 Pro in its home market of China on October 15, 2025. The flagship later made its way to global and European markets on January 8, 2026. Like previous Honor phones, however, the Magic 8 Pro is not launching in the U.S. or Canada.

Pricing starts at £ 1,099, and the Honor Magic 8 Pro is available in a single configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The phone is also available for pre-order in select European markets, including Germany and Spain. It comes in three color options: Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black.

The OnePlus 15 made its global debut on November 13, 2025, and unlike the Magic 8 Pro, it is available for purchase in the U.S., albeit a little later than its initial launch. The OnePlus 15 is also sold in India, Europe, and the UK.

Pricing for the OnePlus 15 starts at $899 / £849 / ₹72,999 for the base variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The higher-end model costs $100 more and bumps the configuration up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The OnePlus 15 comes in three color options as well: Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, and Sand Storm.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Design and display

OnePlus used to have a distinct design language, but that identity has slowly faded, and the OnePlus 15 makes that especially clear. The phone looks eerily similar to most 2026 flagships, with a flat-edged design, rounded corners, a clean back, and a square-ish camera module in the top-left corner.

It looks very similar to the OnePlus 13s, just larger, and most of the distinctive design elements that once set OnePlus apart are now gone.

The Honor Magic 8 Pro, on the other hand, builds on the design language Honor established with the Magic 7 Pro. It follows the familiar slab-style flagship design with flat edges and curved corners, but both the front and back glass subtly curve at the edges, making the phone more comfortable to hold. The camera module on the back is centered towards the top and circular.

Both phones are also quite similar in size and dimensions, and they weigh almost the same as well, with the Honor Magic 8 Pro coming in at 219 grams and the OnePlus 15 at 211 grams.

One area where both phones shine is durability. The Honor Magic 8 Pro and OnePlus 15 both come with IP68 and IP69K ratings, meaning they can handle dust, water immersion, and even high-pressure water sprays.

The difference starts to show up in the type of materials used on both phones, though. OnePlus uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for display protection, while Honor relies on its in-house NanoCrystal Shield. On the back, OnePlus uses glass on some variants, whereas the Honor Magic 8 Pro uses a plastic-reinforced material, which feels slightly out of place on a flagship phone.

The differences start to narrow once we move to the front. The Honor Magic 8 Pro features a 6.71-inch LTPO OLED display with a refresh rate up to 120Hz and 4320Hz PWM dimming for better eye comfort. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid playback and can reach up to 6,000 nits of peak brightness during HDR content, though regular high brightness mode tops out at around 1,800 nits.

The OnePlus 15, meanwhile, comes with a slightly larger 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display that also supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HDR Vivid. One advantage the OnePlus 15 has is its higher 165Hz refresh rate, which gives it an edge in supported games, while the Honor Magic 8 Pro caps out at 120Hz. That said, the OnePlus 15 also maxes out at around 1,800 nits in high brightness mode, putting both phones on similar footing for outdoor visibility.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Hardware and specs

Being 2026 flagships, you can expect top-end specs from both the OnePlus 15 and the Honor Magic 8 Pro, and that is exactly what they deliver. Both phones are powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which is easily among the fastest and most efficient processors available right now for Android flagships.

Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, both phones also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In terms of memory and storage, the Honor Magic 8 Pro comes in a single configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The base variant of the OnePlus 15 also offers 12GB of RAM but only 256GB of storage, while the higher-end model bumps this up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

When it comes to battery and charging, both OnePlus and Honor have adopted silicon-carbon battery technology, allowing them to pack larger batteries into slimmer designs. The Magic 8 Pro houses a sizable 7,100mAh battery, just slightly smaller than the OnePlus 15's 7,300mAh cell.

Both phones support extremely fast charging, with the Honor Magic 8 Pro offering up to 100W and the OnePlus 15 pushing it to 120W.

In real-world use, both phones should comfortably last a full day on a single charge, and topping them up should be quick regardless of how heavy your usage is. Any noticeable differences in battery life will likely come down to software optimization rather than hardware.

Speaking of which, let us talk about the software. The Honor Magic 8 Pro ships with Android 16 out of the box, layered with Honor's own MagicOS 10. Like previous versions, MagicOS 10 looks eerily similar to iOS, with Honor borrowing quite a few UI elements for its own interface.

There is also no shortage of pre-installed Honor apps and bloatware on the Magic 8 Pro. The upside here is long-term support, as Honor is promising seven major OS updates for the phone, which is significantly more than the four major OS upgrades that the OnePlus 15 offers.

The OnePlus 15, on the other hand, runs OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16 out of the box. Unlike Honor, OnePlus relies heavily on Google apps for most core functions, which results in a much cleaner and smoother software experience, in my opinion. Both phones also come loaded with a wide range of AI features, so you are not missing out on that front, regardless of which one you choose.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Cameras

Moving on to the camera systems, you expect flagship phones from Chinese smartphone makers to come with capable camera hardware, and both the OnePlus 15 and Honor Magic 8 Pro largely deliver on that front.

On the Honor Magic 8 Pro, you get a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, and OIS. This is paired with a 50MP ultra-wide sensor and a massive 200MP telephoto lens offering 3.7x optical zoom. Up front, Honor includes a 50MP selfie camera alongside a ToF 3D depth sensor.

Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich went hands-on with the Magic 8 Pro cameras and came away impressed with the results. You can check out the camera samples from the Magic 8 Pro in his coverage.

The OnePlus 15, meanwhile, features a triple-50MP camera setup. This includes a 50MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, and OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom. On the front, the OnePlus 15 uses a 32MP selfie camera.

While the OnePlus 15 no longer carries Hasselblad tuning, replacing it with OnePlus' own DetailMax Engine, the cameras remain quite strong overall. We've also extensively tested the cameras on the OnePlus 15, and you can check out full camera samples in our detailed OnePlus 15 camera review.

Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Which should you buy?

Choosing between the OnePlus 15 and the Honor Magic 8 Pro largely comes down to availability. As mentioned earlier, the Magic 8 Pro is currently limited to a handful of global markets and is not available in North America, including the U.S. and Canada. The OnePlus 15, on the other hand, is available across most major global markets.

If both phones are available where you live, then it really comes down to personal preference. Both devices offer some of the best specs and features you can get on an Android flagship right now and should comfortably last you for years. They both pack large batteries with extremely fast charging, capable displays, and solid multimedia experiences, so you are not missing out either way.

The real difference lies in software. If you prefer a cleaner, faster version of Android, the OnePlus 15 is the safer bet, though it is limited to four major OS updates. MagicOS 10 on the Honor Magic 8 Pro looks heavily inspired by iOS, and if that does not bother you, it is a compelling option thanks to its longer software support, with up to seven years of major updates.

What you need to know

• Honor moved away from ultra-cheap phones and posting the fastest international shipment growth among top global brands.
• Overseas shipments jumped about 55% year over year in the first three quarters of 2025, putting Honor ahead of every other top-10 smartphone vendor.
• The $300–$499 segment accounted for roughly 23% of Honor's overseas shipments — the highest share among major Chinese brands.

Honor changed its approach to overseas business in 2025. While many Chinese smartphone brands are still competing hard in the low-cost market, Honor updated its global strategy and recorded the fastest overseas shipment growth among the world’s top vendors.

Global research firm Omdia reports that Honor's international shipments rose about 55% year over year in the first three quarters of 2025. This was the best overseas performance among the world’s top 10 Android smartphone brands.

Five years ago, overseas markets made up less than 10% of Honor’s global sales. By the third quarter of 2025, they were close to half. International business has become a main growth driver, focused on higher price ranges, better channel control, and strategies tailored to each region.

Rather than focusing only on high sales volume, Honor targeted the $300 to $499 price segment overseas. This range made up about 23% of its international shipments in the first three quarters of 2025, the highest share among major Chinese brands. The trade-off is clear: fewer low-margin sales, but more focus on branding, retail presence, and product differences.

Honor seems comfortable with that bet. Phones like the Magic V5, along with reliable midrange models such as the X9d and HONOR 400, are designed to support higher average prices while still attracting mainstream customers.

Honor dominates by region

Honor is focusing its efforts by region. Europe is the main area for its premium products. The brand ranked in the top five in important Western European markets like the UK and France. The Magic V5 reached second place in Western Europe’s book-style foldable segment, helped by its slim design, strong battery, and AI features. In Central and Eastern Europe, shipments grew by 15% as Honor expanded its retail channels and brand presence.

Latin America still accounts for most of Honor’s sales. Mexico and Central America are key markets, but growth is spreading to other areas. Ecuador and parts of the Caribbean saw strong gains, and Brazil had triple-digit growth from a smaller base. Partnerships with operators are very important, and Honor’s experience with telco-led sales gives it an advantage. The upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup is also expected to boost device upgrades and carrier promotions in the region.

The Middle East and Africa have become the fastest-growing regions for Honor, with shipment volumes almost matching those in Latin America. Premium retail channels, strong partnerships with operators, and in-store demos focused on AI features are helping Honor raise average selling prices in Gulf markets. South Africa also performed well due to products tailored to local needs and operator-led distribution.

South-Eastern Asia is the next focus for Honor. The company is investing in local manufacturing in Indonesia, and Malaysia acts as a regional brand and service center. Flagship models are becoming more popular, and shipment growth in the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore shows that the brand’s reputation is improving.

The last six months have been pivotal for Honor, a company that often apes Apple's design but has historically struggled to deliver the same caliber of experiences. But that's all changed with laptops like the Honor MagicBook Art 14 Snapdragon, phones like the Honor 400 Pro and Honor Magic V5, and now the Honor Magic 8 Pro.

Some of this is Honor's close relationship with Google, which now allows the company to sit among the elite few offering seven full years of OS updates for its top-tier phones, Magic 8 Pro included, as well as deeply-nested integration with core services like Gemini.

Plus, Honor is doubling down on what makes its phones great and unique, like a camera that produces near DSLR quality imagery from its 200MP telephoto sensor, or a display that not only pushes class-leading brightness but doesn't forget that humans have to look at its visage during all hours of the day without getting eye strain. The Magic 8 Pro is a phone unlike any Honor has built before, and it makes recommending it a breeze.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Price, availability, and specs

The Honor Magic 8 Pro is available across Europe as of January 7, 2026, starting at £1,099.99/€1,299 for the model with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. The Magic 8 Pro ships in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black colorways. Our review unit is Sunrise Gold. This phone is not officially available in North America, but I've been using it on T-Mobile's 5G network without issues for a few months.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Design and display

• The thinner, slightly curvier design is nicer to hold than the Magic 7 Pro's boxier shape, with a large camera island that makes it easy to pick up off a table.
• The OLED display is top-notch in every regard, including class-leading brightness and color accuracy, but doesn't feature an anti-glare layer.
• Honor has upgraded its Eye Care Display, now including even better eye care features and metrics like true 3840Hz PWM dimming at low brightness.

As with many Honor releases, the Magic 8 Pro closely resembles the latest iPhone's design in several ways. It ditches the overly boxy design for slightly curvier edges that are more ergonomic, features comfortable rounded corners, and even sports a thinner, lighter chassis. In short, it's a joy to hold and use daily.

The front and back glass feature the same curve on all four edges, further helping to ensure this is a very comfortable phone to use. The problem with curved glass is that it makes it difficult to find a good tempered glass screen protector. The phone ships with a pre-applied film protector, but there's nothing quite like the protection offered by tempered glass.

The build itself also received an upgrade from the Magic 7 Pro, now sporting IP69K ingress protection, stronger glass, and haptics that are finally good. Honor's haptics have long lagged behind the competition, and now they're finally at least on par with what Samsung offers, although phones from Oppo, OnePlus, and Google still provide a better haptic experience.

The large camera hump on the back is substantial, but still thinner than the Honor Magic V5's huge island. While it's large, it's still a better design than most of the company's competition, as the island is not only centered (so it doesn't wobble on a table), but it's also totally flat. A large camera island also means the phone is a wedge shape on a table, with an underside that's easily grippable when compared to most flat phones.

The new side key, located below the power button, acts as a multifunction key to call up the new AI assistant, quickly launch the camera, zoom, and take photos or videos in the viewfinder, and more. It's a great new addition that's generally more useful than the side key on phones like the OnePlus 15.

Honor is also setting a new bar for OLED displays with the Magic 8 Pro. I've got a detailed Honor Magic 8 Pro display review if you are interested in the nitty-gritty details, but here's the short of it. The Magic 8 Pro's OLED is as good as LTPO OLEDs get today, with a 1-120Hz refresh rate range and a class-leading measured peak brightness of 3,600 nits.

It offers tons of color customization options, including detailed sliders for contrast, saturation, RGB, and more than most other companies. The company has also outfitted the phone with two dimming options: an eye-friendly DC dimming mode above 20% brightness and comfortable 3840Hz or 4320Hz PWM modes at low brightness.

Honor even shipped the phone with a new flicker detection tool so you can check the flicker rate of nasty LEDs around you, something never before done by a smartphone company. It's a substantial upgrade over anything Samsung, Google, or Apple offers on their phones, and additional eye care options ensure nearly everyone will find this phone's display comfortable, even for PWM-sensitive people.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Battery life, performance, and software

• MagicOS 10 (based on Android 16) represents a significant step forward in UX and offers 7 years of OS updates.
• Battery life is better than most flagship phones, with a large silicon-carbon cell and ultrafast charging with the included charger.
• Performance is as good as it gets in 2026, although some may scoff at only 12GB RAM in a flagship at this price.

Honor has been leading the charge on silicon-carbon batteries for a few years now, and notable improvements this year led to thinner phones with larger batteries and faster charging. The Magic 8 Pro follows that line of progress, and while the China model has a bigger battery, the 6,270mAh battery in the international model is no slouch.

You'll easily get two days' battery life per charge, and it takes only a few minutes with the included charger to get a full day's use from the phone. It's a spectacular performance that's not quite class-leading, but it's significantly better than what's offered by Samsung, Google, or Apple.

And while MagicOS 10 (based on Android 16) is the company's best work yet, Honor's software still needs a bit of work to match those three companies. At least, this phone's seven-year software update commitment ensures you'll see further improvements as the company continues to hone its development process over the next few years.

MagicOS 10 represents the closest we've seen Honor ever work with Google, including AI features powered by Google's cloud, integration with Gemini features like Circle to Search, and more.

The new sidekey can be long-pressed to launch an agentic AI tool that'll scan the screen and suggest quick actions to be taken. I've found this to be more useful than other "AI keys" on phones because it suggests actions I'll actually use. Phones like the Nothing Phone 3 or the OnePlus 15 often use this kind of key to take screenshots and file them into an AI-powered app for later searching, but I never found myself integrating those tools into my daily routines.

My biggest pet peeve with Honor's MagicOS is that it still unnecessarily copies iOS in far too many ways. The new "stacked" multitasking UI is a direct clone of iOS's UI, but that's an actual improvement over the garbage UI stock Android still uses. But several other areas aren't an improvement, like no option to consolidate notifications and quick toggles into one notification pane, and a basic home screen launcher that lacks the customization of other Android brands.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Cameras

Honor began seriously focusing on (pun intended) its telephoto camera experience starting with the Magic 6 Pro, which debuted a 180MP camera behind that lens. The Magic 7 Pro upgraded that to a 200MP sensor, and now the Magic 8 Pro camera further upgrades the experience with a better 3.7x lens and CIPA 5.5-grade OIS.

For everyone who has never heard of CIPA, a 5.5 rating basically means you can take impressively long exposure shots even in the dark without putting the phone on a tripod. The same system is used on the main camera and ensures that your low-light photos come out looking more detailed, better exposed, feature more accurate colors, and have much less blurring than most smartphones.

It's also a giant sensor, and I don't just mean the megapixel count. A 1/1.4-inch sensor is physically large, and that size, combined with the f/2.6 lens, means you're getting impressive bokeh on every shot, not just those taken in portrait mode. Those photos look more like something from a DSLR than other smartphones can deliver, and it's the highlight of the camera experience for me.

The rest of the camera experience is also good, but that telephoto camera is easily the best part. I found myself regularly backing up just a bit so I could use the phone's 3.7x zoom more often to achieve the natural bokeh (background separation) created by such a sizable sensor.

Low-light photography is also excellent, and Honor continues to do an excellent job of capturing motion when compared to many other brands. The phone is also capable of recording video at 4K resolution and 120FPS, though I've noticed an apparent clarity drop-off at 60FPS and above when lighting isn't perfect. Check out my full Honor Magic 8 Pro camera review to see the full breakdown.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Competition

Honor's biggest competition is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the OnePlus 15, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra (or the upcoming Galaxy 26 Ultra). Honor offers a compelling way to switch from iPhone while still retaining the ecosystem syncing that Apple offers. I use an Honor laptop, Honor phones, and occasionally an Honor tablet, and they all work exceedingly well together. Honor is also the only brand offering secure face unlock with a 3D sensor like Apple.

Samsung also offers quite a bit of added value with their phones, especially if you use a lot of Samsung products in your home. The company's OLED displays are far harsher than Honor's and give some people (like me) headaches, and I don't like Samsung's flat and sharp hardware designs at all; they're just uncomfortable to hold. Plus, you're looking at slower charging and worse battery life, but it's hard to ignore how good One UI is these days.

