Huawei Honor Magic - Specifications. First impressions of the Honor Magic2 smartphone: the return of the Huawei Honor Magic sliders

As said during the presentation, Honor Magic is the culmination of research and development aimed at improving mobile technology. The smartphone analyzes user behavior to provide intelligent interactive features in place.

Behind these words lies an advanced analogue of Google Now, which makes contextual suggestions in a timely manner. So, if you are going to the cinema with friends, the smart assistant will recommend the latest blockbusters. While on the move, the assistant will automatically activate travel mode and launch the map. It is noteworthy that all useful information is displayed on the switched off screen. It may also include, for example, a taxi license plate, a barcode for booking a hotel room, or a flashlight icon if a person is in a dark room.

Huawei Honor Magic uses sensors to recognize the user's touch and eye position. This takes data management and security to a new level. Thus, the phone will unlock the screen and show an incoming message only if it recognizes its owner. Another application: a smartphone will scroll through pictures in a photo album with one eye movement. Functions are customized according to user preferences. All the capabilities of the flexible operating system based on Android 6.0 remain to be seen.

Huawei Honor Magic has a unibody aluminum body with streamlined edges. Declared protection against water and dust. It is noteworthy that all connectors are located at the bottom end, which once again emphasizes the overall unusual appearance of the device. The single Magic Touch control button functions as a fingerprint scanner and supports a wide range of gestures.

Technical characteristics of Huawei Honor Magic:

• 5.09-inch AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution (2560 × 1440 pixels), glass curves on all sides.
• 8-core Kirin 950 processor (four cores at 2.3 GHz and 1.8 GHz).
• 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory.
• 12-megapixel main camera with f/2.2 aperture, 8-megapixel front camera.
• Network communications: LTE, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), support for two SIM cards.
• Dimensions: 146.1 x 69.9 x 7.8 mm.
• Weight: 145 g
• 2,900 mAh battery with Huawei Magic Power fast charging technology: 10 minutes - up to 40%, 30 minutes - up to 90%.

The cost of Huawei Honor Magic in China will be $530. Sales will begin today.

The “senior” Honor with a magical name first appeared in 2016 - and did not officially reach Russia, despite the excellent representation of the brand here. It’s worth saying right away that the same thing awaits Honor Magic2 - it is already known that this is a device intended exclusively for the Chinese market. But at the same time, it is a very interesting device, which we were able to get acquainted with immediately after the announcement. We'll do a full review later, today - first impressions.

Two weeks ago, Huawei introduced its flagship Mate 20/Mate 20 Pro - the first smartphone on the new Kirin 980 platform, which sports particularly powerful artificial intelligence and a triple rear camera with the ability to not only zoom the frame, but also get a wider viewing angle. And now - the next move is up to the Honor brand. Magic2 is the second smartphone with Kirin 980 and here not only the rear camera received three lenses and sensors, but also the front one! And in addition to this, the design of the slider and the completely new voice assistant YoYo. It sounds like a royal flush, but it's not quite that smooth.

Although it is the slider mechanism that works really smoothly and pleasantly - Magic2 is able to deliver tactile pleasure, while emitting characteristic clicks: only they come not from inside the case, but from the bottom speaker. Simulation, but appropriate. Moreover, the slider here is completely mechanical, and not electronic, as in the OPPO Find X - the back of the case must be slightly pushed up so that the front cameras appear above the screen. At the same time, the rear ones are always in place - there is no need to move the Honor Magic 2 apart in order to take any picture. Xiaomi used exactly the same solution in its Mi MIX 3, I also managed to talk with it for a short time - and, I must say, Honor did it better. The mechanism works more clearly, less effort is needed, and the risk of dropping the phone from your hand when grabbing it to push it apart is minimal.

This is even a little strange, considering that the case, traditionally for Honor, is almost entirely made of glass (only the edges are made of metal) - your fingers cling well to the mirrored back, and using the Magic2 is convenient. Thanks to the use of this mechanism, the “bangs” disappeared, and the 6.39-inch display almost completely occupied the front panel - the frames are almost invisible, only there is a relatively large indentation at the bottom.

When you open the Honor Magic2, the face recognition system is automatically activated - in the “regular” version it is standard, using exclusively the front camera, in the special version Magic2 3D - with a three-dimensional scanner. This, again, is convenient - the only problem is that after recognition you go directly to the camera application in order to quickly take a selfie. If you don't need this scenario, you can unlock your smartphone using the on-screen fingerprint scanner, but it, like the Mate 20 Pro, is average in both speed and accuracy (though it takes more time to get a clearer impression).

