Phone you’ve probably never heard of takes the best photos I’ve seen – but some snaps are too good to be true
WHEN most people hear Android they may think of Samsung or Google.
But there are so many more brands around that are creating stunning devices – and sometimes a lot cheaper too.
One such name that’s on the up is Honor.
As The Sun’s main Android smartphone reviewer I try all sorts of handsets all the time.
I’ve dabbled in Honor’s phones before but this time they’re going big on AI with the new Magic7 Pro.
And I have to say the photos it produced really wowed me – but they were almost too perfect, for reasons I explain below.
I took the Honor Magic7 Pro to the stunning Lake Bled in Slovenia to put the camera and more through its paces.
Honor Magic7 Pro: Look and feel
The first thing I notice when picking up a phone is the weight and the Magic7 Pro feels a bit on the heavy side.
But this mighty beast comes in at 223g, which is actually lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and only slightly heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 221g.
It does, however, feel pretty solid, having withstood drops and the tough screen has managed to stay scratch-free in my pocket rattling against keys.
A matte-textured glass back is always a personal favourite because it’s less prone to fingerprint smears and adds some extra grip.
However, the black colour I have is a bit safe – I much prefer the other colours, Lunar Shadow Grey and Breeze Blue which pack more character.
As for the display, it’s vibrant and mega bright, measuring in at 6.8-inches wide.
Honor Magic7 Pro: Performance and software
I used a number of everyday apps on the Magic7 Pro, including Google Chrome, WhatsApp and Netflix, as well as a bit of light gaming in the form of Transformers: Forged to Fight.
The device ran smooth as butter throughout, even when gaming, thanks to the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip inside which is one of the leading choices in Android smartphones and the 12GB of RAM.
Storage wise, you get 512GB which should be enough for most people to store plenty of apps as well as loads of videos and photos.
The handset runs on Android 15 with Honor’s own MagicOS 9 on top.
I’m quite hard to please when it comes to operating systems and always prefer a pure Android experience.
MagicOS isn’t bad on that front, it still feels very true Android, but I’m always anti pre-installed apps, of which there are a handful here.
Honor has committed to offering five years of OS updates and five years of security updates, which is good but not the best around.
Who offers free updates longest?
The longer you receive updates, the longer you can safely continue using your smartphone - with the latest features thrown in too for free.
Samsung
For the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung said it would provide at least seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates.
OnePlus
At the launch of the OnePlus 13, OnePlus committed to at least four years of Android updates and six years of security updates.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi offers four years off Android updates and five years security updates.
Google
For the Pixel 9 series, Google said that devices would receive at least seven years of support.
Honor Magic7 Pro: Battery
Battery is always a big point for most people and fortunately the Magic7 Pro doesn’t disappointment.
Despite being smaller than last year’s Magic6 Pro, experts have clearly worked to optimise how far the power goes, with the added help of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip offering efficiencies too.
The battery is a massive winner, both in terms of how long it lasts and charging times
I easily went late into a second day without needing to charge after taking loads of photos, videos, on top of browsing, messaging, watching Netflix and playing games for a bit.
Even better is that it is able to charge mega fast with a 100W wired charger, going from zero to 100 per cent in about 35 minutes.
However, there is no charger in the box so you’ll have to buy the right one separately to achieve those kinds of speeds.
Honor Magic7 Pro: Camera
The camera is Honor’s main talking point for the Magic7 Pro and the results are really quite something – though perhaps a bit too good to be true.
I went with Honor to Lake Bled in Slovenia to test the camera out in a truly beautiful environment.
There are a dizzying array of camera options and settings to choose from and a lot of AI to enhance things.
For the most part, I found the images it takes to be pretty stunning.
I do love most of the photos taken on it and some are the best I’ve seen on a smartphone
Lots of colour, detail and vibrancy captured.
The main camera comes in at 50-megapixels but there’s also a 200-megapixel 3x telephoto camera and a 50-megapixel ultra wide camera.
As most people will know, zooming in can affect image quality so Honor has something called AI SuperZoom that comes into play when you try to zoom beyond 30x.
The detail is pretty impressive but some people also testing the phone with me had strange results where things were added that aren’t there – for example, leafs on a tree that’s currently bare.
I zoomed in on the moon one night and I’m still not sure whether the extremely good detail I got was AI or not – but given how good it is I’m inclined to believe AI helped.
Portrait mode also produces lovely shots with AI offering assistance though I feel like my skin softness is a little too inauthentic, as you will see in the examples below.
Honor Magic7 Pro: Verdict
Final thoughts by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
I get to test many Android smartphones and putting the Honor Magic7 Pro through its paces in Slovenia was certainly a more interesting place to do that for photography.
I do love most of the photos taken on it and some are the best I’ve seen on a smartphone.
But there’s this niggling feeling at the back of my mind each time about just how “real” some are.
The battery is a massive winner, both in terms of how long it lasts and charging times – it’s just a shame you don’t get a speedy charging plug with it (At the time of writing, honor.com does offer one as a free add-on gift, so look out for that).
I don’t love the operating system but I don’t hate it either, except for pesky bloatware apps.
And the look and feel of the phone is spot on (if only I had a more colourful option to play with).
But my ultimate weigh up of anything has to come against price – and the Magic7 Pro does not come cheap at £1099.
I think this is quite steep for a growing brand.
However, there are some early bird discounts and trade-in offers to bring the price down which helps a bit too.
Rating: 4/5
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.