OnePlus offers the most balanced experience between all these phones, with even better battery life than the Magic 8 Pro. The cameras aren't as good, but Oxygen OS offers more features and a better UI, plus notably better haptics than any other choice on this list, as well as a 165Hz eye-friendly OLED that's great for gaming.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Should you buy it?

You should buy if...

• You want a phone that's comfortable to hold, tough, relatively light, and offers top-notch biometric options and long-term software support.
• You need a phone with an eye-friendly OLED and plenty of accessiblity options.
• You enjoy taking photos and want the best telephoto quality we've seen to date.
• You want deep ecosystem tie-in and syncing with other Honor devices.

You shouldn't buy if...

• You absolutely have to use a good tempered glass protector.
• You record lots of video and want the highest quality.

I've grown to really like Honor's phones and devices over the past few years, and it's now incredibly easy to recommend Honor phones as viable alternatives to Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and other brands. The company offers plenty of reasons to use its phones, including better displays and cameras, longer battery life, faster charging, and strong ecosystem integration with its other devices.

Honor could improve the video-capture experience when recording at 60FPS, especially in low light, and the phone's overall UI still needs a bit of improvement to match other brands. But the number of excellent features here, including Magic Portal, Magic Ring, and the side key with contextual AI, makes MagicOS 10 extremely compelling in ways it wasn't before.

This is an excellent phone that I'll be happy to continue using for the foreseeable future, and long-term software support helps solidify that decision. The only problem is availability, since Honor phones still aren't officially available in North America.

As Honor has evolved over the years from a value brand to a premium one, its phone designs and specs have followed suit. We've seen the brand push out foldables that rival Samsung's best, the strongest ingress protection next to OnePlus, cameras that would make an iPhone blush, and OLED displays that eclipse the best from every brand.

That pedigree continues with a new level of excellence on the Honor Magic 8 Pro, a new flagship that launches globally on January 8, 2026, and brings along an OLED panel with a bevy of accessibility features, custom user-level calibration, the best eye care solutions we've yet seen, and a brightness level that'll blow you away.

While the OnePlus 15's display impressed us with its ultrafast refresh rate, Honor is focusing more on brightness and accessibility solutions for the Magic 8 Pro's display, and it comes out on top for most people because of it.

Comfort and brightness

When I first learned I was sensitive to PWM dimming in spring 2023, phones from brands like Honor, OnePlus, and Motorola were the first to offer alternatives that worked. Since then, Honor has doubled down on the eye-friendly nature of its displays, adopting better dimming methods as the default, faster PWM dimming than most other manufacturers, tons of bespoke eyecare solutions, and more.

Because of this focus, the Magic 8 Pro is the new gold standard for overall flagship display quality and comfort. It's funny to have a new winner so closely after the OnePlus 15, but this is how the smartphone industry works sometimes.

That all starts with a combination of class-leading peak brightness and a bevy of eyecare solutions that genuinely help people who need them. Out of the box, the Magic 8 Pro uses a comfortable single-pulse DC dimming method from 21-100% brightness. A user-selectable option for Honor's alternative "comfort" triple-pulse method is found under the Honor Eye Care Display section in settings.

Despite the names, I find the "classic" mode to be far more comfortable than the "comfort" dimming option. Modulation is impressively low overall, and high-frequency PWM dimming at 20% brightness and below ensures substantial comfort even for sensitive users.

On top of being comfortable, this panel is the brightest I've measured on any smartphone to date by around 10%. Not only that, but I've found that the HDR contrast on this display looks noticeably better than phones like the Pixel 10 Pro XL when viewed under sunlight.

The Magic 8 Pro doesn't feature the same anti-glare layer that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra does. That means reflections in sunlight will lower the contrast ratio of the overall image, but Honor's display does an excellent job of making up for that.

At around 3,600 nits of actual, measured HDR brightness, this display pumps out the nits needed to be visible outside and still provides a contrast ratio that looks OLED good. To put that in perspective, the Galaxy S25 Ultra hits 2,600 nits of peak brightness, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL tops out around 3,300 nits.

To make those numbers even more impressive, Honor doesn't use nasty PWM dimming at high brightness, so your display isn't strobing your brain with these high brightness values, unlike Samsung and Google. That shows companies can make bright displays that are still comfortable to use.

Accessibility

The Honor Magic 10 Pro debuts Honor's "Custom Display" calibration options, including automatic contrast, brightness, and color adjustments to best fit you as an individual. Custom Display breaks this into two tests to tailor the display to your needs.

Unsurprisingly, my test yielded the "high sensitivity" result, which keeps the brightness a bit dimmer than the default curve and also adjusts contrast to better fit sensitive eyes. A new, scalable Extra Dim option, found under accessibility settings, can further reduce brightness without greatly affecting modulation.

The Magic 8 Pro's display also supports the company's unique accessibility settings like Defocus Eyecare, plus additional accessibility options for hardware-level blue light blocking, a circadian rhythm mode that adjusts the display temperature throughout the day, ambient light temperature adjustment, a motion sickness mode, and a circularly polarized light filter built in for comfort.

This one's a true 10-bit display that doesn't use color dithering in the default vibrant color mode. Temporal dithering is yet another ridiculous way manufacturers have found to simulate better image quality at the expense of sensitive users.

Honor isn't pushing any boundaries with the 120Hz refresh rate, but it's an LTPO panel, which means it can drop as low as 1Hz when needed. That's great for people who love to use the always-on display, especially since Honor provides a true always-on display that won't turn off if you don't want it to.

Additionally, I've found that the Magic 8 Pro's display resolution does a great job of selecting high resolution (2808 x 1256) when necessary. That makes games look nice and crisp, something that's important if you like distance sniping in games like Fortnite.

The launch of a brand new tool

Honor's new flicker-detection tool built into the phone speaks directly to me and anyone else concerned about flickering lights in their life. Found under the Honor Eye Comfort Display settings section, the new flicker-detection tool can be used to do exactly what it sounds like.

Results are displayed in a standardized IEEE 1789-2015 graph, including an easy-to-understand result that doesn't require you to know anything about the lighting industry's flicker standards. You'll get a quick good/moderate/bad result with enough data to help you make positive changes, if need be.

The inclusion of this tool is a testament to how seriously Honor is taking the serious problem of flickering lights, and it means that all users of this phone can swap out the nasty flickering lights that cause some people debilitating pain. This tool only works on lights right now, though, and doesn't seem to work on displays, so there's room for future improvement, too.

Verdict

The Honor Magic 8 Pro is the flagship phone that feels like it finally doesn't compromise on anything, including a class-leading display. From impressively accurate color reproduction and brightness, to accessibility options that ensure even sensitive users don't get left behind, this is a phone that aims to be the best for everyone who wants one.

It's even more impressive that Honor launched the industry's first built-in flicker detection tool with this phone, completing the circle of catering to individuals who are sensitive to the overly bright, flickering displays and LED lights that are increasingly more common in our lives. It's a huge deal that a company like Honor is recognizing these problems and developing solutions to them, and it makes recommending the Honor Magic 8 Pro incredibly easy.

On paper, most of the Honor Magic 8 Pro's specs look like pretty run-of-the-mill upgrades. It's got a bigger battery, faster processor, better display, improved IP ratings, and some new software tricks to brag about. But the camera experience looks identical on paper until you notice one thing: the telephoto lens and OIS system.

That 200MP telephoto sensor might be the same as last year's, but it's behind a brand-new CIPA 5.5 OIS system that delivers the best results I've ever seen from a telephoto lens. It's got incredible depth and bokeh that most phone sensors simply can't produce without using software portrait mode, and it totally changed how I took pictures with this phone.

Telephoto

I would normally start with the primary camera sensor in a smartphone camera review, but the telephoto is the real highlight of the experience. A new 3.7x lens means the primary sensor is used from 1-3.6x zoom, and then the telephoto takes over beyond that.

The best quality from the lens is between 3.7x and 10x, and it can be used for everything from portrait shots (which I'll go into detail about later) to macro photos and everything in between. At 3.7x, it's not a replacement for the primary camera sensor simply because that's too zoomed in to get the job done, but when you can use the telephoto camera, I recommend defaulting to it.

The quality from the sensor is simply exquisite, with accurate color reproduction, excellent natural bokeh from the large sensor, and generally good dynamic range. I found a few examples where the software could have done a better job with dynamic range — the 10x zoom image of the brick church is one — but this didn't happen very often and seemed to happen far less than with iPhone or Galaxy cameras.

Zooming in beyond 10x is fairly hit-or-miss, though. Honor employs an optional AI upscaling engine that can be easily toggled via a button on the viewfinder and can sometimes help address the limitations of a 3.7x telephoto lens with long zoom ranges.

Portrait

Honor really started perfecting its portrait mode with the Honor 200 Pro nearly two years ago, and things have only improved since. The company's partnership with famous portrait studio Harcourt continues, and Harcourt Vibrant is the default mode selection when you take portrait photos, resulting in a punchy portrait photo without resorting to cartoonish colors.

While the details are crisp, colors are nice, and object cutouts remain some of the best in the business, I'd like to see Honor tone down the sharpening in a future update. These cameras already capture plenty of detail, so the images don't need to be further sharpened, and the result can sometimes look "very digital" if you zoom in too far.

And while I've still gotten plenty of excellent shots without that problem, I'd actually encourage Magic 8 Pro users to nix the portrait mode altogether and just shoot with the 3.7x telephoto lens in normal mode.

While portrait mode will certainly improve the separation of the foreground from the background in an image, it can sometimes be too aggressive on any phone. The 3.7x telephoto sensor, on the other hand, produces incredible natural bokeh that looks like it was shot with a much larger dedicated camera more often than not. These examples prove it.

The first picture above of one of my chickens shows the fairly minute difference between using regular and portrait modes with this camera. Because portrait mode doesn't always get it right and Honor's software doesn't allow you to tweak the portrait blur in post, sticking with using the 3.7x tele on normal mode is going to produce the best shots from the phone, and honestly, the best shots from any smartphone camera I've used to date.

Some of this is down to pure sensor size, but the crispness and natural look also come from being able to capture longer exposure shots than most other phones. That CIPA 5.5 rating on the telephoto camera means the optical image stabilization is so good that the phone can shoot 5.5 stops slower than without OIS.

In plain terms, your camera shutter can stay open longer without producing a blurry image, which means it can use a lower ISO, creating noise-free shots with tons of natural detail. It also means you can freehand video from this sensor, and it'll come out looking more stable than other phones.

Main and ultrawide

The main and ultrawide cameras on the Magic 8 Pro remain the same as the ones from the Magic 7 Pro. Each is a 50MP sensor with excellent lenses and an impressive AI-driven software stack. All the camera lenses support Honor's impressive auto-capture tool, but the main and ultrawide sensors are the best way to use it in most situations because of their focal lengths.

If I had to critique anything about the primary camera, it's that there's some edge fringing when photographing objects up close. Because of this and the sensor's size, it's best to use 2x or 3.7x zoom when trying to capture anything up close.

That cleans up the fringing without losing any real detail, and it's something this phone is uniquely good at doing. Look at the 2x zoom example above to see what I mean about detail retention.

I have no real complaints about the ultrawide camera when compared to the competition. It's a 50MP sensor, so it packs plenty of detail into each shot, although ultrawide shots aren't typically taken with the intention of later zooming in too far. Dynamic range and colors all look great, and the 122-degree FoV ensures you'll capture everything you want in one shot.

Editing and AI

Honor continues to shore up its gallery app with new editing features, including a few interesting new ones like motion photo options and the AiMAGE color engine. Any picture shot with motion photo can now have that motion augmented with a trail, clone, or slow-motion effect.

The AiMAGE color engine lets you create templates of image colors and apply them to other images, or select from one of the three presets. It's a way to give your image a nice look without resorting to entirely fake AI-generated changes like you'll find in some other features, like Google's Reimagine tool.

Verdict

Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with what Honor has delivered and will continue to use the Magic 8 Pro as my main phone, if for no other reason than the superb camera. Distance zooming detail falls short of phones with additional dedicated secondary telephoto hardware like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the Magic 8 Pro wins in most other areas.

That's particularly true when shooting at 3.7x, which uses the giant 200MP telephoto camera and its class-leading OIS hardware. It's amazing what sorts of images this sensor was able to create, and I found that it could reliably replace my big camera for work photos on more than one occasion, which, for someone like me, is a big deal.

What you need to know

• HONOR has officially launched the Magic 8 Pro in the UK with a heavy focus on AI-powered photography.
• Night photography is the main selling point for UK buyers: the 200MP AI SuperNight telephoto camera is designed to deliver cleaner, sharper low-light zoom shots.
• The Magic 8 Pro is available in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black for £1,100, with wide carrier and retailer support.

Night photography on smartphones usually means choosing between a bright, noisy photo or a blurry, over-processed one. Honor wants to change that with the UK launch of the Magic 8 Pro.

The highlight is a new 200MP AI SuperNight telephoto camera. Honor combines a 1/1.4-inch sensor, f/2.6 aperture, OIS, and 3.7x optical zoom, so you get more light, clearer details, and sharper zoom shots even in tough conditions.

There’s also a 50MP main camera with OIS and a 50MP ultra-wide lens with macro support.

Honor’s upgraded AiMAGE Camera System is the technical highlight. The company says its AI adaptive stabilization makes it seven times easier to get stable zoom shots without a tripod, with a CIPA 5.5 stability rating. In simple terms, handheld night zoom shots should finally look good instead of blurry.

Color science is another area where the company is pushing hard. The new Magic Colour engine uses deep learning to process 16.77 million colors, applying device-to-cloud color migration so what you see in preview actually matches the final shot.

After you take a photo, Honor's AI Photos Agent steps in. It offers one-tap tools like AI Eraser, AI Outpainting, AI Cutout, and AI Colour to make editing faster and easier.

Dedicated AI button for the camera

There’s a dedicated AI Button, separate from the power key, that opens the camera instantly with a double press, even if the screen is locked. If you hold it down, you get quick access to AI features like screen suggestions or photo tools.

Beyond the camera, the Magic 8 Pro combines Honor's on-device AI with Google Gemini for cloud-based features. This setup enables things like contextual screen understanding, live translation, and advanced Gemini tools such as Veo 3 and Connected Apps. MagicOS 10 also manages smarter system controls, AI deepfake and voice-clone detection, and quick-access tools through the Magic Sidebar.

For performance, the phone uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and includes advanced gaming technology. Honor's GPU-NPU AI upscaling can boost some games to 120fps at 1080p, even if they start at lower settings. With a 6,270mAh silicon-carbon battery, 100W wired charging, and 80W wireless charging, battery life should not be an issue.

The phone sports a 6.71-inch LTPO OLED display with a 1 to 120Hz refresh rate and eye-care features like 4320Hz PWM dimming. Peak HDR brightness is 6,000 nits, and the average brightness is 1,800 nits.

The Magic 8 Pro is now available in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black for £1,100, with support from many UK carriers and retailers. The Magic 8 Lite is also on sale in Forest Green, Midnight Black, and Reddish Brown for £400.

This year has been full of notable releases for Honor, delivering fantastic options for the upper mid-range and premium segments. But the Honor Magic 7 Lite, which debuted at the very beginning of the year, but the ancient processor held it back in too many ways.

That's where the Honor Magic 8 Lite comes in. It upgrades to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 tech, granting snappy performance to nearly everything on the phone. It retains the 108MP camera system from the Magic 7 Lite, which isn't nearly as good as the numbers suggest, but Honor's bevy of AI tricks, both in the camera software and the OS, help make up for what the hardware might lack.

And while the design of most of the phone feels extraordinarily mid-tier with an all-plastic construction, the Magic 8 Lite fits the "don't judge a book by its cover" idiom perfectly. That build is the toughest thing you'll see in almost any smartphone to date, including class-leading drop and ingress protection, an absolutely enormous battery, and six years of promised software updates in Europe to back that up. It's an impressive new entry that's worth taking a look at, for sure.

Honor Magic 8 Lite: Price, availability, and specs

The Honor Magic 8 Lite is available in Europe and most countries where Honor phones are sold globally. UK pricing is expected to be £399 for the model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, but Honor hasn't announced official prices just yet. We expect to know more in early January.

The unboxing experience is a pretty barebones one, as the box contains only the phone, USB-C cable, and a SIM eject tool. No case or charger were included with my European review unit.

Honor Magic 8 Lite: What I loved

As you might have guessed by now, the Honor Magic 8 Lite excels in a few key areas: battery life, charging speed, build quality, and durability. That's not to say the rest of the phone is bad, but these four areas are really what set this phone apart from the pack at this price.

While you might never imagine it from the all-plastic construction, this phone is as durable as it gets before entering the typically awful "rugged phone" category. It's got IP68 and IP69K ingress protection, plus a drop rating at up to 2.5m (8.2ft) on most hard surfaces, including cobblestone, marble, asphalt, and more.

It's also the perfect phone for people who find themselves using their phones while wet. Whether this means your fingers are wet while cooking, trying to use the phone in the rain (or shower), or just want to peruse TikTok while in a hot tub and never want to worry about dropping it in the water, things don't get better than this. Being able to actually use the screen while it's wet is something only flagships from Honor and OnePlus have been blessed with until now.

