Magic 4 Pro: 10 things about this phone

Here are a few things to like about the Honor Magic 4 Pro.

Recently making their way back to South African shores, Honor are now independent from their parent company Huawei and ready to break into the local market with a great flagship device.

Design

The camera module on the back of the Honor Magic 4 Pro on the back is quite striking and difficult to overlook. Not many manufacturers are adopting this kind of Huawei Mate 40 series aesthetic. Available in Black, White, Cyan, Gold, and Orange, I managed to snag the Cyan, which again was just striking.

Curved at the sides, the Honor Magic 4 Pro fits nicely in your hand with a solid premium feel.

Smooth curves

For a 6.81 inch handset, it’s very easy to handle, thanks to how smoothly the front and sides merge into the perfectly curved back. The entire body is smooth, and there are no sharp jutting ridges or edges. The Honor Magic 4 Pro weighs exactly 209g, which is also not a bad weight for a biggish device.

Buttons

All the buttons on the Magic 4 Pro are just in the right place. Easy to reach, even for my little hands. 

The front-mounted 3D ToF sensor (Time of Flight) and the ultrasonic fingerprint reader are some additional features worth mentioning. Face unlock uses the 3D ToF sensor on the front, which is far more trustworthy than the front-facing camera-only method utilised by normal Android facial unlock. The under display, ultrasonic fingerprint reader is fast and accurate.

What’s in the box, counts

The Honor Magic 4 Pro comes with a full box of goodies. It includes a USB-A to USB-C cable for data transfer and charging as well as the a 100W charger, which we’re not always assured of anymore. Another bonus in the box is a clear silicone case that’ll save you from having to purchase the accessory and still shows off the design.

No time to waste

The Honor Magic 4 Pro is quick to juice up! With the included 100W SuperCharge brick, the phone can be fully charged from flat in exactly 30 minutes.

Sound and speakers

A stereo speaker system and an audio-emitting piezoelectric display are included with the Magic 4 Pro. Overall, the sound is produced by two speakers and the display itself, making a total of three sources.

Thanks to the piezoelectric display, you might be vulnerable to eavesdropping. Honor however introduced AI Privacy Call that makes use of the first Dual Sound-Emitting Unit in the market. This permits directional sound without leakage, ensuring that you are the only one to hear your private calls.

Display

The Magic 4 Pro’s display boasts a lot of intriguing features in addition to it good looks. It has a first-generation, yet advanced, LTPO AMOLED screen with 10-bit colour depth, a bespoke QHD+ resolution (1080 x 2848 pixels), a refresh rate of 120 Hz, support, and high-frequency PWM dimming control.

A frame rate booster, video enhancer, and granular refresh rate control—which Honor calls MotionSync—are all noteworthy features.

The camera notch/cutout is located closer to the centre of the display. The shape is down to the ultrawide selfie camera and a 3D ToF sensor for cutting-edge facial recognition. I always think you can get used to anything, so I don’t think it’s that noticeable or detracting. Besides there is a software setting to disguise the cut-out, so it’s not a huge problem.

Camera

A 50MP wide camera, a 50MP 122⁰ ultra-wide camera, and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera, enable the Magic 4 Pro to produce high-definition images with clarity. The lens enables an up to 100x digital zoom as well as optical and electronic image stabilisation.

Videography

The Magic 4 Pro’s Magic-Log Movie Master and AI film effects provide video of a cinematic calibre.

Google services

Google services – available on Honor devices!

Verdict

Ever since Huawei lost access to Google services, the market for me has been missing one of its strongest competitors. Now that Honor have released a real flagship device, we may all finally have found a real competitor to Samsung in the Android realm.