Honor Magic8 Pro review: Flagship delivers on every front

From managing complex assignments to handling several routine tasks on the go, Honor’s new smartphone offers consistent fluidity that creators will appreciate

Speed, power, endurance and intelligence come together with Honor Magic8 Pro Suppled Image.

For years, smartphone conversations have focused on cameras, especially on how well a device performs at night. And while the Honor Magic8 Pro sets a new benchmark with its 200-megapixel (MP) AI Ultra Night Telephoto, limiting the narrative to night photography undersells what this device represents. As a phone built for today’s creators, its real strength is bigger and broader.

Whether you are capturing a sunrise skyline, filming your friends at the beach, shooting products for a small business, or vlogging at night, the Honor Magic8 Pro delivers clarity, natural colour and depth across every setting because its camera system is engineered to perform with the same precision in every moment. That comprehensiveness is what elevates it from a ‘great camera phone’ to true flagship.

As the brand’s line-up leader, the Honor Magic8 Pro is engineered for people who live fast, multitask often, create on the move and rely on their device to keep up with an unpredictable day. Speed, power, endurance and intelligence come together so effortlessly that the phone simply becomes part of the daily rhythm of users’ lives.

Performance that moves with you

Enabling the Honor Magic8 Pro’s speed is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a chipset built to transform the way the device feels when it is being used. Everything is immediate. Everything is fluid.

Apps launch the moment you tap them. Heavy tasks like video editing, 3D gaming and rapid-fire content creation run with remarkable stability. Even with multiple apps open in the background, the device maintains its momentum. Streaming stays smooth, transitions stay crisp and features powered by artificial intelligence (AI) work the instant you activate them.

What stands out most is its consistency. There is no slowdown over time, no stutter when switching between tasks and no sense of the device struggling to keep up. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ensures that every interaction feels aligned with your pace: fast when you need power, subtle when you need finesse and reliable through even the busiest days. This is performance designed for a new generation of creators and multitaskers, where speed is an expectation.

Battery life that understands busy days

Today’s creators like predictability. They are shooting almost constantly. From early content runs to midday meetings, from café edits to sunset shots, from spontaneous behind-the-scenes moments to nighttime planning, their day rarely slows. Their phone shouldn’t either.

As a phone built for today’s creators, the Honor Magic8 Pro's real strength is bigger and broader.

That’s why the Honor Magic8 Pro comes with a 7100mAh Honor silicon-carbon battery, one of the largest and most advanced ever placed in a flagship smartphone. It is built for long, demanding days, delivering the kind of endurance that removes uncertainty entirely. No checking the battery percentage every hour. No adjusting your habits to make it last. No worrying whether it can survive that final edit. Just steady, reliable power that takes you from morning to midnight with confidence.

And when a recharge is finally needed, advanced fast-charging technologies – Honor’s 100W wired or 80W wireless SuperCharge – transform minutes into meaningful hours of use. A quick top-up before heading out or a short charge during a break is more than enough to fuel the rest of your day.

This is power designed around real routines: dependable, effortless and always ready for whatever comes next.

AI that makes everyday life smoother

The Honor Magic8 Pro introduces a new level of AI intelligence, one that works quietly, naturally and is always in service of the user. Every feature is designed to simplify daily life without demanding effort or attention.

The AI Button acts as a personal command key, giving instant access to the tools you use most. Whether it’s opening the camera, or functions such as AI Screen Suggestions, AI Settings Agent, or Google Lens, your phone responds the moment you need it.

With Magic Color, edits become effortless. One tap is all it takes to refine an image with clean and natural tones. That’s perfect for creators who want polished results without spending time on complex editing apps.

AI Search makes finding anything on your device incredibly simple. A quick, conversational prompt is enough to locate photos, files, messages, screenshots and more, all without endless scrolling.

The Honor Magic8 Pro introduces a new level of artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, the AI Settings Agent accepts commands through text or voice. It interprets the user’s intent and responds with both on-screen text and spoken feedback. Based on the request, it either performs the action directly using a functional card or guides the user to the appropriate settings page for manual adjustments.

And with Google Gemini built in, everyday tasks like writing, planning, researching or organising become faster, clearer and more intuitive. You feel the intelligence in how effortlessly everything works.

Together, these AI features remove friction from everyday phone use and make the Honor Magic8 Pro feel smoother, smarter and more naturally integrated into the way people live and create today.

A flagship for a new generation

Every part of the Honor Magic8 Pro reflects a deep understanding of how people live today. The smartphone does not rely on a single headline feature to define its value. Its real power comes from how seamlessly everything works together. Speed, endurance, intelligence, design and an imaging system they complement each other, forming a device that elevates every part of everyday life and is ready for any moment. It’s a device built to support how people live and create today, offering consistency where it matters and excellence where it counts.

A true flagship should feel this complete, excelling across all the areas that matter, not just one. The Honor Magic8 Pro is available in two configurations. The 12GB+512GB option is available in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan and Black colourways and is priced at Dh3,999, while the 16GB+1TB version comes in Sunrise Gold and Black with a price of Dh4,699.

This page was produced by The National in partnership with Honor