Samsung lifted the standard with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but at MWC 2024, we saw another flagship competitor capable of competing for the Android crown: the Honor Magic 6 Pro. Both phones offer some intriguing features, and while they appear to be very different at first sight, there is genuine competition here.
Both have extremely bright and quick screens, the latest Snapdragon chipsets, excellent camera systems, and large batteries. Both emphasize AI in their software and cost well over $1,000. In this post, we will compare these two flagships to determine which one is the better decision for you.
HONOR MAGIC 6 PRO VS GALAXY S24 ULTRA: SPECS COMPARISON
Honor’s Magic 6 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra competed in a cold-weather survival test. Lewis Hilsentenger of Unbox Therapy produced a short video in which both phones were subjected to an “extreme cold test” to determine battery life. The host indicated that both devices were stored in a tiny freezer at -22 degrees Celsius (-7 degrees Fahrenheit). Both gadgets had a 59% charge before entering.
Twenty hours into its first inspection, the Galaxy S24 Ultra had dropped to 34%, while the Magic 6 Pro remained at 40%. A final check-in was at 48 hours, and the S24 Ultra had run out of juice, while its competition still had 33%.
Hilsentenger says that Honor’s inspiration from EVs (electric cars) boosted their confidence in the Magic 6 Pro’s battery. Honor used the phone’s E1 power management processor to build a special low-temperature algorithm that improves battery performance in severe settings. You can watch the rest of Unbox Therapy’s test on YouTube to learn more about the Magic 6 Pro’s battery life five days after it was tested.
Honor released the Magic 6 Pro in the middle of January, with a 6.8-inch display and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC powered by a 5,600mAh battery. This battery size already breaks the mold, as most flagship phones this year will have a battery capacity of little more than 5,400mAh. Moreover, our internal tests revealed that Honor chose a silicon-carbon negative electrode composition for the battery.
The gadget still uses a lithium-ion battery, but the new silicon technology allows Honor to double the battery’s power density without expanding its physical size.
CAMERA
Nowadays, the camera system is where the magic happens, as it is the most developed area by smartphone manufacturers. Both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Honor Magic 6 Pro include enhancements in this regard. The S24 Ultra has a 200MP main camera sensor with an f/1.7 lens, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and two telephoto cameras: a 10 MP zoom with a 3x telephoto lens and a 50 MP with a 5x lens.
Honor offers a unique answer to the smartphone photography problem. The Magic 6 Pro features a 50MP H9000 OmniVision sensor behind a primary lens with variable aperture capability. The ultrawide camera is also 50MP, and the telephoto has an amazing 180MP sensor. These are all just numbers, however. Let’s look at a few examples below.
Both phones can take stunning images, but we’ve noticed that the Honor Magic 6 Pro has higher saturation and contrast. This may lead some people to believe that the photographs are more detailed and have a wider dynamic range, but we believe that the Galaxy S24 Ultra main camera samples are more realistic. Again, both are exceptionally good. Low-light samples are occasionally hit-and-miss, and in some situations, Honor’s night mode does a superior job of showing details in high-contrast scenarios, but in others, both provide relatively comparable outcomes.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features two zoom lenses, which is an advantage, at least on paper, especially because the periscope lens offers 5x optical zoom. The Magic 6, on the other hand, has a 2.6x optical zoom, but its dense 180MP sensor allows it to trim and compensate for the lack of a secondary zoom camera. If you use the Magic 6 Pro’s native 2.6x zoom, we believe it is somewhat better than the 3x on the S24 Ultra, but it is very close.
Funny enough, the same is true for 5x and 10x samples. The Honor Magic 6 Plus’s high pixel count, along with advanced processing algorithms, allows the phone to compete with the S24 Ultra even at greater magnification levels. Selfies look more lifelike and detailed on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Honor Magic 6 Pro is not far behind, and ultrawide mode allows you to record more in the frame, so that’s another option.
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
There is one major conceptual difference between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Honor Magic 6 Pro. The former has shifted to a flat screen, whereas the latter retains the quad-curved design that Honor has promoted for the past few years.
Both designs have their advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s flat screen is more comfortable to work on (with minimal distortions toward the corners and fewer inadvertent touches); on the other hand, the Magic 6 Pro feels more compact and appears more premium. So, other than the breadth size, both phones are equivalent and weigh about the same.
Other design distinctions include the Magic 6 Pro’s textured back in Epi Green, which resembles faux leather. Overall, we loved it because it’s easy to grip and fingerprint-resistant. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a glass back that is frosted and matte in appearance, and it also works well to keep fingerprints at bay. Oh, we failed to mention the S24 Ultra’s titanium frame. We don’t think it’s a game changer, but if you want titanium in your phone, the S24 Ultra has it. The Magic 6 Pro makes use of good old metal. In terms of display quality, both the S24 Ultra and Magic 6 Pro offer excellent OLED screens.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro wins this duel because it can produce 250 nits more than the S24 Ultra. In actuality, there isn’t much difference between the two, and the S24’s anti-glare coating more than compensates for the somewhat lower brightness levels.
Both phones have LTPO displays with 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rates, always-on capabilities, and some advanced color settings, and they performed admirably in our color temperature and accuracy tests. The option here comes down to flat versus curved.
Things get a little more tricky when it comes to biometrics. The S24 Ultra’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works faster and more reliably than the Magic 6 Pro’s optical one. The Magic 6 Pro, on the other hand, is equipped with advanced facial recognition that works fairly well.
HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?
The Honor Magic 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s top-end 2024 chipset, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Similarly, the S24 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, which, as the name implies, is limited to Samsung Galaxy handsets.
We found in our benchmark tests that the Magic 6 Pro and S24 Ultra had exceptionally quick performance due to their chipsets. The Magic 6 Pro and S24 Ultra had similar Geekbench 6 single-core and multi-core results, with the Magic 6 Pro earning 2232 and 6711, respectively. The S24 Ultra scored 2229 and 6853.
As premium Android smartphones, both run Android 14, with the Magic 6 Pro running Honor’s MagicOS 8 skin and the S24 Ultra running Samsung’s OneUI skin. According to Lewis, “the updated MagicOS 8 is arguably the closest to iOS you’ll get on an Android right now” yet “it’s still not quite up to the super-polished levels of iOS.” In comparison, the OneUI skin includes a variety of improvements and new features that give the Samsung experience “a much-needed refresh.”
Another similarity between the two is the inclusion and application of AI. Samsung made waves with Galaxy AI, an umbrella phrase for the AI-powered utilities featured on the S24 series, which include the aforementioned picture editing features and live translation. The Magic 6 Pro contains MagicPortal and MagicLM, both of which provide a novel approach to AI.
MagicPortal can analyze messages and photos to generate app shortcuts, whereas MagicLM is an on-device assistant that can answer general knowledge questions. However, because both of these new capabilities, Lewis concludes that “Samsung’s Galaxy AI tools are way more helpful in day-to-day life than what the Magic 6 Pro offers.”
GET THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S24 ULTRA FOR:
- The rear camera features a 5x optical zoom.
- 11% greater pixel density (505 vs. 453 PPI).
- Supports Dolby Atmos audio technology.
- Ready for eSIM technology.
GET THE HONOR MAGIC 6 PRO ULTRA FOR:
- Has 33% extra RAM (16GB vs. 12GB).
- Supports higher wattage charging (80W vs. 45W).
- comes with 600 mAh greater battery capacity: 5600 vs 5000 mAh.
- 10% improved performance in the AnTuTu Benchmark (2088K versus 1897K).
- Slow-motion recording at 240 FPS
