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At MWC 2023, Honor announced its latest Honor Magic5 series flagship phones for the year and the global availability of the impressive Honor Magic Vs foldable phone.
I loved last year’s Honor Magic4 Pro as I felt that it offered a great balance of flagship specs without breaking the bank.
Honor Magic5 Pro
This year, Honor Magic5 Pro is more refined with big improvements for the camera, but there is a £100 price jump.
As you’d expect for a flagship phone, this uses the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
It is the camera specification where things get interesting. Last year they used the 50MP Sony IMX766 1/1.56″ sensor, then a 50MP 1/2.5″ ultrawide and a 64MP 1/2.0″ 3.5x zoom periscope lens.
This year, the primary camera has a custom 50MP 1/1.12” sensor, then 50MP for both ultrawide and telephoto. The telephoto lens uses the Sony IMX858.
The battery has been improved to 5100 mAh. However, Chinese variants will use a new silicon-carbon battery that has superior charge density with a 5450 mAh battery.
Oddly, the charge speeds have been dropped from 100W down to 50W, and I suspect this is due to the new larger battery.
The Honor Magic5 Pro is available in one configuration, 12/512GB, which will sell for €1,200, which is the equivalent of $1,270/£1,055
Honor Magic5
The Honor Magic5 is a dialled-down version, you still get the flagship Qualcomm chipset, but it has a smaller lower resolution display.
Then a 50MP main camera, 32mp 2.5x optical zoom and 50MP ultrawide.
The battery is the same, and so is the wired charging, but it lacks the 50W wireless charging the Pro has.
The Magic5 (8/256GB) will be more affordable at €900/$950/£795
Honor Magic Vs Global Launch
The Honor Magic Vs was announced in China last year, but it is now getting a global launch. This uses the older Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.
It has a decent 54MP main camera, 8MP optical and 50MP ultra-wide. This maybe poor compared to the Honor Magic5 Pro, but it is good for a foldable.
You get a decent 5000mAh battery and 66W wired charging.
Honor is launching the phone in two colours – Cyan and Black. The price for 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage is €1,599.
