HONOR Magic5 Pro SD8 Gen 2, 12GB+512GB +FREE: Earbuds 3 Pro, Wireless Charging Stand, Case, etc - £869.99 with code @ Honor UK

Update: in case anyone comes back to this I returned the Magic 5 Pro for a full refund due to the awful rainbow banding in photos in sunny conditions. It took a little while to rear it's head as the weather had been cloudy but in sunny weather if the sun is at around the 40-50 degrees angle mark a rainbow appears when taking photos. When I queried this with Honor they confirmed it's due to the thin glass on the lens and they couldn't do anything as it was manufactured that way. Very disappointing as the phone in all other respects was top notch but yeah be aware!



I have had this phone for 24 hrs and thought I would post some thoughts (coming from an older phone in the mate 20 pro so please bear that in mind) in case it helps anyone:

Incredible screen - HDR just pops and media consumption is a joy. Tried YouTube HDR content to see the abilities of the screen - blew me away. Tried some movies and yeah can't say enough good things about this screen. It could be a placebo but early impressions it does feel better for the eyes with the anti flickering tech.

Speakers - imo very very good to the point where I don't need to use my motion+ speaker. I was also a bit concerned about the top speaker while taking a call as it's vertically firing but the sound was clear and loud enough (to the point that I need to test if convos can be heard if someone is next to me)

GPS and signal is impeccable and instantly picks my location (pet peeve of mine and I noticed some phones can struggle with that) . It usually gets missed out from reviews as well as I use my phone for navigation.

Screen refresh seems to go from 60 to 90 so far when I tested it with an app but might be the refresh app I downloaded. In real life it feels incredibly smooth to me though and you can manually select 60,90 or 120hz

Cameras - I haven't had much time to test them but really really sharp and detailed so far. Blues and greens pop which make Instagram worthy photos but personally I will look to try to tone those down a bit if I can but surprisingly the sky blue was well exposednand more natural. Overall gorgeous photos so far though and 10x zoom looked great from my limited testing. Really fast shutter speed. Wide angle seems to stretch the corners a bit but again very first impressions so need to test that more. In a very very dark indoor setting the focus can struggle but I personally would never take photos in that dark of a setting.
Not a big video guy - it looked great to me but I am more of a still landscape picture guy.

Update: Really great and versatile camera package. Beautiful photos taken even on a typical English rainy day. You can select filters before and after taking the photos to suit a variety of colour profiles but I think I will be sticking to the default one even with a bit of blue and green oversaturation. Really impressed overall. I also found that if I use the wide angle at 0.7 instead of 0.5 there is minimal stretching on the edges and still feels wide enough

UI - I received an update yesterday and I personally feel at home coming from a Huawei. App drawer can be enabled under wallpapers and home screen. Like the large folders option and very smooth experience so far. Fingerprint is a bit low but you get used to it and 3d face unlock is lightning fast (even in low light conditions) where I haven't really used the fingerprint scanner much.

Haptics - very good and love the tactile feel of all the buttons.

Ergonomics - this is really what swayed me from Sammy (plus GPS/signal abilities) as this phone is a joy to hold and use. I came from a 6.39 to 6.81 screen size thinking it will be a pain and might struggle to get used to practically speaking but that has not been the case. Imho the S23 ultra felt more like a brick in hand but also when putting in my jean pockets and even though the magic 5 pro is large its surprising how well it fits in pockets.

Battery: too early to tell but overnight it lost 2-3% and 2 hrs of on screen time so far has drained 16% (Dynamic, Smart and AOD on tap to show).. I am not a gamer though. The charging speed is just right for me in real life use - plugged it in while I was having a shower yesterday and it went from 37% to 68% which was perfect. I tried the wireless charger that came with the pre-order and it works well but I prefer wired (interestingly enough the dock has a built in fan which surprised me).

Update: started the day with 89% and at 34% I had an SoT of 6h26mins. Very impressive

Looks - personal taste but it's stunning in real life imo. Very unique look and the green is a really nice elegant shade.

Lastly I always look for bargains and I feel this phone really is one. Top notch specs, useful pre-order items (impressed with the honor buds and I have the Sony xm3's) and I used the £100 off voucher. I also hate the fact that other companies don't provide the charger with the phone (small thing but it's the principle for me).

