As we all know, Honor does not launch its smartphones in the Indian market, but that does not change a thing that when given a chance, I wouldn’t want to get hands-on with the company’s brand new flagship smartphone. I am talking about the Honor Magic 5 Pro, the successor to the Honor Magic 4 Pro from last year. And for those who don’t know, the Honor Magic 4 Pro was the company’s first flagship smartphone to launch outside the Chinese market. Sadly, as we have already established, it did not come to the Indian market, and the Magic 5 Pro is also not coming to the Indian market. However, after witnessing the smartphone unveiled in front of my eyes at MWC, Barcelona, where I am currently covering the latest and greatest in consumer tech, I couldn’t resist checking out the phone for myself. Here are my first impressions of the Honor Magic 5 Pro.
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Honor Magic 5 Pro: First impressions
The last time, I saw an Honor phone in India, it wasn’t a flagship smartphone. And since then, we have come a long way. With the launch of the Honor Magic 5 Pro, Honor has created a pure flagship smartphone with all bells and whistles that you’d expect in a high-end smartphone. The Honor Magic 5 Pro comes in two colours – a glossy black and a matte green finish, which is my personal favourite. But unique colours are something that many smartphone makers do these days, and Honor has also done a good job, not a very big deal there. However, it is the phone’s build and how it feels in the hand and how it looks, which makes the Honor Magic 5 Pro a one-of-a-kind flagship smartphone available in a sea of options.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro is a curvy smartphone in a day and age where boxy smartphones are all the rage. And the curves are not just limited to the display sides, instead, the curves exist in all four corners of the phone – front and back, which not only gives it a unique look but also makes it comfortable to hold in the hand. Going to the back, Honor has given a round camera bump which is huge, and by the way, this phone also lets you use 100X digital zoom in photos, courtesy of the 50MP periscope lens. Other cameras include a 50MP primary lens with OIS along with a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens. At the front, is a 12MP camera along with a 3D sensor situated in a corner-aligned pill cutout, which does remind of the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. Of course, in my limited time, I didn’t get to test the camera of the phone, but from what I have heard from people who have used the Honor Magic 4 Pro of last year, they are only expecting great things out of the Magic 5 Pro.
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Now, as I earlier mentioned the curves are present all around the Honor Magic 5 Pro, which makes it a comfortable device to use, even with one hand, I found out that the front display is a 6.81-inch screen, but because of the ergonomics and the aspect ratio, it doesn’t feel big and cumbersome to operate. So, what you get here is a 10-Bit AMOLED screen that refreshes at an adaptive 120Hz and features a peak brightness of 1900 nits. The display is of course a bright and vibrant panel that looks gorgeous. The phone also gets a pair of loud stereo speakers, which sounded absolutely amazing to hear even at MWC amid all the noise, chaos and confusion.
Other highlights of the Honor Magic 5 Pro include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC under the hood, coupled with up to 12GB RAM and up to 512GB storage option. Now, the Magic 5 Pro also features a 5,100mAh battery under the hood, which is a significant upgrade over the 4,600mAh battery of the Honor Magic 4 Pro. However, the charging speeds are now supported at up to 66W wired versus the 100W that was there on the Magic Pro.
So, basically, you gain some, and you lose some. And with that, it is safe to say that the Honor Magic 5 Pro is a fully loaded flagship smartphone that boasts the latest specs and features you can expect to see in a high-end smartphone. Of course, it is not just the hardware of the phone that makes it an ideal choice. In fact, the software also plays an equal role in order to become that ideal choice. And apart from all the good, the one thing I don’t like is the Honor Magic 5 Pro’s software, i.e., MagicOS 7.2, which in y opinion looks a bit cartoonish. But again, many of you readers should be okay with the phone’s software, as this is something that is subjective. But, one can also not deny the fact that I have used this seen smartphone personally (for a brief time), and for what it offers, the Honor Magic is a super flagship smartphone which shows that Honor can also make top-notch smartphones.
