The Magic 6 Professional is one in every of my favourite telephones of the yr; it has appreciable digital camera upgrades from final yr, a beautiful design that stands out, highly effective {hardware}, and fascinating software program options. So when Honor introduced it was making a Porsche Design variant of the machine, I used to be clearly .
I used the Porsche Design Magic V2 RSR foldable when it debuted, and it had loads of distinctive design traits that made it distinctive — much more so than the usual Magic V2, which is not a foul telephone to take a look at by any measure. With the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR, Honor is popping issues up a notch, delivering what’s presumably top-of-the-line telephones of 2024.
The Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR has customized styling and is offered in fascinating colour decisions, and it comes with 1TB of storage and 24GB of RAM, which is simply overkill. I used the machine as my every day driver for over two weeks, and here is why I believe it’s the finest model of the Magic 6 Professional.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Pricing and availability
Honor unveiled the Magic 6 RSR Porsche Design on March 18 in China, and the telephone made its debut within the U.Okay. on Could 2. The telephone can be headed to the Center East, Malaysia, and Germany within the coming weeks.
The Magic 6 RSR is offered in a single variant that has 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and it prices £1,599 ($2,004) within the U.Okay. That is significantly greater than its retail worth of 9,999 RMB ($1,380) in China, and a sizeable premium over the usual model of the Magic 6 Professional, which is offered for £1,099 ($1,378) within the U.Okay. Honor is operating a deal proper now that reductions the machine by a further £250 ($313), bringing the associated fee all the way down to £849 ($1,064). That stated, the usual mannequin has 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Design
Design is the most important level of differentiation with the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR, and there’s a lot to go over. The usual Magic 6 Professional has a pillow digital camera island (Honor’s phrases, not mine) that appears nice in its personal proper, and with the Magic 6 RSR, the model went with a brand new design that stands out significantly better.
The digital camera module makes use of Porsche’s “iconic hexagonal construction” that evokes the “essence of precision and high-performance traits of sports activities automobiles.” The digital camera island is made out of titanium, and it contrasts nicely with the glass again.
The telephone is offered in two colour variants — Agate Gray and Frozen Berry — and whereas I needed to try the gray mannequin, the pink Frozen Berry variant stands out significantly better. Honor says the colour “exudes a way of boldness and fearlessness, including a component of exclusivity to the machine.” I do not know in regards to the fearlessness, however the colour is certainly daring, and it grabs numerous consideration. And on that topic, the identical colour extends to the mid-frame as nicely.
What I do not like in regards to the design is that the glass again has a shiny coat, and it’s a smudge magnet. If something, the vegan leather-based of the usual Magic 6 Professional feels significantly better to carry and use. The shiny texture continues on the perimeters too, and Honor ought to have used a matte coating on each variants.
Picture 1 of 3
Though I do not like utilizing circumstances with my telephones, the shiny again of the Magic 6 RSR necessitates one, and Honor bundles a minimal leather-based case within the package deal that does a terrific job. The case makes it considerably simpler to carry the machine, and it has a significantly better really feel — Honor ought to have used this on the again as normal. And sure, the case has Porsche Design branding highlighted prominently, and there is even pointless stitching alongside the center.
Anyway, the opposite distinctive design trait is the flyline on the again that creates a wedge, and it instantly differentiates the machine. There’s Porsche Design branding for good measure, and whereas I wasn’t initially offered on the colour, I’ve grown keen on it within the two weeks I used the machine.
The telephone continues to be heavy at 237g, however it has good weight distribution, and the curvy profile means it’s simple to carry. It retains IP68 ingress safety — essential characteristic on a tool that prices over $2,000 — and whereas the in-screen module sits a bit decrease on the display, it is not notably awkward to entry.
On the entire, the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR has all of the accouterments you’d need in a customized variant, and it’s totally different sufficient to the usual Magic 6 Professional that it has its personal visible identification.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: {Hardware} and display
I am not going to speak an excessive amount of in regards to the {hardware} because the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR is sort of similar to the usual Magic 6 Professional on this regard. It has the identical 6.8-inch 120Hz OLED panel that goes as much as 5,000 nits in HDR content material, and there are completely no points in every day use.
The panel will get vivid, has excellent colour vibrancy and distinction ranges, and there is a respectable quantity of customizability. What’s totally different is that Honor is utilizing a dual-layer OLED that ensures panel longevity, and whereas the display is simply as vivid because the common variant, it can keep that method rather a lot longer.
The 2800 x 1200 decision is not fairly as excessive because the QHD+ panels that you just get on most different telephones on this phase, however it holds up nicely for all every day utilization eventualities. Honor eschewed Corning and went with its personal NanoCrystal Protect coating, and it does a superb job safety the telephone — it took a tumble onto a tiled floor every week after I began utilizing it, and got here away unscathed. By the way, I made a decision to make use of a case after that incident (that again actually could be very shiny).
