Honor’s new Magic 6 Pro has just launched at MWC 2024, and there’s one big thing the company wants to draw your attention to… the cameras.
There are five lenses in total, split between the front and back, plus several other built-in sensors. The specs are mighty impressive, with a 50Mp dynamic-aperture (f/1.4-f/2.0) main camera, 180Mp telephoto (2.5x optical zoom, 100x digital) and 50Mp ultrawide with 122° field of view.
On the front, a 50Mp ultrawide lens is supported by a 3D Time of Flight (ToF) sensor, helping to improve its overall depth perception and facial recognition.
And based on first impressions, I can confidently say that these cameras are every bit as good as they sound.
The main camera consistently takes gorgeous photos, rivaling the Google Pixel 8 Pro for point-and-shoot performance. Detail, dynamic range and exposure are all top notch, with a contrasty look making images look extra atmospheric.
Some of the dog portraits I took were stunning, with the best edge detection I’ve ever seen on a phone.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Unlike so many phone cameras, there’s no obvious drop-off in quality when switching to the ultrawide lens. The extra field of view makes a real difference in landscape shots, especially the beach ones I took.
However, the 180Mp telephoto is the most versatile of them all. Its variable aperture allows it to take in more light when needed, dramatically improving the quality of low-light shots.
But its main benefit on the Magic 6 Pro is depth of field adjustment, meaning it’s capable of some stunning portrait-style shots. Some of the dog portraits I took were stunning, with the best edge detection I’ve ever seen on a phone.
The telephoto lens has one other benefit, a 2.5x optical zoom. The ability to crop in and maintain near-identical image quality certainly shouldn’t be overlooked, though the 100x digital zoom (as indicated on the back of the phone) has no practical utility.
Selfies from the front-facing camera are also excellent, whether you want the background blur or not. Faces are well-lit and background exposure handled well, with edge detection also very good here.
However, one feature I’m not entirely impressed with is AI Motion Sensing. It’s designed to keep subjects in focus even when they’re moving around a lot, but the dog photos I took were often still blurry.
See a range of my camera samples in the gallery below:
Video isn’t a priority in the same way, though the Magic 6 Pro can capture footage at up to 4K/60fps. But even the default 1080p/30fps mode looked good, with optical image stabilisation (OIS) helping it to remain impressively smooth.
It can’t quite rival the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, the current gold standard for smartphone video, but the Magic 6 Pro is more than serviceable.
When it comes to stills, though, this phone is up there with the very best. There’s no shortage of competition among camera phones, with the iPhone 15 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Vivo X100 Pro, Oppo Find X7 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 Ultra all in the running, but the Magic 6 Pro is certainly up there.
It’s not all about the cameras, either. The Magic 6 Pro features Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which combines with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
The 6.8-inch curved OLED display looks gorgeous, especially with a high 2.8K (2800×1280) resolution and dynamic 1-120Hz refresh rate. Durability is strong too, with an IP68 water and dust resistance rating and drop certification.
Elsewhere, you get a large 5600mAh battery with support for 80W wired and 66W wireless charging, plus dual stereo speakers and under-display fingerprint sensor. It’s 229g but probably worth it.
However, there are two things that will make or break the Magic 6 Pro. The first is software – Honor’s MagicOS 8.0 is based on Android 14, but won’t be to everyone’s tastes. The other is price, which hasn’t been revealed yet but is likely similar to the £949/€1,199 Magic 5 Pro.
These two factors might mean another phone is a better all-round fit for you. But there’s no doubting the Honor Magic 6 Pro’s stellar camera credentials.
Learn more in our separate article on the Honor Magic 6 series.