As far as first impressions go, it’s hard to complain about a phone with great specs like the Honor Magic 4.
Honor has broken free of the shackles preventing it from working with Google, and at MWC 2022, it’s clearly reveling in the fact. First, it flexed its new China-only foldable, the Honor V in the waiting area ahead of the announcement. And as for the launch event, it was all about Honor’s specsy new flagship, the Magic 4 Pro. While not the first phone from Honor to hit the West since its split from Huawei, this is the first serious contender we’ve seen to cram in unadulterated flagship features. Historically, Honor phones have always been the ‘lite’ alternative to Huawei’s big hitters. Even the Honor 50, which launched towards the end of 2021 fell short of a win out of the gate. A glance at the spec sheet of the Magic 4 Pro though, and words like Snapdragon 8 Gen 1,256GB storage and 100W wireless charging make a clear point – Honor isn’t playing games. Then there’s the price. While it doesn’t tread into iPhone 13 Pro Max or Galaxy S22 Ultra territory, it’s still a serious flagship, costing OnePlus 10 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro prices. But can it attack up to such fierce completion? The Magic 4 Pro hasn’t been announced for the US, but it’s coming to Europe, with UK availability expected to be announced imminently. While we don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to buy the Magic 4 Pro, we do know it’s set to cost £899, roughly £1,200 / AUS $1,650. There are two versions of the phone expected, one with 256GB storage and 8GB RAM, and the higher-spec configuration with 512GB storage and 12GB RAM. If you’ve seen a Huawei Mate 40 Pro, then you’ll very loosely know what to expect from the Honor Magic 4 Pro’s design. It’s a premium bit of kit with a curved display on the front and a curved glass back, sandwiching polished metal. While a lot of smartphone makers are switching it up and adding frosted finishes to their flagships, Honor has opted for high-gloss glass with a shiny back that bounces light off it with grace and beauty (until it gets grubbed up by greasy fingers). While the phone is on the chunkier side at 9.
