Honor Magic 5 Smartphone Review – Honor Magic 4 series was astounding when it comes to camera performance, and it could even par with the last year’s flagship phones. Following this, you are getting a new lineup this year, which already includes the Honor Magic 5 and Magic 5 Pro. Both of them are magnificent in terms of the specs and offer aesthetic looks that will attract the flagship killer segment users in a hassle-free manner.
In the following post, we will cover all of the details regarding the Honor Magic 5 so that you can choose this phone. Compare to last year’s standard model, you are getting a slightly shorter and thinner body quality, while at the same time, the users can feel the matte finish while using the phones. For starters, the company added a pretty good hardware and software configuration, which are the tip of the iceberg. Let’s head toward the Honor Magic 5 review to find out more details about this phone.
Table of Contents
Honor Magic 5 Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The phone arrives with a metallic finish and offers a 6.73 inches OLED panel with higher refresh rate support.
- At the software layering, you are getting the Android 13-based MagicOS 7.1 custom skin.
- In terms of performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset will deliver decent power.
- A decent 54MP triple camera can be seen on the back panel with a 12MP selfie lens.
- Lastly, the phone is powered by a Li-Po 5100 mAh battery with 66W wired charging support.
Design and Display
At first impression, the Honor Magic 5 smartphone comes with a premium matte finish based on eco-leather. Besides this, there are a few color variants in which you will find a glass back panel that will provide a glossy design layout. The phone is featured in Black, Glacier Blue, Green, Purple, and Orange. The Matte finish can be seen in Glacier Blue, Green, and Orange.
Whereas the rest of the options got a glass body on the back panel. Following this, you will receive a triple camera setup in a circular camera module. Moreover, the built quality of this phone is amazing as you are getting a lightweight body with proper handling experience. Moving to the front display, the curved dot notch 6.73 inches OLED panel will provide an immersive viewing experience.
Not to forget that the regular OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate will provide excellent navigation support. In terms of brightness support, the phone will provide 1600 nits and a robust 10-bit color display that grants a subtle color experience.
Memory and Internal
The performance of the Honor Magic 5 smartphone aspect is managed through the new 4nm Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that will power the entire system without a problem. With this hardware configuration, you will obtain decent support to do performance-driven tasks with the proper cooling system that will handle long screen time and advanced-level gaming sessions. On top of that, the phone will deliver exceptional support with the latest Android firmware.
The company makes sure that the users are getting premium visuals and graphics with the Adreno 740 GPU while enjoying the Android 13-based MagicOS 7.1 custom UI. Unlike the previous phones, you are getting a google ecosystem system here with various additional apps so that you can modify the interface skin according to your wishes in just a few clicks here and here.
Aside from this, the users can pick from the storage options of 256GB to 512GB UFS space. It’s more than sufficient to store all of your media, apps, and document data in one place, and you won’t run out of storage anytime soon. Although, you won’t find secondary storage here. Anyway, you can choose between, 8GB, 12GB, to 16GB RAM support as your wish.
Camera
As far as the camera section is concerned, in Honor Magic 5 smartphone you are getting a triple camera island in which the new 54MP main sensor will deliver impressive colors and contrast. It’s a massive jump from the last year’s 50MP primary lens. It also gives better details when you are taking photos in daylight with less noise. On top of that, the night mode helps in the contrast and grants subtle support.
Although, the main sensor won’t come with OIS, which is a major downside as a flagship-level smartphone. It might not periscope lens, instead of that, the company added a 32MP telephoto lens that will provide 2.5x optical zooming ability, while it’s good to see that the company will provide a 50MP ultra-wide lens for a better wide-angle view with improved dynamic range.
Speaking of which, the 12MP front camera will lead the way with enhanced AI software. It boosts the colors and contrast in the day-to-day photos and video recording, thanks to the native camera features. Aside from this, you can record up to 4K video using front and back camera sensors with decent video stabilization support.
Battery and Others
Under the hood, the Honor Magic 5 smartphone is powered by a Li-Po 5100 mAh battery configuration. It will provide amazing screen time with robust support to play impressive games. Alongside this, you are getting enhanced battery optimization that will push the limits up to 6+ hours in a hassle-free manner. On the other hand, the company provided 66W wired charging support.
But, wireless charging support can be more beneficial and a good add-on for the users. At the same time, you are getting a 5W reverse charging that grant power to refuel other phones. Speaking of which, the sound experience of this phone is quite loud. The Honor Magic 5 arrives at $963 (Rs 78,990 in India) approx for the starting variant, which makes this phone a flagship smartphone deal.
Honor Magic 5 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Honor Magic 5 smartphone.
| Specifications | Honor Magic 5 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | February 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.35 x 2.97 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 191 g |
| Size | 6.73 inches |
| Display | OLED 1B colors 120Hz HDR10+ 1600 nits brightness ~439 ppi density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1224 x 2688 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, MagicOS 7.1 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 740 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB, 16GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB UFS |
| Camera | 54 MP (wide), PDAF 32 MP (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 2.5x optical zoom 50 MP (122Ëšultrawide), AF LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10, 10-bit video |
| Selfie | 12 MP (100Ëšultrawide) HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit audio stereo recording |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, apt-X HD |
| GPS | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (L1), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), GALILEO (E1+E5a) |
| NFC | Yes, HCE, NFC-SIM |
| Infrared port | Yes |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0. OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro proximity, compass, color spectrum |
| Battery | Li-Po 5100 mAh 66W wired 5W reverse wired |
| Colors | Black, Glacier Blue, Green, Purple, Orange |
| Expected Price | $963 (Rs 78,990 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Honor Magic 5 shows its true colors when you start using this phone. You might think that the phone got a powerful chipset with apt display and camera features, which may even appeal to a wide range of flagship users. but it doesn’t give a proper justification to upgrade from last year’s model. But there’s no denying that the company provides an amazing design with a beautiful camera experience.
Still, there are shortcomings like not having wireless charging support, standard charging, lacking protection, and so on. If you are looking for a better deal in the same price range, we recommend you check out the OnePlus 11. With this smartphone, you will obtain better camera features, fast charging, and a more pleasing display experience.
