It has been almost two years since Honor returned to Spain as an independent company after the harsh restrictions on Huawei. Since then, the company has launched different smartphones in our country with features capable of competing with the most popular on the market. These, however, have not always stood out from the rest, but have only offered features that match their competition. Now with the new Magic 5 ProHonor wants to show that it is possible to offer something different, and not only in the photographic section.
We could say that the Honor Magic 5 Pro stands out in 3 main features that compete with, or could even surpass, smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the Xiaomi 13 Pro or the Vivo X90 Pro; three of the best photographic exponents today. They are the following.
- Your camera: The Honor Magic 5 Pro has a 50-megapixel triple camera with a zoom of up to 100X, the same range as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It also has a double sensor on the front for unlocking using facial recognition.
- Your screen: which stands out for including a maximum brightness that reaches 1800 nits, an OLED technology panel and a resolution of 1848 × 1312 pixels on a diagonal of 6.81 inches.
- Its price: the Honor Magic 5 Pro arrives in Spain for 1,199 euros. It is a lower price than the Galaxy S23 Ultra (1,409 euros) or the Xiaomi 13 Pro (1,399 euros).
On paper, they promise. These are points that undoubtedly suggest that the Honor Magic 5 Pro is really an interesting alternative to the best smartphones on the market. However, there is only one way to prove it: by testing these and other sections of this new Honor mobile.
Design and screen: the essence of Honor improved
Although, in my opinion, it is not one of the most important points, Honor also mentions the design as one of the most remarkable features of this smartphone. More specifically, the design of the photographic module, which protrudes slightly from the edge and whose lenses are distributed in a triangular shape. It is a huge module, similar to the one we saw in the Honor Magic 4 Pro, although with a slightly modified design so that the back of the terminal is more aesthetically attractive. The camera bump doesn’t actually look that pronounced because it’s attached to the glass that lines the entire back.
The glass on the back also has a matte finish that is very well chosen for two reasons; fingerprints are not marked, and makes the terminal much more comfortable to the touch. The colour, a green that becomes lighter or darker depending on how the light hits it, is, in my opinion, a very successful tone. And the frames, made of aluminum and with a glossy tone, combine very well. In general, it is a mobile with very good finishes and a careful design that is not prettier than other smartphones, but it does not disappoint.
On the front, in reality, there is nothing different from the Honor Magic 4 Pro or any other smartphone. Minimal bezels, a curvature on both sides of the screen, and slightly rounded corners. All this, in addition, with a double camera in the upper right area to house a depth sensor focused on facial unlocking that works very well.
The interesting thing about the front of the Honor Magic 5 Pro is, of course, the screen; that 6.81-inch panel with Full HD+ resolution (2848 X 1312 pixels) and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. All this, in addition, with an aspect ratio of 19.54: 9 (a slightly wider screen than other smartphones) and a brightness of up to 1800 nits.
The Honor Magic 4 Pro’s display didn’t disappoint, and this one hasn’t either. That of the Magic 5 Pro, in fact, it is even better for its brightness, whose maximum level means that we can view content outdoors in bright light without any problem. The 120 Hz, on the other hand, makes the browsing experience even greater and the slightly wide screen format makes it easier to type or play games.
The panel of the Honor Magic 5 Pro, yes, not perfect for a reason; the curvature on the screen. Although it gives the terminal a more elegant aesthetic, it makes the general quality not entirely excellent, because when white tones are reproduced the screen shows a slight shading that is somewhat annoying. It is precisely something that happens in all mobiles with this feature. Fortunately, many manufacturers have started to eliminate the curvature or reduce it considerably, and it is something that I hope Honor will do soon as well.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro does not disappoint in performance. not on battery either
There is practically no high-end mobile in 2023 that does not include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen. 2, and the Honor Magic 5 Pro was not going to be different. The company’s flagship has this SoC accompanied, in this case, with more than enough 12 GB of RAM and internal storage of 512 GB. This, of course, makes the terminal do an excellent job in terms of performance and can run any game without problems. In fact, in demanding tasks such as simultaneous downloads, playback of multimedia content, games with maximum graphics, etc., the terminal has responded correctly. All this, in addition, without overheating.
