Honor’s next generation of smartphones is official.
The Magic 6 Lite was the first to be released and it has arrived in Europe, offering an impressive set of features for its mid-range price.
Before long, the flagship Magic 6 and the Magic 6 Pro were officially revealed in China, complete with a range of premium specs. And now, the good news that both phones will be released globally, with a European launch date now confirmed.
When will the Honor Magic 6 be released?
The Honor Magic 6 series includes three phones, though they aren’t all being released at the same time.
The Magic 6 Lite, the cheapest of the range, launched in China on 4 December 2023. It then arrived in the UK and Europe on 10 January 2024.
The Magic 6 and Magic 6 Pro were unveiled on 11 January 2024, a day later. But this was exclusively for China.
The global launch of the phones will take place at the MWC 2024 on 25 February 2024, alongside the Magic V2 series. However, it may still take a little while for the phones to actually go on sale in Europe.
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For context, here’s when the previous generations were launched in Europe:
If there ends up being a Magic 6 Ultimate, it’ll probably remain exclusive to China.
But don’t expect any of the phones to ever be available in North America – Honor doesn’t sell its devices there.
How much will the Honor Magic 6 cost?
The official prices of the Magic 6 series phones are as followed:
- Honor Magic 6 Lite: £349.99
- Honor Magic 6: ¥4,399 (around $620)
- Honor Magic 6 Pro: ¥5,699 (around $800)
The Magic 6 Lite is available in the UK on the Honor website for £349.99, including a complimentary Honor Pad X8 (worth £99.99) whilst stocks last, and 12-months free screen damage cover.
Open sales for the Magic 6 and the 6 Pro in China are set to commence on 18 January, with details regarding international pricing and availability to be disclosed at a later date.
Here’s how the Magic 4 and the Magic 5 phones were priced at their initial launch in Europe:
- Honor Magic 4 Lite: £249/€319
- Honor Magic 4: €899
- Honor Magic 4 Pro: £949/€1,099
- Honor Magic 4 Ultimate (China only): ¥7,999 (around £960/$1,260)
- Honor Magic 5 Lite: £329/€369
- Honor Magic 5: €899
- Honor Magic 5 Pro: £949/€1,199
- Honor Magic 5 Ultimate (China only): ¥6,699 (around £780/$975)
Honor may stick with the Magic 5 pricing, at least for the Magic 6 and 6 Pro. But it’s also possible that we’ll see some increases.
The Magic 5 Ultimate, although only available in China, cost less than its predecessor, but it is difficult to determine what awaits the Magic 6 Ultimate, should it ever be announced.
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What specs and features will the Honor Magic 6 have?
Magic 6 and 6 Pro
The Magic 6 and 6 Pro are available in a variety of colours, including black, green, blue, purple, and white.
Both phones showcase a 6.8-inch curved LTPO AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,264 x 2,800 pixels and a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate. Honor highlights a peak brightness of 1,800 nits in auto mode and an impressive 5,000 nits of local peak brightness for HDR content.
Distinguishing between the two models, the Magic 6 features a single punch hole cutout, while the Pro version includes a pill-shaped cutout for the additional 3D depth face unlock module. Additionally, both displays incorporate 4,320Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming.
Turning to the rear, a redesigned camera island distinguishes the models based on their respective lenses.
The Magic 6 Pro boasts a 50MP main camera with a variable aperture of f/1.4-f/2.0, while the Magic 6 is equipped with a 50MP f/1.9 shooter.
The Pro model introduces a 180MP periscope lens with 2.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom, alongside a 50MP ultrawide lens.
Meanwhile, the standard Magic 6 features a 32MP telephoto lens offering 2.5x optical and 50x digital zoom, paired with a 50MP ultrawide lens. Both phones house a 50MP front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture for selfies.
What’s more, Honor says the new ‘Falcon Camera System’ on the Magic 6 series is built to capture images of fast-moving scenes, especially in sport. To do so, the phones are equipped with upgrades sensors, improved shutter speeds, faster imaging speeds and new, dedicated algorithms.
The cameras on the Magic 6 phones also supposedly offer better dynamic range, light sensitivity, zoom capabilities and a dynamic end result. Honor wants it to be on a par with a dedicated mirrorless camera.
These are top-tier features, and it’s clear that Honor wants the Magic 6 and 6 Pro to be just as good as a dedicated camera for most people. While the hardware is impressive on paper, it’ll have to be a significant upgrade over even the Magic 5 Pro to achieve that. The best camera phones also represent strong competition.
Under the hood, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers both devices. The Magic 6 is available in configurations of 12/256GB, 16/256GB, and 16/512GB, while the Magic 6 Pro offers options of 12/256GB, 16/512GB, or 16GB/1TB for RAM and storage.
The Magic 6 features a 5,450mAh battery with 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging (using Honor’s wireless charger). On the other hand, the Pro variant steps up to a 5,600mAh cell with 80W wired and 66W wireless charging capabilities.
Connectivity options include support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. Both phones are equipped with IR blasters for controlling home appliances and boast IP68 dustproof and water-resistant features.
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Running on the latest MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14, these devices offer an impressive array of features.
This new version introduces a MagicLM on-device large language model equipped with an impressive 7 billion parameters. Notably, Honor highlights the intent-based user interface (IUI) of MagicOS 8.0, which actively suggests services and apps based on the user’s usage patterns.
A significant addition is the Magic Portal feature, making use of Honor’s LLM and IUI to provide context-based app and service shortcut recommendations through a side swipe. This functionality, for example, will let you drag and drop a booking reservation from the messages app to the maps app, instantly getting directions to the venue.
Magic Portal supports multimodal input, incorporating text and images, and also registers gestures and eye movements on compatible Honor phones. For example, users can tap and hold on images of clothing and drag them to the side to initiate searches within shopping apps.
While Honor has confirmed support for the top 100 most popular apps in China, there are no specifics on whether these features will extend to other regions.
Additionally, MagicOS 8.0 introduces new options for customizing the home screen, enhances UI speed, and is designed to be more resource-efficient due to optimizations carried out by Honor’s software team. A notable feature is the introduction of a “shake-to-block ads” functionality to combat intrusive pop-ups, along with system-wide Parallel Spaces that allow users to display two instances of the same app.
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Magic 6 Lite
The Magic 6 Lite is available right now in Europe in Midnight Black, Emerald Green and Sunrise Orange finishes.
The phone boasts a 6.78-inch AMOLED curved display with Full HD+ resolution (1220 × 2652 pixels), an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, and refresh rate of 120Hz.
The screen also provides a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits, 1920Hz PWM dimming technology, and features a cut-out housing a 16MP selfie camera with an f/2.5 aperture.
On the rear panel, the circular module accommodates a three-camera setup, comprising a 108MP (f/1.75) main camera, a 5MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP (f/2.4) macro camera. The setup can record video in up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second.
Beneath the Magic 6 Lite’s chassis lies a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, built using a 4nm technology process. The chipset operates alongside 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
For connectivity, the smartphone utilises dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, and a USB Type-C port. It also features dual SIM support and a fingerprint reader integrated into the display.
Although Honor has just announced the Android 14-based Magic OS 8.0, the Magic 6 Lite runs Android 13 with the Magic UI 7.2 overlay and is powered by a 5300mAh battery with 35W fast charging.
The smartphone measures 163.6×75.5×7.98mm and weighs 185 grams.
We’ll update this article when more information is revealed by the time of the global launch. To see what the Magic 6 series will be up against, check out our guides to the best Honor phones and best Android phones.
