![\"Honor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0e3d2eaa-46e0-48fb-84c9-330fa2c4b78d.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHonor\u2019s latest flagship phone puts distance between itself and rivals on one particular feature: telephoto zoom photography. Samsung should be worried.\n<\/p>\n
While it competes well in most other ways \u2014 a superb display, very fast engine and really long lasting battery life \u2014 these aren\u2019t particularly unique features in \u20ac1,000-plus phones.<\/p>\n
But almost none of its rivals can match the Magic 8 Pro\u2019s 200-megapixel telephoto zoom camera.<\/p>\n
.\u2026<\/p>\n
Tested: Honor Magic 8 Pro<\/p>\n
Price: \u20ac1,299 (512GB)<\/p>\n
Pros: best telephoto camera we\u2019ve ever tested, top-end battery life and engine<\/p>\n
Cons: user interface not as slick as some other flagship phones<\/p>\n
\u2026.<\/p>\n
In the weeks I\u2019ve been testing it, I\u2019ve been taken aback by just how much clearer and better it is than the established hyper-powers of smartphones, particularly Apple\u2019s iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung\u2019s Galaxy 25 Ultra.<\/p>\n
It is simply better, in all lighting conditions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Honor Magic 8 Pro photographed by Adrian Weckler<\/p>\n
Its optical telephoto lens, which kicks in at 3.7x, is clearer and sharper than anything else on the market, with the exception of Xiaomi\u2019s 15 Ultra, a phone that costs \u20ac200 more (\u20ac1,499).<\/p>\n
The reason for this is mainly down to the huge telephoto camera sensor (1\/1.4\u201d) that Honor put inside the device.<\/p>\n
For context, this sensor size is much, much bigger than the (1\/2.55\u201d) telephoto zoom camera sensor on the iPhone 17 Pro Max.<\/p>\n
What that means in plain English is that it lets way more light into the camera, resulting in much better photos. This is a far more important metric than megapixels.<\/p>\n
And a sensor this large is very rare. Premium smartphones typically have three rear cameras. Usually, it is the \u2018main\u2019 (1x) camera that delivers the highest quality and technology, partially because that\u2019s the one that people use most and partially because it\u2019s much harder to deliver similar high quality in a telephoto zoom lens within the constraints of a flat smartphone. (Top telephoto lenses on regular cameras are always huge barrels, reflecting the optical challenges that exist to deliver top quality on a zoom photo.)<\/p>\n
For example, on both the iPhone 17 Pro (and Pro Max) and Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S25 Ultra, it is the 1x camera that has by far the biggest, most powerful sensor.<\/p>\n
While they also invest in their ultrawide and telephoto lenses and sensors, they\u2019re far smaller and narrower than the 1x sensors and don\u2019t deliver results anywhere close to being as optically refined. Normally, we forgive them this because those telephoto shots, even with the smaller sensors, are still much better than pinching in for a \u2018digitally\u2019 zoomed photo (which is often blurry and fuzzy).<\/p>\n
![\"Honor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cbfb957f-ba25-4933-a272-ebc0277afb82.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Honor Magic 8 Pro photographed by Adrian Weckler<\/p>\n
But the Magic 8 Pro has decided that we\u2019ve all been making do with too little for too long. So it has packed in a (relatively) giant optical sensor behind the telephoto zoom lens.<\/p>\n
And the results are just stunning. From inside a window within our office in Dublin\u2019s Talbot Street at dusk, when I zoom into 25x, I can make out the details of engravings below the clock at the top of the Customs House, at a distance of around a half-kilometre away. When I take the same photo at 25x on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, those details are mostly a blur.<\/p>\n
Equally as impressive \u2014 if much less likely to be applied \u2014 is what happens when you zoom into the maximum 100x. This is the first camera I\u2019ve ever tested where 100x shots are almost usable. This is largely down to the stabilisation happening under the hood. When you zoom in to some ridiculous length \u2014 30x, 50x or 100x \u2014 the digital stabilisation kicks in impressively. But details may still be strained and blurry, as you\u2019d expect at that infeasible focal length. Within a second of taking the shot, the phone\u2019s (optional) AI definition refines the details to a pretty impressive degree. Tiny writing on a fire extinguisher 10 metres away becomes legible within the photo. The same shot on almost any rival premium smartphone shows simply some white squiggly marks on red, or gets over-processed to appear as something weird.<\/p>\n
This means that if you\u2019re the type who likes taking telephoto landscapes (such as tree lined avenues in the Autumn, moonrises or sunsets), this is now the Irish market\u2019s compelling option.<\/p>\n
Night-time shots are also excellent, matching anything else on the market.<\/p>\n
So does this make the Magic 8 an automatic must-buy as a cameraphone?<\/p>\n
Not necessarily. Its main 1x (50-megapixel) camera \u2014 while admittedly excellent \u2014 isn\u2019t quite as good as the best of the rest. Comparing it against the iPhone 17 Pro, in particular, my tests suggest that Apple\u2019s phone is slightly clearer and better.<\/p>\n
And while the Magic 8 Pro\u2019s video capture is generally very, very good \u2014 at up to 120 frames per second in 4K \u2014 it doesn\u2019t quite match the iPhone Pro models for overall balance, stability and processing. (In fairness, it\u2019s a lot closer than previous models and certainly good enough for a \u2018flagship\u2019 label.)<\/p>\n
