For the past several years, much of the ongoing buzz in the US smartphone scene has been dominated by the likes ofSamsung,Google, andApple. Meanwhile, Honor, a Shenzhen, China-based tech company, is one of a number of overseas OEMsto be rapidly expandingits global handset presence.
Withits latest flagship candy bar style phone, the Magic 7 Pro, Honor is betting big on a combination of high-end hardware, a feature-packed Android skin, and, of course, a set of AI-powered tools. I tested out the Magic 7 Pro to find out precisely what I’ve been missing out on as a North American resident, and to see whether the handset lives up tothe hype surrounding it.
Honor Magic7 Pro
Honor’s Magic 7 Pro is the company’s latest flagship smartphone, arriving with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, IP69 water resistance, and more.
How we test and review products at Pocket-lint
We don’t do arm-chair research. We buy and test our own products, and we only publish buyer’s guides with products we’ve actually reviewed.
Price, availability, and specs
Through and through, the Honor Magic 7 Pro is a high-end Android smartphone. Along with the excellentOnePlus 13and the newly-announcedGalaxy S25 series, Honor’s latest handset is among the first to ship with the QualcommSnapdragon 8 Elitechipset.
The Magic 7 Pro is also one of the first mainstream mobile phones to arrive withIP69 water and dust resistance, which, as we’ve seen on the competing OnePlus 13, allows the device to withstand extreme temperatures and powerful jet sprays in multiple directions.
Honor has outfitted the Magic 7 Pro with an expansive 6.8-inch OLED display panel, which features a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, 5,000 nits of peakhigh dynamic range(HDR) brightness, and a crisp 2800 x 1280 pixel resolution.
The dimensions of the phone are about what you’d expect for a phone with such a large screen: they measure in at 6.41 x 3.04 x 0.35-inches (162.7 x 77.1 x 8.8 mm), and the unit weighs in at 7.87 oz (223 g). Besides the suspiciouslack of Qi2 magnetic charging, Honor has packed just about every major hardware bell and whistle into the unit.
The handset’s rear camera array is also fittingly high-end, with a 200-megapixel 3x f/2.6 periscope lens, a 50-megapixel wide-angle shooter with a variable f/1.4-f/2.0 aperture, and a 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultra-wide sensor.
Honor has packed just about every major hardware bell and whistle into the unit.
Back in October of last year, Honor launched the Magic 7 Pro within its domestic market of China. As of January 15, the device is available globally, albeit not officially in the US or Canada.
With its base 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage configuration, the Magic 7 Pro is listed for a price of £1100 / €1,300, which is equivalent to roughly $1,340. At launch, the handset is available in lunar shadow grey, breeze blue, and black colorways.
If you’re in the North American market and are interested in picking up the Magic 7 Pro, it’s possible to do so via online Chinese e-commerce sites likeAliExpressandGiztop.
Honor Magic 7 Pro
What I liked about the Honor Magic 7 Pro
On the hardware side, the Magic 7 Pro is an impressive handset
It’s safe to say that with the Magic 7 Pro, Honor has nailed the exterior design side of the equation. The phone feels incredibly premium in the hand, with tight tolerances, tactile buttons, and a micro-textured rear glass panel that feels silky smooth.
I’m a fan of the overall design language here, which is mostly flat and understated, but not boringly so. The power button’s subtle pop of color reminds me ofearly Google Pixel handsets, and its symmetrical bezels are only slightly curved at the edges, which I prefer over the ‘waterfall’ or ‘edge’ design of some other devices.
Honor has nailed the exterior design side of the equation.
Even the camera hump, which protrudes prominently from the rear, is rather inoffensive in my opinion. I much prefer its appearance over the stovetop design of iPhone Pro models, and it (mostly) eliminates wobble when used on a flat surface.
The display is another strong point with the Magic 7 Pro – the panel is gorgeous to look at, and bright enough for use under direct sunlight. Honor bakes in a number of ‘Eye Comfort Display’ features intended to reduce eye fatigue, including 4,320Hz Ultra-high frequencyPWM Dimming, myopic defocus stimulation, andRheinlandcircularly polarized light display certification.
On the camera front, the Magic 7 Pro delivers solid results overall. Honor’s computational algorithms and choices in color science are, of course, subjective, but I found that both images and 4K 60fps videos came out clear and pleasant to look at.
I do wish Honor had kitted the device with a 5x zoom lens as opposed to a 3x one – I’ve grown fond of the additional flexibility offered in other flagship phones, which have an increased ability to punch in optically on far away subjects.
As for performance and endurance, the Magic 7 Pro is a delight. The handset’s relatively large 5,270mAh battery pack reliably lasts me an entire day and then some, and its 100W of wired and 80W of wireless charging capabilities blow most US phone charging speeds out of the water.
Getting into the phone is speedy thanks to the under-display, and the Snapdragon 8 elite chipset is blazing fast. When put through theGeekbench 6benchmarking test, the phone scores a respectable 3,015 in single-core and 8,474 in multi-core.
The Honor Magic V3 shocked me with its thin, lightweight form factor
Honor has crafted the world’s thinnest book-style foldable, and it makes me excited for the future of the category.
What I didn’t like about the Honor Magic 7 Pro
Honor’s MagicOS software skin is in need of some refinement
While Honor jumps from strength to strength on the hardware and performance fronts, I find the company’s software experience to be less compelling. The Magic 7 Pro ships with MagicOS 9 running atop ofAndroid 14, and the company promises five years of OS and security updates for the device.
The company’s homegrown Android skin is feature rich, but it lacks some of the UX refinements found in the Pixel’s interface design, or even that of Samsung’sOne UI 7. In my testing, the gesture navigation system seems a bit less responsive than that of some other skins, and so I ended up switching to the tried-and-true 3-button system instead.
In my testing, the gesture navigation system seems a bit less responsive than that of some other skins.
I also wish Honor provided the option to enable Android’s native ‘merged’ notifications and quick settings panels UI, as opposed to the separate interfaces currently employed. It’s a small gripe in the grand scheme of things, but user choice is always the right way to go when it comes to these considerations.
Honor’s suite of artificial intelligence tools and features are pretty similar to those found in competing devices, right down to their somewhat dubious utility. While the Magic Text feature is useful for extracting on-screen words, I found the Magic Portal tool less useful.
This latter addition functions similar to Google’sCircle to Search, but it’s accessed via a knuckle gesture rather than a finger swipe. It works well enough for analyzing and contextually searching for content, but with Google’s AI suite already on deck, the whole of Honor AI feels a bit superfluous at the moment.
The Honor Band 9 is an affordable fitness tracker with impressive upgrades
Honor’s latest wearable features a higher resolution screen and improved connectivity.
Should you buy the Honor Magic 7 Pro?
If you live outside of North America, then the Magic 7 Pro is a stellar choice
Honor has crafted an incredibly compelling smartphone in the Magic 7 Pro. The device’s hardware is stellar, its camera system is reasonably performant, and its processing power and battery life are both rock solid.
I’m less fond of the company’s MagicOS Android skin from a UX perspective, but the company’s commitment to updates and security patches is a big win. The various AI tools are rather hit or miss, and the lack ofQi2 charging magnetsis a real shame, but the package is otherwise excellent.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro is a great choice that’s worthy of consideration.
If you happen to live outside the US, then the Honor Magic 7 Pro is a great choice that’s worthy of consideration. The device deserves to stand alongsidethe best flagship Android phones, and in some cases, it even manages to best the competition outright.
