Honor Magic6 RSR is a bold new entrant into the premium smartphone market

The great thing about Honor's Magic6 RSR, which we previewed a couple of weeks ago among smartphone alternatives, is that it combines all the best things about Android in a package that is resolutely non-Google. That’s not to say we aren’t ardent admirers of the tech giant’s Pixel range, but Honor, together with Porsche, is coming at smartphones from a different angle.

We tried out the Porsche Design Honor Magic6 RSR

After a short spell with the Porsche Design Honor Magic6 RSR – to give it its full title – it’s clear that this is a premium device with top-table specification to go with the Porsche-enhanced price tag. That means you get a whole terabyte of storage and 24GB RAM, as well as an extremely swift and sophisticated ‘Falcon’ camera system that feels on a par with rivals. 

The latter is helped out by a LiDAR autofocus sensor, a first for Honor, as well as a 180MP telephoto camera with stabilised digital zoom levels of up to 100x. The phone offers a sophisticated portrait mode, a professional mode with full control over aperture and exposure, and even the ability to add bokeh to selfies, as well as the usual raft of digital softeners and smoothers for the more image-conscious.

Although the resulting images feel more computationally assembled than ever before, there’s no denying they’re on a par with the very best of what’s out there, from the iPhone 15 to the Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S24. Note that the latter two devices make much of their AI-driven photographic abilities, something the Magic6 doesn’t shy away from.

The Magic6 RSR certainly looks and feels the part, with a good solid weight to it and the distinctively different form of the camera cluster. The phone comes with Honor’s MagicOS 8.0, a bolt-on suite of enhancements to stock Android apps, GUI and functionality. All this is displayed beautifully on the large 6.8in OLED screen, protected by what Honor calls a ‘NanoCrystal shield’ for enhanced insurances against scratches and accidental drops.

Available in Agate Grey or Frozen Berry (both colours derived from the official Porsche palette, inspired by the 911 and Taycan respectively), the Magic6 RSR ships with a colour-matched case, another aspect of the design where automotive-derived inspiration has been allowed to run free. Here, you’ll find prominent stitching patterns on the leather-effect surface, a nod to the wheel and dashboard of top trim Porsche interiors.

Despite these obvious nods, the design of the Magic6 RSR isn't toylike or derivative. The UI and apps are crisply designed without any excessively skeuomorphic flourishes or cartoonish touches. It feels grown up and fully realised, a worthy companion to Honor's first collaboration with Porsche Design, the folding Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR.

Naturally, you’ll face the dichotomy of dealing with two different data eco systems – Honor’s and Google’s – but this is no different from working with any other non-Pixel device. How much you choose to engage with the former’s suite of apps, which include health, gaming, a dedicated app store, and more, is down to your tolerance for multiple log-ins and having two distinct data trails stored on either sides of the planet. With all this in mind, it's still a worthy way of standing out from the crowd.

Honor Magic6 RSR, £1,599, Honor.com