Having unlocked Honor Magic2, the user should not get into the usual EMUI, but into the Magic UI shell specially developed for this series. Alas, there is only a Chinese version, and I had no opportunity to get acquainted with it, especially since they provided me with a gadget re-flashed for EMUI for testing. But it is in the Magic UI that the main feature of the flagship Honor is hidden - the YOYO voice assistant. He, of course, today does not know the Russian language (but knows ten others) and was generally excluded from the smartphone that we got for testing, but, judging by the long story at the presentation, he can do more than Siri or Google Assistant: from voice translation “on the fly” to the ability to unlock a smartphone simply by recognizing the “owner’s” voice, and it does this even in a noisy environment. To fully get acquainted with YOYO, you need to wait for its Russian-language version - no one says when it will appear, but there is definitely hope.

However, the platform installed in Magic2 does not give him intelligence, of course, but very good mental abilities even without YOYO. In addition to the traditional way of using AI in smartphones - to improve photos (or "enhancement", depending on who knows) - Honor demonstrated, for example, applications that assess the condition of your skin in real time: how old you look, how hydrated it is, and etc. Moreover, Honor even has a certificate stating that this method is quite accurate. There will be more applications using neural network computing in the future, as long as we have smartphones that are adapted to this. Honor, of course, compared Magic 2 in terms of the power of working with neural networks with the iPhone - but not with the Xs, which is built on the A12 platform with a dedicated Neural Engine module, but with last year's iPhone X. The trick is not the most honest.

In terms of performance outside of AI scenarios, the Kirin 980 can easily compete with the Apple A11 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, beating them, for example, in 3D graphics. But there is no dominance even today - we will talk more about this in the upcoming review of the Mate 20 Pro.

The memory is in complete order: RAM or 6 or 8 GB, non-volatile - from 128 to 512 GB (the latter in the Magic2 3D version). This is a truly powerful smartphone without much compromise. More precisely, with one thing - there is no slot for a microSD memory card. For the 128 GB version it is quite relevant, so there is something to regret, albeit a little.

I’ve already said a few words about the display above, but I’ll add that it’s a 6.39-inch AMOLED 19:9 format with Full HD+ resolution.

Cameras - a rare case - are not the most interesting thing about this smartphone. The rear ones are designed according to the scheme tested in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro: each of the three is responsible for its own focal length, providing a fairly good optical zoom. Two of them are 16 megapixels (f/1.8 and f/2.2), the third is black and white 24 megapixels (f/1.8). Unfortunately, there is no optical stabilizer, and the shooting level is approximately the same as what the Honor 10 demonstrates - with the addition of an additional wide-angle mode.

From left to right: from ultra-wide-angle to 2x zoom

Naturally, it supports switchable artificial intelligence, which can recognize up to five simultaneous scenarios for one plot, “twisting” the picture to take them all into account. I didn’t notice any other specific features of the camera operation for Magic2.

Front cameras are even more interesting - primarily in quantity. There are also three of them: 16 megapixels (f/2.0) and two 2 megapixels - both for more correct operation of software bokeh. Why two at once, no one could explain, and during the short acquaintance I did not understand - in terms of the quality of background processing, the Honor Magic2 is even inferior to the same Huawei Mate 20 Pro with a single front-facing camera. But directly in terms of the quality of filming, there are no questions, an excellent level.

Another feature that has moved, albeit from the first Magic, is fast charging with a power of 40 W (10V, 4A). With its help, a smartphone with a 3500 mAh battery is charged to 85% in half an hour, and half-charged in 15 minutes.

Like the Mate 20 Pro, Magic2 received a dual GPS receiver, allowing you to more quickly and accurately determine your location and record a track of movements, as well as a Wi-Fi module with a theoretical data reception speed of 1.7 Gbps. There is NFC, infrared and Bluetooth 5.0. But, as you can easily see in the photographs, there is no mini-jack - despite the fact that there is no moisture protection. This fashion is, frankly, tiring.

Honor Magic2 will be available in three gradient colors: red, black (both in our pictures) and blue. Alas, it will be available, I repeat, only in China; Honor has no plans to bring the model to other markets yet. And, to be honest, it would be nice; the prices, as is usually the case with Honor, are very reasonable. For the younger version of 6/128 GB they ask for 3,799 yuan (approximately 36,000 rubles), for the version of 8/128 GB - 4,299 yuan (40,600 rubles), for the version of 8/256 GB - 4,799 yuan (45,350 rubles), for the 8/512 GB version of Magic2 3D - 5,799 yuan (54,800 rubles).

The first Magic to officially appear in Russia will most likely be the next, third version - and this will happen next year. For now, all that remains is to either cluck your tongue and choose another smartphone, or order it from a Chinese store, with Chinese firmware devoid of Google Play.

Huawei Honor Magic 2 is a powerful slider smartphone with six cameras. The device received a flagship processor, as well as support for artificial intelligence. The presentation of the device took place at the end of October 2018.