While the chasis is irritatingly flat all around the sides — a trend I detest because of how difficult it is to pick up from a table and generally uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time — the camera island has a great unique style that's immediately identifiable. The stereo speaker system onboard is crisp, clean, and clear, with a maximum volume mode that's nothing short of impressive.

Battery life is beyond incredible, owing to a combination of a power-efficient processor paired with a 7500mAh battery. You'll easily get 2-3 days out of a charge no matter how you use the phone. Thankfully, unlike the Magic 7 Lite, the Magic 8 Lite has great everyday performance that matches the best competition in this price range.

The display is also excellent, sporting a 120Hz OLED that's perfectly viewable in sunlight with flagship brightness levels. This one uses DC-like dimming all the way down to about 20%, and then kicks in to 3840Hz PWM dimming below that. From most angles, it seems like this is a perfect display for flicker-sensitive people, but it's got one big problem: dithering.

That's because while Honor says this display is capable of 10-bit color, it's actually an 8-bit display that uses temporal dithering to fake the additional 2-bit depth. That means anyone sensitive to flickering could find this display uncomfortable, which clearly clashes with Honor's claim that this is a "risk-free" display. At the least, this is still a much better display for flicker-sensitive folks than something from Samsung or Google in this price range.

Honor is launching this one with Magic OS 9, which is based on Android 15. That doesn't make much sense given the Magic 8 Pro launches with Magic OS 10 (based on Android 16) but, at the very least, European customers can expect to see the Magic OS 10 update land in April 2026.

Beyond that, expect five more years of OS and security updates if you live in Europe. It's a fantastic pledge that's only outdone by Samsung and Google by one year. I don't much care about the difference between six or seven years of updates, though, because, by that point, a mid-range phone will likely be sluggish and nearly unusable.

Honor Magic 8 Lite: What could use improvement

In terms of design and ergonomics, the Magic 8 Pro is a far nicer phone to hold. That has less to do with materials used and more to do with the overly flat design the Magic 8 Lite uses, particularly on the backside. Some people like the trend of fully flat phones with flat sides, but I am not one of those people. Curves fit human hands better than flat objects, and I'm just really not sure why this has become a trend with this year's releases.

Honor also really needs to work on its haptics. Even Honor's best phones use lesser-tier haptics, and the ones in the Magic 8 Lite feel undeniably cheap. They're so bad they make me question the build quality of the phone, even though I know it's better than these make it feel.

Honor is also sticking with its awful 2-year update promise for countries outside of Europe where this phone is sold, meaning you'll only see Android 17 on the Magic 8 Lite before Honor drops support. It's clear this is a model more geared toward Europe than anywhere else, and that affects my ability to recommend it outside of that continent.

While the main camera is typically excellent at 1x or 2x zoom, things fall apart quickly at 3x and beyond. Zooming in to 3x and beyond almost always creates an extremely oversharpened, digital-looking image that lacks contrast and often has poor color accuracy.

Aside from poor zoom quality, I've found several instances where the camera will overexpose a shot in random lighting conditions, creating a cheap look and feel to the images. This problem doesn't seem to carry over to the 5MP ultrawide sensor, which does a much better job with colors and exposure, but lacks detail because of the low resolution.

Camera speed can be extremely hit or miss, as well. There's no quick launch option on this phone, so the quickest way to launch it is to turn the screen on and swipe to enter the camera. There's no way to double-press a button and launch the camera. Couple that with a long load time for the viewfinder, which can sometimes take 3-4 seconds when the phone is busy, and you end up with a frustratingly inconsistent experience.

Honor Magic 8 Lite: The competition

At this price range, you have to pick your battles. The Magic 8 Lite excels in battery life, charging speed, and durability, but the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion offers a nicer feeling vegan leather build with a 1.2m drop rating and IP69 ingress protection at a much lower price.

If you're looking for a different style and don't like Honor's UI or hardware designs, the OnePlus Nord 4 or Nothing Phone 3a, and Nothing Phone 3a Pro all offer stunning designs with cleaner OS's. Camera quality and durability isn't as good on those phones, but they offer great software experience that Android fans will be more approving of.

Of course, you can't count out Samsung to offer something for every price range, either. The Galaxy A36 is a bit cheaper but is slightly worse in every way, while just a tad more money will get you a Galaxy A56 with a faster processor and better cameras. Both of these phones have harsh, flickering displays and substantially worse battery life, but Samsung's software update policy and its rich features might be a better fit for some people.

Honor Magic 8 Lite: Should you buy?

You should buy if...

• You want class-leading battery life and durability
• You live in Europe and want a phone with six years of software support
• Samsungs OLEDs give you a headache (this one won't)

You shouldn't buy if...

• You often take photos using 3x zoom and beyond
• You live outside of Europe (only 2 years of software updates promised globally)
• You're sensitive to display dithering

Honor's global update program means there's no reason to buy this phone if you live outside of Europe. A scant 2 years of software updates is terrible by any measure, while European customers get a much better six years of updates for the same hardware. That's particularly a shape since Honor's software is finally at the point where it doesn't feel like a second-rate iOS clone.

I use a ton of Honor devices regularly and love how well Honor's devices work with each other. The Magic 8 Lite fits in perfectly with that and will work impressively well with other Honor phones, tablets, laptops, and more. Even if you're not a regular Honor user, this phone will last you for days on a single charge and still hang around in case you drop it — yes, even on pavement.

And while the camera won't be winning any awards for speed or quality — no phone at this price range will, really — the main camera is more than capable of taking great shots from time to time. Of course, overall performance, battery life, and software amenities help make up for some of the phone's few shortcomings, making this an easy recommendation at £399.

FAQ

Where is the Honor Magic 8 Lite available?

The Honor Magic 8 Lite is available in Europe and China as of December, with a wider worldwide rollout happening just after that.

Does the Honor Magic 8 Lite use PWM dimming or dithering?

The Honor Magic 8 Lite's OLED display uses DC dimming from 21-100% brightness. At 20% brightness and below, the phone switches to 3840Hz PWM dimming. This high frequency PWM dimming is nearly 10x faster than offered by companies like Apple or Samsung and should prove to be very comfortable, even for flicker-sensitive users.

The Honor Magic 8 Lite uses temporal dithering at all times to create 10-bit color depth. The OLED panel is 8-bit by default, and a 2-bit software dithering algorithm is employed. There is no way to disable dithering on this phone. Dithering can cause discomfort for some users and make the display unusable for them.

What cameras does the Honor Magic 8 Lite use?

The Honor Magic 8 Lite uses a 108mp main camera on the back, which is capable of 10x digital zoom. The phone also employs a 5mp ultrawide camera on the back. The front-facing selfie camera uses a 16mp sensor.

What camera AI features are supported on the Magic 8 Lite?

The Honor Magic 8 Lite supports AI Remove Reflection, AI Eraser, AI Erase Passers-by, AI Upscale, AI Outpainting, AI Cutout, AI Face Tune-Eyes Open, Moving Photo Collage, and Moving Photo Share.

How many software updates will the Magic 8 Lite receive?

The Honor Magic 8 Lite launches with Magic OS 9 (Android 15) and will receive six operating system updates in Europe. That includes six years of security updates during that time. Magic OS 10, based on Android 16, is expected in April 2026.

Other parts of the world will only receive two major OS updates and two years of security updates.

What you need to know

• Honor's upcoming mid-range device, the alleged X80, was reportedly spotted passing through a Chinese certification database.
• The listing reportedly held details about its battery, which could arrive in a big way with 10,000mAh.
• Rumors from this past summer claimed that Honor was looking at boosting its overall battery totals for its flagships and mid-ranges.

Honor is reportedly entering a critical phase with an upcoming mid-range phone, but it's the certification listing's details that are turning heads.

A post by Huawei Central highlights that the Honor X80, an upcoming mid-range device, has supposedly passed through a Chinese certification database (via Gizmochina). The publication speculates that the phone could have a launch quite soon, likely sometime in December, considering its CQC appearance; however, the main highlight is its massive battery capacity.

Per the listing, the Honor X80 will seemingly hit the Chinese market sporting a huge 10,000mAh battery.

The post adds that the battery could also sport "increased durability," potentially pushing forward its longevity for users looking to really go the mile with their phone before charging. Strangely, the publication states that "other details" about the phone are missing in the CQC listing. It's not that strange to have some details left in the dark about a phone during its certification rounds. This just means we'll have to wait until the phone appears officially.

The post states that the listing did mention 5G cellular connectivity—an unsurprising addition. The folks at Gizmochina add that the Honor X80 has been rumored to sport "improved performance" over its previous iteration, the X70. Additionally, consumers may also find even greater strides toward mobile gaming, which could affect its FPS for higher-intensity games, like Genshin Impact or even Zenless Zone Zero.

Honor's making changes

Honor's alleged battery capacity increase for the X80 is roughly 2,000mAh more than what the X70 provided.

Here's the thing: rumors about Honor's plans from this past summer claimed something like this could happen. Allegations from July said that Honor was looking at boosting the battery capacity of two phone series: its Magic flagship line and its mid-range X series. These rumors came from tipsters on Weibo (Chinese social media), adding that its mid-range series could see totals between 8,200mAh and 8,400mAh.

These totals are much lower than what the X80's purported listing dictates, as it's ~1,800mAh higher than those predictions. Nevertheless, an increase could be a reality for those awaiting it in China.

Those July rumors highlight its flagships, stating totals could rise to a range of 7,020mAh-7,200mAh.

Those flagship totals were met when the Magic 8 Pro debuted in October, as it was revealed to possess a 7,200mAh battery. However, this mid-range Honor X80 isn't the only thing making its rounds, as other rumors have surfaced about an Honor Magic 8 "Ultra." This Ultra phone was recently reported to have passed through the 3C certification database in China, and supposedly rocks 120W wired charging and satellite connectivity.

What you need to know

• Honor is supposedly developing a Magic 8 "Ultra," as tipsters on Chinese social media notice its certification.
• The device could sport 120W wired charging capabilities with satellite connectivity, a new "imaging system," and a main camera upgrade.
• The Magic 8 series launched in October, bringing a base model and a Pro model with a 50MP main lens and a new Magic Color engine.

It looks like we're not done with Honor's recent flagship series, as a new certification allegedly appears with some juicy details.

Rumors are surfacing late this week, per ITHome, claiming Honor is working on a Magic 8 "Ultra" with some notable improvements over the Magic 8 series (via Gizmochina). The publication cites Weibo leaker, Digital Chat Station (DCS), who highlighted the apparent publishing of charging information for the device in question. According to the 3C certification listing, the phone could debut with 120W charging, which likely refers to its wired option.

Moreover, the leaker spotted that the alleged Magic 8 Ultra was listed with satellite connectivity support.

It seems Honor is looking to integrate Tiantong Satellite capabilities within the 8 Ultra, technology that we've seen implemented across other Chinese OEMs before. Additional rumors were mentioned, as the post also taps another Weibo leaker, Smart Pikachu. This social media post alleges that Honor's doing a little more with the Ultra variant by upgrading the phone's "materials." Honor is also rumored to begin focusing on the Ultra's photography with a "new imaging system" and main camera.

The tipsters didn't mention a potential launch date, but it is expected (per DCS) that a price hike could come for the Ultra variant.

Where we might go

Honor's Magic 8 series was just launched in October, and with it came a Magic 8 and a Magic 8 Pro. The OEM put quite a spotlight on the Pro model, as it highlighted its work to further merge the human and machine experience with the handheld. The entire series; however, sports the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC, which brings speed and the appropriate support for its YOYO AI software.

The Magic 8 Pro already features the new Magic Color engine for more "professional" like film coloring for user photos. This is taken further with its 50MP primary lens with OIS (optical image stabilization), a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 200MP telephoto lens. The rumors are suggesting a "main camera upgrade" for the Magic 8 Ultra, though it remains to be seen what that means.

We're either in for an MP change or, perhaps, there's something software/hardware coming under the hood.

More importantly, in China, the Magic 8 Pro started at what would be ~$798. A rumored price increase for the Ultra could push us closer to ~$1,000.

What you need to know

• Honor launched its 500 series in China, which features a base 500 model and a 500 Pro with a 6.5-inch display and a thin frame.
• The phones look similar to Apple's iPhone Air with soft colors and a camera module with dual cameras for the base model and three lenses for the 500 Pro.
• The 500 series features a massive 8,000mAh battery with 80W wired charging capabilities.
• The phones are priced at ~$380 and ~$507 for the 500 and 500 Pro, respectively, and there's no word on if they will arrive overseas.

Honor's newest smartphone release sees two phones arriving for consumers in China, but with a design that looks incredibly familiar.

In a press release, Honor launched the 500 series, which includes a 500 and a 500 Pro device. Entering the mid-range segment, the Chinese company states its devices feature "flagship-class" photography, live capture capabilities, and more. The Honor 500 series kicks off with its base model, which boasts a 6.5-inch display with a thin 1.05mm bezel on a "slim" frame (7.75mm). Internally, the Honor 500 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC, a chip that sought to bring flagship-quality strength and features to more price-conscious, mid-range phones.

Honor states that its base 500 model offers "a wide range of eye protection features, helping to alleviate discomfort from natural light fluctuation, flicker, brightness, and more." The company is also leaning into its artificial intelligence software for features like AI Defocus Display and AI Motion Sickness.

Though a thin phone, it's the back of the Honor 500 series that's giving us fruity Apple vibes. The Honor 500 features a horizontal camera array with rounded corners, and its lenses are beside each other. From the color of the phone (blue, pink, silver, and black) to the camera visor, it's clear that Honor's inspiration was Apple's iPhone Air. This visor contains a 200MP main lens and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

Honor adds that the 500 was created with an "integrated cold-carved unibody design, in which the camera module and rear glass are crafted as a single seamless piece." The MagicOS 10 software and Honor's "tiered" AI button will greet users out of the box. What's not so mid-range is the Honor 500's battery, which sits at 8,000mAh with 80W wired charging, 27W wired reverse charging, and 50W wireless support.

The Honor 500 has launched in China this week for 2699 RMB (~$380). There's no word on whether we'll see this device arrive in other markets.

500 Pro ventures more toward "flagship"

The other side of the pie is the Honor 500 Pro, which the press release states continues the 6.5-inch display with thin bezels on a thin frame. Internally, the 500 Pro swaps the mid-range-focused chip for the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship SoC. Chinese consumers will find the same overall iPhone Air-like design for the 500 Pro; however, its camera array features an additional lens: a 50MP telephoto lens.

Honor states this lens supports its in-house SOIS stabilization system for "crispy" and "steady" shots during fast-paced action. The 500 Pro (base 500, too) features 4K-to-Live conversion. Honor says this helps users turn their 4K-recorded videos into "4K Live clips" for social media purposes.

An 8,000mAh battery with the same charging specs is listed for the 500 Pro, too. What's more, Honor says its 500 Pro is much more equipped to handle data, reception, and more. This device's HONOR C1+ RF Enhanced Chip is said to enhance its "signal reception, network stability, and uplink speed, ensuring smoother streaming, faster uploads in high-traffic and signal-weak areas."

We can kind of see where Honor is pushing its 500 and 500 Pro, as even the company itself states the phones are designed for the "next generation of young, always-on creators."

The Honor 500 Pro is available in China for 3599 RMB (~$507).

What you need to know

• Honor's Robot Phone made a surprise appearance at an overseas event, where visitors got to take photos of the device in a glass case.
• The device had its gimbal camera flipped upward, showing off the main attraction for the phone; however, from the side, the camera bar is quick thick.
• Honor started teasing the Robot Phone after its Magic 8 reveal, positioning the phone and its AI-driven camera as a curious device that can snap photos, record videos, and much more.

Honor's curious phone teaser highlighted a brand "new" form factor that's supposed to progress how people and their handheld devices interact.

Publications and tech content creators on Weibo (Chinese) have been posting real-life photos of the previously teased Honor Robot Phone (via GSMArena). Reportedly, the device was featured in an all-glass case (likely a prototype model) during the Honor User Carnival event in China. There was a host of Honor products on display, like the Magic 8 series, but what had everyone chatting was the Robot Phone.

From the Weibo post, the Robot Phone was shown off in a white color option with its curious camera flipped up. The camera is housed within its camera array on its back, but when flipped up, it breathes new life into the device and its AI capabilities. Design-wise, the Robot Phone is pretty similar to the Magic 8 series, that is, with rounded corners, flat seemingly, and potentially a completely flat display.

The report on Weibo cites a statement (machine-translated) from Honor's CEO, Jian Li, who said, "A technology company is completely devoid of vitality without a little innovation. ROBOT PHONE is just a new game for mobile phones. In the future, glory in different industries will make users proud."

Another user post on Weibo showed off the Robot Phone in a little more detail with close-up shots. We're able to see just how large the gimbal-like camera is, and the space created within the phone for it to slot into. This model, shown in a black option, gives a little more perspective on its thickness. As expected, it seems the phone will be quite thick, especially around that rear camera array, due to the flip-up camera.

The start of a new phone era?

When Honor revealed its Magic 8 series, the company also teased something new: the Robot Phone. While no one knew quite what that entailed, the company's main page updated to showcase the device in an AI-generated video. It positioned the phone as a curious device, one that has a flip-up camera that can be attentive and react to what you (the user) see and do. The design is also quite reminiscent of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, especially with the way its camera bar looks.

