Of course, there is going to be an Honor “Air” device. It is just a question of when. Well, the when was recently, and it is the Magic8 Pro Air that has the pleasure of representing Honor in the thin Olympics. At 6.1 mm, it is not winning the thin race, but it is pretty dang light at 155g.
Aesthetically, the Magic8 Pro Air [CH] does look like what an Apple Air might look like if there were a second-generation Air, but it does not cut corners just to be thin and light. It has everything you expect from a flagship phone, just condensed into a slimmer and lighter form. That means Pro-grade imaging, a flagship chipset, a surprisingly large battery, a top-tier display, and all the usual flagship trimmings.
Let’s start with cameras, since that is one of the two things that eat up the most space. Unlike the iPhone Air, Honor did not settle for the basics. This device may be thin and crazy light, but it still packs a flagship triple-camera setup that is almost identical to the Magic8 Pro. The trio includes a 50 MP main camera with a 1/1.3-inch sensor, f/1.6 aperture, and CIPA 5.0-level stabilization; a 64 MP periscope telephoto with a 1/2-inch sensor, f/2.6 aperture, 3.2x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom, and CIPA 5.0-level stabilization; and a 50 MP 112° ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture. Honor says multiple technologies have been integrated into the lens module to achieve a more stable and space-saving layout for this level of thinness.
Low-light portrait fans will appreciate the full focal-length flash portrait system, featuring an industry-leading AI zoom array flash with five lights and brightness up to 200 lux. Over at the front is a 50 MP hole-punch camera. Unsurprisingly, there is no 3D depth-sensing camera.
The display is a 6.31-inch panel with an ultra-narrow 1.08 mm bezel all around, delivering up to 6,000 nits of peak brightness, 1-nit hardware extreme dark mode, a 1–120 Hz adaptive refresh rate, DCI-P3 wide color gamut, professional color calibration, hardware-level low blue light, and Honor’s AI Super Picture Quality Engine. It also supports Dolby Vision, HDR Vivid, and ZREAL, which have become standard fare on recent China-market flagships. This is Honor’s AI Oasis Eye Protection Display with chip-level AI defocus eye protection, and underneath it sits a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
Then there is the other major factor that controls thickness and weight: the battery. Despite the aggressive diet, the Magic8 Pro Air still packs a 5,500 mAh Qinghai Lake battery with an energy density of 917 Wh/L. That alone is impressive, but it also supports 80W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging.
Powering the device is MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 9500. It is not the mainstream choice, but it is more than capable. Thanks to Honor’s AI seamless connectivity features, you will not feel left out in a circle of iPhone users, either. You can share photos, exchange contacts, sync files, and even mirror notifications with iPhones and Apple Watch. Instant connections with iPhone and Mac are supported, alongside smooth interoperability with Windows and macOS, including screen sharing and drag-and-drop file transfers. At this point, one almost wonders if Apple quietly subcontracted Air 2 to Honor.
Durability is another concern for thin phones. Where Apple opts for titanium, Honor uses a self-developed aerospace-grade aluminum integrated mid-frame paired with its “Cicada Wing” architecture to deliver Pro-level bending resistance. The phone also earns SGS Multi-Scenario Gold Standard Five-Star Glass Drop and Shock Resistance Certification and carries IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, including submersion up to 6.5 meters.
Notably, this is Honor’s first SIM plus eSIM phone. It still has a nano-SIM tray, but either slot can be assigned as eSIM. Other highlights include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, IR blaster, NFC, USB-C via USB 2.0, full sensor support, and stereo speakers.
The Honor Magic8 Pro Air is available in 12 GB RAM with 256 GB or 512 GB storage, or 16 GB RAM with 512 GB or 1 TB storage. It is on sale now in China with a starting price of 4,999 yuan [CH] (about US$719).
Images: Honor [CH].
