Honor Magic6 Pro review: A flagship powerhouse with AI ‘Magic’

Honor has come a long way since parting ways with Huawei, breaking out from its mid-range smartphone territory to branch out to new heights. With its new Honor Magic6 Pro, it’s now established itself as one of the top dogs.

Packed with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a triple-array camera system than includes a whopping 150MP telephoto lens, and a gorgeous 6.8-inch LTPO display, Honor’s latest flagship smartphone clearly deserves your attention. If that wasn’t enough, it’s fine-tuned MagicOS 8.0 now delivers a unique array of AI features – you know, to join the AI bandwagon.

Sure, its £1,099 price tag is steep, but not nearly as much as the £1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max or £1,249 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Aling with a comfortable, premium-looking design and wicked battery life, the Honor Magic6 Pro shines – despite a decisive camera bulge and availability in select markets.

Honor Magic6 Pro Price and Availability

The Honor Magic6 Pro is priced at £1,099 at HiHonor and is available to pre-order from March 1, with sales from March 8 in the UK.

Like a majority of flagships, the Magic6 Pro comes in at a steep price. Not nearly as much as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, though, which also introduces a heap of AI-centric features. Sure, it’s a completely different OS ecosystem that Samsung has established over the years, but Honor’s pricing makes the Magic6 Pro more appealing, especially if you’re not fussed about a stylus.

Compared to other devices with their own silicon, like the £999 Apple iPhone 15 Pro and £899 Google Pixel 8 Pro, the Magic6 Pro can be a hard sell. That said, in terms of internals, cameras, and interesting AI implementations, you’ll get your money’s worth. 

Despite Honor’s grand efforts to build an ecosystem of devices, like its Honor MagicBook 16 and Pad 9, and creating software to interlink these devices, it’s hard to compete with Apple, Samsung, and Google’s interconnectivity between smartphones, tablets, wearables, and laptops. If you’re only interested in a smartphone, particularly a unique, high-end Android phone, giving Honor a try is a safe bet. 

Here’s the problem; the Magic6 Pro is only available in select regions. This is mainly the UK, Europe, and Asia. With no US availability in sight, it may be tough for Honor to make a real dent in the market. But it’s still early days for Honor, and if the Magic6 Pro is anything to go by, it’s setting a good standard. 

Honor Magic6 Pro Design

The Honor Magic6 Pro comes in two colours: Black and Epi Green. The latter is similar to the Google Pixel 8 Pro’s Mint and has a lovely, light hue to it. It shares a similar premium design aesthetic with the Magic5 Pro, including its rounded edges and slightly curved display. But its camera bulge is a tad more prominent than the previous model.

This is likely due to the whopping 180MP telephoto lens it packs, making the once circular camera outline now a more rounded square. As for the front, the pill-shaped cut-out for the front camera is now placed at the centre instead of the left, giving iPhone 15 Dynamic Island vibes. Not a bad thing in the slightest, as this looks more natural than the Magic5 Pro.

It’s hard to get over that camera bump, though. Taking up nearly half the phone and clearly taking the weight, some may find its design peculiar while others won’t want a device that screams “this phone has cameras!” 

I get it; Honor needs to stand out in a sea of Android phones, and taking the same route as the revamped Pixel series with a design that defines the brand is good thinking. That said, a triple-array of lenses in a noticeable circular outline may not be everyone’s cup ‘o tea. 

Personally, I’m not too fussed about the bulging camera Island, as it makes the Magic6 Pro appear like an actual camera to take photos with. It’s also comfortable to hold, not overly big so I’m not reaching with my thumb to tap on apps, and actually feels durable (more so than my slightly bruised Pixel 7 Pro). 

Sharing similar dimensions to its predecessor, the Magic5 Pro, the Magic6 Pro isn’t overly big or too small and has the right weight that balances comfort and premium. Moreover, its impressive, bezel-less display takes up majority of the front, giving users even more screen real estate. 

Honor Magic6 Pro Display

The Honor Magic6 Pro is equipped with a 6.8-inch LTPO display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 4320Hz PWM Dimming, and a formidable Honor NanoCrystal Shield, which features a layer of silicon nitride coating on the device’s nanocrystal glass for enhanced protection. This makes it scratch-resistant and durable against accidental falls.

As with past Honor smartphones, the display is gorgeous. It’s bright and easy to see outdoors and shows off the visual clarity in cinematically beautiful TV shows and movies. To put it to the test, I watched Saltburn on Amazon Prime Video, and it showed off the eerie excellence of the mansion Barry Keoghan slowly (and creepily) takes over.

Honor Magic6 Pro Performance

the Honor Magic6 Pro offers flagship specs under the hood. It’s equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, 12GB of on-storage RAM, and 512GB for storage.

It offers a 30% improvement in CPU performance and a 25% increase in GPU performance, along with advancements to AI features (98% improvement compared to previous models). This proves true, as I was able to watch YouTube in split-screen mode while opening up 20 tabs on Google Chrome without any hiccups.

