is a news editor with over a decade’s experience in journalism. He previously worked at Android Police and Tech Advisor.
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I have a simple gut check I use when reviewing phones, especially ones that rely on their cameras as a selling point: how often do I wish I had another phone with me instead?
These days, it’s mostly the Vivo X300 Pro I miss when I’m testing something else, a phone whose camera remains unmatched. Some phones may best it on battery life, or have smoother software, but there’s always a moment when I’m shooting a portrait, or framing a dimly lit photo for my food blog, that I think: “The Vivo would have handled this better.”
In the month I’ve spent testing Honor’s Magic 8 Pro, I scarcely remember thinking that once.
The Magic 8 Pro is Honor’s newest flagship phone, launched in China in October but only getting its European release now. At £1,099.99 (around $1,500) it’s meant to rival the likes of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra, along with similar flagships from Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo.
Honor has long pitched its hero devices as photographic powerhouses, the same strategy that brought its former parent company Huawei success, but I’ve rarely been entirely convinced. It’s made plenty of phones with good cameras, but never best-in-class. I don’t think the Magic 8 Pro is quite that either, but it’s closer than the company has ever been and could happily outshoot any of the handsets available in the US.
At the heart of the triple rear camera is a 50-megapixel, f/1.6 main lens. It’s joined by a 50MP, f/2.0 ultrawide and a 200MP, f/2.6, 3.7x telephoto. It’s this last lens where phone photography battles are being fought these days, with companies competing not just to produce the sharpest, longest distance zoom possible, but also cameras that excel at 2-4x, the range that’s perfect for shooting portraits, or pets, or unexpectedly dramatic photographs of that great sandwich you just ate.
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