Honor Magic5 Pro review – the new star from Honor

Honor presented its new phone range at the MWC in Barcelona on March 27, 2023. This included the Honor Magic5 Series and the Honor Magic Vs. At MWC 2023, the Honor Magic5 Pro was awarded two prizes. Honor managed to reach the current top of the table ranking with this phone in DxOMark for both display and camera. I got the opportunity to put the brand-new Honor Magic5 Pro through its paces in a test.

Since I personally use the Honor Magic4 Pro, I am able to compare both phones for you. Here, I will especially focus on benchmarks and the quality of the pictures. To make it easier for you to compare the pictures, the image stamp will be active in each case.

Of course, it should be mentioned at this point that I have been using my Honor Magic4 Pro very intensively for some time and thus the full performance can no longer be displayed. You will find out whether and which performance improvements the Honor Magic5 Pro achieves compared to the predecessor in the course of my review.

Before we take a closer look at the phone, I would first like to present the technical specifications of the new Honor Magic5 Pro.

Technical data

Unboxing and scope of delivery

The Honor Magic5 Pro was delivered to me in a waterproof plastic case. At first I was a bit surprised, because I had not expected an “outdoor case” and then in this size. The case in question is the Honor Magic Box. Inside the case was a picnic blanket, a water bottle, a wipeable pad for plates and cutlery, as well as a waterproof case and of course the Honor Magic5 Pro. As a small nice to have not wrong, however, I want to focus on the phone here.

In addition to the phone, which was provided to me in black for this review, the scope of delivery includes a 66 watt charging plug as well as a matching USB Type-C cable. The scope of delivery is rounded off by a transparent TPU protective cover for the phone. This covers the sides as well as the back of the Honor Magic5 Pro, and I have also used the included cover on my Magic4 Pro since day one, and it has been able to protect the phone from scratches several times. Finally, the tool to open the slot as well as a warranty and quick start guide are also included.

First impression

• High quality
• interesting design
• exciting camera

The Honor Magic5 Pro feels very high quality. The gap dimensions are impeccable and the installed materials also suggest a high-end phone. I already liked the curved design of the front (rounded edges of the display) on the Honor Magic4 Pro and it is continued on the Magic5 Pro. The rounded edges help to hold the Honor Magic5 Pro better in the hand. With my rather small hands, this is very welcome for a 6.81-inch phone.

The camera element protrudes more from the back than on the Honor Magic4 Pro due to its built-in lenses. Fortunately, Honor did not choose a hard edge to the edge of the camera element here, but lets the casing rise evenly to the edge of the camera. The three lenses are installed in a “star wheel” design (triangle) and make a strong visual impression. The sensors installed in the camera element, as well as the LED lights and the microphone for movie recordings, are harmoniously framed and round off the overall picture.

From my point of view this is an elegant solution to integrate the protruding camera into the overall design. The triangular structure already seen in the promotional trailers represents the three main lenses of the Honor Magic5 Pro and on the original, the three cameras fit well into the overall look.

On the bottom is the charging port, SIM card slot, and the six small openings for micro and air intake. On the upper side there is an infrared transmitter and the speakers.

A protective film is applied to the front display at the factory. I had the experience that this foil protects the display well and is very scratch resistant, at least in the predecessor model. In the upper left corner, the front camera and 3D face detection are located, just like on the Magic4 Pro.

Interim conclusion

It can be said of the Honor Magic5 Pro that Honor has taken the top ranks of the leaderboards with this flagship smartphone. In terms of design, Honor has completely met my taste. I am thrilled by the design and the quality in terms of workmanship and materials is also convincing.

Setting up and getting started

• easy setup
• user-friendly manual
• clean OS

Basically, I could make this paragraph of my review very short:

Charge, insert SIM card, boot, set security features, use device clone, done!

However, I would like to elaborate a bit further.

The phone comes with a pre-charge (29% for me), so after unpacking and inserting the SIM card, the initial setup is ready to go.

For my test, I did without the SIM card for the time being in order to only supply the phone with the most necessary things and thus not put an unnecessary load on the system.

The setup is really very simple and I as a user am guided step by step through the setup of the phone. After entering my Honor ID, my Google credentials, the basic functions and necessary logins are already done. Of course, setting up the security features (fingerprint, pin, etc.) should not be postponed, but done immediately.

The option to transfer its old phone via Device Clone makes re-setting up the Honor Magic5 Pro a breeze. With a little patience while copying the data, all apps and data (including photos) are transferred. In my experience, photos and videos in particular should not be transferred because they unnecessarily prolong the cloning process.

In my case, I was done with the setup of the phone in a few minutes and could start with the individual settings of the Honor Magic5 Pro.

On the positive side, I was surprised that the phone is flooded with few pre-installed apps and comes very tidy. There are the usual apps from Google as well as some apps from Honor itself on the phone. This includes the My Honor app, Honor Health and the Honor App Market.