I am able to finally retire my mate 20 pro after 3/4 years now which was way ahead of its time and served me faultlessly! (edited)

Use - AGOBEYOND100 to get £100 discount

Been patiently waiting for the release of this, and duly ordered this morning. It's an incredible deal really when you consider the freebies,and the spec of the device. For those who suffer from eye strain with low pwm phones, the super high pwm on this almost makes it a no brainer

Also, having recently had the magic 4 pro, honor 50 and honor 70, if you like the UI of the legendary Huawei p30 series and/or mate 20 series then this is almost identical. (edited)

How are the cameras guys? I am reading disappointing reviews online and Reddit. There is also a weird 15 mins limit on 4k video capture. How is the shutter lag?

Don't think the £100 off voucher can be stacked with the 10% off for Honor users. The website seems to suggest either or. However, anyone know if £100 off voucher can be used in conjunction with 10% Unidays discount?

Thanks for everyone's great comments. I'm reading it has both single and dual sim variants.

Could anyone confirm what they've received especially with the three deals? I need dual sim

Possibly my next phone 🔥
Add £49.99 to also get an honor watch GS 3 (edited)

Mine arrived today - with the added bonus of a Pad X8 tablet for just £49 too. An absolute bargain package for what I hope will be a decent mid range phone.

I've set the screen to 90hz, to me it's indistinguishable from 120hz and I think it's better than dynamic which jumps to 60hz too often in my opinion

This or mi 13 ultra

I'm happy with my scamsung 23 ultra....so far so good..that can change anytime with a scamsung doggy software upgrade (edited)

How long it gonna take to arrive?

Tempted by this. I used to buy a new flagship every year until I got the Samsung S21 Ultra... and have been so impressed by the performance, battery life and camera of it that I haven't felt the need to upgrade. Wondering if now is the time. Thanks for posting

How's the software support from Honor please? Never used this brand before. Got a S23U (no issues) but this phone has been mentioned in many forums and online reviews.

How much would you realistically get for the tablet on eBay ?

100 quid off. 71 GBP top cashback (has been tracked). 500 or so quid worth of goodies and delivery tomorrow by DHL. Not a bad day at the office.. Am broke now though

I think they might reject the £100 given they've officially added the £80 on tcb

Compared to some of the other top phones available at present, especially the cameras... Samsung S23 Ultra, Xiaomi 13 Pro & Google Pixel 7 Pro. Software needs some updates to iron out some of the cracks.

(edited)

The new deal is even better now with the watch instead of case and stand.

I just cancelled mine. Ordered on thurs and messaged yesterday and today and no-one could even tell me when the items are dispatching - which is quite disappointing. Not normally in a rush for stuff but the tablet I added was for a birthday present and I couldn't wait.
Honor, sort your stock system out. It's 2023, can't be that hard to let customers know when dispatch is happening.

Is it possible to unlock the access to Paypal or other banking applications with the 3D sensor?

Got the phone,
Pros:
Premium feeling
Great Display
Curved sides less annoying than on samsung or Pixel.
Size is ok and the thickness is just right
Video quality is really great.
Pre-installed screen protector.
Nice goodies, however, not worth said 500quid.

Cons:
Took numerous pictures side by side with pixel 6 and showed them to many people, to ask for opinion.
General consensus:
Pixel 6 takes 8 times out of 10 better photos than Honor Magic 5 with a broader dynamic range and colour consistency than Honor 5.
Colours on pics taken by Honor Magic 5 are high in contrast which is not the best. (More dynamic range would be welcome.
Lack of available option for 4K HQ video 60fps, you can shoot 4k 60fps with lesser bitrate (forced setting on you).
Lack of 8k - present on any other 8gen2 phone.
Speakers are just ok for the phone of this price segment.
Some bloatware.
Requires some adjustments out of the box. (edited)

Has anyone ordered and had TCB track?

Very odd. trying to purchase this and keep recurrently getting a payment error. Tried Paypal, Cc etc. Anyone one else having an issue or is this a sign?

Only one code works, can't stack them

I am really tempted to bite as my Mate20Pro is in its 5th year now and battery has had better days but love the phone.
My only gripe with my Huawei any a lot of Huawei/Honor products is the value tends to plummet after 6 months or so. My head says wait and see if the same happens here but knowing my luck the price will drop and there will be no added 'freebies'
On the flip side I LOVE the look of their upcoming foldable phone but that will be even more £££ and last years processor.

You will probably see me this time next year in the same situation unable to pull the trigger on a deal

I don't need this
I don't need this
I don't need this

Please someone hide my wallet.

Fed up with my S21 Ultra wifi 6 issues... And apparently S23 has same problem, so looks like a good option

Wow actually better than the new Huawei P phone lol

I'm waiting for Vodafone contract, let's see (edited)

So is the final price £849 or can any of the other mentioned student/Honor etc codes be stacked?