The prelude also delivers a question: "What if a device could exist with the super brain of AI, perceiving the world around you in an instant?"

It seems as if the device can take photos for you, record videos for you, and so much more, to make creating memories a breeze. Honor even showed the phone assisting a woman with finding a dress she might like for the evening. This is all exciting, and the Robot Phone's appearance overseas was a shock, but that's not all we should expect.

Honor states that it plans to fully unveil the Robot Phone during MWC Barcelona in 2026.

What you need to know

• Honor's "Robot Phone" teaser is an AI-generated trip through a curious AI-driven device with a flip-up camera on a gimbal.
• The Robot Phone's design seems to have taken cues from Apple's iPhone 17 Pro, though its camera bar is quite thick because of the camera gimbal.
• Honor states it wants to create a device with the "Super brain of AI" that can "perceive" the world around the user.

While we're all caught up with the Magic 8 Pro reveal, Honor's trying to turn some heads with another phone, one that's supposed to rock a "new" form factor.

Shortly after its flagship reveal, Honor started teasing what it's calling the "Honor Robot Phone," and AI runs this device entirely (via 9to5Google). The company's official page for the Robot Phone begins with a prelude, explaining how it considered "what if a device could exist with the super brain of AI, perceiving the world around you in an instant."

The video for the Robot Phone begins by showing the new Magic 8 Pro, before spinning around into the next thing from Honor. The phone's design seems to have taken cues from Apple's newest iPhone 17 Pro. In this form, the phone features a triple camera array; however, the camera bar itself is incredibly thick.

While Honor is likely packing several photography and videography-focused features into this phone, there's one reason the bar is like this: the Robot Phone features a flip-up camera on a gimbal. The teaser freezes on a Robot Phone name drop with the camera flipped up, towering above the top of the phone attentively.

The video then goes in a different direction, which kind of reminds us of Disney's WALL-E—a curious little robot. Considering Honor's focus on AI, the camera is seemingly where the AI will live when flipped up. It watches the world around you as you move, potentially snapping photos or recording videos for you, so you'll never miss a cute moment from your baby or something random in the city.

Man & Machine

The AI-generated video portion also shows the camera helping a woman shop for a new dress, and then disagrees when she finds something that it doesn't think works for a future event. It then surfaces a more appropriate dress for her.

Additional information about the Robot Phone, which Honor states will be "revolutionary" with its flip-up camera, isn't available right now. Honor plans to unveil even more about this new phone during MWC Barcelona 2026. For those curious for more, you can sign up to win a few goodies, like "Exclusive Progress Updates," "Co-creation & Feedback" chances, and "Priority Trial Access," meaning you could be one of the first few to try this phone.

Honor has been on this massive future-forward AI kick since February, when it announced the Alpha Plan. While it kind of seems like we're just getting the same AI features repackaged with different branding from different companies, Honor's trying to really break the mold for a true sci-fi future.

This was reiterated earlier this morning (Oct 15) when Honor launched the Magic 8 Pro with its upgraded YOYO AI, the Magic Color photography engine, and more. This unveiling also briefly teased the "Robot Phone," to which Honor said would mark a "significant milestone" in its Alpha Plan strategy. The company is looking to merge and redefine the human-machine experience with coexistence that makes sense.

If the Robot Phone's camera is as curious as this teaser makes it seem, perhaps that's where we're headed.

It's hard to believe we're already in new flagship phone season again, but Honor isn't wasting any time getting its new Magic 8 Pro ready for its domestic China launch this month. Honor sent me a pre-production unit ahead of the launch, and my hands-on impressions are based on that model.

This one is a China model running a global version of Honor's Magic OS 10 software, which is based on Android 16. It's got the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 silicon from Qualcomm, a cutting-edge camera system, a lovely, refined build that's lighter than ever, and the most massive battery I've ever seen in a flagship phone, despite the reduction in weight.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Specs, pricing, and availability

The Honor Magic 8 Pro is launching in China in October 2025, debuting there first before it heads to international markets, including Europe, later this year in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black colorways.

The phone is available in a single 12GB RAM and 512GB storage SKU at launch with a 7,200mAh battery. The European model will launch with a 6,270mAh battery, likely due to European battery size regulations.

In the box, Honor includes a pre-installed film screen protector on the phone, a clear TPU case, a 100W charger, and a USB cable. Quite an impressive value compared to other flagships!

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Refined design, a new button, and a massive battery

When I first pulled the Honor Magic 8 Pro out of its box, I immediately felt the difference from last year. The soft, brushed metal sides of the phone are not only smoother than ever (in a non-slippery way, weird as that sounds), but they also naturally curve into the front and back of the chassis, providing impressive weight relief compared to last year.

I don't like most phones with flat edges, but Honor seems to have struck a nice balance between the flat side trend and a more comfortable set of curves. The display is flatter than ever, only pushing the very edges of the corners into a curve.

A new AI button is the marketed highlight of the new design, though it is located about two-thirds of the way down the right side of the phone. This long button is flush with the frame and primarily functions as an AI button out of the box, although it also works as a camera control button, including swipe-to-zoom functionality.

Long-pressing the button will activate the YOYO video AI functionality in China, with functionality that at least mirrors Gemini Live in some respects. International models will likely have this function with Gemini instead of YOYO, but Honor hasn't announced those plans yet.

You can also customize a single or double press of this button to launch the AI memories center, launch the camera, or take a screenshot for storage in AI memories.

It's this last feature that I loved the most, as it made it easy to catalog information throughout my day. For example, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I saw a local post about a Harry Potter event happening at the end of the month. Tapping the AI button stored the screenshot of this event in my AI memories, and I can simply search for "Harry Potter" in the AI memories app to find it.

This sort of context-sensitive information searching is similar to the Pixel Screenshots app and is my favorite way to find information these days. On the Chinese models, you can even ask YOYO to "find all my screenshots and delete the blurry ones." The implementation here doesn't feel overbearing at all and is completely ignorable if you don't want to use it.

Even if you don't care at all about the new AI button, you will care about the new battery. The Magic 8 Pro packs in the largest battery I've ever seen in a traditional flagship phone, sporting Honor's latest silicon-carbon battery tech that boasts an unbelievable 7,100mAh capacity, and yet the phone weighs less than last year's despite the capacity upgrade.

This battery tech was in the Honor Magic V5, and it also boasted a similar capacity upgrade. I went two full days without charging and still had just under 20% left at the start of the third day in my testing so far, so this isn't "empty capacity" or something. It's the real deal.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: Holy smokes this camera

I took the Honor Magic 8 Pro out for a fall fun day and was impressed with every shot I took. As I've come to expect from Honor phones, this one does particularly well when using portrait mode, capturing motion, or using the telephoto camera. Even Honor's more affordable phones take stunning portrait mode shots, so it's no surprise to see that elevated here with even better sensors.

Photos taken using any of the 2x, 3.7x, or 10x presets in the viewfinder are exceptional. Every scenario I put the camera through delivered excellent results, and I'm not sure I can expect more from any camera in the under 10x zoom range.

Honor also highlights the phone's ability to take photos in challenging lighting situations where other phones often struggle. One such time is just before the sun is over the horizon, known as The Blue Hour.

Not only is color usually tough to capture during this time, but photos often need longer exposure times to get clear shots. The Magic 8 Pro passed this test with flying colors (pun fully intended) compared to the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

And while the telephoto camera boasts some impressive new stability and low-light features, plus enhanced dynamic range, all the fun new toys are wrapped up in the AI processing.

Motion photos are no longer just a context-setting way to view your photos. The Magic 8 Pro's new AI editing features let you turn any motion photo into a slow-mo video, add motion trails, or create a cool stop-motion animation with just two taps.

And Honor is adding some nifty new AI-based recoloring modes to give your existing photos a new look, including Romantic Blue, Golden Autumn, and Warm Sunset options.

Honor Magic 8 Pro: One to remember

There are a ton of new and exciting announcements about this phone that we'll be covering closer to the international launch. For now, first impressions of Honor's latest are excellent, and the company is showing constant improvement in hardware and software design, including the new Android 16-powered Magic OS 10.

Look for more Honor Magic 8 Pro coverage in the near future, including a full review alongside the launch later in the year.

What you need to know

• The Honor Magic 8 series is finally here, rocking Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC for a speedier, more intelligent device with YOYO AI software.
• The Magic 8 Pro takes center stage, arriving with Honor's new Magic Color engine for professional-like film coloring, 120fps gaming capabilities, and more.
• Honor's YOYO AI agent gets upgraded across the board, bringing "automatic execution" capabilities to handle user instructions.

Honor's latest flagship smartphone is finally making its late 2025 debut after the company teased the device officially during Qualcomm's Summit.

Today (Oct 15), the Honor Magic 8 series took the stage for the Chinese OEM, debuting with strong camera potential, a huge battery, and a large, flagship-level display for consumers. The company officially teased the device during the Snapdragon Summit 2025 event, stating that it will receive the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC for next-gen flagship phones. The Magic 8 Pro makes a statement with a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 120Hz maximum refresh rate.

Paired with this display, Honor states the newest Snapdragon chip enables 120fps at 1080p for "demanding," open-world games, such as Genshin Impact by Hoyoverse.

While the Magic 8 Pro's design remains similar to the Magic 7 Pro (circular camera housing), Honor says, this time, it wanted to "redefine" its handheld photography. Honor's brand of artificial intelligence comes through with the newest model, facilitating the arrival of the AiMAGE Camera System. Consumers will find a 200MP Ultra Night Telephoto camera with an f/2.6 aperture, which will help in low-light situations.

Joining this is a 50MP primary lens with OIS (optical image stabilization), f/1.6 aperture, and a 50MP ultra-wide lens with a 50MP selfie camera.

Honor's taken its AI anti-shake software to new heights, improving it to a place where it states users can take "great zoomed images without a tripod or gimbal." The company also announced an "industry-first" AI color engine called Magic Color. Using device-cloud technology, Honor states this color engine enables users to recreate cinematic styles, professional film tones, and build custom templates.

Honor's YOYO AI is speedy & "Self-Evolving"

Honor's YOYO AI has received upgrades this year, but there are none like what it's reportedly bringing to the Magic 8 Pro. Per its press release, Honor states YOYO has picked upgrades across three key areas: hardware, system interaction, and application ecosystem. Most excitingly, Honor states its YOYO agent now features "automatic execution" capabilities. For example, if a user wants to see all their recent screenshots or wants a summary for a work task, the AI can do that for them—and even email results to a specific contact.

YOYO is now on-demand on the Magic 8 Pro with the company's new AI Button. The device now sports a physical button that users can long-press to activate YOYO's Video Call. This is kind of like Gemini Live, as YOYO can deliver information about the specific item you're looking at through your camera. Double-pressing the AI Button brings up your camera for photography purposes.

Honor states users can customize this button, so they can instantly access specific on-device AI functions. One final feature included is YOYO Memories: a secure, end-to-end encrypted space where users can store their personal photos, chat records, documents, and more.

Outside of AI, the Magic 8 Pro's software, Magic OS 10, brings seamless connectivity between Android, Windows, iOS, and HarmonyOS. Users can share files, sync tasks, and more effortlessly between their handheld devices and desktop computers (or laptops). Magic OS 10 has also taken on a visual overhaul, appearing a little more translucent for a lighter, clearer aesthetic for users.

Powering ahead to a "ROBOT" future

The Magic 8 Pro's specifications wind down to mention its 7,200mAh battery with 120W wired charging strength (80W wireless). Of course, Honor's slipped in some on-device AI capabilities to help manage your battery's health to ensure it's in it for the long run.

Starting today, the HONOR Magic 8 Series will be available for pre-order in China, with the HONOR Magic 8 starting from $630 and the HONOR Magic8 Pro starting from $798.

Finally, while we're wrapped up in the Magic 8 series reveal, the company has teased something new: the "Honor Robot Phone." The company says this is a "significant milestone" in its AI Alpha Plan strategy, which was announced earlier this year. This new "form factor" is said to integrate AI software with robotic functionality and handheld imaging capabilities. Honor wants to create a new future, redefined by its human-machine coexistence outlook.

What you need to know

• During Snapdragon Summit 2025, Honor highlighted its new "Dual-Engine" era approach to on-device AI for its Magic 8 Pro and Magic Pad 3 Pro.
• The keynote highlighted Magic Color, a new on-device AI engine capable of helping everyday users and creators make professional-like edits to photos.
• The company is also looking to advance its gaming capabilities, introducing capabilities similar to DLSS on gaming PCs.
• Honor's Magic 8 Pro and Pad 3 Pro will launch in China in October.

Snapdragon Summit 2025 is underway, and Honor's recent appearance marked a turning point in its AI solutions, thanks to Qualcomm's newest chip.

Honor teased "ground-breaking" AI innovations coming for its flagship Magic 8 Pro and Magic Pad 3 Pro in a press release to Android Central. For users looking to get creative with Honor's next flagship phone, which will utilize the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, the post states you'll find the industry's first "Agent-powered Magic Color" system. This system takes the Honor Alpha Plan, the company's previous commitment to stronger, smarter on-device AI, to a whole new level.

Honor states Magic Color pairs its on-device AI with "advanced semantic understanding" to create an easy image editing experience for everyday users and creators that embody professional edits. Through "one-sentence commands," Honor says users can transform their images, restyle them, and extract "key color tones" to be used in other places.

On a more technical side, the improved power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has helped facilitate Honor's "Dual-Engine" approach to on-device AI.

The company says it's looking to solve three key issues with on-device AI: computing power, memory, and energy consumption. At the Snapdragon Summit 2025 event, Honor introduced its Low-Bit Quantization tech, a first for Android. Using Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU, this new tech boosts computing power by 15%, lowers energy consumption by 30%, and takes up 30% less storage. This Low-Bit tech is also said to speed up the rate at which its on-device AI can process and surface data.

Performance & the Magic 8 Pro

Performance is the other side of this "Dual-Engine" approach Honor's got going on this year. When it comes to gaming, Honor says it has introduced its GPU-NPU Heterogeneous AI Super Sampling tech. What this means is that, through AI reconstruction, Honor's technology can take low frame rates and resolution and raise the bar, sort of like DLSS on a gaming PC. During its testing, Honor says this Super Sampling tech can achieve 120fps at 1080p from something that originally ran at 60fps on-device.

Fang Fei, president of products at Honor, said, "By working with leading partners such as Qualcomm Technologies to continually redefine what's possible with on-device AI, we move closer to creating an open, co-created, value-sharing world where everyone can benefit from AI."

These new AI achievements from Honor are said to arrive on its Magic 8 Pro and Magic Pad 3 Pro "next month." However, it's the company's next flagship phone that's garnering a little attention late this week. The Magic 8 Pro was there during Honor's keynote speech at Snapdragon Summit 2025, where it stunned with rounded corners, flat sides, and a seemingly flat display.

It's a design similar to what consumers received with the Magic 7 Pro. The next iteration will keep its centered, rounded camera housing with a glossy ring encircling it from beneath. The device will launch in China in October. There's no word about a global launch just yet.

The first time I used the Honor Magic V3 last year, I couldn't believe my eyes. The phone was so stupid thin I was sure it wouldn't last a day on a single charge, much less be able to sustain top-end performance while playing games. To my astonishment, it passed both of those tests with flying colors, and this year's Magic V5 is even thinner.

If you can believe it, despite being even thinner than the previous year's phone, the Magic V5's battery is 13% larger. It seemingly makes no sense, especially given that the battery is 32% larger than the similarly thin Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. While it might sound like voodoo magic, the secret comes from a place you might not have expected: electric cars.

Honor has been using these silicon-carbon batteries for a few years now, and each year they improve. This year, we got an even bigger bump than usual, and it's enabling phones to get thinner without compromising on important things like battery life and charging speed.

From cars to smartphones

Group14 Technologies is the company behind the big push for more silicon in our batteries, and a lot of this push began with the need for more energy in electric cars. Cars, after all, require a lot more power to function than your average smartphone, so it was important to figure out how to get a larger capacity battery that also charges quickly into the same size form factor.

This is done by taking the traditional lithium battery material, graphite, and blending it with silicon in the anode part of the battery. Electric car anodes can have up to 30% silicon blended with graphite, while the Honor Magic V5 tops out at 15%, which is still the most we've seen in any smartphone to date.

Since silicon stores a lot more energy in the same space as graphite, manufacturers can create higher-capacity batteries that fit in the same space. In an ultra-thin phone like the Honor Magic V5, Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy S25 Edge, or even the iPhone Air, a larger silicon-carbon battery can make your thin phone feel like magic. It's just too bad Samsung, Google, and Apple aren't using them at all.

The charging test

Earlier this summer, we learned about how regulations could be keeping battery sizes down. The gist is that shipping regulations cap a battery at 20Wh in capacity, which equates to roughly 5400mAh in the smartphone world. This restriction is partly why Chinese models typically have larger batteries than the global model of the same phone.

The Honor Magic V5 packs a 5,820mAh battery, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 uses just a 4,400mAh battery. While this might sound like a problem for Honor initially, the trick is that this regulation is per cell, meaning companies have to use dual-cell batteries. The good news is that companies like OnePlus and Honor have been doing this for years.

Using a dual-cell battery also ensures faster charging rates since you can charge two cells in tandem. Samsung, Google, and Apple don't do this, and it's one of the reasons they charge so slowly.