As for the Magic 8 Pro\u2019s 50-megapixel ultrawide (0.5x) camera, that is comparable to the other premium flagships, which makes it good enough.<\/p>\n
Physically, Honor has copied the Apple iPhone\u2019s camera button, which lets you quick-load the camera feature, focus and vary the zoom.<\/p>\n
Like the iPhone camera button, this is a little awkward to use and I found myself mostly avoiding it.<\/p>\n
One other consequence of having such a good camera system is that there\u2019s a huge circular camera housing unit on the rear of the phone.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, the look and feel of the phone is pretty nice, if nothing special.<\/p>\n
My test model came in the \u2018sunrise gold\u2019 colour, which is a muted, slightly unadventurous tone. But it\u2019s also available in black.<\/p>\n
The casing is admirably fingerprint-resistant.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pretty robust unit, with almost all of the highest-end water and dust resistant ratings and fairly tough for typical drops, too.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s chunky and heavy enough, though, at around 230g and 8.4mm at its thinnest point.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s actually slightly smaller, overall, than most top flagships.<\/p>\n
At 6.7 inches, it\u2019s a smidge more compact than flagships such as the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (both 6.9 inches).<\/p>\n
I like this size, though \u2014 the Pro Max and S25 Ultra hover on being too large, especially for pockets. But 6.2-inch and 6.3-inch junior flagships are a little too small for real top-end usage. So this strikes a good balance.<\/p>\n
The display is slightly disrupted by Honor\u2019s version of Apple\u2019s \u2018dynamic island\u2019 front camera cutout, but this can be very handy as it expands for shortcuts to certain controls, features and functions.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, it\u2019s a fairly top-end Oled display that matches most of what you\u2019ll see on any other flagship smartphone.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an underscreen fingerprint reader on the front that works pretty well.<\/p>\n
Honor\u2019s MagicOS 10 interface skin \u2014 which is layered on top of Android 16 \u2014 is fine, but still finds itself third or fourth choice compared to rival interfaces. This isn\u2019t really a criticism, just an acknowledgement that it\u2019s really, really difficult to match the smooth, flowing experience on Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy, in particular, with their many years of experience in creating super-clean and efficient operating systems.<\/p>\n
However, you do get seven years of security patches and OS updates, which should give some peace of mind on that front.<\/p>\n
As you\u2019d expect with a 2026 flagship, there\u2019s a host of AI features built into the Magic 8 Pro, including stuff like translation and subtitles, as well as photo editing tools. It also adds a novel one in the form of an \u2018AI deepfake\u2019 detection tool, which is supposed to help you sniff out potential deepfakes on activities such as video calls.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a shortcut to some of these configurable AI features through the camera button loaded on the side. Long-pressing it, by default, gives you access to a \u2018circle to search\u2019 feature, letting you look up whatever you circle on the screen with your finger.<\/p>\n
This has the latest top-end engine power under the hood, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and 12GB of Ram, meaning it will cut through anything you throw at it and, thanks to the efficiency within that latest chip, will also give the battery extra longevity too.<\/p>\n
It comes with 512GB of storage, which is enough for most people, though the absence of a 1TB option (available on the Magic 8 Pro\u2019s main flagship rivals) will be seen as a drawback for power users considering this phone.<\/p>\n
As for battery, you won\u2019t have anything to worry about here. The days when battery life on top smartphones was a challenge are basically gone. The Magic 8 Pro\u2019s longevity is ridiculously good, thanks to its 6,270mAh silicon carbon battery. In my experience, this usually got to two full days of use on a single charge. It will last a day for anyone, even with a lot of gaming or intensive use of the cameras.<\/p>\n
As if the mega-battery wasn\u2019t enough, its charging speed is unfeasibly quick, supporting 100-watt wired charging and 80-watt wireless charging, far faster than many rivals.<\/p>\n
CONCLUSION<\/p>\n
Previous Honor flagship phones have been hard to recommend over similarly-pitched options from, in particular, Samsung. The Magic 8 Pro now has clear blue water between it and Samsung on at least one \u2014 and maybe two \u2014 features. It simply beats the Galaxy S25 Ultras on the telephoto zoom lens. It\u2019s also slightly better on battery life. And it\u2019s over \u20ac200 cheaper for the storage version (512GB) on offer.<\/p>\n
\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Honor\u2019s latest flagship phone puts distance between itself and rivals on one particular feature: telephoto zoom photography. Samsung…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,898,202,80],"class_list":["post-251528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news-ticker","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}