Appearance and ergonomics

Huawei Honor Magic 2 is made in a slider form factor. If you need to access the front camera and multimedia speaker, you need to pull the second half of the gadget up a little. The body is made of glass panels, between which there is a glossy metal frame. Moreover, there are no “bangs” or “chins” in front, since the screen almost completely occupies the entire front side. There are only tiny frames around all the edges. It is noteworthy that the fingerprint scanner is built into the display itself. The frameless screen is covered with protective 2.5D glass.

The vertical block with the main triple camera is located in the upper corner of the rear of the body. Two lenses are connected to the flash, and the third module is located slightly lower. There is a USB Type-C connector at the bottom end. The gadget received a special glass on which almost no traces remain. At the same time, the surface is relatively slippery, so you need to use the phone very carefully.

It is more convenient to use the gadget with two hands. The device looks very attractive and impressive even compared to other flagships. Available colors: blue, red, gray. Dimensions: height - 157.3 mm, width - 75.1 mm, thickness - 8.3 mm, weight - 206 g.

Display

Honor Magic 2 has a frameless AMOLED display with a 6.39-inch diagonal. With an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, its resolution is 2340 by 1080 pixels. The Magic Slide screen takes up almost 95% of the front panel area. It is covered with curved glass.

Thanks to proprietary technologies, the image becomes very rich and vibrant. The colors are incredibly realistic. The colorful picture is complemented by excellent viewing angles. There is an anti-glare layer that allows the user to comfortably look at the screen outdoors. You will also be pleased with the oleophobic coating, which leaves virtually no fingerprints.

Hardware and performance

The Honor Magic 2 smartphone received a very powerful Kirin 980 processor, which was created using a 7nm process technology. It not only consists of four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1800 MHz, but also has two higher-performance Cortex-A76 clusters with a maximum clock speed of 2600 MHz. This eight-core chip is also equipped with a Mali-G76 MP10 graphics accelerator.

The device comes in a variety of versions. The younger version has 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB ROM. More advanced models received 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of internal memory. It is also planned to release a premium version with a large amount of internal memory of 512 GB. There is support for microSD cards up to 256 GB, so you can expand your free space without any problems.

The gadget has a 3500 mAh battery with SuperCharge fast charging function. Out of the box, the device is based on the Android 9.0 operating system with the EMUI 9.0 shell pre-installed. There is an exclusive Yoyo voice assistant, as well as comprehensive artificial intelligence support.

At the time of writing this review, the still unoptimized version of the chipset scores more than 250,000 points in the AnTuTu test. And this applies to the cheapest model. In reality, performance is at the level of flagship smartphones. Any tasks are processed instantly. Games run at maximum graphic settings.

Communication and sound

Huawei Honor Magic 2 has a loud multimedia speaker. It can only be accessed after opening the slider. The sound in the headphones is quite high quality, you can feel the low frequencies. The conversational speaker copes quite well with conveying the voice of the interlocutor. There is support for two SIM cards, LTE-A Cat 21, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and aptX HD.

Camera

The presence of several triple cameras at once in the Huawei Honor Magic 2 is striking. At the back there is a camera with a main 16-megapixel module with an aperture of 1.8 and an additional 16-megapixel sensor with an aperture of 2.2, as well as a 24-megapixel sensor (f/1.8 aperture). There is support for AI technology and an LED flash. You can shoot video in 4K resolution. A huge number of special scenes have been prepared for the user to ensure that photographs are of excellent quality under any conditions.

The front camera consists of a main 16-megapixel lens with f/2.0 aperture, as well as two 2-megapixel sensors (aperture 2.4). She can scan faces, and does this in full 3D quality for maximum security.

conclusions

Honor Magic 2 is an unexpectedly productive and technologically advanced smartphone in the increasingly popular slider form factor. The device has an extremely attractive design and also has six cameras for advanced shooting. It should be noted that there is a truly frameless screen, which is devoid of various protrusions.

Pros:

• Productive hardware and AI support.
• Triple cameras on both sides.
• Very nice appearance.
• There is NFC and USB Type-C.
• Excellent display with no protrusions.

Minuses:

• The slider mechanism may not be to everyone's taste.
• There is no headphone jack.
• Not all programs have been optimized yet.

