MWC: Honor launches new flagship

Honor this week unveiled both a new strategy and two flagship smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona.

Honor has announced both a dual-flagship strategy, with the global availability of the Magic5 Series and the Magic Vs, and a “human-centric approach to technology”, under the slogan “Tech to Inspire.”

“Honor adopts a human-centric approach to product innovation, offering intuitive technology solutions to improve the daily lives of everyone,” said George Zhao, CEO of Honor Device. 

“The Magic5 Pro, our latest flagship all-rounder, and the Magic Vs, our first foldable flagship to be launched in the global market, push industry benchmarks in every aspect of smartphone user experience, in line with our vision to enable a smarter life for everyone.”

Honor provided the following information on the new handsets:

Packed with a whole host of significant upgrades, the all-round flagship Magic5 Pro boasts impressive breakthroughs in design, display, photography and performance, beating several industry benchmarks to deliver a best-in-class user experience.

Adhering to the “Eye of Muse” iconic design, the Magic5 Pro evolves the concept, redesigning and introducing the Star Wheel Triple Camera system. Paying tribute to Antoni Gaudi, the Magic5 Pro features symmetry dual-curved ultra-narrow bezels on both sides and a Star Wheel Triple Camera Design sitting as the centerpiece on the back cover, blending the beautiful curves found in natural landscapes and modern architecture into the design of the cutting-edge device, demonstrating the harmonious combination of art and technology.

Featuring a 6.81-inch LTPO Display with a Quad-Curved Floating Screen, the Magic5 Pro guarantees an immersive viewing experience whether users are browsing, gaming or reading. Equipped with a Novel Display Luminance Enhancement Technology, the Magic5 Series delivers peak HDR brightness of 1800 nits, ensuring clear visuals even under bright sunlight. With the Dual-Luminance Calibration for typical 120nits indoor brightness and 800nits outdoor brightness, the HONOR Magic5 Pro provides the industry-leading display colour accuracy.

The Magic5 Pro also features a Discrete Display Chipset to improve the visual quality of moving images. While offering an always-on high dynamic range (HDR) effect to enhance video clarity, the chipset delivers a higher frame rate with lower power consumption for a smoother, longer gaming experience. Certified with HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced, the Magic5 Pro enables users to enjoy videos and movies with optimised picture quality.

Relieving users’ eye strain, the Magic5 Pro boasts low blue light emission, as certified by TÜV Rheinland, and Dynamic Dimming that simulates natural light to alleviate eye fatigue. Other innovative eye comfort features include Circadian Night Display for improved sleep quality and an industry-first LTPO display with 2160Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming technology to minimise screen flickering, perfect for those who spend long hours in front of their smartphone.

The Magic5 Pro turned in an excellent overall display performance, reaching the 1st place of DxOMark smartphone display ranking with a top score of 151.

The Magic5 Pro has also taken the first place in DxOMark global camera ranking with a score of 152, making it the highest camera scoring smartphone tested to date. The Magic5 Pro features a powerful Triple Main Camera combination comprising a 50MP Wide Camera, a 50MP Ultra Wide Camera, and a 50MP Telephoto Camera. With an increased sensor size for superior light sensing performance, the camera system produces photos in refined detail every time, no matter the lighting conditions. Ultra Fusion Computational Optics, a computational optical algorithm complementing the camera system, drastically improves image clarity at 3.5x-100x zoom, setting the device apart from other smartphones on the market.

Equipped with Image Engine, the Magic5 Pro debuts a Millisecond Falcon Capture algorithm, enabling users to capture complex scenes with remarkable ease and clarity. Users can also shoot low-light scenes clearly with high speed thanks to Super Night Capture capabilities. In addition, the HONOR Magic5 Pro boasts AI Motion Sensing Capture, which is capable of automatically detecting the highest point of a jump and capturing the frame in ultra-high definition. To put the technology to the test, Honor has partnered with Guinness World Records, using the Magic5 Pro automatically to capture the moment of an official world record attempt for the World’s Highest Between The Legs Slam Dunk. 

Enabling budding creators to produce cinematic-level footage, the Magic5 Pro features IMAX Enhanced Movie Master, empowering users to shoot and edit stunning videos, all on their smartphone.  

The Magic5 Pro features a Dual-TEE Security System co-developed with Qualcomm, offering hardware-level protection for users’ data. Equipped with a Discrete Security Chipset, the Magic5 Pro provides maximum security for passwords and biometrics like face IDs and fingerprints.

