Honor announced the new Magic 8 series, including the Magic 8 Pro a little earlier than expected. The new phones make AI an unignorable selling point with a dedicated button for the company’s proprietary AI assistant that rivals Gemini Live.
The Magic 8 and Magic 8 Pro come as successors to the Magic 7 series launched in early 2025. Honor has increasingly made its ties to AI evident, and the new device lineup clearly marks the venture into the deep end.
Honor’s new Magic 8 devices bring familiar, but strong, spec note regarding chipset. The phones run on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC, but Honor has a small trick up its sleeve. According to the press release, this is the first time “GPU-NPU Heterogeneous AI” has been deployed. With the graphics processor and neural processing unit working in tandem, Honor claims the phones can transform low-res and low-FPS gameplay into high-res content.
It sounds a lot like Nvidia’s DLSS engine with frame generation, though seeing it in action will make it clear whether the GPU-NPU hybrid tech has any promise at this stage.
Honor also made sure to mention that the Magic 8 series has a new button, but it isn’t just for the camera or anything remotely tame. The button acts as a dedicated AI button, with a few different actions available. Oddly enough, a double-press still activates the camera. A long press will bring up Honor’s own version of Gemini Live, called YOYO Video Call. A quick tap can be programmed to certain functions, though what that covers is unclear.
Interestingly enough, Honor made no mention of Google Gemini in the press release. This comes as the company made a strong mention of its partnership with Google in creating the Magic V5 foldable. The Magic 7 Pro defaulted to using Gemini as the main device assistant, but it looks like Honor is focused on injecting its own model into the Magic 8.
The Magic 8 Pro stands out from the base model with expected camera superiority. It offers a 200MP sensor that doubles as an “Ultra Night Telephoto Camera” with a wide aperture. That array also incorporates the company’s proprietary digital image stabilization using, you guessed it, AI.
Honor also managed to pack a confidence-inspiring 7,200mAh of power into a silicon-carbon battery. Not only is that large, but the material choice likely means more punch. A battery of that size and design has the potential to last multiple days without a sweat. In real life, there are many factors that play into that estimate.
Honor notes the Magic 8 series is available in China starting today at RMB 4,499 for the Magic 8, and RMB 5,699 for the Magic 8 Pro. The device will make its way to international markets “later this year.”
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