One way to reflect this good performance is through the score obtained through a benchmark. In this case, with a test carried out with Geekbench 6, the Honor Magic 5 Pro has achieved a score of 1,968 on a single core, and a score of 4,806 on multiple cores. It is, specifically, a score very similar to that registered in a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (4,806 points with multiple cores and 1,827 points in a single core) and in a Xiaomi 13 Pro (4,666 points in multiple cores and 1,423 in a single core). ).
Regarding the battery, the Honor Magic 5 Pro has a capacity of 5,100mAh. It also has a 66W fast charge and is also compatible with wireless charging and reverse charging.
Are those 5,100 mAh enough taking into account the screen and its brightness of 1,800 nits? In general, yes, since that maximum peak of nits is not always active. On average, and with intensive use (games, browsing social networks, viewing content, calls) the battery can last all day without any problem, reaching approximately 30-40% at night.
So are the cameras of the Honor Magic 5 Pro
Honor, unlike Vivo or Xiaomi, has not opted for a 1-inch sensor for its main camera; sensor that, although it offers different advantages, is not everything to achieve good results. The Asian company, on the other hand, has included in its Magic 5 Pro a somewhat — shall we say — traditional camera setup. In other words, a very common three-lens system in premium-range smartphones. The cameras of the Honor Magic 5 Pro are as follows.
- 50 megapixel primary sensor with f/1.6 aperture.
- 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor and 122-degree field of view with f/2.0 aperture.
- 50-megapixel telephoto sensor with f/3.0 aperture, 3.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom.
The interesting thing about the Honor Magic 5 Pro camera is in the additional specifications, both to improve the results and to facilitate the capture of images in different situations. Many of these features are powered by AI., such as one that is capable of detecting the scene to automatically adapt tones and colors, or a way to take photos in night mode without having to wait several seconds for the capture to complete. Now, how does the camera of the Honor Magic 5 Pro behave?
Let’s start by talking about the 50-megapixel primary sensor, which is the one that competes with the main sensors Vivo and Xiaomi, and also with the primary sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The main camera is, in general, very very good. In broad daylight, it manages to capture scenes with a very good rendering of colours, without saturating the tones too much and with a very correct exposure. What I liked the most about the Honor Magic 5 Pro camera, however, is how well it manages to capture the detail of the environment; does an excellent rendering of shadows and textures.
These excellent results are also reflected in the rest of the cameras. In fact, the difference in detail or color rendition is minimal, and the ultra-wide camera, thankfully, doesn’t tend to blur or blur. areas further away from the image, which is something we see on numerous occasions in mobile phones with this type of sensor.
The telephoto sensor, I reiterate, allows you to capture images with a 3.5x optical zoom, a range that does nothing more than get even more detail in those more remote areas and that, luckily —and as with the rest of the sensors— maintains that good colorimetry. In digital format we can get up to 100x closer. Of course, here the loss of quality is noticeable, but it is not a scope that we will use continuously. Of course, the apparent digital stabilization that the Honor Magic 5 Pro does with this level of zoom is quite bad, so you have to have a very good hand or undo and zoom again little by little to focus on what you want to capture.
An interesting (and cheaper) alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The same thing happened to me with the Honor Magic 5 Pro as with many of the premium-range phones that I’ve tried in recent months: it’s hard to find any negative point that is decisive for not betting on this phone. It has an excellent camera, a brilliant screen and performance and autonomy to match, with minor “buts” in these areas. For example, the curvature on the screen is annoying, the stabilization of the camera when zooming and the software, although it is visually attractive, is not correctly optimized -something that, luckily, can be solved by means of an update.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro, yes, does not offer anything differential compared to other smartphones. And this is partly good and bad. Bad, because there is no decisive feature to bet on this smartphone, and not on another of its competition. Well, because it means that it can compete head-to-head against phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the Vivo X90 Pro or the Xiaomi 13 Pro.
The most differential point of the Honor Magic 5 Pro, yes, is its price. It is available for 1,199 euros; much lower cost than its competitors. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, for example, costs 200 euros more, and although it has some additional features, such as the S-Pen or two telephoto sensors, they might not be decisive considering the price difference. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the other hand, has a screen with very similar specifications and with the exact same processor. It costs 200 more. It can be, therefore, a curious —and cheaper— alternative to these two mobiles.