Honor Magic8 Pro Air Hands On Review

We originally thought the iPhone Air would bring a new trend to the smartphone industry. We expected Android manufacturers to follow suit and release more Air models of their own, but reality tells a different story. Very few companies actually follow Apple’s lead.

Perhaps the sales performance of the iPhone Air sent a clear message. Not many people are willing to pay for a phone whose only real advantage is being thin, no matter how striking the first impression may be. But what if I told you there’s a phone with a huge battery, three cameras, a physical SIM card slot, and stereo speakers, yet it weighs only 155 g, is just 6.1mm thick, and comes with a compact 6.3 in display. Would you be interested? This phone is the Honor Magic8 Pro Air, and it’s the best airphone we’ve ever seen. We don’t know yet whether Hunter plans to release a global version of this phone.

Unboxing

The Magic 8 Pro Air is pretty standard. You get a SIM pin, some paperwork, a charging cable, and a USB A power adapter. The only real difference is the case. It’s also been made more air-like using a semi-wrapped design instead of a full protective shell.

Design

Among all Air models on the market, the Magic 8 Pro Air isn’t the thinnest phone, but it is the smallest and the lightest. A 6.3 in display is essentially as small as mainstream smartphones get these days. Compared with other Air models, the Magic 8 Pro Air is probably the most deserving of the Air name. If numbers don’t mean much to you, we happen to have a dummy unit of the iPhone Air here. When you put the two side by side and compare thickness, the difference really isn’t that big.

In fact, thanks to its smaller body and lighter weight, I actually prefer how the Honor feels in hand. In terms of color options, Honor is clearly positioning this phone against the iPhone Air, but the camera module design looks more like something you’d see on a Google Pixel. To keep the weight as low as possible, the frame is made from aluminum alloy, while the back uses an ultra thin fiberglass panel. For a phone this thin, Apple relies on a titanium frame to ensure it doesn’t bend over time. So, how strong is the Magic 8 Pro Air? At the launch event, Honda literally had dancers perform on top of the phone, and it showed no bending at all, proving that its structural strength is far better than most of us would expect.

Specs

Making a phone thinner and lighter is actually easy. The real challenge is doing so without sacrificing everything else. So, let’s take a look at the hardware. You get a 6.31 in flat display with excellent specs and super thin bezels.

In addition to the main camera, there’s both a telephoto and an ultrawide camera. And the telephoto sensor isn’t small by any means.

Powering the phone is the Dimensity 9,500 MediaTek’s latest and most powerful chipset. Battery capacity comes in at 5,500 mAh with 80 watt wire charging and 50 watt wireless charging. Considering the phone’s thickness and overall size, fitting all this into such a compact body feels almost magical. The only real downside, and it’s the same one you’ll find on the iPhone Air, is the use of USB 2.0.

On the side, there’s a touch sensitive button. Honor calls it an AI button, and you can customize what it does. You can use it to summon Honor’s AI assistant or configure it as a camera control button, similar to what Apple offers on the iPhone.

Another feature I really appreciate is support for both a physical SIM card and eSIM. Since eSIM isn’t widely adopted in every country yet, keeping a physical SIM slot allows more users to enjoy the lightweight experience that the Magic 8 Pro Air offers. Adding features like ultrasonic fingerprint unlocking, a flash made up of five LED elements, IP68 rating, and more. At this point, it’s essentially no different from a full-size flagship phone. Honestly, it’s been a long time since a phone impressed me this much. There’s a very good chance that the title of best airphone of 2026 will go to this one. You might not know

Conclusion

This, but the company that made the world’s thinnest foldable phone is Honor. So technically, Honor could have made the Magic 8 Pro Air even thinner. Instead, they chose to make it thicker in order to ensure a true flagship level experience. I completely agree with this decision, and I hope Honor can take over from the iPhone Air and lead the lightweight trend, proving that smartphones don’t have to be big, bulky tools.