Can this Magic phone replace my iPhone?،
The fact is that most people mainly use iPhones and Galaxy models, and no matter what the synthetic benchmarks or final scores say about, say, a less popular brand, they won't budge and take the next step. the faith. So I decided to go old school and try replacing 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 warning here. People are sometimes hard to please. If you 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 are biased and only focusing on the general public.
I'm not going to play devil's advocate here and tell you what to think. All I will say is that I was very, very impressed with the Honor Magic 6 Pro and I decided to see what it's like to use it as if you were buying one. No more no less. My experience is subjective and may differ from yours, but I think it might be helpful nonetheless.
for over a year now, and while there are still things that drive me crazy in iOS, I understand the appeal. My previous phone was a nice little ZenFone 9, so with the
I've come full circle, back to my Android roots (these were mostly Xperia phones before the Zenfone).
Switching from iOS to an Android-based phone is pretty simple these days. You just need a USB-C to Lightning cable (or USB-C to USB-C from the iPhone 15 series) and most of your apps and data will migrate without a problem. The whole thing took about 15 minutes, and sure, the iOS-exclusive apps were missing at the end, but almost everything else carried over.
After registering my fingerprint and face and logging into my accounts, I did something quite funny. I tried to organize the apps on the home screen the same way they were on my iPhone. After all, people are creatures of habit.
Digging through the settings menus reminded me how much more customizable Android is. You can choose between gesture navigation and old-school button layout, an app drawer or whatever is on your home screen, rearrange apps, leave spaces blank, change the number of apps to integrate into the reception grid, etc.
What I did immediately was turn on the 'get up to wake' feature, set up face unlock to go straight to the home screen, and place speed dial shortcuts for my friends and my family where my thumb naturally lands when I hold the phone. This way I could deal with just one action. You can't do this on an iPhone.
I know it's a small thing to complain, but I make a lot of calls daily, and on an iPhone you have to swipe up to get to the home screen, tap once the speed dial widget or shortcut, then go to the dialer app and tap once more to start dialing. That's three actions.
Honor Magic 6 Pro against iPhone13: advantages and disadvantages
I just realized that this article has the potential to become a monstrosity comparable to the Great Wall (of words). So look, I've been using the phone for two weeks now, and I'm just going to list the pros and cons compared to the iPhone with some additional information, okay?
Screen
The Honor Magic 6 Pro in direct sunlight
This is a tough question! I love the brightness of the Magic 6 Pro; I'd say it's much brighter than the iPhone and one of the best in direct sunlight. On the other hand, why the curved edges? Everyone is moving away from this design, so Honor, please make a flat-screen flagship, okay? It digs into your palm, the curved edges distort the image, you constantly get ghosting touches, and it doesn't look that premium, to be honest.
Performance
THE Honor Magic 6 Pro feels subjectively faster. Faster. This might be due to the 120Hz refresh rate or the way I configured the animation speed in Android, but my iPhone13 felt slow in comparison. I know it's an older model, but the popular belief that iOS and iPhones are designed to maintain the same subjective user experience for years and across phone generations isn't entirely true. actually true.
Camera
Well, unsurprisingly, the camera Honor Magic 6 Pro destroyed the iPhone13 (at least in my opinion, check out the samples below). The main camera takes great photos, and very quickly too, while the periscope zoom is really useful. From portraits to zooming in on a sign to read it, it's just great. I actually used it to zoom in on a minor road accident from my apartment because we humans are a curious bunch. I know, Gossip Girl right there… For what it's worth, I like how the iPhone camera bump looks so much better.
Daily tasks
In everyday use, the Magic 6 Pro wins for me. I'll explain why. It's the consistency of gesture navigation on Android. Sliding sideways is always back. It's not the same on the iPhone, where sometimes you have to swipe down to close things and sometimes you have to tap the screen; it depends on the application. There are two exceptions here. First, you need to spend time setting up the experience to get the most out of it. And second, when it comes to NFC mobile payments, the iPhone does it even better. THE Honor Magic 6 Pro is less consistent, takes longer to be recognized by the POS terminal, and sometimes even fails.
Battery and charging
Oh man! This new lithium-silicon battery is simply awesome. While the capacity isn't mind-blowing (it's 5,600 mAh), I just can't manage to drain the battery in a single day; it just continued.
Charging is also much better on the Magic 6 Pro, but that's to be expected. Chinese phones are less conservative when it comes to fast charging, and this one supports 66W wired, filling the heavy battery in less than an hour. So not only does the battery last longer, it takes much less time to recharge it. An evidence.
Design
Design is pretty subjective, but I'll tell you this. In my year of using the iPhone, no one has ever asked me about my phone. In just two weeks with the Honor Magic 6 Pro, I have been asked several times: “What phone is this?” “. Some people found the camera shot auspicious; others praised the leather back. You do what you want with it.
audio
This thing is a Bluetooth speaker in disguise! I am not joking. I was at a bar last night listening to a classical trio and decided to record a short clip. When I played it again to see if I understood correctly, the whole bar turned to me and fell silent. I was at maximum volume and was turning tomato red by the second.
The Magic 6 Pro is really loud but also detailed and rich. The bass is incredibly good for a phone that's only a few millimeters thick. THE iPhone13 has great speakers, but that pales in comparison.
Price?
Well, obviously I didn't pay a dime for this thing. But I sat down with myself and really thought about whether I was going to shell out $1,299 for this phone. In my country, this is equivalent to an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The fact is that an iPhone holds its value much better, and when you're paying that much money, that matters. In addition, I saw myself serving 5 years of a iPhone 15 Pro Maxwhile the same is not true for the Magic 6 Pro.
So, can you switch to a Chinese phone and leave your iPhone or Galaxy phone behind for good?
Absolutely! But with one big caveat. I see myself keeping this phone and using it for a year, then going back or trying something else. So, for people who like to buy a new phone every year or two, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is a solid option. Trust me, you'll find things that will make it hard for you to go back to an iPhone. But on the other hand, that's a lot of money to spend and you probably won't recoup your investment, even partially.