Phones with dual-cell batteries in the table above — that's the OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic V5 — charge substantially faster despite having larger batteries. Swapping out graphite for silicon also reduces weight, making this a win-win situation for design.

Longevity and cost

It's always peculiar when three of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers don't follow a trend. In more than one way, it reminds me of how every company but Samsung, Google, and Apple have made their phones more friendly for PWM-sensitive people (until the iPhone 17 came along, that is).

Some people cite cost as a main reason not to use silicon-carbon batteries, but that doesn't seem to make much sense given the cost of the premium phones from these brands. Packing in a dual-cell battery costs a little bit more money per phone, but it would make sense to use these batteries on ultrathin phones like the iPhone Air, Galaxy S25 Edge, and Galaxy Z Fold 7.

In Samsung's case, the Galaxy Note 7 is still haunting the company, making it hyper sensitive about any major changes in battery or charging tech. The company told T3 that they're developing a silicon-carbon battery that's "reliable," as if current SC battery tech somehow isn't.

The Verge wrote about how silicon degrades faster than graphite, a legitimate concern considering companies like Google are actively throttling phone batteries as soon as 200 charging cycles. But Group14 says its silicon-carbon batteries will exceed the lifetime charging cycles of existing products by a significant amount.

We'll need a bit more time to see if that turns out to be true, as the first major phone with a silicon-carbon battery was 2023's Honor Magic 5 Pro. But even if you bought that phone on day one and charged it every single day since then, you still wouldn't have hit 1,000 charging cycles, which is when Google caps the Pixel 10's battery at 80% capacity.

Using the Honor Magic V5 again as the final example, it's battery is made up of 15% silicon-carbon, making the battery 32% larger than the Galaxy Z Fold 7's. Even at an 80% capacity reduction after 2.5 years, it would still have a larger capacity than a brand-new (and, therefore, unused) Galaxy Z Fold 7.

That's enough of an argument alone to me and a reason why silicon-carbon isn't just the future of smartphone tech; it's the reason you should choose brands not named Samsung or Google.

What you need to know

• The Honor Magic V5’s translation happens entirely on your phone, so your calls stay private.
• Six full language packs are squeezed into just 800MB, meaning no more wasting gigabytes of storage.
• You don’t have to wait for full sentences; the AI translates as you speak.

You know that feeling when you're on a phone call and need to translate what someone is saying, but you're worried about your private conversation being sent to the cloud? Honor has introduced a new solution to this common problem with its latest flagship phone, the Magic V5.

Honor's new technology brings real-time, on-device translation to your device. What makes it different? Everything happens on the phone, eliminating the need for cloud solutions. That means better privacy, lower latency, and no internet dependency.

Two technical papers backing the tech were also accepted at INTERSPEECH 2025, a major conference on speech processing.

While some on-device translation has existed before, it often falls short in terms of speed, accuracy, and memory usage. Honor’s latest approach changes that, delivering cloud-level performance while keeping everything private and stored locally on your phone.

Tiny memory footprint

This leap forward comes from cracking tough problems in on-device multilingual speech recognition and translation.

One of the biggest hurdles for on-device AI is memory use. Typical translation models can eat up 3–4GB of space. Honor says its solution slims that down to just 800MB, or a 75% reduction, while still packing support for six languages: Chinese, English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

That also means you aren’t downloading half a gigabyte per language.

Real-time translations that actually feel real-time

But the real improvement is in how it works. Instead of waiting for you to finish a sentence before translating (the classic way), Honor's system processes speech in real time, almost like a simultaneous interpreter. The company claims this approach boosts inference speed by 38% and improves accuracy by 16%.

Under the hood, the system uses something called Monotonic Finite Look-ahead Attention, a streaming method that helps the AI predict and transcribe speech without significant delays. There’s also a Parasitic Dual-Scale Modeling technique, developed with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, that helps run large speech models efficiently on phones without compromising performance.

It’s a quiet but meaningful step toward making AI more useful and less obtrusive, especially when you’re trying to have a natural conversation across languages.

Honor is clearly building decent momentum with its foldables; the Chinese manufacturer has taken a chunk out of Samsung's market share in key global markets. Although Honor doesn't have a presence in North America, it's doing well in other Western countries.

The Magic V5 aims to build on that foundation. The foldable is launching at a time when there are plenty of exciting devices in this category; Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 has alluring upgrades, and the Vivo X Fold 5 is a standout all-rounder even though it's using older silicon. Google showcased the Pixel 10 Pro Fold as well, with that device debuting at the end of October.

Obviously, brands are intent on pushing foldables as a mainstream category, and having used the Z Fold 7 and X Fold 5 extensively over the last two months, it's evident that these devices are just as easy to use as regular phones. With the Magic V5 now making its global debut, let's see how it measures up to its rivals.

Honor Magic V5: Specs, pricing, and availability

Honor unveiled the Magic V5 in China back in July, and the device made its global debut at an event in London on August 28, 2025. It will be available in a 16GB/512GB configuration outside China.

The Magic V5 is sold in Ivory White, Black, Dawn Gold, and Reddish Brown color variants, and it costs £1,699 ($2,286) in the U.K. and €1,999 ($2,324) in other countries in the region. To put things into context, the 512GB model of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 costs £1,899 in the U.K.

Honor Magic V5: Design

• The Magic V5 isn't quite as thin or light as the Vivo X Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Fold 7, but it is still a sleek foldable.
• It has a new hinge that's among the best around, and there's no visible crease.

Honor says that the Magic V5 is the thinnest foldable around. However, my limited testing with the Hozo NeoRuler showed that Vivo's X Fold 5 is 1mm thinner, and the Z Fold 7 is 2mm thinner than the Magic V5. Honor's caveat is that the claim was made when the Magic V5 debuted in China in July, and given that the Z Fold 7 didn't launch until later in the month, it's continuing to use the claim in its marketing materials.

Regardless of the dubious proclamations around thinness, what's evident is that the Magic V5 is just as sleek as its immediate rivals. It feels like a regular phone when folded, and you get a decent 7.95-inch panel when unfolded. I like the design at the back; the gold variant looks exquisite, and the patterned design around the hinge makes the device look rather striking.

The Z Fold 7 also has decent presence, but the bold styling with the camera housing gives the Magic V5 an edge in this regard. The foldable has rounded edges and is good to hold while folded, and the hinge has smooth articulation and doesn't need much force to unlock. Similar to previous years, the hinge stays unlocked at various angles, and I use this feature quite a bit while taking photos.

There's no visible crease when using the device unfolded, and that's something Honor has excelled at over the last two years.

Another positive is that the foldable gets IP58 and IP59 ingress protection. This allows the device greater resilience against adverse weather, and gives Honor a distinct advantage over the Z Fold 7, which is limited to IP48.

My Magic V5 unit weighs 226g, and that's 4g heavier than the Vivo X Fold 5 in spite of having a smaller 5820mAh battery. Then there's the camera module at the back; the octagonal island juts out considerably, and it roughly doubles the thickness of the device. With the camera island included, the Magic V5 comes in at 16.5mm, and that's considerably bulkier than the X Fold 5 (14.9mm) and Galaxy Z Fold 7 (14.7mm).

There are usability issues with the camera island as well. The sheer size of the module makes the Magic V5 wobble when using it on a table, and it's so frustrating that I wasn't able to use the device unfolded most of the time because of this limitation.

Other than that annoyance, the Magic V5 is good to use. It may not be the thinnest or lightest foldable around, but it's still a great overall showing, and it holds up well against the Z Fold 7 and X Fold 5.

Honor Magic V5: Displays

• Honor has the best cover and inner OLED panels of any foldable.
• Both panels get bright, and with 4,320Hz PWM dimming as standard, they're eye-friendly.

There's no question — the Magic V5 has the best OLED panels of any foldable I used yet. The 6.43-inch cover panel is narrower than what you get on the X Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 7, but that doesn't hinder usability in the least. Similarly, while the 7.95-inch inner panel is a little smaller than what you get on Vivo and Samsung's foldables, you don't notice a difference in regular use.

Both OLED panels go up to 120Hz and are a delight to use. Color vibrancy and contrast levels are excellent, and they're among the brightest panels of any foldable I used — I didn't see any issues even under harsh sunlight. There are other niceties; Honor has a dedicated ebook mode, and it turns the panel monochrome, turning the Magic V5 into the world's costliest e-reader. It's great to be able to read books on the inner panel, and this is a feature I enjoy quite a bit.

Honor also leads the industry with eye-care solutions, and the Magic V5 has a slew of offerings in this area; there's defocus eyecare, natural tone, hardware-assisted blue light protection, and a new toggle to adjust the level of PWM dimming. Both panels on the Magic V5 get 4,320Hz PWM dimming, and you can switch between that mode and 3,840Hz. This is where the Magic V5 has a clear advantage over Google and Samsung; the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 7 don't have this feature.

Gaming is enjoyable on the inner panel, and the built-in audio is quite decent. There's plenty of customizability as well, and Honor clearly knows what it's doing in this category.

Honor Magic V5: Performance

• The Magic V5 is outstanding in daily use, and it holds up incredibly well even during gaming.
• The phone tends to get hotter than other foldables, but it isn't uncomfortable to use.

Just like Samsung, Honor went with the Snapdragon 8 Elite to power the Magic V5. The result is that the foldable is among the most fluid, and I didn't see any issues in daily use. It does a good job with sustained gaming as well, but the inherent foldable design doesn't allow extensive thermal management, so the device throttles earlier than the Magic 7 Pro and other regular phones.

That said, it does a much better job in this regard than last-gen foldables. Interestingly, the device posted lower scores than even the X Fold 5 in Geekbench's single and multi-core tests, but it delivered some of the best results of any device in 3DMark's demanding Solar Bay and Steel Nomad Light. It got hotter than Vivo and Samsung's foldables at 47 degrees, but it didn't get to a point where it was uncomfortable to hold.

I didn't see any issues while making calls or connecting to my home network, and the vibration motor picked up a much-needed upgrade this year. Honor's devices had a long-standing bug where the haptics glitched out constantly, and that thankfully isn't a problem on the Magic V5. However, you still don't get as much feedback in as many system events, and that's frustrating.

Honor Magic V5: Battery life

The Chinese model of the Magic V5 gets a 6,100mAh battery, but the global model is limited to 5,820mAh unit. Regardless, the device uses higher silicon content at 15%, and that allows it to last a smidgen longer than its rivals. I easily got a day's worth of heavy use from a full charge, and battery anxiety just isn't an issue with this phone — unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

And when you need to charge the device, there's 66W fast charging. It takes just under 50 minutes to charge the Magic V5, with the phone getting to the 50% mark in just 18 minutes. The foldable uses Honor's custom E2 chip to deliver better longevity, and I didn't see any issues in this regard in the month I used the device.

Honor Magic V5: Cameras

• The foldable has one of the best cameras in this category.
• It takes standout photos in any lighting scenario, and Honor's image tuning is among the best in the industry.

The Magic V5 has a trio of cameras: a 50MP main camera with OIS, 64MP tele module with 3x optical zoom and OIS, and a 50MP wide-angle lens. There's a 20MP selfie camera underneath each panel, and it does 4K video.

Honor hasn't changed the interface too much, so you get the usual shooting modes and filters. There's 4K60 video with all the rear cameras, and you get a dedicated macro mode.

The Magic V5 has ne of the best cameras of any foldable. I tend to prefer Vivo's image tuning, so the X Fold 5 still has an edge, but that's just a matter of preference — there's no doubt that the Magic V5 comes mighty close. The foldable takes wonderful photos in daylight scenarios, producing shots with good dynamic range and white balance. Colors aren't overly saturated, and it retains detail.

It does just as well in challenging situations, and even in conditions with little to no artificial lighting, the Magic V5 took detailed photos. The tele lens is fabulous in its own right, delivering usable shots at up to 10x, and leveraging AI to eke out clean photos beyond that. The wide-angle lens is also good, just not as noteworthy as the other two cameras.

Honor Magic V5: Software

• The Magic V5 still runs Android 15 out of the box, with no word on when Android 16 will be available.
• There are useful AI features and extensive utilities, but the UI is in need of an overhaul.

While Google and Samsung's latest phones have Android 16 pre-installed, that isn't the case on the Magic V5. The foldable comes with MagicOS 9.0.1 based on Android 15 instead, and that's annoying for many reasons. There's no telling when Android 16 will be rolled out to the phone, and it will count toward one of the seven guaranteed updates.

Then there's the interface itself. While Honor modernized the UI to an extent last year, MagicOS still has remnants of older builds, and these holdovers from nearly a decade ago make it look less cohesive than other Android skins.

Don't get me wrong; there's plenty of useful utilities and AI-assisted features available in the software, but the interface as a whole doesn't feel quite as modern or polished as its rivals. I'm not even comparing it to Google's efforts; Vivo, OnePlus, and OPPO's software is much better to use than what Honor is offering on the Magic V5.

Multitasking features are decent too; it's easy to launch split-screen mode, and you get a taskbar at the bottom. That said, there's no way to pin the taskbar — unlike other foldables — and Honor really needs to add a toggle to enable this.

What Honor does well is on-device AI; it has several tools aimed at image and video editing, real-time call translation, audio-to-text transcribing, and others that are highly useful. Honor collaborates heavily with Google in this area, and the results are much better than what you get on other Chinese phones — if anything, only the Pixel 10 Pro XL has a better AI suite.

The Magic V5 will get seven years of Android OS updates and security patches, just like Google's Pixel series and Samsung's Galaxy Z devices. This is great to see, and even though one update is wasted on bringing the device to Android 16 — what it should have launched with — but it will be relevant well into 2030.

Honor Magic V5: The competition

Vivo's X Fold 5 continues to be one of my favorite foldables of 2025, and although it doesn't differ too much to its predecessor, it combines a set of great cameras with useful software features and the best battery life of any device in this category. The hardware is a bit of a limitation as you don't get the latest silicon, but I didn't see any problems whatsoever. While it isn't available outside Asia, it's a good alternative to Samsung if you're in the region.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is also a decent choice if you're used to Samsung's software. The foldable has a thinner design, but the cameras aren't as good as the Magic V5, and the battery doesn't last anywhere as long.

Honor Magic V5: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You want a stylish foldable
• You need useful AI features
• You want powerful internals
• You need a foldable with amazing battery life

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You need the best software
• You need Android 16 out of the box

Having used the Magic V5 alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Vivo X Fold 5, it's clear that Honor nailed the brief this year. The Magic V5 holds its own against its immediate rivals, and it is just as sleek to hold and use. The absurdly-sized camera module tends to be a little annoying, but it's worth the inconvenience when you see just how good the cameras are on the device.

Honor has a definite edge over Samsung in key areas: the cameras are undoubtedly better than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the Magic V5 has much better battery life, and the OLED panels are brighter and have meaningful eye protection features.

The downside is that the MagicOS software still isn't quite as good as what you get on Samsung and Vivo foldables, and Honor really needs to overhaul the visuals and modernize the UI. That's not to say that the software is unusable; you get plenty of decent AI features and extensive customizability, it's just that the interface needs polish.

With other Chinese brands limiting their foldables to Asia, the Magic V5 is the sole contender to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in vital western markets, and the fact that Honor is once again willing to undercut Samsung makes the Magic V5 even more enticing.

What you need to know

• Honor launched its Magic V Flip 2 in China today (Aug 21), a phone that aims to become proficient in photography.
• The company highlights the phone's strong selfie capabilities with its 200MP main camera, as users can utilize its cover display for a unique preview experience.
• The Magic V Flip 2 rocks a 4-inch cover display and a 6.8-inch internal display with loads of Honor AI for image editing, one-click Smart Reply, and more.
• The Magic V Flip 2 will be available in China beginning August 28, starting at 5,999 yuan (~$835).

Honor's newest clamshell foldable, the Magic V Flip 2, is putting its best on today (Aug 21), as the company launches its fashion-forward device in China.

Earlier this morning, Honor highlighted the huge launch of its Magic V Flip 2, which aims to be a more "luxurious" device that's ready to hit the catwalk. Honor states it's collaborated once more with Prof. Jimmy Choo, OBE for a limited edition variant of the phone inspired by the "subtle shimmer of crystals." This sparkling V Flip 2 invokes the colors of "crushed stardust" in the sea.

The company states it wants the Magic V Flip 2 to feel more like a "luxury accessory," as consumers pair it with a leather sling or pearl strap. Consumers will notice a 4-inch cover display and a large 6.8-inch internal, foldable display. Camera-wise, consumers will find that the dual camera array on the V Flip 2 is the same size, unlike the original model, which had a larger main camera cutout against a smaller ultrawide cutout.

However, the Magic V Flip 2 takes its photography even more seriously this time around, providing a 200MP main camera with f/1.9 aperture and a 50MP ultra-wide-angle macro lens. This is an upgrade that truly tops the 50MP, 12MP pairing the first iteration had. Users will also have a 50MP selfie camera once again at f/2.0 aperture.

Honor states it's fueled even more of its AI algorithms into the V Flip 2 to make a phone that's proficient in selfies.

