Review: Honor Magic 4 Pro

The Magic4 Pro is Honor’s first global flagship release since it emerged as a new, “separate” entity from parent company Huawei. Despite giving its launch the “global” moniker, it isn’t a device that’s available for purchase in the US. However, for those in Europe, the prospect of a Huawei-like phone returning to the market should be an exciting proposition—Huawei was a strong alternative to top Android picks in the region before it lost Google services.

Those familiar with the looks of Huawei devices, and particularly the Mate 40 Pro, will immediately recognize the characteristics of the Honor Magic 4 Pro: a sharp, curved screen, metal rail splitting the front and back, large rear camera module, and a dual front-facing camera cut-out. 

In 2022, it’s a design that feels rather out of date, with a trend toward flatter sides and matte glass across the industry. The rear, in the cyan color option (the other available choice being black) is quickly plastered with fingerprints after little use. Nevertheless, on the plus side, an absence of contemporary looks doesn’t stop this device from feeling high-quality and sturdy in construction.

Good first impressions aren’t the Magic 4 Pro’s forte, though. After you get past the uninspiring looks, it’s on to the software. This is not the clean and seamless version of Android you’ll find on the likes of the Google Pixel 6 range. Instead, you’ll see a mix of both Honor’s own apps and third-party bloatware like Booking.com, MyTrainPal, and more thrust upon you. You can trim this fat, but the initial hassle is an annoyance.

The software problems extend to this phone’s largely excellent camera. There was plenty of jittering on opening the Camera app, and it continued intermittently when tinkering with various options. It isn’t a deal breaker, but it does hinder one of this device’s best features, which is particularly disappointing because the images the Magic 4 Pro produces are great, with simple point-and-shoot snaps grabbing plenty of detail and eye-catching color. Being picky, the results can err on the side of over-saturation and some over-sharpening, especially in a setting with plenty of light, but it isn’t enough to be distracting.

Up to 10X zoom, the results are impressive, too, especially within its 3.5X optical zoom range—all achieved by this handset’s 64-MP periscope telephoto lens. This phone, like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, can go up to 100X, but you won’t be showing the shots off on Instagram. 

Portrait mode is a mixed bag, with strong blur around clear edges, but it often struggles to surround the focal point as accurately as you’d like. There’s also Night Mode, which does a decent job of bringing the brightness up late in the day but leads to plenty of over-sharpening.

You can video record at up to 4K 60-fps on the Magic 4 Pro, and you will absolutely want to. The results are stunning, with popping colors and luxurious detail. A lack of top-class stabilization stops this from being up there with the very best, though.

What does help with the irritation of the cumbersome camera software and cluttered bundled apps is the superb display. It’s a 6.81-inch 120-Hz OLED panel that benefits from the bezel-less sides afforded by the steep curved glass, even if it leads to some content drooping off the screen. Images and videos are presented in pristine fashion while the 120-Hz display, combined with the speedy flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, means browsing and jumping from app to app is a breeze. 

This doesn’t fully extend to gaming though, where high-demand titles such as Genshin Impact stutter when ramped up to max settings, even with this device not reaching 60 fps in-game. It’ll cope just fine with Call of Duty: Mobile, however. One plus is that despite its struggles with Genshin Impact, the phone never got uncomfortably warm to the touch, even during longer sessions.

Photograph: Honor

The battery life here is largely underwhelming, falling behind high-end rivals like Samsung’s Galaxy S22 range and the OnePlus 10 Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) but still overtaking the lower-cost Google Pixel 6 phones. In practice, this means that, mostly, you’ll just about get to a full day of use—unlike some of the competition that’ll get you to mid-morning the next day. 

It isn’t all bad though, the 100-W wired charging filled our Magic 4 Pro back up to full in around 25 minutes. More impressive is the inclusion of 100-W wireless charging here as well, achieving the same results in a slightly more convenient manner but with some added fan noise. Though, it is less convenient in the sense that you’ll have to spend an extra £85 to get the Honor SuperCharge Wireless Charge Stand.

Where does such as mixed review leave us? The Honor Magic 4 Pro—and remember it costs £949 (what would be about $1,199)—falls short of its direct rivals from Samsung, OnePlus, Google, Xiaomi and Oppo, for different reasons, depending on your taste. 

Camera aficionados should opt for a Galaxy S22+, S22 Ultra (9/10, WIRED Recommends), iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max (9/10, WIRED Recommends), or Oppo Find X5 Pro for the sheer photography horsepower and features. While those who want a powerful yet simple photography experience should opt for the Google Pixel 6 Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends). Almost all of these competitors top the Magic 4 Pro’s outdated design, while the performance also slightly lacks alongside the unwelcome bloatware.

The bigger picture is brighter for Honor, however, as the gap isn’t significant, and it represents a good start for the manufacturer's return to flagship phone-making. If, for the Magic 5 Pro, Honor can clean up its software, modernize its look, and ensure performance is up to snuff, then its powerful camera capabilities, high-specced screen, and superfast charging could make it a viable alternative to the mobile phone world’s top dogs.