Technical characteristics of Huawei Honor Magic 2

General characteristics
Model	Huawei Honor Magic 2
Date of announcement and start of sales	October 2018 / November 2018
Dimensions (LxWxH)	157.3 x 75.1 x 8.3 mm.
Weight	206
Available colors	blue, gray and red
operating system	Android 9.0 (Pie) + EMUI 9.0
Connection
Number and type of SIM cards	one, Nano-SIM / two hybrid, Nano-SIM, dual stand-by
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (only for dual-SIM model); CDMA 800 & TD-SCDMA - for China
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 6(900), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17 (700), 19(800), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
Carrier Compatibility	MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2, Yota
Data transfer
WiFi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	5.0, A2DP, aptX HD, LE
GPS	yes, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS
NFC	There is
Infrared port	No
Platform
CPU	eight-core HiSilicon Kirin 980 (2×2.6 GHz Cortex-A76 & 2×1.92 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
GPU	Mali-G76 MP10
Inner memory	128/256 GB
RAM	6/8 GB
Ports and connectors
USB	3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go
3.5mm jack	No
Memory card slot	yes, up to 256 GB (combined with SIM 2 slot)
Display
Display type	capacitive touch screen AMOLED, 16M colors
Screen size	6.39 inches (~84.8% of the front surface of the device)
Display protection	2.5D glass
Camera
Main camera	triple, 16 MP (f/1.8, PDAF) + 16 MP (f/2.2) + 24 MP (B/W, f/1.8)
Functionality of the main camera	LED flash, panorama, HDR
Video recording	2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, 720p@480fps
Front-camera	triple, 16 MP (f/2.0) + 2 MP (f/2.4, depth sensor) + 2 MP (f/2.4, depth sensor), HDR, video recording 1080p@30fps
Sensors
Illuminance	There is
Approximations	There is
Gyroscope	There is
Compass	There is
Hall	There is
Accelerometer	There is
Barometer	No
Fingerprint scanner	There is
Face ID	There is
Battery
Battery type and capacity	Li-Po 3500 mAh
Battery mount	non-removable
Equipment
Standard kit	Magic 2:1 USB cable: 1 SIM tray eject clip: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Type-C adapter for connecting headphones: 1 Charger: 1

Prices

Video reviews

One of the most interesting new products at the IFA 2018 international exhibition in Berlin was the flagship smartphone Honor Magic 2 from Huawei, made in a slider form factor that is rare today. Its creators took such an unusual step for the sake of the most frameless design.

The front camera and sensors are located on the retractable part of the device, and it is not at all necessary to expand the Magic 2 body to just have a conversation. Thanks to Huawei's non-standard design, the new product immediately attracted the attention of the public, although its official release will take place at the end of October.

The predecessor Honor Magic 2, released a couple of years ago, became the first smartphone to receive a graphene battery. This technology can significantly increase the reliability of the battery, double its service life and significantly speed up the charging process.

Apparently, the second version of Honor Magic will also receive a similar battery, which since 2016 has never been installed in other models from both Huawei itself and other companies. Another feature of the new product will be the new powerful mobile processor HiSilicon Kirin 980.

Honor Magic 2 release date

Despite the fact that the Honor Magic 2 prototype was first shown during the IFA 2018 international exhibition in Berlin, the official premiere of the flagship was postponed to October 26. Apparently, Huawei does not want the new product to create competition for another top series - Mate 20, the release of which is scheduled for the middle of the month.

Magic 2 Preview at IFA 2018

Positioning and price

Typically, Honor series smartphones are technically a little behind Huawei flagships. A couple of years ago, the company even distinguished it as an independent brand, despite the fact that they are made on the same hardware base and are produced in the same factories.

However, it cannot be said that Honor Magic 2 is just a Huawei Mate 20 “for the budget-conscious.” Despite the fact that both devices belong to the flagship level and are based on the same Kirin 980, they are structurally different. Just look at the slider form factor.

Widget from SocialMart

The question of the cost of the “second magic” remains open. Usually, Honor smartphones cost one and a half or even two times cheaper than their closest analogues from the P and Mate lines, but in this case you will obviously have to overpay for the conceptual approach.

Design and ergonomics

We had the opportunity to see Honor Magic 2 for the first time during IFA 2018, as mentioned above. The device was also demonstrated at the company’s official stand at the exhibition, and it was a working prototype. Apparently, it is already completely ready for production.

The new product has a streamlined shape that immediately catches your eye. The case physically consists of two halves: a base with a metal frame and a screen module. The latter needs to be pulled down in order to open the front camera.

The main secret of Huawei's “magic”

The screen has curved side edges and is apparently based on an AMOLED matrix. The frames are very thin, so Honor Magic 2 has every chance to win the status of the most frameless smartphone of 2018. At the same time, its design is quite reliable, unlike competitors with a retractable camera.

Features Overview

Iron

Regarding the processor, we have already spoken more than once above. Honor Magic 2 is based on the recently announced platform. This chip is the first smartphone solution to use the new 7-nanometer process technology.

Previously, Huawei was repeatedly criticized for using obsolete cores like ARM Cortex-A73 for its top processors, which are noticeably inferior in performance to custom developments from Qualcomm and Samsung. This time things are exactly the opposite.

Thus, the CPU of the Kirin 980 chipset installed inside the Honor Magic 2 includes four high-performance ARM Cortex-A76 cores and four energy-efficient, but still quite powerful ARM Cortex-A55 cores. Interestingly, they are divided into three clusters:

• 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 @ 2.60 MHz
• 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 @ 1.92 MHz
• 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.80 MHz

Moreover, activation of nuclei can occur not only cluster by cluster, but also selectively. For example, when playing music, only one ARM Cortex-A55 core will work, and when running the Facebook application, three Cortex-A55 and one Cortex-A76 from the second cluster will work.

