A quick introduction to the Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone

“Honor Magic6 Pro is the latest flagship smartphone from the brand, which stands out for its advanced technical specifications and unique features. It is currently available for purchase in China, and will soon be available in the European market. We have already had the opportunity to check out this new product, and we want to share our first impressions, as well as an assessment of its key capabilities."

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3, 8 processor cores (1×Cortex-X4 @3.3 GHz + 3×Cortex-A720 @3.2 GHz + 2×Cortex-A720 @3.0 GHz + 2×Cortex-A520 @2 .3 GHz)
• GPU Adreno 750
• Operating system Android 14, MagicOS 8
• Touch display AMOLED, 6.8″, 1280×2800, 19.5:9, 453 ppi, 120 Hz
• RAM 12/16 GB, internal memory 256/512 GB/1 TB UFS 4.0
• No microSD support
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• Networks 2G GSM, 3G WCDMA, 4G LTE, 5G
• GPS (L1+L5), Glonass, BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), Galileo (E1+E5a)
• WiFi 7
• Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
• NFC
• USB 3.2 Type-C, DisplayPort 1.2, USB OTG
• There is no 3.5mm audio output for headphones
• Rear cameras 50 MP + 180 MP (telephoto) + 50 MP (wide-angle), video 4K@60 fps, gyro-EIS, HDR, 10 bit
• Front camera 50 MP
• Proximity and lighting sensors, magnetic field, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Fingerprint scanner (under-screen, optical)
• Stereo speakers
• Protection degree IP68
• 5600 mAh battery, 80 W charging (PD 3.0), 66 W wireless charging
• Dimensions 163×76×8.9 mm
• Weight 225 or 229 g

The Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone is a device with a classic design, equipped with rounded corners and curved screen glass on all four sides. This model also uses the popular «waterfall screen» which can cause glare and image distortion.

The side bezel is a little narrow, but the curved edges of the front and back panels make the smartphone feel slippery to the touch, which can make it difficult to hold. It glides easily in your hand, so a case is recommended for added security. It is important to note that the case is not included in the package.

Despite this, the device has a stylish and attractive appearance: an almost frameless screen, a beautiful matte finish on the metal sides and deep frosted glass on the back panel (options with eco-leather trim are also available). The overall design looks luxurious and sophisticated, and the signature feature is the wide “badge” on the back side, decorated with an exquisite metal rim. The dimensions are up to standard and comparable to other modern flagship devices.

The bulge on the back accommodates all the cameras, sensors and flashes, extending beyond the body. However, thanks to its wide shape, the device lies stably on a flat surface. The wide-angle lens can be blocked by your finger due to this camera arrangement, but this is a general problem and not specific to this device. Nowadays, many people prefer to shoot vertically and do not feel inconvenienced by it.

The screen of this smartphone is “frameless” with curved edges and an impressive diagonal of 6.8 inches. It uses an AMOLED matrix with a high resolution of 1280×2800, an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a pixel density of 453 ppi. The screen supports a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR, has a very high maximum brightness of up to 1200 nits and excellent anti-glare properties, which ensures good readability even in bright sunlight. Overall, the image quality on the screen is very high.

The smartphone runs on the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3 platform with eight processor cores, including Cortex-X4 @3.3 GHz, Cortex-A720 @3.2 GHz and Cortex-A520 @2.3 GHz, as well as Adreno 750 GPU. The RAM can be up to 16GB LPDDR5X, expandable up to 8GB using RAM Turbo technology. Built-in storage can be up to 1 TB UFS 4.0. In Russia, a version with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB storage is offered.

This platform is a true flagship, delivering high benchmark scores and efficiently handling the most demanding applications and games. However, in the most demanding games, such as Genshin Impact, the case can become quite warm. In this review, we'll take a closer look at how this affects performance.

The network capabilities of this smartphone are at the highest level: support for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, e-SIM and 5G. The device allows you to use two SIM cards, but does not provide the ability to record telephone conversations on the line. The sound quality in the conversational speaker is high, the interlocutor's voice is clear and intelligible.

The audio system of the smartphone is amazing: two powerful stereo speakers at the ends of the case create amazing sound, making this device one of the best audio devices on the market.

The device runs on the latest versions of the operating system: Android 14 with the MagicOS 8 shell. The interface is familiar and pleasant, without advertising, with the addition of trendy features such as Dynamic Island, renamed here to Magic Capsule. Particular attention is paid to artificial intelligence, which corresponds to the latest trends in software development. For example, the cross-hyperlink feature allows information to be quickly found and shared across multiple platforms depending on the content.

The Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone is equipped with a triple camera on the rear panel with different focal lengths: main, wide-angle and telephoto with 2.5x optical zoom. This telephoto lens also supports 5x hybrid zoom for great shooting results. The periscope design of the telephoto lens is easily recognizable by the square optics window.

Judging by the results of the first test images, the Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone justifies its status as the brand’s flagship camera. It provides wide dynamic range, low noise, high detail, sharp optics and reliable autofocus. Questions may arise regarding color rendering, which is slightly susceptible to AI interference and may depend on customizer preference. However, this can be easily corrected using the built-in color filters. In some situations, especially when there is a lot of snow, the auto white balance may lean toward the cool spectrum, but this can also be adjusted.

The same applies to video shooting: there is a mode without color processing, which produces a neutral image for later manual color correction or applying LUTs on the fly. In standard mode, for both photos and videos, color processing is quite saturated.

The Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone also comes with several unique features that are rarely seen. For example, the motion capture function in auto mode. The interface has a special button with an image of a jumping man, when pressed, the camera automatically tracks movements and takes the best shot without requiring the user to constantly press the shutter button. This feature is popular, especially for creating dynamic photos. This feature was also present in the Magic5 Pro version, but now it can catch successful shots in various scenes, including sports competitions.

In the description of the new device, its battery deserves special attention. Honor Magic6 Pro is equipped with the latest silicon-carbon battery, featuring higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries. The capacity is 5600 mAh, and the first tests show impressive autonomy of the device.

In addition, the new battery is more resistant to extreme temperatures, as confirmed by test results. Even in severe frost conditions, as in Yakutia, or when stored in the freezer of a refrigerator, the smartphone loses charge very slowly. For example, overnight in the freezer, Honor Magic6 Pro lost only 4% of its charge after 8 hours of being in frost.

Honor has launched a true flagship smartphone on the market, which causes only minor complaints. It has quality core components like the processor and screen, as well as some unique features like an incredibly long-lasting battery and camera modes not found on other devices.