Honor AI for its cameras & daily tasks

According to the press release, the Magic V Flip 2 is "designed as the ultimate selfie device." The device reportedly hauls in a new feature: Ultra-Wide Portrait mode with natural bokeh. Not only does the V Flip 2 deliver several filter options for your photos, but it also offers five focal lengths, ranging from 0.5x to 3.0x. Honor is highlighting the capabilities of its cover display's main and ultra-wide lens, which users can use for selfies, as the cover display delivers a unique preview experience.

The AI Honor Image Engine helps to improve user photo quality once taken. AI Super Zoom enables even greater, up-close shots, up to 30x when using the main 200MP sensor. Additionally, other AI tools, such as AI Edit, Passers-by Eraser, Open Eyes, AI Cutout, and AI Upscale, further Honor's commitment to the user's post-production experience.

Away from the camera, Honor states its AI focus delivers one-click smart reply, AI Interpreter, Magic Capsule, and AI Deepfake Detection. Honor's also highlighting a cuter, more fun experience with its foldable's cover display, which involves nine new pets that users can play with.

The Magic V Flip 2 arrives in China

Rounding out the Magic V Flip's end of the week launch is details about its 5,500mAh battery. Honor states this silicon-carbon battery is built to enhance the foldable's endurance throughout the day, so you're not always attached to your charger. As such, the Flip 2 delivers 80W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 7.5W reverse wireless capabilities.

The phone is available in a 16/1TB (RAM/storage) configuration for its crystal-inspired limited edition. However, Honor states consumers can also find the device available in purple, white, and grey, naturally. Those three variations feature the following RAM/storage configs: 12/256GB, 12/512GB, and 12/TB.

The Honor Magic V Flip 2 will be available for purchase in China, beginning on August 28, with a starting price of 5,999 yuan (~$835).

The title of "slimest smartphone in the world" isn't one that's easily slung around. Honor has captured the, ahem, honor of the title two years in a row now, first with the Magic V3 in 2024 and now with the vegan leather Magic V5 this year.

But that crown usually means tradeoffs that aren't always desirable. Thankfully, between impressive battery tech and class-leading camera AI, Honor is able to make an ultra-thin foldable phone that doesn't feel like using a big old collection of compromises.

I got the opportunity to further discuss this with Luo Wei, Chief Imaging Architect at Honor, and find out what makes the Honor Magic V5's cameras tick and how they can often be so much better than the competition.

Zoom in on that detail

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 might measure as thin as some Honor Magic V5 models, but its telephoto sensor is half the size of Honor's. Even the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold uses a smaller camera sensor that was common in flagship phones 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Honor Magic V5 uses a huge 1/2-inch 64MP sensor behind a 3.5x telephoto lens. Not only that, but Honor is using the Magic V5 to launch its new AiMAGE software backend. That gives it the clear advantage of physics, in addition to a tried-and-true AI-powered computational layer.

Wei explained AiMAGE this way: "Building on the imaging advancements of the HONOR Magic7 Pro and HONOR Magic V3, the HONOR Magic V5 delivers even finer detail through an AI RAW model powered by device-cloud synergy. Whether shooting on the main or telephoto camera, this intelligent model enhances texture and definition with striking precision."

The shot I took above perfectly illustrates what Wei was talking about when he said AiMAGE "enhances texture and definition with striking precision." The amount of texture in the Honor Magic V5's shot, especially compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, is simply unreal.

The use of physically larger sensors also ensures the Honor Magic V5's images come out looking more like images taken from a dedicated camera instead of a phone. This image I took of a blueberry bush at 3.5x from the standard photo mode perfectly showcases what a large sensor can do: incredible depth of field without the need to use software portrait mode calculations.

Ironically, Wei told me he believes "2025 marks a turning point where AI breakthroughs allow smartphones to overcome hardware limitations, making high-end photography easier and more accessible, even for entry-level users. With more direct and intuitive interactions, AI takes on the heavy lifting once reserved for professional photographers."

And that brings me right back to AI, of course. Honor launched AI Super Zoom with the Honor Magic 7 Pro earlier this year, but the Magic V5's implementation of it goes even further than on that phone. "It is the industry’s first solution to utilizes a powerful fusion of multi-frame super-resolution and generative reconstruction, powered by multiple transformer-based algorithms deployed in the cloud. This breakthrough allows HONOR to significantly enhance image clarity and fidelity, especially at extreme zoom levels."

I left AI Super Zoom off for all of the photos on this page except this one, where I very specifically tried to find a detailed subject at 100x zoom to see what it could do. The results didn't disappoint.

As a photographer, using generative AI to create photos feels a bit dirty. But I think there's room for AI enhancement where it makes sense, and that begins at extreme zoom levels from a smartphone camera sensor.

Wei agreed and built upon that, saying, "while generative AI tools like Midjourney are now commonly used for text-to-image, image-to-image, and even video generation, we believe photography is ultimately about being present in the moment. Fully AI-generated visuals can often feel impersonal and lack emotional depth. That’s why we believe real-world capture, combined with AI-powered enhancement, offers the most meaningful results."

A lot of this hybrid AI approach plays out behind the scenes, even in functions you might not expect. "On-device AI is responsible for time-sensitive tasks such as focus tracking, exposure adjustment, real-time semantic segmentation, and initial enhancement, ensuring instant feedback with low power consumption," Wei told me.

That ensures that your data stays local when you want it to, yet can still benefit from brilliant AI-powered tricks like automatic motion capture. The photo you see above, for instance, was automatically captured by the Magic V5. I didn't press the shutter button at all, just pointed the camera where I knew my son would jump, and I ended up with a fantastic photo.

The other two photos were taken manually from a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. They turned out just fine, but you'll notice the Honor Magic V5 did a better job with both movement clarity and exposure of the subject. Google's photo has pixel-by-pixel movement artifacts, while Samsung's image is a bit on the dark side.

And, when you want that enhanced zoom detail beyond 30x, you can toggle the AI Super Zoom button that appears in the viewfinder to utilize cloud processing. "Cloud-based AI supports post-processing functions like advanced denoising, detail enhancement, and stylization, enabled via HONOR’s collaboration with Google Cloud and self-developed large vision models."

Wei added that "this approach allows users to enjoy professional-level results without compromising speed or privacy," and that "Honor is committed to protecting user privacy and has implemented a comprehensive and industry-leading information security system. As a global company, we ensure our product solutions fully comply with local laws and regulations in every market where we operate."

Honor's partnership with Google Cloud for its AI-driven tasks helps reduce some of the uncertainty brought about by the nebulous concept of cloud computing.

Of course, you still need at least decent hardware in a smartphone to achieve good results, even if AI is helping enhance the image, and that's not easy in a phone that's 4.1mm thin. You'll notice the camera bump on the back of the Magic V5 is larger than the competition, despite the phone being thinner, and that was a purposeful decision on Honor's behalf.

"A 64MP sensor with 1/2-inch size and f/2.5 aperture strikes the ideal balance for telephoto photography, enabling 3x optical and up to 100x digital zoom, with enhanced clarity and fidelity - especially when paired with our AI Super Zoom," Wei said.

The Magic V5's telephoto sensor is nearly twice as large as the Galaxy Z Fold 7's, and that makes a massive difference in real-world zoom quality, even at more reasonable zoom levels like 10x. One look at the gorgeous depth of field on the Magic V5's shot below compared to the extremely flat-looking shot from the Z Fold 7 and you'll start to understand why sensor size matters a lot.

So where does this take smartphone-based AI in the future? Wei says he believes that "on-device AI can empower consumers by conducting all processing directly on their smartphones or personal devices, ensuring that data remains secure and is not exposed to external threats," but that there's still plenty of room for more powerful cloud computing to take over when the user wants it.

"We believe that smartphone photography is entering the era of intent-driven imaging, where users express creative goals and the device interprets and executes them. AI will play a central role, not only in scene capture but also in pre-shot guidance, real-time correction, and intelligent editing."

We're seeing some of this play out on other phones, where AI is being used to help coach users on how to take better shots using the live scene data gathered from the smartphone's camera.

"We foresee seamless integration of generative models, volumetric capture, and adaptive aesthetics that personalize imagery based on mood or purpose, while keeping user control and authenticity at the core," Wei told me. "HONOR is investing deeply in this direction, aiming to turn smartphones into both lenses and storytellers."

If there's any one place I can get behind AI, it's when it helps a human do a better job rather than doing the job for the person. The fact that Honor seems to be pushing this avenue is encouraging to me, and it makes me feel great about using a generative approach to enhance certain imagery rather than making up for bad hardware with hallucinating AI agents.

What you need to know

• A tipster on X claims, after conducting some tests, that Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 is actually ever-so-slightly thinner than Honor's Magic V5.
• Side-by-side comparisons seem to show the subtle difference, while a test with a caliper alleges an 8.95mm measurement for the Magic V5 and 8.79mm for the Fold 7.
• Honor's official statement says the tests are "inaccurate" and that the Magic V5 (Ivory White option) is 8.8mm, despite the tipster conducting these tests with that same device.

There's a device comparison going around that seems to suggest Honor's "thinnest foldable" claim isn't quite what we thought.

Known X tipster Ice Universe posted a comparison video between Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Honor's Magic V5, which paints a different narrative (via 9to5Google). The tipster boldly states Samsung's recent Fold 7 "is the thinnest folding mobile phone in the world." According to their test, which showcased both foldables side by side on a table, the Fold 7 appeared ever-so-slightly thinner than the Magic V5.

To illustrate this, Ice Universe placed objects (cards) across the tops of both devices. When set down, the card just barely teetered downward toward the Fold 7. Subtle tests with items showed that the Fold 7 appears to have a minuscule edge over the Magic V5 in thinness.

Ice Universe ran the devices through a quick caliper test, which shed more light. In their test, the Magic V5 resulted in an 8.95mm measurement, while the Fold 7 saw 8.79mm.

Despite the tipster's "rigorous" testing, the publication received a statement from Honor about the matter. The OEM states "the information presented" in the tipster's video "is inaccurate." Honor adds that users should "refer to the actual device" when conducting measurements on its thickness, adding that this means measuring it panel-to-panel (no camera bump) and without screen protectors.

Honor provided a photo of an in-house measurement of the Magic V5 in its white variation, alongside a caliper showing the listed 8.8mm.

A battle of... thin?

Officially (and per Honor's statement), the Magic V5 is 8.8mm when measuring its Ivory White model. The tipster on X seems to want to conduct further tests, stating they're awaiting another instrument to gain a more accurate reading. User comments have remained split on the "methods used" to obtain such a measurement.

Honor's Magic V5 launched just before the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in an attempt to steal its thunder and to be crowned the thinnest foldable. The device's highlights included Honor's investment in making a sleek foldable that still packs the same flagship-level quality consumers expect. This resulted in an 8.8mm measurement when folded and a 4.1mm measurement when fully opened.

When Samsung's Unpacked came around and we unpacked the Fold 7, we learned that the device measured ever-so-slightly larger at 8.9mm. To be honest, there's a contest right now for small, iterative numbers, which might not matter much in the end.

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What you need to know

• Rumors on Weibo claim Honor is investing resources into increasing its battery capacity totals across its mid-range and flagship phones.
• Mid-ranges could see batteries between 8,200mAh-8,400mAh, while future flagships could see a range of 7,020mAh-7,200mAh.
• These totals are a generous increase over Honor's Magic 7 Pro and 6 Pro devices, which were in the mid-5,000mAh area.

There are some rumors going around, supposedly highlighting Honor's plans for its Android phones and their power supply.

These allegations were posted by Chinese Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS), which claims Honor is preparing to increase battery capacity totals (via GSMArena). It seems Honor is investing resources into its mid-range and flagship phone lines. DCS states the company is looking to boost its more affordable devices to a range of 8,200mAh-8,400mAh.

Similarly, the Chinese OEM's flagship phones could see batteries between the range of 7,020mAh and 7,200mAh.

The tipster didn't state (or allege, rather) when consumers could see these mid-range and flagship Honor phones with this battery increase. Maybe we should look at 2026 for this supposed battery capacity boost. The publication speculates we could see this rumored power boost sometime this year, so we'll have to see what happens.

Staying off the charger for longer

Honor consumers would likely enjoy these rumored battery increases, especially when you look back at the company's previous Pro flagship phones. The Honor Magic 7 Pro, which saw a global debut earlier this year in January, debuted with a 5,270mAh battery. While this is smaller than the Chinese variant (5,850mAh), the Magic 7 Pro still rocks the brand's third-gen silicon tech. The phone can last an entire day, even through some heavy use, so it wasn't too bad of a compromise.

The Magic 7 Pro's silicon battery tech from Honor already made the phone stand out around the time of its launch. According to our very own Harish Jonnalagadda, this technology means Honor's batteries will have "higher density." In short, "brands can leverage this tech to add bigger batteries without increasing the size or weight of their phones, and that's always a good thing."

On the other hand, we have the Magic 6 Pro and its 5,600mAh battery. Heavy to medium use saw similar durations with the 7 Pro. If the tipster is believed, bumping future flagships to 7,000mAh or higher would do wonders for the devices, as users can likely go even further on a single full charge.

One outlier might be its foldable, specifically the Magic V5 and future iterations of it. Honor really honed in on shaving it down to make it thinner. Considering Honor's battery tech use, perhaps it can implement larger batteries while keeping its future Magic V foldables incredibly thin.

The Magic V5 sports a 6,100mAh battery based on Honor's "razor-thin" silicon-carbon battery technology.

What you need to know

• Rumors from a Chinese tipster on Weibo claim Honor is preparing a Magic V Flip 2 with an upgraded 5,500mAh battery setup.
• The phone's upgrades allegedly stop there, as Honor could keep the same 4-inch FHD Plus cover and 6.8-inch internal display, as well as a 50MP camera.
• The post adds that the phone might also sport another "sub-flagship" Qualcomm chip.
• Honor unveiled its thinnest-ever foldable, the Magic V5, this week, which measures 8.8mm when folded.

The market's just been met with one next-gen foldable from Honor this week, and new rumors say another is on the way.

Rumors about the Honor Magic V Flip 2, the company's clamshell foldable, were posted on Weibo by Digital Chat Station (via GSMArena). The post alleges the next V Flip is expected to see an upgrade in one department: its battery. DCS claims Honor is preparing a 1,770mAh and 3,600mAh battery setup inside the V Flip 2. Come launch, there's speculation that the market could see its battery capacity rated at around 5,500mAh.

It's charging still seems to be up in the air, as DCS suggests Chinese consumers could see 66W or 80W wired charging capabilities.

If you're expecting other major upgrades, that might not happen. DCS states that the V Flip 2 "has not changed much" from the clamshell's first appearance in 2024. Supposedly, the phone will still retain its 4-inch FHD Plus cover and 6.8-inch internal displays.

The post states Honor is reportedly chasing a "sub-flagship" Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 series chip. The device could sport a 50MP dual camera array. Lastly, the tipster alleges that Honor is seeking an August 2025 release date for the Magic V Flip 2.

Looks like the Magic V5 got all the... Magic

We pretty much have the Magic V Flip to look back on, and the similarities are abundant (at least, right now). The clamshell launched last June, essentially preparing to take on Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 the month after. The device launched with a 4-inch cover and a 6.8-inch internal display, which we've seen rumored once again for its sequel. While the camera looks to remain the same, too, the battery might see a boost over the original's 4,800mAh setup.

What's more, Honor's alleged choice to grab a "sub-flagship" Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 chip echoes what it did last year. The O.G. V Flip debuted with the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The chip was a "refresh" of the flagship 8 Gen 1 that launched the fall prior—in 2021. So, Honor went for a two-year-old chip. With rumors claiming that Honor will do it again—"again" meaning a sub-flagship chip—perhaps we're looking at the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.

We'll have to wait and see where things lie, especially if we're to expect this phone in a month.

In other news, Honor revealed its Magic V5 this week. The company's thinnest-ever foldable is a sleek new piece of competition for Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7. When folded, the phone measures 8.8mm (4.1mm when opened). Display-wise, Honor outfits the phone with a 7.9-inch internal display and a 6.4-inch cover screen.

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What you need to know

• Honor launched its new Magic V5 foldable earlier today (July 2) with an 8.8mm build when folded (4.1mm when opened).
• The phone provides a large 7.9-inch display when opened and a 6.4-inch cover display.
• The Magic V5's triple camera array consists of a 50MP wide-angle, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 64MP periscope.
• Honor placed a 6,100mAh battery into the Magic V5, alongside loads of YOYO AI assistant features, including DeepSeek integration.

To "reclaim the crown," Honor's Magic V5 foldable has launched overseas in China with an immensely thin frame.

Honor launched the Magic V5 overseas early this morning, touting it as a 'lightweight' and thin flagship foldable phone. The key points of the Magic V5 concern its build. Honor states the phone features a shock-absorbing structure, which gives it that lightweight, yet durable feel. With a weight of 217g, Honor says the Magic V5 has achieved 8.8mm when folded.

Of course, when opened fully, the Magic V5 achieves 4.1mm in thinness.

Into the specs, when fully expanded, the Magic V5 delivers a 7.9-inch LTPO display with a 120Hz max refresh rate. Honor says its foldable can reach 5,000nits of peak brightness alongside 4,320Hz ultra-high frequency for PWM dimming. On the front, the V5 features a 6.4-inch cover display, which also reaches a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth usage without opening the device. The cover display matches the inside in terms of peak brightness and PWM dimming frequency.

Honor also rolled in some motion sickness reduction AI software with Magic V5.

