The Honor Magic 7 Pro is packing some serious camera specs (Image: Honor)
contender Honor has just lifted the lid on the Honor Magic 7 Pro, a high-end slab of smartphone that packs in triple cameras and an interesting but potentially controversial artificial intelligence feature called AI Super Zoom that can generate sharper images of blurry shots you’ve zoomed in on.
When zooming in between 30x and 100x, the Magic 7 Pro’s software gives you the option to tap an ‘AI’ icon. Using cloud-based AI that requires an internet connection, the phone will take the photo but also give you a second altered image where it attempts to make things clearer.
It remains to be seen if results are boosting visuals to be accurately representative of a scene or if Honor is opting to create an AI image that’s, well, artificial. Some Galaxy phones, including the S24 series, and have similar AI zooms that act slightly differently, using the tech to sharpen things rather than call on external image libraries and AI ‘large models’ to fill in blank data spots.
Aside from the AI smarts, the cameras look impressive with a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide and massive 200MP 3x optical periscope telephoto lens for punching in close to subjects with “advanced 1/1.4-inch telephoto sensor with a large f/2.6 aperture”, according to Honor.
“This enhancement ensures outstanding clarity and exceptional light intake, even in challenging lighting conditions.”
The 6.8-inch OLED display is covered in Honor’s NanoCrystal Shield that the firm says is ten times more drop resistant than normal glass, though is supposedly an even tougher phone. The Magic 7 Pro gets a superior IP68/69 dust and water resistance rating, which means you can technically run it through the dishwasher as it’s protected against water jets. Maybe don’t try that, though.
There’s also the collaboration seen on previous Honor phones with Paris photography legends Studio Harcourt to give you classy looking portrait shots including in the studio’s signature lit black and white.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro (Image: Honor)
Other AI features stuffed into this Lunar Shadow Grey or Black device include Honor’s handy Magic Portal tech that lets you tap, hold and drag pictures and text to the side of the screen from any app where the Magic OS 9 software suggests apps for you to send it to, which works excellently for quickly sending photos in , for example.
The phone ships with , and Honor says it will provide five years of OS upgrades and five years of security support to take it to 2030, which is an improvement on previous devices. This is also better than the but lags behind Google and Samsung’s seven years.
To keep pace with Google, Samsung, and every other smartphone maker in the land, the phone also offers AI tools for translation and summarising long chunks of text. Honor has also integrated Google Gemini with all its new AI features into the phone. It really is AI everywhere at the moment in the smartphone world.
Elsewhere, the Magic 7 Pro’s spec sheet impresses with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset also found in the OnePlus 13 and expected to power the . This is paired with 12GB RAM and a generous 512GB storage, though sadly for UK buyers it has a 5,270mAh battery, less than the 5,850mAh of the Chinese version of the 7 Pro.
Tony Ran, General Manager and President of Honor EU told Express.co.uk this was down to the differences in compliance required between devices in China and the rest of the world.
Though there’s no charger in the box, the phone can recharge at a zippy 100W or even 80W wireless, but buyers will have to purchase the right brick separately. That is a little galling given Honor is asking you to fork out £1,099 for the Magic 7 Pro, putting it close to the top of the price pile in the UK. The commands more at £1,249, but the Honor is pricier than the £1,049 , £999 and the £899 OnePlus 13.
The 7 Pro is available to buy from EE, O2, Vodafone and Three, making it more affordable upfront if you want to buy it on contract.
If you pre-order the Magic 7 Pro starting today, 15 January, many UK retailers are offering a free Honor MagicPad 2 tablet worth £499.99, including Amazon, Argos, Very and Currys.