Honor Magic 5 Pro Phone Review

[SECTION]INTRODUCTION[/SECTION]

Honor Magic 5 Pro Features

It’s been a while since we took a look at an Honor smartphone and the Honor Magic 5 Pro is lining up to impress us with its cameras, display and other specs/features. 

The cameras on the Magic 5 Pro were the talk of the brand and it’s easy to see why with a triple 50mm line-up on offer with features such as Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and 3.5x optical zoom built-in. There’s also a really good macro mode, a depth sensor for creating bokeh and video can be captured in 4K at 30fps.

The display measures 6.81-inch and the phone has an IP68 water/dust resistance rating. There’s no headphone jack but that’s common nowadays but you do get wireless charging supporting the 5100mAh battery. There’s no MicroSD card slot but various RAM/ROM options are available up to 512GB so there’s plenty of built-in storage. 

The back is constructed from glass and features a unique design we’ll talk about in more detail shortly and on test is the Meadow Green version with Black also available. 
 

Honor Magic 5 Pro Specs:

• 50MP f/1.6 wide
• 50MP f/2.ultrawide
• 50MP f/3.0 telephoto
• 12MP f/2.4 selfie camera
• Up to 3.5x optical zoom (100x digital zoom)
• PDAF, AF and OIS 
• 4K video capture
• 6.81-inch OLED display
• 5100mAh battery
• IP68 rating 
• 512GB of Storage and 12GB of RAM (on test)
• Dimensions: 162.9×76.7×8.8mm
• Weight: 219g

Honor Magic 5 Pro Handling

The Honor Magic 5 Pro is a large-ish smartphone that’s a bit heavier than some other flagships available but no bigger than others we have reviewed. It does feel weighty but in the hand, balances well and feels really well made. 

Turn the phone over and you find a design that’s a refreshing change to what’s on offer from other smartphone creators. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but the more we used it, the more we actually liked the look of the Honor Magic 5 Pro. It’s certainly eye-catching and was a talking point when using it out and about. The green version on test sports a matt finish which stops fingerprints from ruining the overall look, too. 

Occasionally, holding the smartphone in landscape orientation did mean we caught the camera bump which could be an issue for people with larger hands but overall, it’s comfortable to hold and easy to operate.

On the front, the curved 6.81-inch OLED display goes right to the edge of the smartphone and is a lovely thing to look at. Brightness is great and colour accuracy is spot-on. The selfie camera is in a small rectangle with curved corners top left which is a bit different in terms of design approach but nothing distracting. 

The camera line-up is impressive with a 50MP f/1.6 wide with PDAF, Laser AF and OIS, 50MP f/2.ultrawide with AF and a 50MP f/3.0 telephoto (periscope) with PDAF, OIS. Up to 3.5x optical zoom is available with digital taking you up to 100x should you want to try and photograph the moon. Anything after 10x zoom you have to pinch zoom the screen which can be a bit tricky when you’re trying to use the longer zoom lengths and 100x zoom is particularly hard to use as there’s quite a bit of lag. 

The camera app is rather self-explanatory with modes, tools and options where you expect them to be. Plenty of modes are built in which include Aperture, Portrait, Movie, Night, Super Macro and Panorama. Beauty and bokeh modes can be used to enhance portraits and they’re available when shooting 1080p video, too. 4K video is available but you have to go and select this from the menu when in video mode. 

There’s a Pro mode for those who want greater control over aperture, shutter speeds etc. but in reality, you can capture great photos without it. 

Camera Specs:

• 50MP f/1.6 wide with PDAF, Laser AF and OIS
• 50MP f/2.ultrawide with AF
• 50MP f/3.0 telephoto (periscope) with PDAF, OIS
• 12MP f/2.4 selfie camera
• Up to 3.5x optical zoom (100x digital zoom)
• 4K video capture

Battery life –  A 5100mAh battery is built in and it easily lasts a full day’s use. You get wired as well as wireless charging and a charger is actually supplied in the box which is a rare thing nowadays. 

[SECTION]PERFORMANCE[/SECTION]

Honor Magic 5 Pro Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Honor Magic 5 Pro Sample Photos

Sample Photos – We probably sound like a broken record the number of times we mention smartphone AI over-saturating colours to a point where we start to think that vivid greens and blues are in fact reality so when we come across a smartphone that doesn’t default to this, it does make us happy. Images captured with the Honor Magic 5 Pro represent the world accurately with sharp detail, good dynamic range and a quality that speaks for itself. Switch the AI on and you can capture landscapes with greens that are a little too vibrant and have an almost HDR feel but for the most part, the cameras perform well. Clarity is at a level we’ve not seen in other smartphone images so Honor needs to be applauded for that. Close-ups are really excellent, too, with brilliant detail in flower petals. 

Honor Magic 5 Pro Lens test images

Lens Performance – On paper, the zoom built into the Honor Magic 5 Pro sounds impressive and is on par with what’s on offer in the Samsung Galaxy S23 range. However, anything after 10x doesn’t look that impressive with 50x onwards looking particularly bad. It’s also really tricky to use the 100x zoom. Ultra-wide to 10x zoom produces really decent results, though.

Honor Magic 5 Pro Digital filters

Digital Filters – You’re not short of digital filter options which can be applied in-camera from a menu you can scroll through along the bottom of the phone. 

Panoramas – Panorama images are captured easily with no stitching issues and colours are accurate. Excellent dynamic range throughout is also visible. 

Source: Photography News
Honor Magic 5 Pro Phone Review
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