Additionally, the Magic V5 sports Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC.

Honor brings the Magic (V5) for your Memories

The large circular camera bump on the phone's back consists of three cameras: a 50MP wide-angle, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 64MP periscope. Regarding the periscope, Honor states it packs 3x optical zoom and OIS (optical image stabilization) for clear details. The company also highlights the lens' ability to capture colorful, vivid nighttime shots. The periscope lens has been provided with an AI Super Telephoto feature, which drives its zoom from 3x to 100x.

Honor claims that even at its maximum zoom, the Magic V5's periscope lens will capture clear and detailed photos. The rear camera is capable of recording videos "up to" 3840x2160 resolution, as well as boasting anti-shake.

The forward-facing cameras both come in as a 20MP wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture.

Keeping you going for longer is Honor's "razor-thin" silicon-carbon battery technology. The phone features a 6,100mAh battery that's paired with 66W wired fast-charging support. Additionally, consumers can pair this with its 50W wireless charging capabilities.

YOYO AI stands tall

YOYO, Honor's AI assistant on its phones, is available in full on the Magic V5. The company states the AI is capable of helping consumers "with everything." For one, YOYO is fully integrated with DeepSeek AI to help users get through robust articles, "physical examination reports," and financial statements. Moreover, YOYO can even "remember" important dates from a document you're currently reading.

Multitasking has also been improved, with YOYO assisting users when opening up multiple apps at once. What's more, Honor states YOYO can help rediscover files on your phone even if you can't remember what it's called. All users need to do is describe the file as best as possible, and let YOYO do the rest.

Currently for launch, the foldable rocks MagicOS 9.0.1, a skin atop Android 15. Consumers overseas in China will find the device available in the following RAM/storage configs: 12/256GB, 16/512GB, and 16/1TB.

We want our phones to look good, too, so the Magic V5 is available in Dawn Gold, Warm White, Silk Road, and Velvet Black. Chinese consumers will find the device's pre-orders active for purchase.

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What you need to know

• Honor highlights confirmation that its Magic V5 foldable will measure 8.8mm when folded.
• The OEM confirmed as much to a publication during an interview, adding the device will also sport "ultra-slim battery technology."
• Earlier this month, during MWC Shanghai, Honor said its Magic V5 will also feature a suite of AI features, likely backed by its Alpha AI Plan.

We've now got a clear picture of just how thin Honor's upcoming foldable phone will be.

In an email to Android Central, Honor highlights a discussion with Bloomberg that confirms its next foldable, the Magic V5, will "reclaim the crown" as the thinnest. The publication states the OEM informed it that the Magic V5 measures 8.8mm when folded. Honor adds that this marks an increasingly slimmer device over the past two iterations of the Magic V foldable series.

The Chinese OEM reiterates the Magic V2's 9.9mm size when folded and the V3's 9.2mm measurement. Honor is already dragging its competition—Samsung—into the mix, stating that it remains confident that the Magic V5 will not be beaten by the "thinner" Fold 7.

Elsewhere, in Honor's email, it thanks its "relentless pursuit of thinness" and "holistic design strategy behind the Magic V5's achievements. The company then teased a few upgrades for the Magic V5, such as its structural engineering improvements, bolstered materials, and "ultra-slim battery technology." The company didn't confirm what sort of battery we could see in the Magic V5 capacity-wise, but perhaps there's an upgrade in the books.

Honor wants the Hilltop

Lastly, Honor says the Magic V5 will feature AI-powered processing features, which we've been expecting since MWC 2025.

Honor's been on a push with its Magic V5, as it announced during MWC Shanghai that the foldable will launch on July 2. This launch will concern China on that date. While Honor staked its claim that the Magic V5 will be the "thinnest" foldable, it shone a light on the phone as a "compelling alternative" for consumers. Honor says its Magic V5 will feature PC-like capabilities and loads of its AI software.

This AI software it briefly mentioned likely deals with its Alpha AI Plan, announced during MWC in March. The company announced it would be a three-step strategy involving intelligent phones, an AI ecosystem, and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). This new way forward for Honor has pushed it to invest ~$10 billion in this new AI strategy for its devices, all in the pursuit of more human-centric AI.

What you need to know

• At MWC Shanghai, Honor announced that the "world's thinnest" foldable, the Magic V5, will launch on July 2 in China.
• The device is said to bring the company's intelligent AI software and rival Samsung's Fold 7 as a "compelling alternative."
• Honor unveiled its major shift into AI at MWC in March, known as the "Alpha AI Plan," for human-centric software.

Honor is preparing to turn some heads with its next foldable launch that claims it sits atop the thin hill.

In a press release, Honor announced during MWC Shanghai that its next-generation foldable, the Magic V5, is on deck for a launch on July 2 in China. The company says it plans for the Magic V5 to continue the legacies left behind by the V2 and V3 devices. As you might've guessed, Honor is staking its claim that the newest phone is the world's thinnest (foldable) device.

In Honor's keynote at the event, it stated that it has implemented a suite of AI technology features. As such, Honor says these features will drive the Magic V5's capabilities up to near PC-like levels. More information on these features will likely surface a little closer to launch.

However, Honor is shying away from the market, as it looks at direct competition with Samsung.

The post calls out Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7, labeling its upcoming Magic V5 as a "compelling alternative." Honor says its foldable leans on "cutting-edge design aspects, performance, and portability."

Human-centric AI

While we await the Magic V5, Honor's recently started down its Alpha AI path, which saw the company invent ~$10 billion. During MWC in March, Honor announced Alpha AI Plan, a three-step strategy that highlights intelligent phones, AI ecosystem, and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). Honor said it wants to facilitate devices with human-centric AI to maximize our potential.

The intelligent AI software Honor plans for its Magic V5 foldable likely leverages the company's R&D with its Alpha AI Plan. Honor's Magic series is also the first area it already foresaw as the origin for this intelligent AI future.

Additionally, the Magic V3 was 12.1mm when it launched in 2024, combating the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Honor says this next iteration will be the world's thinnest yet, and we won't have long to wait to see just how much thinner we go.

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As many of us anticipate the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, leaks and rumors continue to point to it being the thinnest phone Samsung has ever made. At a rumored 3.9mm thin when unfolded, it makes the 5.6mm Z Fold 6 look like a chonker. However, it also raises a few simple questions, such as: how would Samsung achieve this without making big sacrifices, particularly in the camera performance?

Aside from a thinner phone, one of the biggest requests from Z Fold users has been for Samsung to improve the cameras. Galaxy Z Fold phones have never had bad cameras, but there's never been a Z Fold that could outperform the best camera phones. This has long been a perplexing problem, given that the Z Fold costs nearly $2,000 and has never been "thin," but can Samsung really make the Galaxy Z Fold 7 thin and give it an award-winning camera?

Yes, absolutely, and two other ultra-thin foldables are proof. In our review of the Oppo Find N5, which is currently the thinnest phone in the world and a book style foldable like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Harish said "the cameras on the Find N5 are better than the Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9, and that's a big deal in and of itself." Even Samsung's own Galaxy S25 Edge with its 200MP camera sensor proves it's possible.

Since the upcoming Honor Magic V5 is set to be the most direct competitor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and is said to be at least as thin as Samsung's phone, I thought it would be fun to take last year's Honor Magic V3 and test its cameras against the best flagship cameras of 2025. The results show that Samsung can deliver a truly stunning flagship camera experience on its upcoming ultra-thin foldable if it really wants to.

Honor Magic V3: Primary cameras

The Honor Magic V3 comes in at 4.4mm thin unfolded and sports a sizable camera island around back with a 50MP main sensor. Honor has impressed us with its photography prowess over the past few years, particularly with motion capture capabilities, including a powerful suite of software tricks behind it.

So we'll begin in the late spring garden, which is still full of flowers and vibrant colors.

If I had to choose one main attribute to critique the Honor Magic V3's photos, it's that they're often underexposed, and the dynamic range is a bit lacking when compared to the OnePlus 13 or Honor Magic 7 Pro. All three phones use different sensors for the main camera. The Magic V3 actually uses a nearly identical size sensor as the Galaxy Z Fold 6, so physical size isn't helping Honor's ultrathin foldable at all.

Some of these parameters are tweakable in the software, but the main issue is that this Sony IMX906 sensor is often found in mid-range phones, and the performance reflects that. Still, I think most of the shots from the primary sensor of the Magic V3 look good, even if they aren't fully up to flagship standards at every level.

Honor Magic V3: Ultrawide cameras

Like most flagships, the Honor Magic V3's ultrawide camera features autofocus, so it doubles as both an ultrawide camera and a macro camera. It uses a lower megapixel count than the other four phones I pitted it against and, oddly enough, no one seems to know what sensor Honor used here. The company doesn't usually divulge its camera sensors, and the usual software tools I use to find out don't want to tell me, either.

The Honor Magic V3's ultrawide camera produces seriously stunning macro shots, and it's hard to tell the difference between its images and ones from the other flagship phones I tested. It's impressive just how close you can get the phone to an object and still get a clear focus.

Standard ultrawide shots look a little softer on both Honor phones when compared to the OnePlus 13 or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Honor's tuning tends to lean toward cooler colors, while Samsung likes more vibrant, warm colors. I prefer Samsung's tuning in that arena, but the OnePlus 13 is normally quite spot on with color science on the ultrawide camera. Either way, the Magic V3 did a good job keeping up with the flagships here.

Honor Magic V3: Telephoto cameras

Telephoto cameras have gotten really interesting over the past few years. Manufacturers all seem to opt for very different sensor types, sizes, and lens zoom distances, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra offering up an additional fourth zoom lens when compared to most other flagship phones.

At 3-10x zoom using the camera viewfinder, the Honor Magic V3 holds up quite well. In the 10x shots, you can tell the Magic V3's shot is slightly softer, but on its own, I doubt anyone would notice this. The telephoto camera is quite good and does a great job of zooming in on things. Like the primary camera, this one also struggles with underexposure and dynamic range at times.

Zooming in beyond 10x is far less advisable, though. Both 30X shots show how much more detail a flagship phone with a significantly larger sensor can pull in, even with the slight 0.5x zoom advantage the Magic V3's telephoto lens has over the OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic 7 Pro.

Honor Magic V3: Front cameras

Folding phone manufacturers still include a small front-facing camera above the cover screen on book-style foldables like the Honor Magic V3 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series, but these are usually smaller sensors than regular flagship phones. Because of that, companies like to encourage users to open the phone and use the rear sensors as a selfie camera.

Despite the razor-thin frame, the front-facing camera of the Magic V3 is impressively capable. Unlike some of the other cameras, there's no real difference between the quality of the Magic V3's front facing camera and that of the rest of the flagships. If anything, Honor's color science is ever so slightly off, as my shirt in one of the shots was teal, not dark blue. The OnePlus 13 nailed the color in that one.

You can do it, Samsung!

Based on what I'm seeing, there's no reason Samsung can't outfit the Galaxy Z Fold 7 with a flagship-level camera if it truly wants to deliver the "ultra experience" it's been teasing. The latest leaks show an ultrathin phone with a sizable camera hump, and that gives me hope that we'll see some big upgrades this time around.

A larger 200MP main sensor is expected, which should put it on par with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Edge. Our Galaxy S25 Edge camera review proves this sensor has what it takes, even in a thin phone.

While I don't have high expectations that we'll get a 5x telephoto sensor in the Galaxy Z Fold 7, an upgraded sensor behind the 3x lens can still produce impressive results, assuming Samsung is able to cram a better sensor under that lens.

And with Samsung teasing a "smarter" camera, it'll be interesting to see how the company utilizes AI to further enhance the camera experience.

For more news and information on Samsung’s upcoming foldables, check out our Ultimate Guide.

What you need to know

• Honor's Magic V5 foldable reportedly appeared at China's 3C Certification database, highlighting its potential charger upgrade.
• The listing suggests the phone's charger will reach 80W capabilities, up from its previous 66W.
• An older rumor about the Magic V5 suggests Honor is preparing to pack a whopping 6,000mAh inside.

Honor's upcoming foldable is reportedly making some very important rounds ahead of launch.

A post by NotebookCheck detailed the appearance of the Honor Magic V5 foldable in China's 3C Certification database. This listing highlights Honor's continued progress with the device, as it achieves its necessary certification; however, this comes with a sneak peek at another supposed upgrade. The publication discovered a listing that specified the two chargers for the two Magic V5 variants.

According to the database, both chargers kick their strength up a notch to 80W charging capabilities.

Things get a little interesting here, as the publication calls out one of these 80W chargers with model number HN-200400C00. It states that this charger was provided alongside the Honor Power from April; however, consumers only received 66W charging capabilities with the phone. There's speculation that Honor could, in essence, let this charger go "uncapped" to reach its full potential on its Magic V5.

Elsewhere, the publication noticed Honor listings for two Magic V5, which is a little odd. The post believes these devices to be the same and not two different models with wildly differing specs.

Battery Life is the focus

While we await Honor's alleged summer timeline launch for the Magic V5, another rumor from May detailed its potential battery upgrade. The Chinese OEM's foldable reportedly appeared in the MIIT and 3C Certification databases earlier this year, which detailed a monster 6,000mAh battery. Since it's a foldable, the device features a dual-cell design: 2,070mAh and 3,880mAh.

While this actually adds up to 5,950mAh, Honor will most likely round that up to 6,000mAh during its promotional and market run. More importantly, this is a notable battery increase from the Magic V3's 5,150mAh battery. Users should see even more life out of their device when scrolling and watching videos. Moreover, if this charger upgrade happens as speculated, that could get you back in the game even faster.

Another unspecified aspect of the Magic V5 is whether or not Honor will slim it down further. The Magic V3 was already 9.2mm when folded, and we all know how thin phones have become all the rage recently.

While we mull things over, Honor is rumored to launch the Magic V5 at some point in July.

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Honor is back with another fantastic mid-range flaship phone that looks and feels much more impressive than the price lets on. With IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance, a 200MP main camera, DC-dimmed display capable of 3840Hz PWM dimming at low brightness, and six years of software updates coming, there are plenty of reasons to be impressed with the Honor 400 Pro.

While there are many parts of a phone you might care about, a phone's display and camera system are the most important things to me. But Honor has steep competition at this price. From the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, the Google Pixel 9a, or even the iPhone 16e, there's no shortage of options to choose from.

I'm taking a look at how the Honor 400 Pro compares with the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE camera, in particular, as it's the phone most people would likely choose if given a lineup of similarly-priced devices. Honor also has the standard Honor 400, and that goes up against the Galaxy A56.

Honor 400 Pro camera review: specs and modes

The camera hardware on the Honor 400 Pro looks a lot more like a flagship phone than a mid-range one. Not only does it have three rear cameras — something that gives it an immediate advantage over the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e — but Honor's camera software is basically unmatched in its quality, too.

Last year, I was blown away by what Honor was able to do with AI. While it wasn't quite the all-encompassing buzzword it is today, Honor has fully leaned into the AI domain and describes nearly every mode and feature with the term. It's overused, for sure, but it doesn't make the results any less impressive. Here's a list of all the main modes and editing options you'll get with the Honor 400 Pro:

Honor image engine

• AI Super Zoom
• AI Portrait Snap
• AI Enhanced Portrait
• Al Focal Lengths Portrait
• HD Moving Photo
• Film Simulation Mode
• Harcourt Portrait Mode
• AI Motion Sensing Capture

AI editing

• AI Image to Video
• AI Eraser
• AI Erase Passers-by
• AI Remove Reflection
• Moving Photo Collage
• AI Outpainting
• AI Upscale
• AI Cutout
• AI Face Tune

Honor 400 Pro camera review: Main camera

The Honor 400 Pro's 200MP main camera is impressive on paper and in action. When compared to the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, there's a clear stylistic difference between the two cameras. Samsung pushes for maximum dynamic range, which often results in very bright shadow areas and sometimes washed out colors.

In both daylight examples below, the sky is the wrong shade of blue and the green hue of the plants is a little too bright on Samsung's photos. Honor opts for a much richer, deeper color palette and it ends up looking a lot more realistic because of the decision.

As we move indoors and into darker environments, we see the same scenario play out. Samsung's goal is seemingly to make the brightest image possible, often at the detriment of color accuracy. Neither photo looks bad by any means, but Honor's processing ends up looking better and sporting more realistic colors because the company pushes for a more contrast-heavy look, something Pixels have been renowned for historically.

One of the biggest differences between the photos is the handling of bight light sources in dark rooms where the Honor 400 Pro takes a serious lead. The windows are totally blown out in the Galaxy S24 FE's shot. Meanwhile, they're not only well balanced in the Honor 400 Pro's shot but you can actually make out details.

Honor 400 Pro camera review: Motion capture and portraits

Since the Magic 6 Pro, Honor's motion capture capabilities have become second to none. The company uses a highly-trained AI algorithm to help understand what the camera sees and capture moving objects based on that algorithm. The result is that you almost always get a crisp subject even when the person, pet, or thing is moving the entire time.

I tested this out on several subjects, but these two examples illustrate the main differences between the Galaxy S24 FE and the Honor 400 Pro's motion capture capabilities. Even in broad daylight, the Galaxy S24 FE struggles to capture an object in motion, something that should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever used a Samsung phone.

