8.5/ 10 SCORE Honor Magic 6 Pro Pros
Standout design
Impressive cameras
Long-lasting battery life
Novelty of eye-tracking function
Cons
Software updates lag behind friends
Display gathers mud and micro scratches
Not formally offered within the US
Honor is probably not a world family model like Apple or Samsung, however the Chinese firm is decided to make a reputation for itself, and its new cellphone — the Magic 6 Pro — seems to be designed squarely with this in thoughts.The Honor Magic 6 Pro, which made its debut at Mobile World Congress, is the world’s first cellphone offered outdoors China that carries a silicon-carbon battery, which researchers say has a decrease environmental impression and danger from overheating than the lithium-ion batteries which can be used within the majority of telephones at this time.Read extra: Best Phone to Buy for 2024What’s extra, the Magic 6 Pro provides a novel option to work together with it, utilizing an AI eye-tracking function that lets you open and work together with apps utilizing your eyes. While worldwide variations of the Honor Magic 6 Pro haven’t got eye-tracking, the function is predicted to roll out sooner or later. In a demo video, Honor exhibits off the probabilities of its eye-tracking expertise by distant controlling an precise automotive with an app on the cellphone utilizing nothing however eye actions.Apart from these progressive options, the Magic 6 Pro has most of the specs and options you’d count on from a 2024 flagship cellphone. I spent two weeks testing the Magic 6 Pro, and it delivers a strong Android expertise packaged in an opulent {hardware} design. Thanks to its sharp show, slow-draining batteries, wonderful cameras, zippy processor and progressive AI-based instruments, the Magic 6 Pro is already one of the vital compelling Android telephones of 2024. Here’s the rear of the Magic 6 Pro in black. Andrew Lanxon/CNETDespite its benefits, the Magic 6 Pro is not excellent. Perhaps its greatest disadvantage is Honor’s software program improve coverage, which lags behind rivals reminiscent of Google’s Pixel 8 lineup and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 collection, every providing seven years of main OS upgrades and safety updates. Instead, Honor guarantees 4 years of Android updates and safety patches, which remains to be respectable, though it is shorter than its rivals. I additionally discovered its show collected mud, particles and even tiny scratches (bear in mind, I’ve solely used it for 14 days).For these sensible causes, I discover it exhausting to advocate the Magic 6 Pro over Samsung’s competing Galaxy S24 Plus or the Galaxy S24 Ultra telephones. Besides in the event you had been focused on shopping for this cellphone, the method can be lower than simple in the event you dwell within the US. That’s as a result of Honor presently has no plans to promote the Magic 6 Pro stateside. The firm says it will obtain a launch within the UK, amongst different areas and nations, the place the Magic 6 Pro will price £1,100 (roughly $1,390 and AU$2,120) for the variant with 12GB RAM and 512GB of inside storage.Read extra: Life After Huawei: Honor Bids to Become ‘Iconic’ Global Phone ModelMagic 6 Pro eye-tracking One of the Magic 6 Pro’s extra thrilling options makes use of eye-tracking to let yu management and navigate the cellphone. HonorThe Magic 6 Pro runs MagicOS 8.0, which is predicated on Android 14. Honor is billing its newest working system as one “that really knows you” in a nod to the provision of AI-based options. The most notable AI function, which includes eye-tracking, is just not but obtainable globally. The foremost approach you should use eye-tracking is to open notifications.CNET’s Katie Collins, who examined out the Magic 6 Pro’s eye-tracking tech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, described navigating the cellphone as simple, quick and responsive. Collins was even in a position to reply a cellphone name utilizing solely her eyes.When the demo cellphone rang, “a direction appeared on the screen telling me to look at a specific spot at the top left corner of the screen if I wanted to answer,” Collins stated in an article detailing her expertise utilizing Honor’s eye-tracking expertise. “I also was able to turn off an alarm and open messages the same way — simply by directing my gaze to a specific point on the screen.”As mind-boggling as that function is, it would