Huawei unveils Honor Magic; Device features AI, triple edge display and dual cameras

In 2016, we saw Samsung release two flagships with dual edged displays (one backfired, literally), Xiaomi followed Samsung with its flagship Mi Note 2, and Huawei also went with dual edged display on Mate 9 Pro. So, we can say that 2016 was a for the breakthrough for dual edge displays, and next year we might see more flagship devices feature the technology.

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Huawei wrapped up 2016 today with the release of its newest member of the Honor series. While the series is known for its affordable smartphones, the Huawei Honor Magic costs CNY 3,700 (equivalent to $530). But the features it packs are equal to none.

The device sports a not-so-tall 5.09-inch crisp AMOLED display with the resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels (577 PPI). The glass slab covering the display edges out at three corners, making the Honor Magic look really smooth, glossy and something I have never seen before.

Under the hood, the Huawei Honor Magic is powered by the company’s very own Octa-core Kirin 960 processor clocked at 2.3 GHz and 1.8 GHz (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A72 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex A53). 4GB RAM and Mali-T880 MP4 GPU work alongside the aging processor. There is no storage option as the device is only available in 64GB variant with no support for external memory. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a new Magic Live UI on top.

The software front is the major selling point of the device. It has some top notch Artificial Intelligence driven features. I have made a list of those features below:

• The best one of the lot is the WiseScreen sensor. A frame sensor, and an infrared sensor in the front facing camera combine to recognize the device’s owner’s eyes and hands to turn on the display. So, when you pick up the phone, the display lights up, and when you put the phone down or somewhere else, the display turns off.
• People reading your messages they weren’t supposed to see? The Honor Magic solves that problem from a feature known as FaceCode Intelligent Recognition. This feature will make sure that message notifications are shown to the pre-registered faces and no one else.
• The device can also automatically realize you are driving and suggest you switch to driving mode.
• It can also know when you have arrived at a movie theater and show the booked ticket number automatically.
• The device can itself recognize a dark environment and turn on the flashlight.

Huawei Honor Magic follows the trend of growing number of Huawei’s smartphones featuring dual rear cameras. The device is equipped with 12-megapixel dual-lens rear facing cameras (for colored and monochrome pictures) with f/2.2 aperture, and an 8-megapixel front facing camera with f/2.0 aperture. It lacks the Leica branding, though. Other features include USB Type-C connector, Bluetooth v4.2, Dual Nano-SIM and a front-mounted fingerprint sensor.

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A decent 2900mAh battery backs up the device. Even though the battery is small, the Huawei Magic Power charger can charge the battery up to 90% in half an hour of charging.

Sadly, the Huawei Honor Magic will only be available in China. It is already available for pre-order there with an expected delivery on December 25.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Huawei Honor Magic: