We’ve been expecting them to turn up, and they have. Honor’s Magic 8 Pro Air and 8 RSR Porsche Design handsets were unveiled alongside each other. While they’re aimed at very different users, both handsets have something in common — Honor hasn’t stuffed around with the camera tech.
Of course, the RSR Porsche Design model was always going to go just a little harder, helped along by the thicker profile and its attendant internal space. But the 8 Pro Air is no slouch, especially for a smartphone that measures just 6.1mm through its middle.
Magic 8 ball
The interior of the Honor Magic 8 Pro Air is surprisingly cluttered. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 chipset lives inside, while buyers can spec the phone out with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. That’s almost frightening for a skinny smartphone, especially since it weighs just 155 grams.
The 6.31in 120Hz display features peak brightness of 6,000 nits (we’ll have to see that in person before being truly impressed), while the 5,500mAh battery supports 80W wired charging. But it’s the camera department that Honor’s slim phone really charges in.
The rear section houses a 50MP main sensor, a 64MP 3.2x telephoto, and a 50MP ultrawide, while the front sensor adds another 50MP to the tally. We’re not sure what Samsung is planning for its S26 Edge, but the South Korean company had better up its game.
Honor’s Porsche Design handset doesn’t have the same chassis limitations, so expect it to be more powerful overall. The Magic 8 RSR stuffs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 under the hood, along with up to 24GB(!) of RAM and 1TB of storage. In case that’s not enough overcompensation, the phone’s chassis is a ceramic composite with a textured backplate.
The phone’s 6.71in display shares the same refresh rate and brightness stats as the Magic 8 Pro Air, locking those features into its 2,808 x 1,256 screen. A 7,200mAh battery and 120W wired charging should mean it’ll last at least a day.
The camera setup is similarly overdone. The main and ultrawide sensors are both 50MP affairs, with slightly different stats, while the 3.7x optical telephoto uses a 200MP sensor. Up front? A 50MP f/2.0 sensor. But it’s the photography kit that’ll impress. Honor says that the add-on 2.35x teleconverter is a “powerful Kepler structure [that] enhances the clarity of telephoto images, extending the telephoto range to 200mm-5400mm with telephoto extensions.”
It works in conjunction with the magnetic grip and specialised case that uses a 67mm filter ring for even more options.
The newest Honor Magic 8 smartphones aren’t bound for South Africa yet, but after seeing pricing, we might be okay with waiting. The 8 Pro Air starts at R11,000 or so in the company’s native China, with the RSR Porsche Design model going for R19,000. We… really don’t want to see what they’ll be priced at in this country. Something tells us it won’t be quite so consumer-friendly.
