A CNET review labels the Honor Magic 8 Pro as the reviewer's first major disappointment of 2026, primarily due to its problematic camera image processing. Despite strong hardware specs and performance, the phone's software over-processing leads to unnatural photos. Priced at £1,099 in the UK, it falls short of flagship expectations.
The Honor Magic 8 Pro marks Honor's first major Android phone release in 2026, featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, which achieved some of the highest benchmark scores in CNET's tests for both processing and graphics. The device includes a 6.71-inch display that is bright, vibrant, and supports a 120Hz refresh rate, making it suitable for gaming and outdoor visibility.
However, the camera system drew the most criticism. Equipped with a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 200-megapixel telephoto offering 3.7x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom, the hardware appears solid on paper. Yet, the reviewer's extensive testing across three units revealed issues with Honor's image processing software. Photos often showed hazy halos around objects, digital artifacts from noise reduction and sharpening, over-brightened shadows, and crunchy details that resembled an oil painting effect.
Comparisons to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro highlighted these flaws, with Apple's images appearing more natural. For instance, in a sunset scene, the Magic 8 Pro excessively lightened shadows, losing the original mood, while raw DNG files processed in Adobe Lightroom yielded better results, underscoring the hardware's potential undermined by software.
Night shots suffered from over-saturation, lost details due to noise reduction, and unusual artifacts like square color patches. The ultrawide and telephoto lenses at various zooms also exhibited unnatural sharpening and inconsistent noise handling.
On the software side, the phone runs Android 16 with Magic OS 10, incorporating AI tools like the AI Photos Agent for image editing and Google's Gemini features. It promises seven years of software and security updates through 2033. The 6,270mAh battery provided average life in tests, comparable to the Galaxy S25 or Pixel 10, but lags behind the iPhone 17 Pro Max or OnePlus 15. Charging is rapid at 100W wired and 80W wireless, though the latter requires proprietary accessories.
At £1,099 (about $1,480), the reviewer recommends alternatives like the Oppo Find X9 Pro for better cameras or the OnePlus 15 for improved battery life, noting that while powerful, the Magic 8 Pro's camera processing prevents it from fully impressing.