The first synthetic tests showed the obvious superiority of the new Kirin 980 not only over its predecessor Kirin 970, but also over mobile processors from competitors - Samsung Exynos 9810 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Thanks to this, Honor Magic 2 can become one of the most powerful smartphones this fall.

There is no data yet regarding the volume of RAM and built-in memory of the “second magic”. Rumors attribute Magic 2 to having 6 Gb of RAM and a built-in storage capacity of 64 or 128 Gb. At the same time, there seems to be no possibility of expanding memory.

Display

As in the case of memory, Huawei has not yet talked much about the screen characteristics of the Honor Magic 2. Judging by the available images, it has an aspect ratio of 9 to 19.5 with a diagonal of about 6 inches. Assumed resolution is 1080x2340 pixels.

It is also expected that the Magic 2 screen will be based on an AMOLED matrix with curved side edges, while the fingerprint scanner is built directly into the display module. Due to very thin frames and the use of a slider form factor, the screen occupies almost 90% of the front surface.

Communications

The chipset determines everything here. The Kirin 980 mentioned above, which is the basis of the Honor Magic 2, has an integrated modem with support for LTE aggregation at the Category-21 DL / Category-18 UL level. This enables 4G download speeds of up to an incredible 1400 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 200 Mbps.

With such indicators, the new product is already approaching the values ​​of 5G networks. Apart from the Mate 20 from Huawei itself, currently no other smartphone can boast of such parameters. And this is not to mention such “gentlemanly” options as support for installing two SIM cards and VoLTE.

Among other things: dual-band WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + A-GPS navigation, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, NFC adapter and USB Type-C (USB 3.1 data exchange mode). Most likely, unlike its predecessor, Honor Magic 2 will not receive a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Cameras

It is known that the main camera of Honor Magic 2 is double, and the front camera is single, which can be seen even on advertising teasers of the smartphone. But any specific parameters remain a mystery. Even a banal resolution. What is clear is that the “budget flagship” will do without proprietary Leica optics.

Sensors and biometrics

As noted above, Magic 2 has a fingerprint scanner built into the screen. It is not yet known whether Huawei plans to use a cheaper optical sensor, or whether we are talking about a more advanced ultrasonic module. There is no information regarding the possibility of having a face scanner.

Autonomy

Representatives of Huawei have already managed to quite well promote the Honor Magic 2 battery, made using graphene. This technology ensures stable battery operation over wide ranges of ambient temperature fluctuations and doubles the service life.

Another advantage of the graphene battery is its faster charging speed. It is expected that Magic 2 will be equipped with a 40-watt charger based on Huawei Super Charge technology. The latter is currently recognized as the most effective among similar solutions.

However, the most important thing is not yet clear: what capacity the new battery has. Alas, Huawei representatives have not yet shared this data.

Software

Most likely, Honor Magic 2 out of the box will receive the latest version of Android 9.0 Pie with the proprietary EMUI 9.0 shell. The latter is already available for download at the moment, albeit in beta version status, for some smartphones both under the main Huawei and Honor brands.

Equipment (estimated)

No data.

Pros and cons in brief

Main advantages of Honor Magic 2:

• Interesting form factor
• Powerful processor
• Frameless design
• High reliability graphene battery
• 40W fast charging
• Fastest RAM LPDDR4x @ 2133 MHz
• Support LTE level Category-21 DL / Category-18 UL
• Large screen with an aspect ratio of 9 to 19.5 without cutouts (the entire space is available to the user)
• Bluetooth v5.0
• NFC available
• In-display fingerprint scanner

• Quite thick case compared to analogues due to the chosen form factor

Summary

Since the parameters of Honor Magic 2 remain largely a mystery, it is too early to draw any conclusions. Nevertheless, the smartphone is shaping up to be very interesting. And it can already be recommended to lovers of everything bright and unusual.

Video selection

Announcement of the smartphone during the international exhibition IFA 2018 in Berlin:

Technical characteristics of Honor Magic 2 in detail

Platform

Chipset	HiSilicon Kirin 980 Octa Core
CPU	2 x ARM Cortex-A76 @ 2.60 MHz 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 @ 1.92 MHz 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.80 MHz
64 bit	Yes
Graphic arts	ARM Mali-G76 MP10 @ 720 MHz
NPU*	Yes (Dual)
Technical process	7nm FinFET

* NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is a neural processor, also sometimes called an artificial intelligence accelerator.

