The Magic4 Pro is Honor’s first world flagship launch because it emerged as a brand new, “separate” entity from mum or dad firm Huawei. Despite giving its launch the “global” moniker, it isn’t a tool that’s accessible for buy within the US. However, for these in Europe, the prospect of a Huawei-like cellphone returning to the market ought to be an thrilling proposition—Huawei was a strong alternative to prime Android picks within the area earlier than it lost Google services.
Those acquainted with the seems to be of Huawei units, and significantly the Mate 40 Pro, will instantly acknowledge the traits of the Honor Magic 4 Pro: a pointy, curved display screen, metallic rail splitting the back and front, massive rear digicam module, and a twin front-facing digicam cut-out.
In 2022, it’s a design that feels quite old-fashioned, with a development towards flatter sides and matte glass throughout the business. The rear, within the cyan colour choice (the opposite accessible alternative being black) is shortly plastered with fingerprints after little use. Nevertheless, on the plus facet, an absence of up to date seems to be doesn’t cease this system from feeling high-quality and durable in development.
Good first impressions aren’t the Magic 4 Pro’s forte, although. After you get previous the uninspiring seems to be, it’s on to the software program. This just isn’t the clear and seamless model of Android you’ll discover on the likes of the Google Pixel 6 vary. Instead, you’ll see a mixture of each Honor’s personal apps and third-party bloatware like Booking.com, MyTrainPal, and extra thrust upon you. You can trim this fats, however the preliminary trouble is an annoyance.
Picture Imperfect
The software program issues prolong to this cellphone’s largely wonderful digicam. There was loads of jittering on opening the Camera app, and it continued intermittently when tinkering with varied choices. It isn’t a deal breaker, but it surely does hinder certainly one of this system’s finest options, which is especially disappointing as a result of the photographs the Magic 4 Pro produces are nice, with easy point-and-shoot snaps grabbing loads of element and attention-grabbing colour. Being choosy, the outcomes can err on the facet of over-saturation and a few over-sharpening, particularly in a setting with loads of mild, but it surely isn’t sufficient to be distracting.
Up to 10X zoom, the outcomes are spectacular, too, particularly inside its 3.5X optical zoom vary—all achieved by this handset’s 64-MP periscope telephoto lens. This cellphone, just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, can go as much as 100X, however you gained’t be displaying the photographs off on Instagram.
Portrait mode is a combined bag, with robust blur round clear edges, but it surely typically struggles to encompass the point of interest as precisely as you’d like. There’s additionally Night Mode, which does an honest job of bringing the brightness up late within the day however results in loads of over-sharpening.
You can video document at as much as 4K 60-fps on the Magic 4 Pro, and you’ll completely wish to. The outcomes are beautiful, with popping colours and splendid element. An absence of top-class stabilization stops this from being up there with the easiest, although.
What does assist with the irritation of the cumbersome digicam software program and cluttered bundled apps is the excellent show. It’s a 6.81-inch 120-Hz OLED panel that advantages from the bezel-less sides afforded by the steep curved glass, even when it results in some content material drooping off the display screen. Images and movies are introduced in pristine vogue whereas the 120-Hz show, mixed with the speedy flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, means shopping and leaping from app to app is a breeze.