Bringing compelling upgrades to AI Privacy Call 2.0, HONOR’s groundbreaking solution to sound-leaking, the HONOR Magic5 Pro introduces an industry-first Sound Energy Spatial Control Technology, which generates opposite sound waves to prevent sound leakage for private phone calls. While delivering a 100% improvement in call volume for a clearer communication experience, AI Privacy Call 2.0 ensures that even if the user is in a crowded but quiet environment like an elevator, people nearby cannot clearly catch the caller’s voice.

Powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform from Qualcomm, the Magic5 Pro delivers an unrivalled flagship performance, enabling enhanced productivity and entertainment at all times. With the industry’s first Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standalone antenna architecture, the HONOR Magic5 Pro improves Wi-Fi performance by 200% and reduces Wi-Fi latency by 30% compared to the traditional antenna design in the industry, bringing users ultimate flexibility and mobility for work and play.

Supporting 66W Wired and 50W Wireless HONOR SuperCharge, the HONOR Magic5 Pro packs with a super large 5100mAh battery to deliver a full day of uninterrupted usage.

Running the latest MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13, the HONOR Magic5 Pro offers a range of smart features, such as MagicRing for multi-device collaboration and Magic Text for intelligent text recognition, helping users to further boost their productivity.

Bringing the Honor Magic Vs foldable phone to the global market

As Honor’s very first foldable flagship to debut outside of China, the Magic Vs boasts exceptional design, display, and performance upgrades, taking the foldable smartphone experience to the next level. The perfect companion for jet-setting entrepreneurs as well as those who put mobile entertainment above all else, the device offers the ultimate blend of style and substance.

The Magic Vs is exceptionally slim and lightweight, measuring just 12.9mm thin when folded and 267g in weight. Despite its compact form factor, the  Magic Vs features a 5000mAh battery, the largest battery capacity among foldable smartphones under 270g that are available today.

Contributing to the light weight of the Magic Vs is a revolutionary Super-light Gearless Hinge that has been carefully crafted using single-piece casting technology, reducing the number of structural components from 92 in the previous generation down to just 4. Boasting exceptional durability, the hinge can withstand up to 400,000 folds as tested by TÜV Rheinland, which is equivalent to more than ten years of use based on 100 folds per day, setting a new benchmark for foldable smartphone design.

Thanks to the sophisticated structure of the hinge, the Magic Vs folds tightly without a gap and has an almost fully flat screen when unfolded, a feature that competing foldable devices on the market do not offer.

To help boost productivity to the max, the Magic Vs features a user-friendly 6.45-inch external display with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 90% screen-to-body ratio. When unfolded, the  Magic Vs delivers a tablet-like experience with an extra-wide 7.9-inch internal display, enabling users to multi-task and view content with remarkable ease.

Packed with professional eye comfort solutions, the  Magic Vs features Dynamic Dimming, Circadian Night Display, and 1920Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming, the highest frequency ever achieved in the current foldable smartphones markets, to effectively reduce the effects of digital eye strain and fatigue. 

The Magic Vs is equipped with an impressive rear triple camera system comprising a 54MP IMX800 Main Camera, a 50MP Ultra-Wide & Macro Main Camera and an 8MP 3X Optical Zoom Camera, delivering an exceptional photography experience, no matter the shooting scenario.

Powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform from Qualcomm, the Magic Vs delivers enhanced performance with higher power efficiency for a faster and smoother user experience. With Honor’s Turbo X engines, it strives to bring you longer battery life and a smoother experience.

The Magic Vs runs the latest MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13. In addition to MagicRing for multi-device collaboration and Magic Text for intelligent text recognition, the foldable flagship features Smart Multi-window and APP Extender to support multi-tasking across applications and within the same application, respectively, helping users save time and achieve more in life.

Colour, Pricing and Availability

The Magic5 Pro is available in Black and Meadow Green while the Honor Magic5 is available in Black and Blue.

The Magic5 Pro will be available in Glacier Blue, Meadow Green, Coral Purple, Orange and Black, while the Magic5 is available in Black and Blue.

The Honor Magic5 Series will be available starting from Q2, 2023. The HONOR Magic5 will start at €899 (8G+256GB), while the HONOR Magic5 Pro will start at €1199 (12G+512GB).

The Honor Magic Vs will be priced starting at €1599 (12GB+512GB). Availability will be announced in due course.