About as good a cameraphone as foldables go
The Honor Magic V6 doesn’t change a whole lot in the camera system compared to last year’s model – in fact, other than a slightly dimmer lens on the ultrawide camera (which may as well be a mistake in specs and/reporting on either model), the numbers are all the same. That’s not a bad thing though, as you’ll probably know if you’re at all familiar with the Magic V5.
The V6, just like the V5 before it, relies on a well-specced triple setup with two 50MP units for its wide and ultrawide modules and a 64MP 3x telephoto camera. Honor is not too keen on revealing sensor models, but we’ve gotten the basics one way or another.
You know not to expect state-of-the-art huge sensors on foldables, so the 1/1.56″ optical format of the main camera sounds about right. The 64MP 1/2.0″ imager on the telephoto module is also not one of the 200MP bug guns you’d find on an Oppo/vivo/Xiaomi Ultra (or Honor’s own Magic8 Pro, for that matter), but it is bigger (and higher-res) than the Oppo Find N6’s zoom camera sensor. The ultrawide’s sensor is more or less standard stuff.
There are two more cameras, of course – one 20MP unit per display. You’ll use them for lazy selfies or video calls, but not really for any ‘serious’ selfie action.
Wide (main): 50MP (1/1.56″, 1.0µm-2.0µm); 23mm, f/1.6, OIS, PDAF (10.5cm – ∞); 4K60 video recording.
Telephoto: 64MP (1/2.0″, 0.7µm-1.4µm); 70mm, f/2.5, OIS, PDAF (13.5cm – ∞); 4K60.
Ultrawide: 50MP (1/2.88″, 0.61µm-1.22µm); 13mm, f/2.2, PDAF; 4K60.
Cover/Internal camera: 20MP (0.61µm-1.22µm); 21mm, f/2.2, fixed focus; 4K30/1080p30.
Daylight photo quality
Main camera
The Magic V6’s main camera does a great job in daytime, capturing very good photos. They come with plenty of pop which should be to most people’s taste – wide dynamic range, but also great contrast, plus easily likeable vivid colors. Detail is generally great too, though it can have a bit of a coarse, gritty structure – we’re looking at the brickwork in the first two samples, and maybe some of the grass too. It’s not bad or anything, it’s just that it can be a little better.
Daylight samples, main camera (1x)
The wide-angle photos of people from the Magic are great too. Facial detail is rendered well, skin tones are lively and life-like. The Portrait mode’s default blur level is believable and subject detection is pretty excellent.
Human subjects, main camera (1x): Photo mode • Portrait mode
The full-res mode is hard to recommend – there isn’t any more detail in these shots than in the regular ones.
Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP
2x zoom photos, on the other hand, are sharp and nicely detailed, with both straight lines and random textures looking great.
Daylight samples, main camera (2x)
The portraits at 2x are also easy to like, though here we do find the Portrait mode’s bokeh a bit exaggerated. Detail is great either way though.
Human subjects, main camera (2x): Photo mode • Portrait mode
Telephoto camera
The telephoto camera will get you excellent 3x zoom shots that are packed with detail. Dynamic range is great and the vibrant colors are hard to argue with.
Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x)
Here’s how a few of the above scenes look when shot in 64MP resolution.
Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 64MP
Headshots at 70mm are very good too. There’s a pleasing level of compression, facial proportions are natural, detail is good and skin tones are quite pleasing too.
Human subjects, main camera (3x): Photo mode • Portrait mode
The 6x zoom shots are also deserving of some praise – they’re plenty sharp and detailed.
Daylight samples, telephoto camera (6x)
Ultrawide camera
The ultrawide camera is pretty great too, particularly in well-lit outdoor situations where you’ll be treated to a lot of detail. Dimmer indoor scenes may end up with soft shadows and midtones though. In any case, dynamic range and colors are hard to fault.
Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)
For completeness’ sake, here’s a handful of full-res ultrawide photos.
Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 50MP
Close-ups
The Magic V6 can be used for shooting close-ups with pretty much any of its rear cameras – the ultrawide focuses super close, the main camera focuses pretty close (about 10.5cm from the camera island) and offers great quality at 2x zoom, and then there’s the close-focusing telephoto (13.5cm) that you can shoot at either 3x and 6x.
The 6x zoom will get you the largest reproduction and will be the best option for shooting critters – whether skittish or dangerous themselves. The ultrawide, on the other hand, will let you play around with distortion with those nearby subjects. The main camera’s 2x and the telephoto’s 3x zoom levels are both the middle option, so to speak.
