X

Abracadabra: This new 'Magic' phone knows who you are and what you want (hands-on)

Huawei says that the AI on its Honor Magic handset will give it powers other phones don't have.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
Jessica Dolcourt
2 min read

Plenty of companies think their phones "magically" do what you want without having to lift a finger, but Huawei backs its new Honor Magic -- the prettiest Honor phone we've seen -- with a whole lot of built-in settings you don't usually get.

The company says it's using AI to respond to physical sensors, like the proximity sensor, to make the phone know who you are, what you're doing now, and what you might want to do next.

A few examples of the Magic's powers:

You pick it up and its infrared sensors scan your face. Coupled with the fingerprint reader in the home button, it will only surface notification messages when the phone has verified it's you, so that nosy neighbors don't get to see who's pinging you or why.

If it's dark (or if you cover the ambient light sensor), the phone can surface a flashlight option on the lock screen. You can swipe to turn it on. Once you turn it off, you can't toggle it on again. Having the flashlight at your fingertips is one of those anticipate-your-needs functions, which will theoretically make it faster and easier to find and use.

I haven't had a chance to see this in action, but another feature is where GPS meets your calendar and other apps to pull up stuff you need to reference at a pertinent moment. For example, your tracking number should surface on screen when you get to the post office, or perhaps your boarding pass pops into view when you arrive at the airport.

Hands-on Huawei's 'Magic' phone

See all photos

Huawei also points out some capabilities that seem like rebranded features from Google Now on Android, like pressing and holding the home screen button to find out more information about a topic or place (Huawei calls this "deep think"). On the whole, though, we haven't seen sensors programmed to quite this extent -- there's an entire submenu dedicated to apps and services that the Magic can tap into, anything from flights and taxi information to streaming entertainment.

The phone's selling in China right now, but it isn't clear how much integration we'll see carry over into other countries where the Honor Magic could go on sale.

All the cool new gadgets at CES 2017

See all photos

Honor Magic specs

  • 5-inch screen with a resolution of 2,560 by 1,440 pixels
  • 12-megapixel dual-lens camera
  • 8-megapixel front-facing camera
  • Android 6.0 with Magic Live software layer
  • 2.3GHz octa-core Huawei Kirin processor
  • 2,900mAh battery with quick charge: 70 percent charge in 20 minutes
  • 64GB internal storage/4GB RAM
  • Colors: golden black, porcelain white

First published Dec. 16, 2016, 9:40 a.m. PT.

Update, January 3, 2017, 4:30 p.m. PT: Added details from CES 2017.