Honor intends to play in the big leagues: the Chinese manufacturer has just presented at MWC 2023 a new high-end smartphone, the Magic 5 Pro, and a folding model, the Magic Vs. What should the giants worry about?
Honor no longer hides its ambitions. Since its former parent company Huawei remains mired in the setbacks of the American embargo, the young brand holds the torch high. And the Chinese manufacturer intends to tackle the giants of the market such as Samsung and Apple by showing its muscles! On the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Honor presented two high-end smartphones that clearly aim for the highest steps of the podium: the Magic 5 Pro, a direct competitor to the stars of the market, and the Magic Vs, a folding model. which attacks the Galaxy Z Fold4 head-on.
Honor Magic 5 Pro: a very promising premium smartphone
On paper, the Magic 5 Pro has all the features required to compete with Samsung’s latest, the Galaxy S23 Ultra (read our test), and even stand up to the iPhone 14 Pro Max (read our test). Its size approaches that of the Samsung giant with its 162.9 x 76.7 x 8.77 mm and its weight of 219 g. It thus presents a beautiful 6.81-inch screen offering a brightness of 1800 nits that the brand wanted to make as comfortable as possible by integrating an automatic refresh variation technique intended to reduce eye fatigue. Added to this is a mode to change the tone of the screen throughout the day so as not to disturb the circadian cycle and promote sleep at the end of the day. And from the outset, this slightly curved Amoled screen won the favor of DXOMARK, a company specializing in the qualitative analysis of screens, which propelled it to first place on the podium, ahead of the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max and the Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra. Attractive !
A nice screen is good, but it’s not enough to seduce. Honor has therefore also focused on the photo. The three modules placed on the back of the device, a wide angle, an ultra wide angle and a 3.5x optical telephoto lens (100x digital), adopt a 50 Mpx sensor. Again, bet won for DXOMARK which ranks the Magic 5 Pro at the top of its ranking ahead of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro and the Pixel 7 Pro. The 1/1.12-inch main sensor in particular promises great results for capturing as much light as possible at night. To be checked during the tests.
To animate everything, the Magic 5 Pro inevitably relies on the star SoC of this beginning of the year, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supported by 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage space (not expandable). What, normally, satisfy all the tasks without flinching. As for autonomy, the device has a 5100 mAh battery compatible with fast charging (a 66 W charger is provided) and even with 50 W wireless charging.
The device is already available. And the price is up to the ambitions: 1199 euros. This is still cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (1599 euros) which it claims to be up against and, of course, much cheaper than the iPhone 14 Pro Max (1869 euros).
Honor Magic Vs: a folding smartphone that thinks big
Honor has also had in its catalog for a few months (in China) a folding model called Magic Vs. During its conference in Barcelona, the Chinese did not expand on this sensible device rivaled with the Galaxy Z Fold4 Korean rival Samsung. This beautiful baby of 261 g has an external screen of 6.45 inches Oled and an internal screen, also Oled, of 7.9 inches.
Honor has particularly worked on the hinge to make it as less complex as possible. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Soc of the previous generation, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, supported by 12 GB of RAM. It also takes advantage of the 66 W fast charge to refuel its 5000 mAh battery. The mobile will be marketed during this first half at a price of 1599 euros. Or 120 euros cheaper than its direct competitor the Z Fold4.