Memory

Screen

Connection

Communication standards	GSM, CDMA, UMTS, TD-SCDMA, LTE
2G GSM	850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS	B1 2100 MHz/B19 850 MHz/B2 1900 MHz/B4 1700 MHz/B5 850 MHz/B6 850 MHz/B8 900 MHz
4G LTE	FDD B1 2100 MHz, FDD B12 700 MHz, FDD B17 700 MHz, FDD B18, FDD B19 800 MHz, FDD B20 800 MHz, FDD B26, FDD B3 1800 MHz, FDD B4 1700 MHz, FDD B5 850 MHz, FDD B6, FDD B7 2600 MHz, FDD B8 900 MHz, FDD B9
3G TD-SCDMA	B34/B39
LTE support	Category-21 DL / Category-18 UL
LTE speed	1400 Mbps (data download), 200 Mbps (data transfer)
Number of SIM cards	2
SIM card type	Nano SIM

The list of supported mobile communication standards and frequencies depends on the country of delivery. The probable parameters of the version for the domestic Chinese market and Hong Kong are given.

Interfaces

WiFi	IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band (2.4 GHz + 5.0 GHz), hotspot, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth	v5.0
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
NFC	Yes
FM radio	No
3.5mm audio	No data
USB	USB Type-C, USB 3.1 data exchange mode, On-to-Go

In Russia, the first Honor Magic model, which was shown two years ago, has never officially gone on sale, I think that the fate of Magic 2 will be similar. Honor is a subsidiary of the big Huawei, and it is often perceived not as a separate brand, but as an additional line of products, although this is not entirely true, there are more differences than one might imagine. These are different legal entities, different teams, duplicating all functions, from R&D to sales. Perhaps the closest analogy would be the existence of OPPO/Vivo within the parent company BBK Corporation, when they are de facto and de jure independent, but use all the best practices and their model ranges are as similar as possible. The relationship between Honor and Huawei is not easy to understand; confusion is created by the similarity of the devices, the same components that the companies use. But there are still differences between them, and in the Magic flagship they are fully manifested.

What is Magic? This is a device that is being created as a testing ground for technologies that need to be tested not only in laboratories, but also in the outside world. If such technologies show their viability, then they find application in mass models, both from Honor and Huawei. The Magic's positioning is straightforward; it is a device for technology fans and enthusiasts who want something unusual. For example, a traditional buyer will not be excited by the presence of a graphene battery. Twice the service life? And what? Does it respond better to temperature changes? And again a question mark. For an ordinary person, these are simply unnecessary details; for him, completely different characteristics and quantities come to the fore. For a technology enthusiast, this is the opportunity to own something that is unusual and makes his device stand out from others.

Therefore, models with the name Magic are a test of technology, aimed at those who are ready to become testers of something new, an obviously grateful audience. The price of the issue fades into the background here, but these models are not mass-produced by definition, they were not created as such. Relatively small runs allow the use of components that are not available for mass production (graphene in the first generation), and gain experience in real operation. I like the concept of this type of device; it is right for the target audience.

Oddly enough, the announcement of Magic 2 took place at IFA in Berlin, then they showed a picture of the device, but did not talk about the technical characteristics. There was one sample at the Huawei stand; you could twirl it in your hands, but you weren’t allowed to photograph it; a specially assigned person was closely watching this. Then there was a feeling that Honor wanted to overtake other companies, for example, Xiaomi, which had prepared models similar in concept, the latter having Mi MIX 3. Therefore, the official announcement on October 31 can be considered a full-fledged launch of the device.

The presentation took place at the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, where, in fact, we got acquainted with the device. Let's take a look at the Magic 2 and what technologies manufacturers are betting on.

Magic 2 – screen, cameras and performance

One of the problems of our time for smartphones has been the growth of screen diagonals, as well as the need to place a front camera and various sensors. And if the sensors can be packed under the display glass, it is impossible to hide the camera there without losing a piece of the image. The concept of many Chinese companies and the answer to this challenge is to create a slider design. The screen is made movable vertically, you move the halves and a cutout appears in which the front camera is located. Since the slider is active, you can avoid wasting energy when scanning the surrounding world in anticipation of the user's face, as is done in the iPhone. Alternatively, some Chinese companies have made a pop-up camera module, but from a mechanical point of view this is not a very optimal design. The slider is more reliable and easier to implement, but the obvious disadvantage is that the body cannot be made as thin as in a regular all-in-one, and you may have to partially sacrifice battery capacity.

When closed, it is impossible to determine that this is a slider; nothing in the device gives away such a design.

Please note that Xiaomi recently announced a model with a similar design – Mi MIX 3, which also uses a slider.

