[Smartphones] | Honor Magic 2 : The Six Camera Madness!

A six-camera slider phone!

Even as techctober comes to an end, the never ending rain of smartphones still seems to be pouring strong. I feel the need to report the launch of yet another amazing smartphone which is a sequel to one of most iconic phones of 2016. It's from Honor and I am talking about the Honor magic 2.

That's right, they have launched a successor to the phone which got a lot of attention on the CES show floor back in 2016. Let's get a better look at it then!

The Six-camera madness!

Since we have somehow gotten ourselves into a weird arms race for the sheer number of camera sensors on our phones, Honor decided to join in with their honor magic 2. You've read the title, so you already know! This phone has three frigging cameras on each side, making is the world's first 6 camera smartphone.

I don't even know if that's an achievement or a practical joke!

Three cameras on the back are not unfamiliar to us since we have already seen photographic wonders that the P20 pro and Mate 20 Pro seem to pull off. But three cameras on the front? Really, Honor?

This is not official, so don't quote me on this. But it's probably because they have found the need to include additional sensors for capturing depth information and other things. But then again, phones like the Google pixel 2 and pixel 3 have proved everyone wrong by managing to get some of the juiciest portrait photos with just one sensor.

I say this because the three sensors don't seem add any additional functionality or features to the selfie game of the phone, unlike the pixel 3, which gives you a secondary wide angle sensor.

I am not writing this article (only) because of the 6 camera setup of this phone, which is a royal gimmick in my opinion. I am more interested in the way in which the front camera system is deployed. Honor has taken the Xiaomi route by including the exact same slider mechanism as the Mi Mix 3, which was launched just a couple of days prior to this one.

The Hardware

Specs wise, the Honor magic 2 is rather unremarkable. It's not a weak performer by any means, but it fails to impress in any of the on-paper specs, which is pretty important to a lot of you.

Here are the basics details:

• A powerful Kirin 980 Chipset (7 nm),
• Mali G76-MP10 for graphics,
• A gorgeous 6.3 inch (2340x1080) AMOLED display,
• 128 GB / 256 GB of expandable storage (via hybrid slot),
• 6 / 8 GB RAM,
• 16 mp (f/1.8) + 16 mp (f/2.2) + a monochrome 24 mp camera arrangement on the rear,
• 16 mp + 2 mp + 2 mp (depth sensors) cameras in the mechanical front popup camera tray,
• Under the display fingerprint sensor,
• NO headphone jack, unlike the predecessor,
• 3500 mAh battery (NO wireless charging support),
• Android 9.0 Pie with MagicOS on top.

Software and intangibles

 Let's talk about the phone's usability. If you take a look at the gestures implemented by the Magic OS, you'll discover that the camera slider is not the only thing that Honor decided to "borrow" from Xiaomi. The magic 2 makes use of the exact same gestures as the newer Xiaomi phones.

You swipe from any one of the edges towards the center to go back a step, swipe up from the bottom to go home, and swipe up and hold to reveal the recent apps. I wouldn't really blame them for copying Xiaomi, because it is extremely functional and becomes second nature within a few minutes after you start using the phone. It is obviously day-and-night better than the Pixel 3's implementation, so that's a win.

Aesthetically, the honor magic 2 follows the footsteps of its predecessor with its extremely eye pleasing design. It comes in classic colours like this Red one here, and is absolutely a headturner. But sadly, this is not 2016, and this phone is not the only one flaunting its beautiful design. It's still a gorgeous phone to look at though.

The fingerprint sensor which is under the display seems to work about as well as you would expect. It is an optical reader and hence is not as fast as a capacitive one, but is not terribly slow either. It is just reliable enough that you can use it for basic authentication.

The animation is much less glaring and less fancy as something that you would find on the OnePlus 6T, which in my book, is a good thing. I don't like the 6T's fingerprint sensor all that much.

It feels and performs just as well as their flagship, the Mate 20 Pro. Official price tag doesn't seem to be clear as of right now, but I will update as soon as it is available. If it comes in at a considerably lesser price than the mate 20 Pro, then I think there is no reason to go out and grab it over the honor magic 2.

Final words

These were my thoughts on the New Honor magic 2. Let me know what are you are impressions down in the comments or at any of my social media handles: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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