not personally issue a lot into my choice about whether or not to purchase a cellphone or not. Kudos to Honor for serving up new methods for individuals to work together with their telephones.Luxury-inspired design… largely The Honor Magic 6 Pro is available in Epi Green or black. Sareena Dayaram/CNETAs quickly as I took the Magic 6 Pro out of the field, I might inform that Honor wished its latest cellphone to face out. The mannequin I obtained is available in a relaxing sage inexperienced colour, which I feel pairs nicely with the gold-colored end across the digicam bump and physique. It has a textured rear end in addition to a cushion-shaped digicam bump. Honor says it drew inspiration from jewellery and classical timepieces. The digicam bump is cumbersome so the cellphone does not lie fully flat on surfaces; a standard situation with most smartphones these days. the Magic 6 Pro’s display has delicate, curved edges.On the entrance, there is a 6.78-inch show with delicate, curved edges and 1,600 nits peak brightness, that I discovered was simply seen open air, even when sunny. Its 120Hz refresh fee makes software program animations look clean, even when switching between apps and scrolling on social media. I used to be shocked to see that the display suffered seen put on and tear throughout my restricted time with it. I popped the cellphone right into a tote bag for a couple of days and not using a case and found that it simply collected mud and particles on the display. I additionally discovered a number of small scratches on the cellphone. Honor says its Magic 6 Pro’s display makes use of a nanocrystal glass.Wonderful cameras The Magic 6 Pro’s cushion-shaped digicam bump. Sareena Dayaram/CNETThe Magic 6 Pro’s so-called Falcon digicam system has a complete of 4 cameras. The rear digicam module is headlined by a 2.5x telephoto lens with an f/2.6 aperture to let in additional mild. Apertures underneath f/2.8 are thought-about quick, which implies the lens can let in a bunch of sunshine for vivid, crisp pictures with little to no picture noise.The telephoto lens sits in entrance of a 108-megapixel sensor. All that decision makes even digital zoomed-in pictures look good. The Magic 6 Pro has a 2.5x optical zoom and might digitally zoom as much as 100x, however after about 30x photographs begin to look extra processed.The telephoto digicam is accompanied by a 50-megapixel wide-angle digicam and a 50-megapixel ultrawide digicam. On the entrance, there is a 50-megapixel digicam. Take a glance beneath to see the cameras in motion. Hong Kong skyscrapers by day. Taken with the Magic 6 Pro’s foremost digicam. Sareena Dayaram/CNETI love how the picture above turned out. You may even see the reflection of the other constructing within the glass, nevertheless it seems artificially sharpened within the picture.The picture beneath was taken on default settings on a vivid and sunny day in Hong Kong. The Magic 6 Pro amps up the blueness of the skies and seas. I personally prefer it. A photograph of Hong Kong’s harbor from the principle digicam. Sareena Dayaram/CNETBelow are a collection of pictures I took to indicate off the Magic 6 Pro’s zoom vary. The first picture was taken with the 0.5x ultrawide digicam and the second with the telephoto digicam at 5x digital zoom. This was taken with the ultrawide digicam. I’ll be zooming into the ship to indicate you the Magic 6 Pro’s zoom capabilities. Sareena Dayaram/CNET Standing in the identical spot, I took this photograph with 5x digital zoom. Sareena Dayaram/CNETLet’s take issues to the intense. Below is a photograph I shot at 100x digital zoom. I’m amazed you possibly can see a semblance of the ship’s entrance. I could not see a lot with my bare eye apart from a tiny silhouette of the ship. As you possibly can count on, the picture is blurry, nevertheless it provides you a tough concept of the topic. And this is a photograph taken at 100x zoom, the Magic 6 Pro’s max magnification. Sareena Dayaram/CNETNow let’s zoom in on one thing that is bodily close by (and extra lovable). The photograph beneath of my canine Rocky exhibits off the Magic 6 Pro’s telephoto capabilities. This is a pointy picture taken in a well-lit room. Notice the strands of fur and element captured. I took this picture of Rocky with the Magic 6 Pro 2.5x telephoto digicam. Sareena Dayaram/CNETPortrait mode was one among my favourite options to make use of on the Magic 6 Pro. It’s