LONDON, Jan 19, 2026, 11:51 GMT
- CNET said an early ultrawide-camera flaw did not show up on retail Magic 8 Pro units after Honor swapped review phones
- Notebookcheck called the Magic 8 Pro a refined flagship with an “AI button” and seven years of updates, but flagged missing extras in the box
- A European carrier document shows pre-orders running through late January, with sales set to start Jan. 30 in Bulgaria
A camera issue flagged in early testing of Honor’s Magic 8 Pro does not appear on final retail handsets, CNET writer Andrew Lanxon said, after the company replaced his review unit and he tested two additional phones. Honor told him the problem — purple fringing on ultrawide shots — was tied to the first device he received. Cnet Muckrack
The timing matters because Honor is already taking pre-orders in parts of Europe and needs its camera pitch to land before buyers lock in to Samsung or Apple. A pre-order document published by Bulgaria’s Yettel sets a campaign window from Jan. 15 to Jan. 29, with sales due to start on Jan. 30. Yettel
Honor, which sells Android phones mainly outside the United States, is leaning harder into photography and on-device “AI” tools — a catch-all term for software features that automate shooting and editing. In the premium tier, a camera stumble can travel fast, especially when rivals are pitching telephoto zoom and low-light gains as the reason to upgrade.
Notebookcheck, in a review published on Jan. 17, said Honor “tweaked many aspects” of the Magic 8 Pro without redesigning the phone, pointing to a new AI button, a very bright LTPO OLED screen with a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate, and IP69K protection — a rating for resistance to dust and high-pressure water jets. Notebookcheck
The site said the Magic 8 Pro uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and delivers strong day-to-day performance, but can throttle under sustained load. It also cited a seven-year update promise and a security setup that pairs an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor with 3D facial recognition, while noting the European model’s 6,270 mAh battery and 100-watt wired charging.
On imaging, Notebookcheck said the camera produced detailed photos and strong periscope zoom — a folded-lens design used to extend optical zoom — but tended to push brightness and saturation by default. It also said the ultra-wide camera showed some softness toward the edges and that the phone lacks a variable aperture, a hardware feature that can help control light and depth of field.
PhoneArena, in a photo comparison against Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, said Honor’s headline upgrade is a 200-megapixel telephoto with a roughly 3.7x zoom range, backed by a 50MP main camera and an ultra-wide that reaches a 12mm equivalent field of view. The site also noted Honor’s 3D Face ID-style unlock as an unusual Android differentiator, but said matching Samsung’s camera output remains the harder task. Phonearena
Photography site PetaPixel focused on how much the Magic 8 Pro leans on software, calling it “part AI canvas” and highlighting a CIPA-rated 5.5-stop stabilization claim tied to the 200MP telephoto camera. It also said the phone is not sold in North America, even as it appears on shelves in Europe and other markets. Petapixel
For Honor, the competitive math is straightforward: Samsung sets expectations for long-zoom flexibility at the high end, while Apple’s iPhone line keeps buyers loyal with consistent processing and video. Honor is trying to meet them with hardware stabilization, aggressive tuning and longer software support — and it cannot afford doubts about camera reliability to stick.
There are still risks. Reviewers pointed to heavy-handed processing, and to ultra-wide edge artifacts as an earlier concern, while Notebookcheck flagged missing extras such as a charger in the box, plus gaps like UWB support and limited Wi‑Fi 7. With pre-orders running, Honor’s next test will be whether software updates keep smoothing out the rough spots once retail units are in more hands.
