Honor announced the global availability of its flagship Magic 6 Pro at MWC 2024. Combining Honor's new flagship triple camera system with a giant battery and flagship styling, on first impression, it looks like a strong follow-up to the excellent Magic 4 Pro and Magic 5 Pro.
Since it split from once-parent-company Huawei in 2021, Honor has gone from strength to strength, upping its flagship and foldable offerings and delivering some of the best camera phones on the market.
Poised to take on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Honor's Magic 6 Pro pulls together top-tier specs across the board, with the phone also commanding a flagship price. But after the Xiaomi 14 Ultra announcement, also at MWC 2024, the camera specs aren't quite best-in-class in every area. So how does its Falcon Camera System compete with the competition on first impression?
Honor Magic 6 Pro Falcon Camera System explained
The Magic 6 Pro's triple camera is an interesting mix. While other brands are leaning into far-reaching zooms and 1-inch sensors, Honor's doing things a bit differently with its variable aperture main camera and its short-distance periscope camera, which caps out at an optical 2.5x zoom reach. In fact, its three camera focal lengths are generally unique, at 13mm (0.5x zoom), 27mm (1x zoom), and 68mm (2.5x zoom).
27mm wide camera
Other camera phones tend to feature 24-25mm wide cameras, but Honor punches in a little further at 27mm for a slightly less wide-angle view. The 50MP sensor has a roughly iPhone 15 Pro-sized 1/1.3" size, and it's matched with an f/1.4 to f/2.0 variable aperture lens, which can be manually changed in Pro Mode, and automatically switches in Photo Mode. The lens also packs OIS.
68mm telephoto camera
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The 180MP telephoto camera on the Magic 6 Pro is an interesting one. While it only has a 2.5x zoom reach, it's actually a similar focal length to some 3x zoom cameras on phones that have wider main cameras, so don't be too put off by that 2.5x number. It's also the highest-resolution, largest sensor-size (1/1.4-inch) periscope camera on any smartphone, so its in-sensor cropping should compensate well for the nearer zoom range. With OIS and a wide (for a periscope camera) f/2.4 lens, while unconventional, the Magic 6 Pro's telephoto camera has a lot going for it on paper.
13mm ultra-wide camera
The ultra-wide looks set to be the least impressive camera on the Magic 6 Pro. Its 50MP, 1/2.88-inch sensor is competitive without being class-leading, while the wide autofocusing f/2.0 lens with a 13mm focal length and nearest focus distance of around 4cm should offer versatility.
The phone's front camera is also standout, not necessarily when it comes to selfies – it's a 50MP resolution, f/2 system with a 22mm wide angle. What's impressive is the TOF 3D depth sensor. This adds a more secure form of biometric security than other face unlock options in the Android camp. In our time with the Magic 6 Pro, it even securely accessed our banking apps – something only iPhones have been able to do with facial recognition in the past.
Honor also pushes its all-range AI Motion Sensing algorithm on its main camera, which automatically captures a moving subject to save you from needing to hit the shutter release at the perfect time.
Honor Magic 6 Pro features and specs
The Honor Magic 6 Pro has a large, quad-curved 6.8-inch screen with a 2800 x 1280 resolution and a 453 pixels per inch pixel density. With a peak brightness of 5000 nits (exclusively when displaying HDR content) and 1600 nits in standard auto brightness mode, the screen impresses on paper.
We've been using the vegan leather Epi Green version, and the Magic 6 Pro is also available in Black with a satin-glass back. Dust and water-resistant with an IP68 rating and with Honor NanoCrystal Shield glass, the 6 Pro is dunkable and theoretically droppable (though we wouldn't recommend testing that theory).
Powered by a top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Magic 6 Pro packs flagship performance with 512GB storage and 12GB RAM. That means you should have loads of space for files and 4K video, and multi-tasking shouldn't be an issue.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Magic 6 Pro is its giant battery. With a 5600mAh cell, it out-specs all the 5000mAh Android competition and the iPhone 15 Pro Max's more modest 4,441mAh battery. With 80W wired charging and 66W wireless charging, the Honor Magic 6 Pro looks set to be an all-around spec beast, and after a week of using it, we can confirm it lives up to the hype.
Will it be one of the best camera phones around and a true alternative to some of the best iPhone cameras of 2024, or is the Magic 6 Pro a niche option despite its specced-out features? Check back for the full in-depth camera review in the coming weeks.