simple to take lovely portrait telephones. I really like the natural-looking bokeh within the background and the sharp foreground. Here’s one other photograph of Rocky taken in portrait mode. Sareena Dayaram/CNETIn my time utilizing the Magic 6 Pro, it generally struggled with edge detection. Take a take a look at the pictures beneath of the heart-shaped balloon to see what I imply. The first was taken in portrait mode. Notice the way it separates the balloon from the background. You can inform that the Magic 6 Pro struggles with “cutting out” the balloon and its string. Here’s one other portrait mode snap, however discover the way in which it “cuts out” the balloon from the background. Sareena Dayaram/CNETBelow is one other photograph of the identical balloon taken with portrait mode disabled. You can clearly see the balloon’s string and the background on this picture, which was taken on default settings. The digicam took a true-to-life shot of the balloon regardless of mild pouring into the window. The similar balloon picture taken with out portrait mode. Sareena Dayaram/CNET This photograph was taken with the ultrawide digicam in evening mode. Sareena Dayaram/CNET Here’s the identical scene captured with the ultrawide digicam however with out evening mode. Sareena Dayaram/CNET And this is the identical night scene captured at 5x digital zoom. Sareena Dayaram/CNETThe Magic 6 Pro cameras are strong. Images in most lighting conditions look color-accurate, crisp and visually interesting. Since the portrait lens has 108 megapixels to play with, the zoom was additionally one other stellar function on this cellphone. I might take all kinds of photographs, digitally zoom into them and the pictures nonetheless look sharp. I am unable to wait to take this cellphone to a tennis match and attempt to take some motion photographs. If I needed to nitpick, the digicam tends to make skies and water look bluer than they really had been in actual life. The selfie digicam additionally tended to lighten my pores and skin, making my complexion seem fairer than I’m in actual life. I favor a digicam that captures true-to-life photographs of myself in addition to the individuals in my life, however this was not at all a dealbreaker.Sometimes portrait mode struggled with edge detection too, however once more it was a nonissue for me because it was often a simple repair of simply transferring the digicam barely. Overall, it was a breeze to take lovely portrait photographs with a pure bokeh impact within the background but retain a crisp foreground. The Magic 6 Pro in all probability has one among my favourite portrait cameras.Silicon carbon batteryThis 12 months’s Magic 6 Pro has a big 5,600-mAh silicon-carbon battery. In my expertise, the battery lasted all through the day after average use. That consists of fast cellphone calls, social media scrolling, studying emails, watching YouTube movies and listening to music. I additionally ran a 45-minute battery drain check, by which I hopped on a Zoom name, scrolled via social media and performed a graphic-intensive cellular sport. In that point, the battery dropped by 8%. This outcome retains up with gaming telephones such because the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, which additionally dropped 8% in the identical check, and falls simply shy of the Google Pixel 8 Pro which dropped 7%. Both of these telephones use a lithium-ion battery.The use of silicon-carbon batteries in cellphones is an rising development that is drawn consideration resulting from its potential benefits over lithium-ion batteries. Those advantages embrace a decrease environmental impression and decreased danger of overheating. The long-term reliability of silicon carbon batteries remains to be being researched, and adoption within the smartphone trade remains to be in its early phases. A welcome display greets you the primary time you open the digicam app. Sareena Dayaram/CNETImpressive efficiencyThe Magic 6 Pro runs on Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which in my expertise, might deal with nearly every thing I threw at it. As an instance, I performed graphic-intensive video games reminiscent of Genshin Impact, ran Zoom video calls and switched screens between a Zoom name and my electronic mail with none stutters or freezes.In benchmark testing, the Magic 6 Pro lagged behind its rivals within the Geekbench 6 processor exams, however did higher than the competitors (even the ROG Phone 8 Pro) within the 3D Mark, a check that measures graphic and gaming efficiency.Geekbench v.6.0 Honor Magic 6 Pro 1,365 5,382Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 2,202 6,721Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro 2,252 6,946Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus 2,247 6,815 Note: Longer bars point out higher efficiency
