Honor Magic6 Pro, Porsche Design Magic V2 RSR, MagicBook Pro 16 Debut

Honor has detailed a new “AI-empowered all-scenario strategy” at the MWC 2024 trade show, in addition to launching a slew of new devices. Boasting of platform-level, human-centric, intent-based AI applications, these smart devices are said to help people collaborate and overcome common pain points. The new Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone, MagicBook Pro 16 laptop, and Honor Pad 9 tablet benefit from cross-platform software that allows for sharing notifications, synchronising content, and moving workflows from one device to another just by dragging and dropping, among other things.

The company’s new flagship phone, the Honor Magic6 Pro has a slew of noteworthy AI-based features. Thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, it runs the open-source LlaMA 2 large-language model on-device to power features such as Q&A, text creation, and reading comprehension, even without an active Internet connection. The company also demonstrated the use of on-device AI to track eye movement to control a car hands-free. This was only an experimental demonstration, but the company says it shows what the future of human-device interaction might look like, as more industry partners get involved.

Honor’s new MagicOS 8.0 software, based on Android, is heavy on AI features. The company calls it the “industry’s first intent-based UI”. Honor also says it has developed features to streamline user interactions, such as the ability to navigate to an address that someone has sent you, or share information like booking details. Image-based shopping is built into the UI, and there’s also a “Magic Capsule” that gives you contextual action shortcuts when notifications appear. 

AI is also baked into the camera subsystem, so you can do things like motion sensing capture, which can predict “decisive moments” in the action across a wide range of sports and activities, and optimises your shots accordingly. The Magic6 Pro will have a 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS and a variable f/1.4-2.0 aperture, a massive 180-megapixel 2.5X optical telephoto camera with OIS and an f/2.6 aperture, and a 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultra-wide camera.

Its 6.8-inch LTPO display is said to be made with the “industry’s most drop-resistant screen glass to date”. Honor also says it has used battery tech from the electric vehicle industry for improved low-temperature performance and efficiency. The 5600mAh battery can be charged to 100 percent in 40 minutes using an 80W wired charger, and the phone also supports 66W wireless charging.

The Magic6 Pro will be available in Black and Epi Green finishes, priced starting at EUR 1,299 (approximately Rs. 1,16,433 before taxes). 

Honor Magic V2 RSR

Honor also unveiled its super-premium Magic V2 RSR foldable phone, conceptualised with Porsche Design, for the first time. It features a "sports car class" fibreglass body with a sculptural flyline-like design, titanium hinge, and an anti-scratch screen coating. The external screen measures 6.43 inches while the internal one opens up to 7.92 inches diagonally. The whole unit is 9.9mm thin when folded and just 4.7mm thin when open. This device is priced at EUR 2,699 (approximately Rs. 2,41,920) and will only come in Agate Grey. There will also be a Porsche Design RSR version of the Magic6, though details and availability will be announced only later this year. 

Coming in Q2 2024, the new MagicBook 16 Pro is billed as an “AI PC”. It is powered by a new Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with on-device AI capabilities, plus an Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU. It runs Microsoft’s Azure Speech Services on-device to enable new usage scenarios. Other features include Smart Picture Search, Smart Document Summary, Text Comprehension, AI Subtitle, and Magic Text. Cross-device functionality with Honor’s other new launches, such as tethering, screen sharing, camera sharing and data synchronisation are also said to be made easier thanks to AI.

The MagicBook 16 Pro has a 16-inch, 3072x1920-pixel display with 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut reproduction and a 165Hz peak refresh rate. It has six speakers and promises to be the world’s first Windows laptop that supports spatial audio. It will be available in White and Midnight Black. Pricing has not yet been announced. 

The Honor Pad 9, which also debuted at MWC 2024, boasts of a 12.1-inch 120Hz 2.5K display and an eight-speaker audio system. It will cost EUR 349 (approximately Rs. 31,282) and will be sold in Space Grey and Cyan Lake colours. More details will be announced shortly.