Benchmarks

• High-end components
• Loaded benchmarks
• Even better than expected

I tested the Honor Magic5 Pro in various benchmarks and compared it to the Honor Magic4 Pro.

In the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, the Magic5 Pro single-core score comes in at a whopping 1967 and subsequently a multi-core score of 5361 points. Even if we give the Magic4 Pro a few percent for the usage time so far as a bonus, the Honor Magic5 Pro is ahead by more than just a nose. The Honor Magic4 Pro scores 1575 points in the sigle-core score and 3528 points in the multi-core score.

In the Geekbench 6 GPU Compute benchmark, the Honor Magic5 Pro achieves 8518 and the Magic4 finally lands at 4624 points.

I was then completely surprised by the 3DMark Wild Life test results. Here, the Honor Magic4 Pro achieves a total of 6313 points and is thus 86% better than all other devices that went through this test. The Honor Magic5 Pro completely outlasts this test. Even repeating the test several times only resulted in the display saying, “Your device is too powerful for this test.” So I had to move up to the next level and run the Wild Life Extreme test. Again, the Honor Magic5 Pro beats the predecessor by a good 1000 points in the test.

I was all the more surprised that despite the installed more powerful hardware, the Honor Magic5 Pro remains cooler in comparison.

Interim conclusion

I am maximally excited about the performance jump between the previous model and the Honor Magic5 Pro. Here we can see that the switch to a new CPU generation and also the outsourcing of individual processes to other components (display chip) as well as the RAM technology (Honor RAM Turbo) help to tickle even the last reserves out of the hardware.

Daily use of the Honor Magic5 Pro

• fluid workflow
• Incredibly good pictures
• good battery performance

I put my Magic4 Pro aside during the course of the test and spent a lot of time with the Honor Magic5 Pro.

Since I’m already used to the interface of the in-house operating system MagicOS due to the previous model, it was easy for me to get used to the Magic5 Pro.

Even more so, I forgot which phone I had in my hand, because except for the camera, the phones are the same in terms of size and operation. Only the fingerprint sensor is now at the bottom of the screen rather than a few inches from the edge.

The apps of the Honor Magic5 Pro responded promptly and the use of facial recognition and fingerprint also worked flawlessly. In my opinion, the facial recognition on the Magic5 Pro copes better with adverse lighting conditions.

In general, I have to say that viewing the display is very pleasant and the built-in eye protection features (2160 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, dynamic display dimming, circadian night mode) work very well and as a result, my eyes survived quite a few videos without burning and itching as well as dryness during the test.

The resolution of the display is very good and the audio quality is also excellent. The cameras of the Honor Magic5 Pro really deliver incredibly good pictures.

Here are some more pictures, always showing the picture of the Honor Magic5 Pro first and then the same/comparable picture of the Honor Magic4 Pro. I’m not really that much of a photographer, but with the new Magic5 Pro it’s really a lot of fun.

The camera software also leaves nothing to be desired, whether it’s portraits, night photography, super macro or all the other possibilities, no expense has been spared here and the creative among you can let off steam with the Honor Magic5 Pro.

What particularly caught my eye is the revised version of the movie software. It is now possible to use a beauty filter and a bokeh filter while filming. If you are looking for the HDR10+ feature in the video camera of the Honor Magic5 Pro, you now have to switch to the camera’s settings. Here you can see a test video in 4K with HDR10+:

I am surprised, no jerks in the recording or memory lags are noticeable. Unfortunately, I had other experiences, especially at the launch of a phone. Content creators have also been taken into account, and the camera software includes the Multivideo function, just like in the Honor Magic4 Pro.

And for all of you who are already wondering whether you can also make calls with the Honor Magic5 Pro. Yes, it works flawlessly. My conversation partners were always clearly understood and I was also understood in every situation.

I managed a good 2 days with one battery charge with my current usage behavior (a lot of research on the web, use of music apps for my daily dose of music, communication via various messenger programs and evening YouTube program). One charge cycle with the included 66 watt charger took 50:35 min, so I am very satisfied. Unfortunately, I could not perform wireless charging in my test, as I do not have the necessary charging cradle or a charging pad.

Summary of the Honor Magic5 Pro Test

After 14 days of the Honor Magic5 Pro test, I can draw my conclusion at this point. I would have liked to do a long-term test, but I have to part with the Honor Magic5 Pro and send it back to Honor Germany.

From my point of view, Honor has once again succeeded in presenting a performance and quality leap with the Honor Magic5 Pro compared to the predecessor. Not only the pure performance data from the benchmark is decisive for me, but also the smooth workflow in the daily use of the Honor Magic5 Pro.

The built-in technology is sensational and the camera technology as well as the software are great. The display is outstanding and it was simply fun to take pictures with the phone. It is not without reason that Honor was able to win two awards at the MWC in Barcelona.

If you are willing to pay a price of currently 1199 Euros for the Honor Magic5 Pro and the extra performance compared to the predecessor is necessary, you are very well served with the Honor Magic5 Pro. In short, a real flagship smartphone that takes its place among the top phones.