The Honor Magic 4 Professional is a a lot larger deal than it would initially appear. Should you’re conversant in the Honor model in any respect, it’s doubtless as Huawei’s erstwhile funds sub-brand. Issues have modified fairly dramatically on that entrance in current instances.
On account of ongoing political sanctions levelled at Huawei, Honor struck out by itself in Could 2021. It’s now basically taken over the place Huawei left off, offering equally high-grade Android {hardware} and customized software program, however with full entry to Google’s apps and companies.
All of which brings us to the Honor Magic 4 Professional, which is the model’s first outright flagship cellphone to be launched within the West. The query is, can a completely fledged Huawei flagship cellphone (in all however identify) nonetheless lower it in opposition to the flagship class of 2022?
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Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: What it’s essential to know
The Honor Magic 4 Professional comes absolutely outfitted for an assault on the Android main leagues. Its core specs embody a slick glass-and-metal design, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and a big 6.81in 120Hz OLED show.
Extra noteworthy is a triple digital camera system by which the 50MP huge and extremely huge sensors aren’t even the primary occasion. That privilege falls to a 64MP periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom potential.
Additionally eye-catching is the supply of twin 100W charging help. That’s 100W wired and 100W wi-fi, with the latter coming by way of a particular quick charger (offered individually).
Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Worth and competitors
There’s simply the one mannequin of Honor Magic 4 Professional within the UK, which comes with 256GB storage and 8GB RAM, and it prices £949.
This pitches the cellphone proper up in opposition to the beginning costs of the iPhone 13 Professional and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus. It’s value declaring, nonetheless, that you simply’ll have to spend £999 and £1,049 respectively if you wish to bump these telephones as much as the identical 256GB capability.
Squeezing from the other way are the OnePlus 10 Professional (£799) and Google Pixel 6 Professional (£849). Bumping these rivals as much as 256GB will value £899 and £949 respectively, which brings them into direct competitors with the Magic 4 Professional.
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Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Design and key options
The Honor Magic 4 Professional doesn’t appear to have acquired the memo on the 2022 development for delicate matte or frosted finishes. Whereas the cellphone mixes with the Xiaomi 12 Professional and the OnePlus 10 Professional in lots of respects, it seems to be fairly totally different.
On the glass-topped rear is coated in a hyper-reflective, tinted-mirror end. The digital camera module, in the meantime, is an actual consideration hoarder – an enormous black circle with the huge, extremely huge, and depth sensors surrounding a outstanding telephoto lens.
There’s a considerably distracting digital camera module to be discovered across the entrance of the cellphone, too. Honor is considered one of treasured few Android producers to offer an equal to Apple’s Face ID authentication system. The ensuing expanded hole-punch notch won’t be the prettiest, however with the ability to unlock your cellphone shortly and securely with a look is blissful, notably as somebody who runs an iPhone 13 Professional when not reviewing.
In contrast to Apple, Honor has additionally offered the choice of an in-display fingerprint sensor, so everyone seems to be catered for.
This can be a huge cellphone at 164 x 75 x 9.1mm. I weighed it at 216g, which is heavier than each the OnePlus 10 Professional and the Google Pixel 6 Professional. In contrast to the Xiaomi 12 Professional, it doesn’t drop the ball on mud and water resistance, both, with IP68 certification current and accounted for.
You get a very good set of stereo audio system, too. Neither of them is front-firing, however they obtain first rate separation and crisp highs, if not particularly wealthy lows.
On the software program entrance, Magic UI 6 (laid over Android 12) sticks to its Huawei EMUI roots, with a well-known stage of flab on show, and some too many pre-installed purposes for its personal good. It doesn’t circulation as a lot as rival UIs, and there’s an annoying lock display shortcut menu that clashes with the swipe-to-unlock gesture.
But it surely’s in any other case fairly clear and snappy, and in contrast to EMUI it has full entry to and integration with Google Play Providers. Google Feed is to the left of the house display, Google Play Retailer is your supply of apps, Chrome is your most important internet browser… it’s a completely regular Android expertise, in different phrases. That ought to come as a blessed aid for anybody who has beloved Huawei’s latter-day {hardware}, however merely couldn’t abide its compromised software program.
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Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Show
The Honor Magic 4 Professional is fronted by a big 6.81in OLED show with a considerably uncommon 2,848 x 1,312 decision. This falls proper in between the QHD+ and FHD+ choices different Android producers go for, however matches the 460ppi pixel density of the iPhone 13 Professional.
We additionally get the complete 120Hz refresh fee remedy, with LTPO panel expertise that may scale proper right down to 1Hz in accordance with the duty. A peak brightness of 1,000cd/m² falls just a bit in need of a few of its rivals. The OnePlus 10 Professional can hit 1,300cd/m², for instance, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus cranks proper as much as 1750cd/m² in direct daylight. Nonetheless, I measured a most measured luminance of 558cd/m² with autobrightness turned off, which is completely first rate.
One factor Honor claims to have improved over its rivals is a 1,920Hz flicker fee, which is 4 instances greater than the iPhone 13 Professional’s 480Hz. I actually can’t say that I seen a distinction, however any discount in eye pressure is more likely to be delicate and useful over an extended span.