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Phone ScoreFrames per secondHonor Magic 6 Pro 5,23431.34 fpsSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 4,41526.4 fpsAsus ROG Phone 8 Pro 5,19531.09 fpsSamsung Galaxy S24 Plus 4,80828.79 fps Apart from providing improved efficiency, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip permits Magic 6 homeowners to faucet into generative AI options wherever they’re, even offline. Watch this: Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More
04:04 Overall ideasThe Magic 6 Pro is among the many most compelling Android flagships obtainable this 12 months. It has wonderful cameras, a pointy show, and nice battery life coupled with quick charging. On the opposite hand, it is held again by the software program improve coverage, and I’m involved about put on and tear on the show. That stated, the Magic 6 Pro has helped reinvigorate my enthusiasm round telephones via its futuristic options reminiscent of eye-tracking. Honor Magic 6 Pro specs vs. OnePlus 12, Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Honor Magic 6 ProOnePlus 12Samsung Galaxy S24 PlusSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Display dimension, tech, decision, refresh fee 6.8-inch LTPO; 2,800×1,280 pixels6.82-inch AMOLED; 3,168×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate6.7-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh feePixel density 453 ppi510 ppi509 ppi501 ppiDimensions (inches) 6.4 in x 2.98 x 0.35 in 6.5 x 3 x 0.36 in.6.24 x 3 x 0.3 in.6.40 x 3.11 x 0.34 in.Dimensions (millimeters) 162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm164.3 x 76 x 9.2 mm158 x 76 x 7.6 mm163 x 79 x 8.6 mmWeight (grams, ounces) 225 g (7.94 oz.)220 g (7.8 oz.)197 g (6.95 oz.)233 g (8.22 oz.) Mobile software program Android 14Android 14Android 14Android 14Digital camera 50-megapixel (large), 50-megapixel (ultrawide), 108-megapixel (telephoto)50-megapixel (large), 48-megapixel (ultrawide), 64-megapixel (3x telephoto)50-megapixel (large), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (telephoto)200-megapixel (large), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 50-megapixel (5x telephoto)Front-facing digicam 50-megapixel32-megapixel12-megapixel 12-megapixelVideo seize 4K8K8K8KProcessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3RAM/storage 12GB + 512GB12GB RAM + 256GB; 16GB RAM + 512GB12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TBExpandable storage NoneNoneNoneNoneBattery 5,600 mAh 5,400 mAh (twin 2,700 mAh)4,900 mAh5,000 mAhFingerprint sensor Under showUnder showUnder showUnder displayConnector USB-CUSB-CUSB-CUSB-CHeadphone jack NoneNoneNoneNoneSpecial options Eye monitoring controls, 5,000-nit peak HDR brightness, IP68 score, 4 years of Android OS updates, LTPO display, 80W wired charging assist, 66W wi-fi charging assist, 2.x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom4,500-nit peak brightness; 4 years of software program and 5 years of safety updates; 80W wired charging (100W wired charging outdoors US); IP65 water and mud resistance; 50W wi-fi charging with fan dock; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cowl glass; Gorilla Glass 5 again glass2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and safety updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and mud resistance; wi-fi PowerShare to cost different gadgets; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 6ETitanium body, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and safety updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and mud resistance; wi-fi PowerShare to cost different gadgets; built-in S Pen; UWB for locating different gadgets; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cowl glassUS worth begins at Converts to $1,390 (512GB)$800 (256GB)$1,000 (256GB)$1,300 (256GB)UK worth begins at £1,100 (512GB)£849 (256GB)£999 (256GB)£1,249 (256GB)Australia worth begins at Converts to AU$2,120 (512GB)Converts to AU$1,640 (256GB)AU$1,699 (256GB)AU$2,199 (256GB)