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Can this Magic phone replace my iPhone?

Published: Mar 25, 2024, 2:58 PM

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This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

Can a Chinese phone replace my iPhone as a daily driver? (Honor Magic 6 Pro post-review piece - we n

I've been writing phone reviews for more than a decade now, and during that time, I went through many procedures and methods in search of objectivity. Here at PhoneArena, for example, we've devised a sophisticated algorithm to measure the most important characteristics of each phone, and in the lab we take down things like objective typical brightness and color accuracy, while our battery test is, in my opinion, one of the best when it comes to replicating real-life usage (and also a real pain to carry out).

That's all great, but there's another angle to testing a phone, and sometimes it's a better way to get a notion of what a phone really is in day-to-day use. A phone can output 1,500 nits in the lab, but how well can you see the screen on a bright, sunny day? Geekbench shows the highest result ever, but does the phone feel smooth? You get the gist of it. I'm not reinventing the wheel, and these long-term, real-life reviews have been a thing for ages.

The thing is, most people out there use predominantly iPhones and Galaxy models, and no matter what synthetic benchmarks or final scores say about, let's say, a less popular brand, they won't budge and take the leap of faith. So, I've decided to go old-school and try to replace my daily driver with one of the best Android phones (at least according to many of our lab tests), the Honor Magic 6 Pro.

A little disclaimer here. People are a hard bunch to please sometimes. If we praise a Chinese phone, some will always say it's irrelevant because they can't buy one or because the communists will steal their data. If we talk about iPhones and Galaxies, some will say we're biased and only focus on the mainstream.

I won't play devil's advocate here and tell you what to think. All I'll say is that I was very, very impressed with the Honor Magic 6 Pro and decided to see what it's like to use it as if you bought one. Nothing more, nothing less. My experience is subjective and might differ from yours, but I think this might be useful nonetheless.

Switching from my iPhone 13 to the Honor Magic 6 Pro

I've been using the iPhone 13 for more than a year now, and even though there are still things that drive me crazy in iOS, I understand the appeal. My previous phone was a cute little ZenFone 9, so with the Honor Magic 6 Pro, I've come full circle, back to my Android roots (it was mostly Xperia phones prior to the Zenfone).

Switching from iOS to an Android-based phone is pretty easy nowadays. You just need a USB-C to Lightning cable (or USB-C to USB-C from the iPhone 15 series onward), and most of your apps and data will migrate trouble free. The whole thing took 15 minutes or so, and of course, iOS-exclusive apps were missing in the end, but pretty much everything else got transferred.

Setting up the Magic 6 Pro as my personal phone

After enrolling my fingerprint and face and logging into my accounts, I did something pretty funny. I tried to arrange the apps on the home screen the same way they were on my iPhone. People are creatures of habit, after all.

Digging in the settings menus reminded me how much more customizable Android was. You can choose between gesture navigation and the old-school button layout, an app drawer, or everything on your home screen, rearrange apps, leave blank spaces, change the number of apps to fit into the home grid, etc.

What I did immediately was turn on the lift-to-wake feature, set face unlock to go straight to the home screen, and place quick dial shortcuts for my friends and family right where my thumb naturally lands when I hold the phone. That way, I could dial with just one action. You can't do this on an iPhone.

I know it's a petty thing to moan about, but I make a lot of calls on a daily basis, and on an iPhone, you need to swipe up to go to the home screen, tap on the quick dial widget or shortcut once, then go into the dialer app and tap one more time to start dialing. That's three actions.

Honor Magic 6 Pro vs iPhone 13: pros and cons

I've just realized that this article has the potential to become a monstrosity comparable to the Great Wall (of words). So, listen, I've been using the phone for two weeks now, and I'll just list the pros and cons compared to the iPhone with some additional insights, alright?

Screen

The Honor Magic 6 Pro under direct sunlight

This is a tough one! I absolutely love how bright the Magic 6 Pro can go; I would argue it's much brighter than the iPhone and one of the best under direct sunlight. On the other hand, why the curved edges? Everyone is moving away from that design, so Honor, please make a flat screen flagship, will you? It digs into your palm, the curved edges distort the picture, you constantly get phantom touches, and it doesn't look all that premium, to be honest.

Performance

The Honor Magic 6 Pro feels subjectively faster. Much faster. This might be down to the 120Hz refresh rate or the way I set up the animation speed in Android, but my iPhone 13 felt slow in comparison. I know it's an older model, but the popular belief that iOS and iPhones are made to maintain the same subjective user experience for years and through phone generations is not exactly true.

Camera

Well, to nobody's surprise, the camera of the Honor Magic 6 Pro destroys the iPhone 13 (at least, in my opinion, check out the samples below). The main camera takes gorgeous shots, and very fast too, while the periscope zoom is actually useful. From portraits to zooming on a sign in order to read it, it's just great. I actually used it to zoom on a minor traffic accident down from my flat because we humans are a curious bunch. I know, gossip girl right there… For what it's worth, I like the way the iPhone's camera bump looks way better.

Day-to-day tasks

In day-to-day use, the Magic 6 Pro wins for me. I'll explain why. It's the consistency of gesture navigation on Android. Swiping from the sides is always back. Not the same on the iPhone, where sometimes you need to swipe down to close things and sometimes you need to tap on the screen; it's app-dependent.

There are two exceptions here. First, you need to spend some time setting up the experience in order to make the most of it. And second, when it comes to NFC mobile payments, the iPhone still does a better job. The Honor Magic 6 Pro is less consistent, takes more time to get recognized by the POS terminal, and sometimes even fails.

Battery and charging

Oh, boy! This new lithium-silicon battery is just great. Even though the capacity is not mind-blowing (it's 5,600 mAh), somehow I just couldn't drain the battery in one single day; it just kept on going.

The charging is also much better on the Magic 6 Pro, but this is to be expected. Chinese phones are less conservative when it comes to fast charging, and this one supports 66W wired, filling the hefty battery in less than an hour. So, not only does the battery last longer, but it takes way less time to top it up. A no-brainer.

Design

Design is pretty subjective, but I'll tell you this. During my one-year spin with the iPhone, no one ever asked me about my phone. In just two weeks with the Honor Magic 6 Pro, I've been asked on numerous occasions, "What phone is this?". Some people found the camera bump auspicious; others praised the leather-like back. You make what you will out of this.

Audio

This thing is a Bluetooth speaker in disguise! I'm not kidding. I was in a bar last night, listening to a classical trio, and decided to record a short clip. When I played it back to see if I got it right, the whole bar turned toward me and shushed. I was at max volume and turning tomato-red by the second.

The Magic 6 Pro is really loud but also detailed and rich. The bass is unbelievably good for a phone that's just a couple of millimeters thick. The iPhone 13 has great speakers, but it pales in comparison.

Price?

Well, obviously, I didn't pay a dime for this thing. But I sat with myself and thought really hard about whether I would dish out 1,299 euros on this phone. In my country, this equals an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The thing is, an iPhone retains its value much better, and when you pay that much money, this matters. Also, I could see myself getting 5 years out of an iPhone 15 Pro Max, while the same doesn't apply to the Magic 6 Pro.

So, can you switch to a Chinese phone and leave your iPhone or Galaxy phone for good?

Absolutely! But with a big caveat. I can see myself holding on to this phone and using it for a year, then switching back or trying something else. So, for people who like to get a new phone every year or two, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is a solid option. Trust me, you will find things that will give you a hard time getting back to an iPhone.

But on the other hand, it's a lot of money to burn, and you won't get your investment back, not even partially, probably.

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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.