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Honor Magic 4 Pro in test: The perfect Huawei replacement?

Picture: TechnikNews
(Post picture: © 2022 TechnikNews)

With the Honor Magic 4 Pro, the former Huawei subsidiary brand is re-entering the German flagship market. Will the Chinese make a successful comeback? We tested the smartphone in everyday use.

Scope of delivery of the Honor Magic 4 Pro

The Honor Magic 4 Pro comes with the device itself, a case, a quick charger and a USB-C cable.

Design and workmanship

The Magic 4 Pro has an interesting design because it is different from many other flagship smartphones in 2022. The glass back is also rounded, as is the display. The cameras are in a circle, which Honor calls the "Eye of the Muse". On the front there is a huge 6,81 display with very thin display edges (93% screen to body ratio). In the top left of the display there is a "dual punch hole" for a front camera and sensors for 3D face unlocking. Here you can definitely still see the former influence of Huawei, because the design of the device reminds me a lot of the Mate 40 Pro.

The processing itself is impeccable. High-quality materials, buttons that are easy to press and no scratches to be noted after three weeks. What really annoys me is the pre-installed screen protector. It's really cheap, but I don't want to take it off either. Because the screen protector sits so well on the display, I couldn't do it any better. However, the dilemma causes an unpleasant typing experience, since the film's material is poor.

Display

As already stated in the designprochen, the display is huge. It is probably the largest display in a non-foldable smartphone that I have ever used. The display ticks off almost all the important points that a flagship smartphone should have. AMOLED, LTPO 2.0 120 Hertz, HDR10+, 10 bit. But it *only* has a resolution of Full HD+. I personally didn't notice that in everyday life, but it could bother some people who want the best value for their money on the market.

Honor Magic 4 Pro Display

The Magic 4 Pro has a huge display (Image: TechnikNews)

I really liked the display in everyday life. It feels like a piece of glass in your hand, and the size means that videos and films on the go are no problem. The only problem is that it is difficult to use one-handed. Honor has built a one-handed mode that can be activated by swiping from the bottom right or left corner to the middle (and then holding down). This has made typing a message easier for me in tricky situations. The brightness is also more than good, but the display can't compare to an S1 Ultra (probably the best display so far this year). But it is definitely one of the best.

Hardware

The Magic 4 Pro is a flagship phone, and that includes a flagship processor. Inside is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 8 gigabytes of RAM and 256 gigabytes of internal storage. There is no other version. In everyday use, the system runs smoothly for the most part, but I'm used to better things from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, especially recently with the OnePlus 10 Pro or Oppo Find X5 Pro. But that's not due to the processor itself, but to the software.

Honor had very little time to completely overhaul the software after they separated from Huawei. That's why I didn't expect the software optimization of a BBK or Xiaomi, but it's more than enough for everyday use. Only those who are used to better optimization might find the Magic 4 Pro slow in places.

Honor Magic 4 Pro Performance

(Image: TechnikNews)

In contrast, the vibration motor and the speakers are very high quality. The vibration motor gives good feedback, but not as strong as in the Pixel 6 Pro. The speakers, meanwhile, have real stereo sound, with two large openings on the top and bottom of the device. Listening to music and watching videos on them, together with the display, is a dream.

A quick note about making phone calls. This works very well on the Magic 4 Pro, just like on any other smartphone. Honor has also built in a "Privacy AI function" which is designed to make it harder for sound to escape. This worked well in everyday life, at least on two phone calls a person standing next to me had difficulty understanding my call.

The fingerprint sensor sits under the display and is surprisingly an ultrasonic sensor. This is otherwise only found in Samsung smartphones. The ultrasonic technology is safer than the optical sensors and also does not need any light, which could disturb in the dark.

camera

The Magic 4 Pro has three cameras on the back. A 50 megapixel camera for wide-angle photos, a 50 megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 64 megapixel telephoto lens. The other two sensors are a ToF and a flicker sensor.

Honor Magic 4 Pro Camera

The Magic 4 Pro has three cameras on the back (Image: TechnikNews)

The cameras on Huawei smartphones have always been a highlight in the past. Not surprisingly, this is also the case after the two companies split, because the sensors do an excellent job. Both the main camera and the ultra wide-angle camera take sharp, detailed photos and the zoom, which goes up to 100x, always takes detailed pictures. But it's definitely not the best camera I've seen in a smartphone so far. Especially when it comes to night shots, Samsung and Google are still ahead.

Magic 4 Pro

The same applies to the front camera, which has a resolution of 12 megapixels. Portraits are good, but sometimes the blur is not perfectly set. Here, Google continues to have the best algorithms.

Battery of the Honor Magic 4 Pro

The battery of the Magic 4 Pro is surprisingly good for a flagship. I was able to get through at least one day with the smartphone, and sometimes I didn't even have to charge it until the morning after a long evening. But this good battery also comes at a price, but more on that in the software section.

Honor Magic 4 Pro Shop

The Magic 4 Pro is the only smartphone in the world that can be charged with 100 watts via a wireless charger (Image: TechnikNews)

The Magic 4 Pro charges at a super fast 100 watts, both via cable and wirelessly. Honor also included a wireless charger in the reviewer's kit, which we used to test this. In both cases, a full charge from 0 - 100% is possible in 35 minutes. However, the battery is already 20% ​​full again in 65 minutes.

Honor Magic 4 Pro software

The Magic 4 Pro runs the latest Android 12 with "Magic UI 6 Skin". This is very reminiscent of Huawei's Emotion UI, which doesn't surprise me. When could Honor have developed a completely new Android skin in the last few months? In addition, EMUI was also a very good Android skin, especially with many extras. There is an app bar, an e-book mode, multi-windows, one-handed mode and so on.

But this Android skin caused me problems with notifications for a long time. Sometimes they came late, or like with Snapchat, they still didn't come. In the past, Huawei had learned to simply "stop" apps in the background. This ensures that the battery life is very good, since the standby battery life is very short, but notifications sometimes came later or didn't come at all. I have proI tried to set an exception in the settings, but Snapchat still doesn't give me any notifications. This can also be liberating, but other users get in the way.

Honor Magic 4 Pro Software

The software of the Magic 4 Pro still has a lot of potential for improvement. (Image: TechnikNews)

In addition, I had a bug at the beginning, which has now been fixed by Honor (according to my report). No other customer would have noticed that, because this only occurred after a change from Android 12L to Android 12, i.e. it would only include Pixel users. My Vodafone SIM didn't work properly there, I just wanted to mention it for the sake of transparency.

The launcher can also be expanded, it was difficult to activate the app drawer, apps cannot display the "Settings" with a long press, the launcher sometimes lags in the search.

Honor also promises only two major updates, three years of security patches. That's also a pity, because three major updates are mandatory in this price range, and Samsung even gives four.

Conclusion on the Honor Magic 4 Pro

The Honor Magic 4 Pro is currently my top candidate for the best comeback flagship of 2022. The display is fantastic, the processor is very good and the cameras are in the top 5. But what is currently holding the device back is the software. It still seems immature, in some places copied 1:1 from EMUI and not yet fully adapted to the device. I can fully understand that, Honor has not yet had the time to "reinvent" itself.

But then a recommended retail price of 1099 euros is quite high, I would have preferred a bargain price of 999 euros. At least there is currently an offer for the device with the Honor Watch GS3 and wireless charger, whoever can get rid of it on well-known marketplaces could get a better price for the device. I am at least excited to see how Honor's journey continues, but the Magic 4 Pro is a clear signal: We are back.

Buy Honor Magic 4 Pro

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Nils Ahrensmeier

Nils has been with us since 2019 TechnikNews and very interested in smartphones, speakers, smartwatches and SmartHome. In addition to his 'Creative Business' studies, he enjoys pursuing his hobby of athletics and meeting up with friends.

Nils has already written 324 articles and made 32 comments.

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dr Nerd

Hi Nils,
I've had the Honor Magic 4 Pro for about a week and I have to agree with you on all points. The Magic 4 Pro is not a bad phone - but it is simply immature in the area of ​​the Magic UI. The basic Android 12 has features like Material You, dynamic colors, etc. I can't find these core features in the Macic UI (or Honor has hidden them well). In addition, the inductive charger is not available at all (just for the time being or for longer?).
But I expect more from a premium smartphone than from a mid-range part - a good infrastructure is part of it. Honor doesn't deliver that.