Let's look at the technical characteristics of the device and then move on to the discussion:

• Android 9 with proprietary EMUI shell
• Chipset HiSilicon Kirin 980, 7 nm
• 6/8 GB of RAM, 128 and 256 GB of internal memory
• 6.39 inches AMOLED screen, FullHD+ resolution, 19.5x9, AlwaysOn Display, automatic brightness adjustment
• Front camera with depth of field effect, additional shooting modes - 16/20/2 megapixels
• Main camera 16/24/16 megapixels, x3 optical zoom
• Battery Li-Ion 3400 mAh, fast charging 40 W (less than an hour to fully charge the battery), wireless charging
• Fingerprint sensor built into the screen
• NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0
• Dimensions 157x75x8.3 mm, weight 206 grams

Externally, Magic 2 resembles the P20 Pro: an iridescent body, the same format for the placement of cameras on the rear panel. There are no complaints about how the device is assembled. It seems to me that in recent years the quality of assembly has increased among all manufacturers; we have stopped thinking about it altogether, since the level is approximately the same everywhere, and this is a qualitatively good level.

There are several color options, look at the colors below.

For those, like me, who are annoyed by the notch in the screen, Magic 2 will be a salvation. The screen occupies almost the entire front surface, there are no cutouts, since this is a slider design. The sides are minimal, and they are comfortable enough, including for operating the device with one hand.

At all Huawei/Honor presentations, comparisons with the iPhone have become a commonplace, because such comparisons favorably highlight the company's smartphones, while the iPhone loses.

The battery capacity is smaller than in the Mate 20 Pro (where it is 4200 mAh), this is done deliberately to show fast charging in less than an hour. But there is also another point: the HiSilicon Kirin 980 processor, made using a 7 nm process, is limited in clock frequency (formally everything is exactly the same, at least on paper). In reality, if in the Mate 20 Pro there is a maximum performance setting in the menu, which unlocks the maximum processor frequencies, then in the Magic 2 it has been redesigned. This is clearly visible in benchmarks, as Magic 2 produces lower numbers. This was done to ensure that the device works no less than the Mate 20 Pro, despite the smaller battery size. Another plus is that the screen resolution is lower, although the Mate 20 Pro also has FullHD+ by default.

There are almost no changes in the main camera compared to the same P20 Pro, but you shouldn’t look for co-branding with Leica here, these are just cameras without any brand. It’s hard to say whether Leica’s work affects the quality of shooting, but the software is exactly the same and can do the same things as the latest generation from Huawei. But the modules themselves are very different. In “Spillikins” I will share pictures taken with both devices, for now just a few test pictures from the main camera, they didn’t make any impression on me. Not only the Mate 20 Pro, but also the P20 Pro and P20 take better photos. Maximum optical zoom – x2.

The front camera has received new shooting modes, this is also the direction in which many companies are experimenting. It is difficult to judge how important and in demand it is, but manufacturers are trying to do something new. There is portrait photography with various effects, but they look at least strange. See for yourself and see for yourself.

It’s difficult for me to evaluate the YoYo voice assistant due to the fact that I don’t know Chinese. And so I will only say that it is important to have such an assistant, but how good it is, how applicable it is, I cannot tell you. Alas. At the presentation, they talked a lot about how Yoyo outperforms Siri in terms of recognition quality and speed.

At the moment, only ten languages ​​are supported, the main one is Chinese, and there are also French, English, German, Spanish and some others. There is no Russian, and it will appear in a year at best, if Honor agrees with Yandex that Alice will turn into YoYo. Such conversations are ongoing, and there are chances that this will happen.

From what I liked and what I haven’t come across yet, I’ll note the translation in real time during a conversation. That is, you call someone who does not speak your language, and you immediately have decoding and translation. An interlinear text appears on the screen. As for me, this is just a gorgeous thing, and if it works at the very least, it will become an indispensable assistant when traveling. Until recently, the same Google translator made life very easy, but what can I say, today in a tea house in Beijing I communicated exclusively with its help, as well as successfully bargained, giving arguments, and not just showing numbers on a calculator. The fact that this is now available for phone calls is very cool. This is something that will be implemented by almost all companies in the future, there is no doubt about it.

Yoyo also has an app to estimate your skin's age and various blemishes. This application has received some approval from relevant organizations, which serves as proof that it works. For women who take care of themselves, this feature will be interesting.

The quality of voice recognition is also something that Honor is proud of, but there is another thing that interested me. The Honor 3D model has a built-in analogue of the True Depth camera, which should recognize a person’s face, including in complete darkness. This is one version of Magic 2, which is the most expensive (8/256 GB). Other devices do not have such recognition.

Another point is working with FlyPods headphones, the creation of which the company was inspired by swans, they say, their shape is very similar. And it seemed to me that the inspiration came from an Apple product. A funny situation happened at our demo stand when my colleague took out his AirPods and we started photographing them together with the FlyPods.

At some point, security wanted to return the AirPods they had put in their pocket, confusing them with the announced headphones. Only by showing the Apple inscription were we able to avoid any problems. The headphones themselves are available in two versions, three colors for each of them. They look strange, large tubes in the ears, however, I don’t particularly like AirPods. But the most important thing is that, despite support for high-resolution audio, up to 15 hours of operation on a single charge (I think that, as before, this is a maximum of 5 hours and two charges from the case), they do not seem expensive.

