Smartphones have become so good in the last few years that many, including myself, have discussed how boring and iterative they’ve become. The idea that we need to buy a new phone each year is debatable. A similar idea that manufacturers might consider a two-year cycle has started to creep into discussions. Even as someone lucky enough to try many top Android phones each year, I continue to pick up a nearly two-year-old Honor phone for my photography needs.
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Honor Magic 5 Pro: Finding the right compromises
Honor is growing up, and the Magic 5 Pro is the best proof of that
It wasn’t love at first sight
We had some growing pains
When I got my hands on the Honor Magic 5 Pro, I had been using the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for a few weeks. Much of what Honor had hyped up for the new phone was in competition with the S23 Ultra. I loved what Samsung had done with its flagship device, so I was doubtful Honor would make those claims from the start, but it turned out to be well-founded.
Some of my hesitation with the Magic 5 Pro was the UI. Honor uses an Android overlay called MagicOS, which has a lot of Eastern influence on how it looks and works. That isn’t all bad, but some quirks took time for me to get used to and, to some extent, embrace. Aside from those personal issues to overcome, the phone had and still feels fantastic in hand. I love the curves on the back and the slim side rails, and the textured back glass is also very nice.
From a spec standpoint, Honor packed it full of the top internals for the time. This choice meant that doing almost anything on the device was buttery smooth. There are no hiccups or stutters, just fluid transitions from app to app. The Magic 5 Pro is also highly efficient, sometimes too much, as it often likes to shut down apps running in the background, so the battery life continues to be a full day, even with heavy use. It was the only phone I took on a week-long cruise, and I was never concerned about it dying while on an excursion.
My favorite hardware feature of the Honor Magic 5 Pro is the display. Honor went with a 6.81-inch LTPO OLED panel with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz that can max out the brightness at 1,800 nits. It has a low blue light emission certification from TÜV Rheinland and Dynamic Dimming to reduce eye strain. A big part of what helps the phone achieve this is the 2160Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming, which reduces screen flickering. Of all the phones I’ve used, the Honor Magic 5 Pro is my favorite to use at night because of this.
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The feature that Honor hyped the most was the camera system. The triple-lens setup was touted to beat Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra, and on paper, it did. As I began using the phone, it wasn’t quite up to par with what Samsung did. Zoom was an area that got a lot of praise during the Magic 5 Pro’s announcement, and it was the part that let me down the most.
Honor’s phone offers 3.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital, which is fine on paper. However, when using the digital zoom past 30x, the results became watercolor-like. While Samsung wasn’t perfect with its flagship, its combination of hardware and software consistently turned out better zoom photos. I enjoyed the speed at which Honor’s new phone captured moving subjects and the vividness of the image. I hoped that Honor could resolve some of the issues with the device through software updates.
Honor’s updates sealed the deal
We grew together
Honor did as I had hoped and continued to release software updates to tweak the camera software in the Magic 5 Pro. The improvements have been noticeable in nearly all shooting modes, except the digital zoom, but it still struggles. Because of the continued support from Honor on top of a fantastic base, the Magic 5 Pro has been my go-to phone for moments when I know I’ll take photos in multiple environments and situations.
Because Honor put the best of the best hardware into the Magic 5 Pro, it still flies as it did nearly two years ago. Using it as a daily device is wonderful. I have mostly gotten used to the MagicOS UI, but there are some usability choices the OEM continues to make that wouldn’t. However, the improvements in the camera department have kept me picking up this camera phone for my essential photography moments.
While Honor isn’t on the Android Police list of the best camera phones, possibly due to availability in the US, I continue to choose it over other phones I own, like the OnePlus 11, Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, OnePlus Open, iPhone 13 Pro Max, and others. One feature Honor announced with the device was Millisecond Falcon Capture, aimed at taking photos of fast-moving objects. This is one of those features that sounds great, but it probably doesn’t make much of a difference. However, that isn’t the case here. Taking action photos of my kids playing sports is great as I can get crystal clear pics no matter how much action there is.
However, beyond the zippy image-capture abilities, it is how well the phone handles nearly all lighting environments. Taking photos in bright conditions leads to vibrant images with balanced light. In pictures taken in low light, the phone can bring in enough light to see the subject and not overdo the enhancements to make it seem brighter than it was. Keeping the zoom at 30x and under produces usable images.
Still clicking
Scouts Honor
I’m heading to CES in January, and when I do, the Honor Magic 5 Pro will come with me, along with another phone or two. The Magic 5 Pro was the first flagship device I used from the OEM, but it has made me a believer. I’d love to try out the new Magic 6 Pro and, for sure, the razor folding phone, Magic V3. However, until something can offer everything the two-year-old powerhouse does, the Honor Magic 5 Pro will stay in my essentials bag.
Honor Magic 5 Pro
As the archstone of the Honor Magic 5 series, the Pro offers three 50MP cameras on the rear, a “floating,” vivid LTPO display, refined, extra hardware for display control, laser focus, color temperature, and more. It’s a minor update from the Magic 4 Pro, but still a whole lotta phone.