Honor’s always-on mode means that you can have the whole display awake, together with the background — much like the way it works in iOS — or you possibly can change to only having a clock or a customized type. Whereas the machine is not fairly as vivid as its rivals in outside use, it shines at media playback, and HDR content material particularly is a delight.
| Class | Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR |
|---|---|
| OS | MagicOS 8.0 based mostly on Android 14 |
| Show | 6.8-inch 120Hz OLED, 2800 x 1200, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10+, 1800 nits (HBM), 5000 nits (HDR) |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Adreno 750, 4nm |
| RAM | 24GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 1TB UFS 4.0 |
| Rear digital camera 1 | 50MP f/1.4-f/2.0, 1/1.3-inch sensor, OIS |
| Rear digital camera 2 | 50MP f/2.6 wide-angle lens |
| Rear digital camera 3 | 180MP telephoto, 2.5x optical zoom, OIS |
| Entrance digital camera | 50MP f/2.2 autofocus |
| Ingress safety | IP68 mud and water resistance |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, international 5G bands, NFC, dual-band GPS |
| Safety | Optical in-screen sensor |
| Audio | USB-C, stereo sound |
| Battery | 5600mAh battery, 80W charging, 66W wi-fi charging |
| Dimensions | 162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9mm, 237g |
| Colours | Agate Gray, Frozen Berry |
As for the {hardware}, the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR is powered by the identical Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 as the usual mannequin, and it comes with 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage. Look, 24GB of RAM is pointless on a telephone as you possibly can’t actually use that a lot reminiscence, however I like that the telephone has 1TB of storage. I are likely to take numerous movies today, and storage is an actual downside; this is among the explanation why I do not like utilizing the Pixel 8 Professional and its pitiful 128GB of storage.
There are not any points with the Magic 6 RSR in every day use, and the telephone handles intensive gaming with out breaking a sweat. I did not see any slowdowns on my unit, and even with prolonged gaming, there was no overheating. Equally, I did not run into any points with connectivity — the telephone had a secure sign all through.
The one difficulty with the {hardware} is the haptic engine — it simply does not do something. This has been a problem on Honor telephones for some time now, and even for those who allow system haptics, you do not discover any suggestions whereas utilizing gestures. I used to be capable of manually set off it whereas utilizing Gboard, however that is about it. The vibration motor is not energetic whereas utilizing the again gesture, navigating the UI, or in every other situation.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Battery
The Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR has the identical 5600mAh battery because the common mannequin, and it makes use of the identical silicon-carbon tech to extend longevity of the battery. You get 80W charging and 66W wi-fi charging, and there is 5W reverse charging as nicely. Honor bundles the requisite charger within the field.
Whereas I did not see any points with the battery on the common Magic 6 Professional, that is not the case on the Magic 6 RSR. The telephone has unusually excessive battery drain in idle, and it solely manages to final a day. It obtained to as little as 7% with heavy use by the top of the day, and as I do not cost my telephones in a single day, I made a decision to plug it within the subsequent day. Nonetheless, idle draw is so excessive that the telephone switched off by the point I obtained up the next day; this hasn’t been a problem on any telephone in latest reminiscence.
Most different telephones with 5000mAh battery final significantly longer with the identical utilization patterns, and whereas most units I utilized in 2024 go as much as a day and a half, the Magic 6 RSR is woefully brief on all measurable metrics on this space. It nonetheless lasts a day, however you will have to plug it in by nighttime.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Cameras
We have now a devoted digital camera evaluation of the Magic 6 Professional, so I am not going to speak in regards to the cameras an excessive amount of right here. The Magic 6 RSR retains the identical digital camera configuration as the usual mannequin, and which means you get a 50MP essential digital camera with an fascinating variable f/1.4-2.0 lens and a 1/1.3-inch sensor. It is not fairly as large as a 1-inch sensors within the Xiaomi 14 Extremely and Discover X7 Extremely, however it takes standout photos and movies.
The primary digital camera is joined by a 50MP f/2.0 wide-angle lens, and a 180MP f/2.6 telephoto lens that shoots at as much as 2.5x optical zoom. The digital camera interface is much like what you get with most manufacturers, with loads of toggles, modes, and scenes obtainable. What I like in regards to the Magic 6 RSR is that it’s in a position take photos of fast-moving objects extremely nicely; I put that to good use to take images of our ten-month-old child.
There’s AI-assisted scene recognition as nicely, and also you get three customized kinds — Pure, Vibrant, and Genuine. The Genuine mode has a vignette to it, so I went with the Vibrant mode. And like with most different telephones, you get a good Professional mode.