The Pro model, which will appear sometime in early 2019, has a special difference: it measures the sound transmitted through the bone. This is not necessary for audio transmission, but for authorization in applications and financial services. Honor believes that attackers can record your voice and then unlock the phone without your participation, but here it is impossible to fake both the voice and the frequency response obtained in the dice. That is, a check based on two criteria. And it serves to authenticate you into financial applications, which is sort of the next step in biometrics. One of the slides showed how quickly the payment process occurs and what steps are skipped.

And then they even showed a video in which Siri was unsuccessfully asked to pay for something, and the iPhone asked to enter a passcode. In Honor you don’t need to do this, since biometric authorization is reliable and allows you to unlock the device.

The price for FlyPods on the slide is for China, feel free to multiply by 10 and get the cost in rubles (8 and 10 thousand rubles, respectively). These headphones will not be officially sold in Russia.

As for me, this is really something new and unusual, but I’m not sure that this method of biometrics will take root in the market. Too complicated, plus you need an additional accessory.

The positioning of Magic 2 in the Honor line is clear; it is the current flagship. But its relationship with devices from Huawei is somewhat different. Let me remind you that the Mate line is top-end, therefore the same Mate 20 (not to be confused with Pro) should be higher in positioning. And the flagship of the P line, namely the P20 Pro, is also higher. Let me remind you that in Russia the price for P20 Pro is 49,990 rubles. Based on this, we can assume that Magic 2 should cost 44,990 rubles, that is, slightly cheaper than the P20 Pro. And this seems logical - it is better in some ways (processor and fingerprint sensor, design), comparable in some ways (quality of the main camera), and slightly inferior in others (formally in terms of battery capacity).

And prices in China look like this (don’t forget to multiply by 10 to get the cost).

Overall, I liked the Magic 2, it's a device with a twist and it looks interesting. There are not many competitors for it on the market, if you do not take into account mass models. Although why not take it? Samsung's flagships are more expensive, so the price difference will make the Magic 2 attractive to many (with the same S9+, the difference is at least 15-20 thousand rubles). If we take the line from Apple, then the nearest iPhone Xr simply does not stand up to competition, it is worse in everything except the brand, which is still perceived as a fashion brand, but this is already a thing of the past, now it is rather the perception that a person overpaid without thinking per model. A direct competitor is the Xiaomi Mi MIX3, but a number of parameters are worse there, for example, the fingerprint sensor on the rear panel.

Honor's model turned out to be extremely interesting, we will soon have a first look at this device, it is already in our hands. For now, this is all that was at the presentation about the smartphone.

Honor Magic Watch

It’s impossible to say anything special about the watch, since it’s a copy of the Huawei Watch GT with a slightly modified design and a lower cost. The diameter has decreased, the thickness of the case has become 11 mm, the battery lasts not up to two weeks, but only up to a week.

There are many different straps, support for NFC and mobile payments has appeared (how it is organized is not entirely clear). Also for the running mode there is a scenario of competition with your virtual shadow, it looks funny, but how useful it is is not very clear.

The design of the watches in black and white cases is slightly different, as you can see in the pictures.

The watch has Lite OS, minimal features, no installation of third-party programs. In a word, it’s a thing in itself, but with a high-quality screen and the design of a familiar watch. The Huawei Watch GT review will be next week, the video is already on our channel, so you can watch and evaluate what kind of product it is. But the Honor Magic Watch will go on sale in January; it will not be available in Russia.

You can see the cost of the watch on the slide.

Budget tablet Honor WaterPlay 8 inches

Without much fanfare, the company also showed off the WaterPlay tablet (from the name it is clear that it can withstand immersion in water, IP67 protection). Despite the fact that this is an 8-inch model with an IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels, the company used a metal body. Kirin 659 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory, dual cameras (13 and 5 megapixels), front 8 megapixels. Harman Kardon stereo speakers are quite loud. The battery is 5100 mAh, which is not bad. The USB Type C connector, all the usual functions are there, is coming to EMUI and Android 8, but will be updated to a new version by the end of the year. The cost in China is just over $200. The product is nice and not bad for the money.

Brief impressions

Presentations in China are always very and noticeably different from those in Europe or the USA, this was no exception. Another mood, the construction of the presentation itself. But the interesting and important thing is that the audience was involved. On the other hand, two hours is too much, too much for several products. I liked the smartphone, although it’s impossible to call it a win-win option; it’s an exploration of possibilities, a study of what will be interesting to the audience. None of the announced products will be officially presented in Russia, however, we are interested to look at them, since Honor plans to introduce such products to our market next year. The company is developing progressively and is in no hurry to flood the market with its offerings. Tell us what you liked and what you didn’t like about these new products. What do you think about them?