I put it through the ringer by playing Call of Duty: Mobile while dipping in and out of other apps, and I was still getting stutter-free gameplay with highly detailed visuals at 120Hz without and lag or crashes. That says a lot about the chip.

Running Geekbench 6, it achieved a multi-core score of 6,850 and a single-core score of 2,218. These are impressive results, and the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme showed even better results. It had an overall score or 5,204 with an average frame rate of 31.16, which is up there with the latest flagship smartphones on the market.

Compared to the iPhone 15 or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Magic6 Pro puts up some strong competition – especially for its price.

Honor Magic6 Pro Cameras

Introducing its new AI-powered Falcon Camera System, the Magic6 Pro aims to deliver “pro-grade sportography.” This offers improved capture speeds and clearer snapshots, especially with objects in motion.

A big talking point is the 180MP telephoto lens (f/2.6, OIS) with 2.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. That goes beyond what other Android phones offer, especially budget options with a 2MP telephoto shooter. You can also expect a 50MP ultra-wide camera (f.2.0, EIS) and a 50MP primary camera with variable aperture capabilities (f/1.4 and f/2.0, OIS).

As you can see, pictures are detailed across all three lenses, with a depth of detail and accurate colour balance you’d expect to see in flagship cameras. Honor’s camera software doesn’t overly saturate colours or, you know, “pretty-up” images. It has the camera specs to show off pictures with clarity that doesn’t need to hide behind AI, but it has plenty of AI-enhanced features for good measure, too.

From well-tuned Night Mode to its AI motion sensing capture to get moving objects without any noticeable blur, these cameras are a treat.

Honor Magic6 Pro MagicOS AI

The Honor Magic6 Pro’s key highlight is its new MagicOS 8.0, and while it may not be your usual Android OS experience, it does a great job at standing out from the crowd – in a good way.

Based on the latest version of Android 14, it brings the company’s platform-level AI and claims to be the industry’s first intent-based UI. It aims to enhance photography, display, performance, and AI-powered user experiences.

One of these features includes Magic Capsule. This AI feature essentially removes the need to navigate multiple apps to get tasks done. By tapping the notifications banner at the top of the display, Magic Capsule will offer more information and options for what you need to do, like booking flights or getting directions to a destination.

Then there’s Magic Portal, which uses AI to “understand user messaging and behaviour, streamlining complex tasks into a single-step process.” One example is Magic Portal, which is used to recognise an address in a text message and direct users to Google Maps.

Social media apps like Facebook or TikTok let users forward booking details or online search results simply by dragging information. This also works with images, allowing users to be directed to eBay or Amazon to buy a product they’re looking at.

Currently, Magic Portal supports over 100 frequently used apps globally, like WhatsApp, TikTok, Amazon, and more.

Interestingly, by partnering up with Qualcomm (and with the help of the Magic6 Pro’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip), MagicOS can complete functions such as understanding questions and answering them, text creation, and reading comprehension in an offline environment. 

Honor Magic6 Pro Battery

As for battery, Honor’s latest flagship boasts a 5,600mAh battery capacity, and it knocks it out of the park.

This is a step up from the 5,100mAh capacity on the previous model, which was already going slightly beyond what other flagships were holding (usually 5,000mAh). During my everyday tasks, such as scrolling through websites and social media, watching YouTube, messaging, gaming, and snapping a few pictures, I was down to 30% by the end of the day.

That’s plenty of battery after that amount of usage, and if that wasn’t enough, it can charge in no time. Unsurprisingly, Honor brings wicked-fast charging with an 80W Wired SuperCharge and 66W Wireless SuperCharge. Expect to charge up to 100% in as little as 40 minutes.

One downside is that you won’t get these charging speeds unless you have the right power adapter, which doesn’t come in the box. These days, its common to not have a plug in the box, but many will go with whatever charger they have lying around their home as opposed to buying another power adapter.

Not only this, but it is also part of the company’s all-new second-gen silicon-carbon battery, HONOR E1. This brings low-temperature performance, which is excellent for demanding mobile games like Diablo Immortal or Asphalt 9: Legends.

Should you buy the Honor Magic6 Pro?

As far as flagship smartphones go, the Honor Magic6 Pro ticks all the right boxes. Premium-feel design with a bright, vivid display? Check. Blazing-fast performance for productivity and gaming alike? It’s got it. Interesting AI-enhanced features that makes your life easier? All that and more.

The camera bump may be a particular quality some may shun away from, and it’s tricky to opt for a new system that isn’t the usual iOS or Android interface – especially for flagship prices. However, anyone looking to branch out will find the Magic6 Pro a delight, from its unique features not seen on other smartphones (like hand gestures to scroll or take a screenshot) to its growth in building an ecosystem of devices.

We’re big fans of the Honor Magic6 Pro, and if you’re looking to compare it to other top sellers, check out our list of the best phones in NZ you can grab today.