Honor Magic 7 Professional assessment: Taking issues to an entire new degree

Honor noticed heady features in 2024 on the again of the Magic 6 Professional and Magic V3, and the model reveals no indicators of slowing down this yr. After making its debut in China on the finish of final yr, the Magic 7 Professional is now making its strategy to international markets, and there is a lot to love with the system. Honor is doubling down on AI integration, rolling out a slate of latest options that remodel how you employ the cellphone.

There is a new design as nicely, the newest Qualcomm {hardware}, a third-gen silicon-carbon battery, and upgraded cameras — together with a 200MP telephoto lens on the again. The software program has gotten a contemporary coat of paint as nicely, with the cellphone operating MagicOS 9.0 primarily based on Android 15.

With different Chinese language manufacturers elevating the bar for imaging due to the Vivo X200 Professional and Discover X8 Professional, I needed to see how Honor measures up. I used the Magic 7 Professional as my each day driver for simply over two weeks, and this is why I believe it is likely one of the finest telephones of 2025.

Honor Magic 7 Professional: Pricing and availability

Honor unveiled the Magic 7 Professional in China on October 30, and the cellphone made its international debut at an occasion in Slovenia on January 15, 2025. It’s now on sale in international markets in a single 12GB/512GB variant, which prices £1,099 ($1,343) within the U.Ok. and €1,299 ($1,336) in different nations in Europe.

Honor is incentivizing the launch within the U.Ok. by offering a £200 ($244) low cost and the 100W charger (which is not bundled this time), and rolling out a one-time substitute inside 180 days. That is extremely fascinating, and much like what OnePlus did with the OnePlus 13 in India. Basically, if you happen to discover any {hardware} points inside six months of use, you may be eligible to get a brand new Magic 7 Professional as a substitute of sending it in for service.

Honor Magic 7 Professional: Design

Like each different cellphone I used not too long ago, the Magic 7 Professional has a design with flat sides. It is clear that every one producers are gravitating towards this design aesthetic, and I can see the rationale why; not having dual-curved edges means the glass panes are much less liable to breakage within the case of a tumble.

Though the edges are thicker, the usage of beveled edges make holding and utilizing the cellphone snug. That is consistent with what OnePlus did on the OnePlus 13, and the Magic 7 Professional has an identical in-hand really feel. Weight distribution is nice as nicely, and despite the fact that you get an enormous digital camera island on the again, the system does not really feel unwieldy within the least.

I just like the adjustments to the digital camera island as nicely; the module is inlaid with steel and has a squircle design, and it seems cleaner than final yr. The way in which the island merges seamlessly into the again is harking back to the Discover X5 Professional, and the general impact is elegant.

The Magic 7 Professional is offered in blue, black, and Lunar Shadow Gray coloration variants, and the latter possibility is probably the most fascinating of the lot. I obtained the black mannequin, and it is not wherever as fascinating — if you happen to’re eyeing the system, I would suggesting choosing up the gray mannequin.

The again does not draw an excessive amount of consideration to itself (a minimum of on this colorway), and also you get a silky texture that ensures smudges do not present up. There’s ample width on the edges to carry the system comfortably, and the ability button has a crimson accent that provides it a little bit little bit of character.

One other constructive is the ultrasonic sensor; it’s positioned within the splendid place, and is quick to authenticate. Honor is an outlier amongst Android producers in that it makes use of a secondary digital camera on the entrance, and that is used to allow 3D face unlock. Whereas all Android telephones have an identical characteristic, they don’t seem to be as safe as biometrics; fortunately, that is not a difficulty on the Magic 7 Professional, and also you get two safe strategies to unlock the system.

Much like different Chinese language telephones, the Magic 7 Professional will get IP68 and IP69 ingress safety, and it may well stand up to immersion in as much as 1.5 meters of water along with excessive stress water jets and scorching liquids as much as 80 levels Celsius. If something, the one quibble I’ve with the design is that the system is heavy at 223g — the identical because the X200 Professional. Nonetheless, you get a smaller 5270mAh battery (X200 Professional has 6000mAh), and the cellphone is chunkier at 8.8mm (versus 8.2mm).

Outdoors of that, there are not any issues with the design. Along with the common mannequin, Honor is rolling out the Porsche Design variant of the system, and just like the Magic 6 RSR, it has a hexagonal digital camera island and is offered in two fascinating colours. The remainder of the {hardware} is equivalent to the common mannequin, however you get a number of distinctive UI components, and I notably just like the Standby mode that is out there on the system.

Honor Magic 7 Professional: Show

Honor is utilizing a similar-sized 6.8-inch AMOLED panel as final yr, and also you get the identical 5000-nit most brightness. That quantity is meaningless in real-world use because it’s solely restricted to pick out zones when viewing HDR content material; fortunately, the cellphone holds up slightly nicely even beneath harsh daylight, and it’s among the many brightest I examined — solely the Pixel 9 Professional XL obtained brighter in outside use.

Colours are vibrant and detailed, and distinction ranges are glorious as nicely. The cellphone goes as much as 120Hz, and like different flagships, you get dynamic refresh that scales it between 1Hz to 120Hz primarily based on the on-screen content material. The cellphone has HDR integration, and there is a dynamic video mode that enhances colours within the gallery, Instagram, and YouTube.

Like final yr, you get 4320Hz PWM dimming, and whereas different producers at the moment are doing the identical on their gadgets, Honor leads the best way in the case of eye-care tech on its telephones. The Magic 7 Professional will get a set of options on this regard, together with myopic defocus stimulation, round polarization, and pure tone. Briefly, the Magic 7 Professional has sufficient novel show tech that if you happen to’re fearful about eye fatigue or pressure, that is clearly the system to get.

Whereas all of these options are nice, what I like probably the most is that there is a devoted e book mode that switches the panel to monochrome. I used this characteristic extensively in legacy OxygenOS and MIUI builds, nevertheless it’s not out there in latest variations of the skins, so it is nice to see Honor providing the characteristic.

I had no points with the Magic 7 Professional in the case of taking part in movies or gaming, and the cellphone has excellent built-in stereo sound. Honor says it elevated the sound cavity this time to create a way of depth, and that is noticeable in each day use.

Honor Magic 7 Professional: Efficiency

Honor went with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Elite, and the worldwide mannequin is bought in a 12GB/512GB configuration. Ideally, Honor ought to have introduced the 16GB/512GB version outdoors China, however that is not the case. Regardless, I did not see any points with reminiscence being the bottleneck within the two weeks I used the system.

Much like different flagships I examined not too long ago, the cellphone completely flies in common use, and there are not any slowdowns in any respect. The cellphone handles demanding video games with out breaking a sweat, and if something, there is a sense that we want higher video games on Android to take full benefit of the ability out there this era.