Honor pointed out that the Honor 400 Pro can capture moving subjects even when using portrait mode this time, and I found the results to be very impressive, so I put it to the test indoors where the light isn't so bright. The Honor 400 Pro did a fantastic job capturing me swinging a sword around in VR, even getting the colors and little details on the headset crisp. The Galaxy S24 FE's colors are not only wrong, but I'm very blurry because of the movement.

Samsung phones have produced some of the best portrait mode photos for years, but last year's Honor 200 Pro gave Honor the edge it needed. Honor is still using the Harcourt portrait-style processing that gives you three main color options, in addition to a new AI portrait mode that can be enabled for greater clarity, especially while using 6x zoom.

As you'll probably expect at this point in the review, the Honor 400 Pro does a superb job of capturing a better photo than the Galaxy S24 FE. Honors portraits are brighter, more vibrant, have better detail, and do a better job of prioritizing lighting on the subject rather than the background. I also found the colors to be a lot more accurate on the Honor 400 Pro, especially with black and brown colors as you'll see on my shirt and one of my chickens.

Honor 400 Pro camera review: Telephoto and zoom

Both the Honor 400 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE feature a 3x telephoto camera on the back, something you won't find on the Google Pixel 9a or an Apple iPhone 16e, despite being in the same price range. But the Honor 400 Pro features a 50MP sensor behind that lens, while the Galaxy S24 FE has just an 8MP sensor.

Megapixels aren't everything, but there's a very clear difference in the results. Let's start with 2x shots, which are just a crop of the main sensor on both phones. In the two darker indoor shots, the Honor 400 Pro nailed the color of the wood and did a superb job with the lighting. The contrast on the Honor 400 Pro's photos are excellent, while the Galaxy S24 FE is too bright in both shots, particularly in the library with the light leakage from the windows.

Even during the day, there's an obvious different in color accuracy, clarity, and overall details on the Honor 400 Pro versus the Galaxy S24 FE.

Zooming in 3x or greater uses the telephoto sensor on both phones, and it's once again clear which ones does it better the moment you look at any photo. Details, color accuracy, and contrast are all better on the Honor 400 Pro no matter what zoom level is used, resulting in a better photo every time.

Zooming in beyond 10x is a mixed bag on both phones, but the Honor 400 Pro has a greater chance of producing something usable than what I've found from the Galaxy S24 FE. Honor has a built-in AI enhancement mode that can be toggled when zooming in at 15x or further, but I've found this to be less useful than I'd hoped. The 18x zoom of the scarab beetle, for instance, looked exactly the same with AI mode toggled on or off.

Honor 400 Pro camera review: Ultrawide, macro, and selfie

On paper, there's not much of a difference between the Honor 400 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE's ultrawide cameras. Both are a 12MP sensor, but the Honor 400 Pro's is capable of autofocus, helping it to double as a macro camera. To get the same types of macro shots on the Galaxy S24 FE, you'll have to use the 2x zoom button to use the main sensor rather than getting up close to the subject. The result is a significantly better photo from the Honor 400 Pro, with crisper details and better contrast.

Otherwise, ultrawide camera performance is largely identical between the two phones. As a rule of thumb, it seems like the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE's ultrawide camera captures marginally better fine detail, while I prefer the colors and contrast of the Honor 400 Pro's ultrawide camera.

The front-facing cameras couldn't be more different on paper. The Honor 400 Pro uses a new 50MP front-facing camera sensor, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE uses a 10MP one. Both are fixed focus sensors with no real depth to them, so using portrait mode is important if you want that classic photo feel.

I expect good portrait results from both companies and neither phone disappoints there. Both feature clean cutouts of me and my pet hen, but the Honor 400 Pro's background blurring is more subtle than the Galaxy S24 FE's. As has been the case in this entire review, the Honor 400 Pro's colors and contrast are better, giving it a better overall look.

Darker environments showcase less of a difference between the two, but those differences remain the same. The Honor 400 Pro has better contrast and colors, even if it's to a much smaller degree than we've seen elsewhere in the review.

Honor 400 Pro camera review: The new mid-range camera champion

The Honor 400 Pro won this test hands down, and it wasn't even close in the vast majority of the categories. Honor's processing is just plain better than Samsung's, with better contrast, more accurate colors, more correct emphasis on prioritizing subjects over backgrounds, substantially better motion capture quality, and greater zoom detail overall.

It's actually hard to find a weak point with the Honor 400 Pro's camera, as it does everything exceedingly well and doesn't seem to struggle no matter what mode is selected. The worst thing I can say about it is that its ultrawide camera isn't better than the Galaxy S24 FE's when taking wide-angle shots, but that changes when getting in close as the Honor 400 Pro's ultrawide camera can use autofocus, allowing it to be used as a 50MP macro camera.

If you're in the market for a good new mid-range phone, there's no better choice than the Honor 400 Pro. It's got a great eye-friendly display which is significantly better than the Pixel 9a or Galaxy S24 FE's screen, six years of software updates to come, a stronger build and design than most phones (not just mid-range ones), plus what's clearly the best mid-range camera you'll find anywhere.

Honor's strategy revolves around its foldables and flagships — like the Magic V3 and Magic 7 Pro — but its mid-tier devices are also seeing decent momentum. It sold over 45 million units of its mid-rangers globally starting with the Honor 50, and that's quite decent. Interestingly, Honor is the fastest-growing phone brand in the U.K. at a time when other manufacturers are seeing growth stagnate or decline, and the brand is continuing to bolster its presence in the region.

That brings us to the Honor 400. The follow-up to last year's Honor 200, the Honor 400 has a new design, updated hardware, and a new 200MP camera at the back that take even better photos and videos. There are downgrades; the phone charges at 66W (instead of 100W), and it misses out on a tele lens this year — that's exclusive to the Pro model.

It's clear that Honor is positioning the device as an alternative to the Galaxy A56. If anything, Samsung made that job much easier this year by refusing to make any tangible upgrades to the A56. Even though the Honor 400 misses out on a tele lens, it does a better job in just about every measurable area against the Galaxy A56, and if you need a mid-ranger with a good design and great camera at the back, this is the phone to buy.

Honor 400: Pricing and availability

Honor unveiled the Honor 400 and Honor 400 Pro at an event in London on May 22, and both phones are going on sale in select regions starting in June. The standard model of the Honor 400 comes with 256GB of storage, and it costs €499 ($565) — €50 more than the equivalent A56. There's also a 512GB variant that comes in at €549 ($621).

If you need a tele lens, you'll need to get your hands on the Honor 400 Pro. The phone gets better hardware and 100W charging alongside a 50MP 3x tele module, but you'll be shelling out €799 ($905). Of the two, the standard model is the better value by a big margin.

Honor 400: Design

I like what Honor is doing with the design of its products, and the Honor 400 is no different. The phone has a redesigned camera housing at the back that looks similar to the Huawei Pura 70, and it looks clean. The phone has a flat profile, but the matte texture along with slight bevels makes it comfortable to hold.

What I like the most is the size; the phone is smaller than most devices in this category thanks to a 6.55-inch panel, and it has a great in-hand feel. I wouldn't call it a small phone, but it isn't as wide and tall as the OnePlus 13R or Galaxy A56. It's a smidgen taller than the Pixel 9a, but you get a bigger panel.

The Honor 400 gets the better color variants, and the Desert Gold model I'm using looks great. The back has a frosted texture that doesn't pick up smudges, and Honor went with a polycarbonate design to save weight, so although the device gets a 5,300mAh battery, it is lighter than the Pixel 9a at 184g.

The camera housing doesn't jut out considerably, but there is a slight wobble when using the phone on a table. There's stereo sound and an IR blaster, and the SIM tray is located at the bottom next to the USB-C port. The bezels around the panel are thin, and Honor did a good job slotting in a 6.55-inch screen in this chassis.

The buttons are located a little too low on the right, and I found it awkward to unlock the device when holding the phone one-handed. In a similar vein, the in-screen sensor is mounted too low on the panel, and it isn't particularly convenient. Outside of that though, I didn't see any problems with the design.

The Honor 400 gets IP66 ingress protection in most global markets, but the U.K. variant is limited to IP65 dust and water resistance. With most models in this category now providing IP67 or even IP68 as standard, Honor is on the backfoot in this area.

Honor 400: Display

The Honor 400 gets a 6.55-inch OLED panel with 120Hz refresh and a 2736 x 1264 resolution. It has good color vibrancy and contrast levels out of the box, and I didn't see any issues using the device outdoors — it gets brighter than the A56.

Honor continues to lead the way with eye protection tech, and the Honor 400 gets AI Defocus Eyecare, 3840Hz PWM dimming as standard (something Samsung refuses to bring to its devices), hardware-level blue light protection, and Ultra Dark Mode that lowers the brightness to just 1.5 nits at night. If you're sensitive to PWM issues or need a device that doesn't cause any eye strain, this is the one to get.

On that note, my colleague Nick Sutrich analyzed the panel on the 400 Pro — which is identical to the standard model, but bigger at 6.7 inches — against the 200 Pro:

The phone retains a dedicated ebook mode that switches to monochrome, and I find it useful when reading long-form content on the go. At the other end of the scale, HDR content looks good on the device, and the stereo sound gets loud and detailed. While it isn't the most powerful mid-ranger, it does a decent job with casual gaming in general.

Honor 400: Hardware

Honor went with the same Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 platform as the Honor 200; I would have liked to see the 7s Gen 3 as it holds up better with demanding use cases. As it stands, there is some lag at times while multitasking, and you'll need to turn down the settings in visually-intensive games to get playable framerates.

It's clear that Honor isn't positioning this device as a gamer-focused choice, but it holds its own against the Galaxy A56, and I believe that was the consideration when deciding the internals. The phone gets 8GB of RAM as standard, and the base model has 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, with a 512GB model also available.

The Honor 400 doesn't quite measure up to its other mid-rangers when it comes to the internals, with both the OnePlus 13R and POCO F7 Pro doing a much better job in this regard. That said, it doesn't overheat, and in 3DMark's demanding Steel Nomad Light stress test, it went up to a maximum of 47 degrees. Throttling isn't an issue either, but then again, it doesn't have much power to begin with.

I ran into problems with connectivity on the device, both on my home network and cellular data. There were instances where pages would refuse to load, and I had to refresh several times or toggle connectivity to get it going again. A software update sorted out most of these issues, and retail units shouldn't have this problem.

The model I'm testing has a 5300mAh battery, and just like the Magic 7 Pro, it uses silicon-carbon tech. I routinely got over a day's worth of use without any issues, and even with heavy use, the phone lasted until the end of the night. The 66W charging tech ensures the battery charges in under 50 minutes.

Honor 400: Cameras

Honor went with a new 200MP imaging module with a 1/1.4-inch sensor, and a 12MP wide-angle lens. The main camera gets OIS, and the standard model misses out on a tele lens. I would have liked a telephoto lens in lieu of a wide-angle as I tend to use 2x and 3x modes more than 0.6x, but it's clear that Honor wanted to differentiate the Pro model a little bit, so that's the only variant to get the lens.

The camera interface is unchanged, and you get easy access to all the shooting modes and filters. Annoyingly, the phone misses out on 4K60 video, and this is something that most other devices in this category now offer as standard. I get that video recording isn't the focus with this device, but to not have the basics is an egregious omission.

As with everything else, Honor is using AI extensively in the imaging chain, and the brand says that the goal is to deliver better photos and videos. Nebulous claims aside, the phone does a decent enough job in most conditions; daylight shots have plenty of detail and good color rendition, and the device does well in challenging scenarios as well, producing detailed photos.

The wide-angle lens is average, and that's usually the case with most mid-rangers. Where the Honor 400 truly shines is with portrait shots; it renewed its collaboration with Harcourt, and you get a range of filters that alter the look of the shot. I still prefer what the Vivo V50 does in this area, but I'll have to admit that the Honor 400 comes mighty close.

At the end of the day, the camera on the Honor 400 is quite good. It handles most tasks well, and while it doesn't have much in the way of versatility, it is better than the Galaxy A56, and I guess that's what Honor was aiming to achieve.

Honor 400: Software

Phone brands are leaning heavily into AI to differentiate their products, and Honor has a definite vision around how this will look on its devices. The brand does a good job with AI utilities in general, and refreshingly, it didn't limit any features in the Honor 400 — unlike Samsung with the Galaxy A56.

If anything, the device is slated to get a brand-new image to video utility that relies on Google's Veo 2 engine. Honor has a full-fledged AI suite with the usual tools: real-time translations, audio transcribing, writing assistance, and image as well as video editing. There's also Honor Connect, a utility designed to make it easier to connect to iPhones.

The phone comes with MagicOS 9.0 based on Android 15 out of the box, and while the interface is broadly similar to previous iterations, there are a few subtle changes that make it a little cleaner. Honor's devices had longstanding issues with haptics, and the brand is finally addressing those problems.

I didn't see any problems in day-to-day usability; the interface is fluid, and it has a decent amount of customizability. I'm not a fan of the split notification pane, and I would have liked a unified shade instead. Other than that, it's just as effortless to use the Honor 400 as the Magic 7 Pro.

In other good news, the phone will get six Android OS updates alongside six years of security updates, and that is in line with the Galaxy A56. In fact, only the Pixel 9a will get more updates in this category, and Honor is clearly winning against its Chinese rivals in this area.

Honor 400: The alternatives

Obviously, the Pixel 9a deserves a mention in this category. Google's latest mid-ranger has a minimalist design, decent hardware, a bright OLED panel, and fabulous cameras at the back. It also has a clean software with extensive AI features, and it will get an additional software update over the Honor 400.

If you need the best hardware in this category, then you should consider the OnePlus 13R. It has good cameras, a bigger 6,000mAh battery, and decent software. It won't get as many software updates, but other than that, it is a solid choice if you want a gaming-focused mid-range device.

If you need the best value, the POCO F7 Pro is unmatched. It has high-end hardware and a bright OLED panel with 6,000mAh battery, and it excels as a gaming device. It has decent cameras as well, but the software isn't as good as the Honor 400, nor will it get as many software updates.

Honor 400: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You're a long-time Samsung user
• You need a phone with a good in-hand feel
• You want great cameras at the back
• You need fast charging and all-day battery life

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You need a telephoto lens

On the whole, the Honor 400 is a good update to its predecessor. The new camera at the back does a great job with photos in general, and the phone lasts all day with relative ease even though it's smaller than most of its rivals. The internals aren't quite up to scratch, and if you want a phone predominantly for mobile gaming, there are much better choices available.

I like what Honor is doing with the software as well, and its AI suite is better than most other brands in this category. Honor is clearly going after Samsung with the device, and after using both, I can safely say that the Honor 400 is a much better choice than the Galaxy A56 in the areas that actually matter.

What you need to know

• Both the Honor 400 and 400 Pro boast a 200MP main camera, with the Pro adding AI Super Zoom with 50x reach.
• The 400 series also comes packed with tools like AI Eraser, Outpainting, Reflection Removal, and that slick Moving Photo Collage for turning live photos into sharable clips.
• The Pro rocks a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12GB RAM, 5,300mAh battery (50% charge in 15 minutes), and a smooth 120Hz AMOLED screen.
• Meanwhile, the regular model runs on Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.

If your camera roll looks more like a graveyard of blurry photos than a highlight reel, Honor might have just tossed you a lifeline. The company today unveiled the Honor 400 Pro 5G and the Honor 400 5G, and they're going all-in on AI.

What really makes these phones stand out is the camera setup. Both rock a 200MP main shooter, but the Pro takes it up a notch with an AI Super Zoom cam that packs a big 1/1.4-inch sensor and can zoom up to 50x. And thanks to Google Cloud’s “AI Image to Video” trick, your still photos can now turn into short, snappy video clips.

These phones come loaded with creative AI tools too. You can stitch up to nine live shots into one smooth video with the Moving Photo Collage feature.

Creative AI toolkit

Additionally, the Moving Photo Collage feature lets you stitch up to nine live photos together into one shareable clip. You also get tools like AI Eraser, AI Outpainting, and AI Reflection Removal.

Running on MagicOS 9.0 with Google’s Gemini AI baked in, these phones come with smart features like Circle to Search, live translation, AI writing tools, a clever voice recorder, and real-time subtitles. You can actually get a summary of your voice notes, or translate a menu on the fly like a native.

Under the hood, the phones are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 paired with 12GB of RAM. Keeping the lights on is a 5,300mAh battery. Plus, it charges to 50% in 15 minutes, as per Honor's claims.

You’re also looking at an AMOLED screen that hits 5000 nits peak brightness. The Honor 400 Pro’s 120Hz refresh rate means buttery-smooth gaming, too, especially with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and GPU Turbo X in your corner. Meanwhile, the regular model packs a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip.

Built to last

The Honor 400 Pro is rated IP68 and IP69, so it shrugs off water, dust, and drops. It’s tough, but still sleek, rocking a slim 8.1mm body and clean colors like Lunar Grey and Midnight Black. The regular Honor 400 holds its own too, with IP65 protection for everyday bumps and splashes.

Honor is also promising six years of Android security and software updates.

In terms of pricing, the Honor 400 Pro starts at £700 for the 12GB + 512GB model, while the regular version starts at £400 for 256GB (or £449 if you want 512GB). You can snag one from Honor’s UK site or major retailers like EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, Argos, Currys, Amazon, and Very.