Color accuracy is powerful, with 93.2% of the sRGB area in opposition to a complete quantity of 93.3% within the cellphone’s Regular mode, which I switched to from the extra pronounced pop of the default Vivid mode. A mean Delta E of 1.48 can also be first rate, although not fairly as near the 0.9 excellent because the Google Pixel 6 Professional will get.
Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Efficiency and battery life
One factor that hasn’t been introduced throughout from the Huawei days is the latter firm’s personal HiSilicon Kirin processor. As a substitute, Honor has fitted the Magic 4 Professional with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from Qualcomm.
It’s as near a secure pair of arms as you will get within the Android flagship area, and it implies that the Honor Magic 4 Professional performs in addition to most of its opponents. Geekbench 5 scores of 979 in single core and three,311 in multi-core pitch it stage with the OnePlus 10 Professional.
That’s largely true of the GPU benchmark assessments too, though the Honor Magic 4 Professional’s decrease show decision may account for the next rating of 116fps on the Manhattan 3.0 Onscreen check.
In common use I didn’t expertise any points with the Honor Magic 4 Professional’s efficiency by any means. The famously scalable Genshin Influence runs on Medium/30fps by default, however I used to be capable of crank that proper as much as Highest/60fps with out sacrificing playability – albeit with the odd dropped body.
One potential concern is the Honor Magic 4 Professional’s smaller-than-average 4,600mAh battery. Most 2022 Android flagships have bumped their cells as much as 5,000mAh for snug all-day utilization.
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I used to be capable of get by means of a full day with the Magic 4 Professional with the show cranked to the Excessive refresh fee setting, nevertheless it may be a stretch to name it snug. In a day of which I’d time period pretty average utilization (3hrs 30mins of screen-on time), I used to be left with round a 3rd of a tank. Extra intensive use goes to drop that to a stage that leaves you trying round for a wall socket.
In our prolonged looping video-based video check, the Honor Magic 4 Professional lasted 19hrs 9mins, which is way from calamitous, but in addition removed from the very best. It drops round 2hrs 30mins in need of the OnePlus 10 Professional, roughly matches the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, and beats the Google Pixel 6 Professional by nearly two hours.
The cellphone’s charging provision is extraordinarily aggressive, nonetheless. With a 100W charger included within the field, it’s able to getting you from 0 to 100% in lower than half-hour. I recorded attending to 59% in simply quarter-hour.
Simply as remarkably, Honor has additionally packed in help for 100W wi-fi charging. You’ll want to purchase a particular charger for the job, nonetheless, and the cooling fan makes a little bit of a racket whereas it’s working.
Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Cameras
Honor has gone huge on its digital camera providing, and I’m not simply speaking about that sizable digital camera module. This triple sensor set-up (quadruple for those who depend the TOF 3D depth sensor) certain packs within the pixels.
Each the huge and extremely huge sensors are 50MP, with the huge specifically measuring in at a large 1/1.56″ and packing a sophisticated 7P lens factor. However the primary attraction here’s a 64MP periscope telephoto, which achieves a 3.5x optical zoom.
Due to OIS, Honor’s AI enhancements, and intensive cropping, this zoom will be prolonged proper as much as 100x. As with all different prolonged digital zoom methods, nonetheless, I wouldn’t suggest going past the 10x that’s offered as the utmost go-to zoom within the digital camera UI. You need to contact and drag additional to transcend 10x, which is a tellingly obscure system.
The Magic 4 Professional’s most important digital camera largely holds its personal with the iPhone 13 Professional and the Xiaomi 12 Professional in terms of pure, balanced pictures in good lighting, and blows the garish OnePlus 10 Professional out of the water.
Low mild efficiency is suitable, however falls properly in need of the iPhone 13 Professional. The Magic 4 Professional tends to over-brighten darkish scenes, whereas missing the crisp element and depth of Apple’s low mild maestro. I additionally choose the best way that the Xiaomi 12 Professional preserves shadow in such scenes. There’s a slight fuzziness to very difficult darkish pictures, which may be defined by the curious lack of OIS on the primary sensor.
Extremely huge outcomes are just a little cooler and flatter than the huge, which isn’t uncommon, however they’re nonetheless fairly sharp and properly uncovered. Due to autofocus, it might probably additionally double as a macro digital camera, for those who’re into super-close-ups.
The 12MP entrance digital camera is a good performer, preserving pores and skin tones and reining in vibrant areas fairly successfully. It additionally presents a a lot wider 100-degree angle than most selfie cameras, making it helpful for panorama selfies and group pictures.
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Honor Magic 4 Professional evaluate: Verdict
The Honor Magic 4 Professional represents a really sturdy flagship debut from the previous Huawei sub-brand. It takes a lot of what we’ve all the time favored about Huawei’s premium {hardware}, with a glossy design, a superb show, and a high quality all-round digital camera system, however restores that reassuring Google help – even when Magic UI continues to be a second-tier Android pores and skin at finest.
The cellphone’s stamina is just a little decrease than a few of its rivals, which is a disappointment, however Honor partially makes up for this with blistering 100W wired and wi-fi charging help.
All in all, the Magic 4 Professional sits only a bit behind the very best that Apple, Google, and Samsung have to supply, nevertheless it has sufficient distinctive thrives to make it a viable left-field different to any of them.
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