Close-up samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)
Close-up samples, main camera (2x)
Close-up samples, telephoto camera (3x)
Close-up samples, telephoto camera (6x)
Low-light photo quality
Main camera
In the dark, the Magic’s main camera does pretty well at 1x, but it’s not exactly industry leading performance – though, in all fairness, you shouldn’t be expecting that from a sensor this size in a foldable phone. Shadows can be a little softer and noisier than ideal, but detail is generally great. Dynamic range is very good – highlights are well contained and shadows are well developed, though we’d appreciate an overall boost in brightness to liven things up a little.
Low-light samples, main camera (1x)
2x zoom shots are usable, but not exactly great-looking on a pixel level. Then again, truly good 2x results in the dark are rare to begin with, and the ones from the Magic V6 are at least as good as the average ones.
Low-light samples, main camera (2x)
Telephoto camera
The telephoto camera’s 3x photos are similarly great, with some relatively minor imperfections. We’d probably prefer a nudge in exposure and there’s a fairly prominent softening in the darker areas, but where there’s more light to work with, the Honor captures excellent detail. The auto white balance is doing a solid job, and colors have plenty of pop.
Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)
6x zoom photos are somewhere between decent and good in terms of sharpness, depending on where you draw your lines. Global properties remain solid too.
Low-light samples, telephoto camera (6x)
Ultrawide camera
The ultrawide photos can also be a little gloomy in the darker scenes – brighter exposures wouldn’t hurt. Detail is alright in the better lit areas, but things can get pretty soft in the shadows or in areas without much in terms of features. Colors are looking good overall.
Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)
Selfies
There’s the usual dilemma with foldables – do you bother opening up the phone to shoot on the rear cameras and use the cover display for framing, or do you just do a quick snap on the cover camera? The answer is always pretty straightforward – the cover camera will get you meh quality, while the rear ones will produce excellent selfies.
The cover camera photos here are sort of particularly hard to like, yielding a mixture of pixelation and softness.
Selfie samples, cover selfie camera
The rear camera selfies, on the other hand, are superb. And you can also switch to the other cameras – the ultrawide for extra context, or maybe even the telephoto, for across-the-room shots.
Selfie samples, rear main camera (1x)
Selfie samples, rear ultrawide camera (0.6x)
Photo quality verdict
The Magic V6 is quite possibly the best stills camera in the large foldable space right now. All three of its rear cameras produce great results in daylight and they maintain a high-standard performance in the dark as well – perhaps the ultrawide isn’t as convincing at night in absolute terms, but when examined in context, it’s not half bad. The main camera’s 2x results are very good during the day and decent at night and the telephoto’s 6x images are also respectable in most situations. You also get close-up shooting capability across the zoom range, and some top class rear-camera selfies.
Video quality
The Magic V6 can record video up to 4K60 with all three of its rear cameras, while the in-display cameras max out at 4K30 or 1080p60. There’s no 24fps option – not in the regular video mode, and not in the Pro video mode either. HDR recording is available for all quality settings.
There’s a Log recording option on the main camera at 1x and 2x in Pro mode at up to 4K60. There are also options that are labeled LUT which limit you to 1080p30, and are effectively more like filters rather than LUTs.
There’s an always-on stabilization that you can’t switch off even in Pro mode.
You can hit ‘> play’ below and use the ‘>| next’ button to advance through the playlist of all video samples, or you can watch the full playlist on YouTube.
Daylight videos from the Magic V6 come with vibrant colors and high contrast, for an overall impactful look that’s also quite well matched between the three cameras. That said, contrast is probably much too high after all. White balance is on point though, and colors are looking pretty great. Detail is very good on the main camera and the telephoto and more into average territory on the ultrawide.
Video screengrabs, daylight: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
The low-light footage from the main camera is very good in terms of sharpness, though that high contrast caveat probably still remains. It’s a similar story on the telephoto too, while the ultrawide is softer and noisier than we’d like.
Video screengrabs, low light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x
Stabilization is quite proficient on the Magic V6. All three rear cameras produce nicely stable footage when you’re in a stationary position and just pointing the phone in one direction. Walking shake is also compensated for very well. What’s not ideal is panning – we often ended up having somewhat abrupt transitions at the beginning of pans – though that might be nitpicking and it can be mitigated with more deliberate, slower pans.
Video quality verdict
The Magic V6’s video recording results are a touch less exciting that its stills performance, but it’s hardly a dud as a camcorder. 4K60 is available at all zoom levels on the back, in HDR too if you’d like, and the decently capable Pro mode allows for Log recording. Daytime clips are a touch too contrasty, but pretty good overall, and the low-light results of the main camera and the telephoto are solid too. Stabilization is pretty great, so long as you’re more careful with your panning technique.