On the 27th of February 2023, Honor unveiled the Honor Magic 5 smartphone. This device features a 6.73-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 2688x1224 pixels. The Honor Magic 5 is equipped with an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and 12GB of RAM, making it a high-performance device. It is powered by a 5100mAh battery that keeps it going all day long.
The Honor Magic 5 boasts a triple camera setup on the back with a 54-megapixel (f/1.9) primary camera, a 50-megapixel (f/2.0, ultra wide-angle) camera, and a 32-megapixel (f/2.4, telephoto) camera. For selfies, it has a single front camera setup with a 12-megapixel sensor.
Running on MagicOS 7.1, based on Android 13, the Honor Magic 5 has 256GB of inbuilt storage and is a dual-SIM mobile that accepts Nano-SIM and Nano-SIM cards. It weighs 191.00 grams and has a height, width, and thickness of 161.40 x 75.50 x 7.80mm. The phone comes in two colors: Glacier Blue and Black.
Connectivity options on the Honor Magic 5 include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, Bluetooth v5.20, NFC, Infrared, USB OTG, and USB Type-C with active 4G on both SIM cards. Sensors on the phone include an ambient light sensor, compass/magnetometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and fingerprint sensor.
The Honor Magic5 Genius shares similarities with its predecessor, the Magic4 Star, as both are double glass cell phones with curved designs and features such as the pill-shaped display pattern and circular camera island on the back. The phone is also IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, just like the previous model.
The global model of the Magic5 Master comes in Glade Green and Dark colors, both with glass panels on both ends. However, there is also a version with an orange eco-leather back, but it is limited to China.
The front panel is made of slightly curved glass across all sides, while the back one has identical curves with a volcano-like camera glass that catches the eye. The frame is made of aluminum, thicker at the top and bottom and thinner on the left and right sides.
The back panel has a matte layer that gives it a plastic-like feel. However, it is completely fingerprint and smear-resistant. While the glossy metal frame does not offer much grip, the Magic5 Genius's distinct design is aesthetically pleasing.
In addition, the phone offers complete entrance security, which is a must for flagship devices.
The front of the phone features a 6.81-inch OLED screen with thin and even bezels. It has a pill-shaped pattern around the upper left corner, where you can find the 12MP selfie camera and the ToF 3D system for face scanning.
There is an under-display fingerprint scanner located at the bottom of the screen, which is useful, fast, and reliable. The secure 3D face unlock also works well and appears to be slightly faster than on the latest iPhone models.
At the back, the Magic5 Master features a large camera housing with a 50MP periscope zoom camera, a 50MP primary camera, and a 50MP ultrawide camera. There is also a single LED flash, a glow sensor, and a multi-range array sensor, as well as a microphone and another ToF 3D system for depth mapping and autofocus assistance.
The phone also has a second speaker grille at the top, an IR blaster, and another microphone. The lower part of the phone houses the dual SIM tray, the primary microphone, the USB-C port, and the second speaker.
The Magic5 Master measures 162.9 x 76.7 x 8.8 mm and weighs 219 grams. While it is a large phone, the overall curve makes it look and feel smaller. The grip is not ideal, but it is sufficient to offer a great experience even without a case.
Overall, the Magic5 Genius is an impressive flagship device with a distinct design and complete entrance security. The only area that could be improved is the grip, perhaps with a sandblasted frame.
The competition
The Honor Magic5 Genius is a top-tier device that checks off all the boxes for a modern smartphone, including a sleek dual-glass design with front-facing security, a high-resolution OLED display, cutting-edge chipset, a large battery with incredibly fast charging, and one of the most impressive camera setups money can buy.
In our testing, the Magic5 Pro exceeded expectations in all areas, including display quality, battery life, and its exceptional photo and video capabilities.
However, there are some serious competitors on the market that should be considered. For instance, the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers a Dolby Vision-certified OLED with a higher resolution, a better CPU and GPU, faster charging, and superior photo and video quality, particularly in terms of zoom capabilities, for just €100 more.
Alternatively, the vivo X90 Pro is about €100 cheaper than the Magic5 Pro, and offers a design with a more comfortable grip, significantly faster charging, and similar display and performance specs. While the camera's optical zoom maxes out at 2x and the selfies are inferior, the Zeiss mode produces realistic colors.
For those seeking the ultimate smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a higher-resolution OLED, an integrated S-Pen, and an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. The S23 Ultra boasts a better camera setup with two zoom lenses on the back, one for 3x and one for 10x optical zooms. While it is about €200 more expensive than the Honor Magic5 Pro and its camera processing is not as natural, it is one of the most impressive smartphones on the market and is definitely worth considering.
Finally, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is a great alternative due to its excellent grip, well-rounded package, and €200 cheaper price. The Mate 50 Pro's primary camera has a variable aperture, resulting in more natural-looking photos, and it offers similar specs to the Honor Magic5 Pro, except for the lack of 5G and Google apps due to US sanctions.
Our verdict
The Honor Magic5 Ace is a sturdy and impressive smartphone that boasts a top-of-the-line display, speakers, chipset, cameras, and charging options, all housed in a beautiful and unique IP68-rated body.
In our testing, the Magic5 Ace excelled in display and battery performance and charged quickly. Its speakers were also impressively loud, and its performance was flagship-worthy.
The camera experience was exceptional, with fantastic photo quality that produced natural and balanced output in all scenarios. The video experience was also great, although some zoomed videos weren't as good as those from other flagships. Additionally, the absence of an 8K option and the limitation of all 4K videos to 15 minutes were both disappointing.
The phone's design is slippery, and the 2x digital zoom isn't as lossless as that on some other phones. Moreover, the GPU experiences a lot of throttling when running at maximum performance, which isn't ideal for competitive gaming.
Despite these challenges, the Honor Magic5 Ace is a solid recommendation with flagship specs and quality throughout. We highly recommend this phone to anyone who isn't a video maker, as it truly has everything and is not the most expensive option on the market.
Pros
- Great-looking dual-glass curved design, IP68-rated.
- Outstanding OLED, high resolution, dynamic 120Hz, HDR10+.
- Excellent battery life, fast charging.
- Very Good stereo speakers.
- Top-notch performance.
- Superb photo quality across all four cameras.
- Very Good video quality from all but the tele cameras.
- Optical fingerprint scanner, Face ID, IR blaster, Wi-Fi 7, NFC.
Cons
- Slippery design.
- Poor GPU stability; throttles a lot.
- So-so zoomed videos.
- 4K videos limited to 15 minutes!
