Honor Magic V2 looks like an ideal gadget for vacation: with a slight movement of the hand, the compact phone folds out into a large tablet. It also has decent autonomy, a lot of memory and powerful hardware. What about the cameras? We took the smartphone on a trip to thoroughly test its photo capabilities.
Cameras are the envy of everyone
The smartphone was equipped with a triple module. The main camera is 50 megapixels, with an f/1.9 aperture, optical stabilization and laser autofocus. Next comes a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an f/2.0 lens aperture. Rounding out the trinity is a 20 megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.4 aperture and optical stabilization. It is capable of shooting with 2.5x optical zoom or 40x digital zoom.
It is also worth mentioning two 16 megapixel front cameras, located on the inside and outside of the gadget. They are useful during video calls, but there is no need for them to take selfies – you can take a photo of yourself with the main camera. All thanks to the external display, which is convenient to use as a viewfinder.
Testing the main camera
In the Honor line of phones, the best cameras went to Magic5 Pro and Magic6 Pro. In Magic V2, the main emphasis is on the folding screen, and the photo equipment here is not the most advanced. Nevertheless, the quality of the images is quite decent. During the day, the main camera takes colorful shots with a wide dynamic range and good clarity. Automation actively uses AI processing and HDR, so the images delight with rich shades. True, the photos look brighter than in reality.
In some cases, the colors even become too saturated. For example, if you shoot a jungle, the foliage becomes too green. But with beach landscapes, the device works flawlessly – the sea and sky look natural, the automation carefully tweaks the color rendition. The AI mode can be turned off, but most often it really helps improve the picture.
In auto mode, the frame resolution is 12.5 megapixels, but full-size 50-megapixel shooting is also available.
Zoom is what you need
The Honor Magic V2 camera interface has a quick switch to 2.5x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom. If desired, you can select other numbers – the slider allows you to enlarge the image up to 40x. The most beautiful photographs from our trip were taken with optical zoom. It allows you to remove everything unnecessary from the frame and focus on the most important things, be it an unusual rock in the middle of the sea or a picturesque bay that had to be filmed from a hill.
The telephoto is almost as good as the main module – thanks to the large aperture, optical stabilization and competent operation of the automation. The footage is juicy, with good detail and a wide dynamic range.
The tenfold digital zoom uses sharpening algorithms: neural networks help to complete the image. It is expected that photographs taken with digital zoom have a watercolor effect – they are noticeably inferior in clarity and detail to frames taken with optical zoom.
Portrait mode doesn’t let me down
In portrait mode, three operating options are available: without zooming, with digital zoom 2x or optical zoom 2.5x. The last preset provides the most interesting results – the telephoto lens copes well with any lighting and accurately blurs the background. When shooting, you can flexibly adjust the background blur strength and the degree of beauty. The camera quickly recognizes a face and does not miss the focus. But blurring errors still happen, especially if the background is non-uniform.
But the folding design has an advantage when it comes to creating self-portraits. Simply open the phone and select the appropriate mode to use the external display as a viewfinder. This will allow you to use any rear module. That’s why Honor Magic V2 produces more detailed selfies than any classic device with a regular front camera.
Wide view
They didn’t skimp on the ultra-wide-angle camera: 50 MP, impressive f/2.0 aperture. When shooting, slight distortion is noticeable at the edges of the frame, but the brightness is good even in the dark. Clarity is not always at its best – when shooting landscapes with an abundance of small details, a drop in image sharpness is noticeable.
Rich night photography
Honor Magic V2 also copes well with night scenes – good optical stabilization and a powerful processor help out. A bright and clear shot is obtained even while walking, when you need to quickly capture a beautiful landscape. The smartphone almost instantly takes several dozen pictures with different exposures and stitches them into one. On many other flagships, the night preset is much slower.
Shooting in the dark with a telephoto lens also does not disappoint: the photos are not blurred, the brightness and color rendition are excellent. We took a lot of beautiful night shots from our vacation with optical zoom.
Spectacular 4K in any environment
Honor Magic V2 records 4K videos at a frame rate of up to 60 frames per second – this shooting is available on all three lenses. During the process, you can switch between cameras, and the transition occurs smoothly and without graphic defects. It will be possible to bring a distant object closer or cover the entire landscape at once without pausing recording.
I liked the optical stabilization: you can bring back a beautiful clip from your vacation, filming it without a Steadicam. This video was made by hand. Despite the strong rocking of the motor boat on the waves, the picture in the lens did not shake:
And the folding design allows you to get cool time-lapses without a tripod. You just need to open the halves of the gadget 90 degrees, launch the camera and place the phone on a flat surface.
Results
Honor Magic V2 did not let us down on vacation. It allowed not only to read books and watch TV series on a large folding display, but also to take photographs that adequately convey all the beauty of Thailand. The camera copes with difficult lighting conditions and impresses with image clarity and dynamic range. Optical zoom provides juicy shots, and high-quality stabilization helps when recording video and night photography.
Due to its folding design, the model offers several unique features. You can take selfies with the main camera using the external screen. It’s also convenient to shoot timelapses without a tripod. The capabilities of such a camera will be enough for the vast majority of users.