Picture 1 of 5
This goes with out saying, however the Magic 6 RSR takes excellent images in daylight eventualities. Pictures have loads of element and good colour rendition, and I haven’t got any points with the standard of the resultant pictures. The telephone does an impressive job in low-light conditions as nicely, and whereas the Xiaomi 14 Extremely and Discover X7 Extremely have a slender edge on this regard, the Magic 6 RSR will get fairly shut.
Like its Chinese language rivals, the Magic 6 RSR does an impressive job with portrait pictures. There’s the choice to select from varied focal lengths, and you may regulate the bokeh. The one factor to notice is that magnificence results are enabled out of the field on this mode, and it’s aggressive — you will must disable the mode to get correct pictures.
Picture 1 of 8
In the same vein, the telephone does an amazing job with pictures going as much as 2.5x, and whereas there may be some fringing with the wide-angle lens, it delivers usable pictures in all conditions.
Whereas I do not take many selfies, the few that I managed to take with the entrance digital camera had poor colour steadiness and simply did not measure as much as the rear cameras. As a complete, the Magic 6 RSR has top-of-the-line digital camera packages of any telephone right now.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Software program
The worldwide model of the Magic 6 RSR comes with MagicOS 8.0 based mostly on Android 14 out of the field, and it contains all of the AI options that Honor launched, together with Magic Portal. However as I obtained the Chinese language model of the machine, I wasn’t capable of take a look at the characteristic; mockingly, I obtained two variants of the Magic 6 Professional to this point, however neither has the worldwide construct.
As such, there is not a lot to speak about on this part. MagicOS 8.0 is a particular improve, and it brings much-needed tweaks to Honor’s telephones. That stated, points from earlier model of the interface are nonetheless intact; lengthy urgent on an app does not pull up the app data, so you will have to enter the settings, go to the Apps listing, and manually find the app if you wish to change its notification settings.
The overview pane can be in want of an overhaul, and I do not just like the cut up notification pane with the toggles to 1 aspect and notifications on the opposite. Aside from that, the interface itself is fluid, and also you get a superb quantity of customizability. Honor ensures 4 platform updates as normal, however the model is not as fast to roll out these updates.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: The competitors
The Xiaomi 14 Extremely continues to be my advice for those who want a flagship that takes the very best images and movies. The 14 Extremely has a beautiful design in its personal proper, and it’s the solely telephone I used this yr that outshines the Magic 6 Professional within the imaging part. Coming in at £1,299 ($1,628), it is not inexpensive by any measure, however it prices lower than the Magic 6 RSR, and I like its software program higher. That stated, the Xiaomi 14 Extremely solely goes as much as 512GB, and there is not a 1TB mannequin obtainable.
In fact, there’s the common Magic 6 Professional to think about. The telephone has the identical internals because the Magic 6 RSR, and it prices rather a lot much less. You continue to get terrific cameras, an amazing design with a leather-based again, vibrant display, and unimaginable {hardware}. The Magic 6 Professional has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and it’s obtainable for as little as £849 ($1,064) as of writing.
Porsche Design Honor Magic 6 RSR: Do you have to purchase it?
You should purchase this if:
- You just like the look of the Magic 6 Professional and need a customized variant
- You want terrific cameras
- You want a vivid AMOLED panel with loads of customizability
- You want all of the extras
You should not purchase this if:
- You need the very best worth
- You want multi-day battery life
For those who’re contemplating the Magic 6 Professional and wish one thing that stands out a bit extra, the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR may be the telephone for you — supplied you are able to shell out the premium. The Porsche Design label continues to hold a premium, and whereas the Magic 6 RSR has double the reminiscence and storage, it prices £500 ($626) extra. But when that is not a consideration, you will love what the telephone has to supply.
The design is distinctive, and the hexagonal digital camera island mixed with the colour decisions permits the Porsche Design Magic 6 RSR to show heads. I nonetheless do not like the choice to make use of a shiny coat on the again on the Frozen Berry mannequin, however the bundled leather-based case solves that difficulty with out obscuring the design an excessive amount of.
The remainder of the machine is not too totally different to the usual Magic 6 Professional; you continue to get the identical terrific cameras, the display is among the finest round, and it has top-of-the-line {hardware} packages obtainable right now. The battery life is not nearly as good as different flagships I used, and the vibration motor does not do a lot. However outdoors of that, there are not any noticeable points.
Finally, selecting between the Magic 6 Professional and Magic 6 RSR comes all the way down to pricing; for those who do not thoughts paying a premium, the Magic 6 RSR is the way in which to go. It has distinctive styling and 1TB of storage, and I believe that is Honor’s finest telephone but.
