Honor MagicPad 2 Review: A Powerful Tablet for Productivity and Entertainment
Honor MagicPad 2: A powerful 12.3" tablet with OLED display, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, 13MP camera, and long battery life.
Honor MagicPad 2, announced at IFA this year, is a feature-packed tablet with impressive specs. It has 12.3-inch OLED display with 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10 and IMAX Enhanced certification offering vibrant visuals and smooth scrolling. Powered by Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, it’s capable enough even for gaming.
This tablet also features eight IMAX-certified speakers for immersive audio and a large 10,050mAh battery with 66W SuperCharge for fast recharging. Plus, it’s available with a Smart Keyboard and Magic Pencil 3 in certain promo bundles. Priced at €599, it’s often discounted with extras like Honor Earbuds X6.
Key Specs:
- Display: 12.3″ OLED, 144Hz, HDR10, 1600 nits peak brightness
- Processor: Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
- Memory Options: Up to 1TB storage, 16GB RAM
- Battery: 10,050mAh with 66W fast charging
- Speakers: 8 speakers with IMAX Enhanced audio
- OS: Android 14, MagicOS 8.0.1
Honor MagicPad 2 delivers solid performance, excellent visuals and quality audio, making it a well-rounded choice.
Honor MagicPad 2 Specifications
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| 📱 Model | Honor MagicPad 2 12.3 |
| ⚖️ Weight | 555g |
| 📏 Dimensions | 274.5 x 180.5 x 5.8 mm |
| 📲 OS | Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0.1 |
| 💾 Storage Options | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB (No card slot) |
| 📈 RAM | 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB |
| ⚙️ Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4nm) |
| 🖥️ Display | 12.3″ OLED, 144Hz, HDR10, 1920 x 3000 pixels |
| 📸 Main Camera | 13MP, f/2.0, Autofocus |
| 🤳 Selfie Camera | 9MP, f/2.2 |
| 🔋 Battery | 10050mAh with 66W fast charging |
| ⚡ Charging | 66W wired, 5W reverse charging |
| 🔊 Audio | Stereo speakers with IMAX Enhanced |
| 🔌 USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| 📶 Connectivity | No cellular support 🔴 |
| 🎨 Colors | Moonlight White, Sky Blue, Starry Black |
| 💰 Price | Approx. 600 EUR |
| 💪 Performance | AnTuTu: 1,435,490, GeekBench: 5049, 3DMark: 3391 |
| 🌞 Max Brightness | 684 nits (measured) |
| 🔋 Battery Life | Up to 9 hours and 42 minutes of active use |
Design and Build Quality
Honor MagicPad 2 has a slim and sleek design at just 5.8mm thick, making it feel lightweight at 555 grams—slightly lighter than other tablets its size. While it looks like metal, frame is plastic with a smooth finish on the back that gives a marble-like effect under certain lighting. It’s easy to hold, thanks to adequately thick bezels, though the volume button is short and can be tricky to press.
Keyboard and Stylus
MagicPad 2’s keyboard cover is easy to attach with strong magnets, though it only supports one angle for the screen. The keys are well-spaced and provide satisfying, clicky feedback.
Magic-Pencil 3 stylus has a clean, simple design. It’s responsive with 2ms low latency, 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels and a 10-hour battery life. With touch-sensitive spots, you can tap to switch tools or control slides, adding to its natural drawing experience.
MagicPad 2 combines style with user-friendly features, although some premium touches are missing.
Display
Honor MagicPad 2 features 12.3-inch OLED display with sharp 3000×1900 resolution and smooth 144Hz refresh rate. It also supports HDR10 and reaches up to 1600 nits brightness. Honor has added eye protection features like high-frequency PWM dimming and a Defocus Eyecare mode, which helps reduce eye strain for those who spend long hours on screens by subtly defocusing images.
Battery Life
Equipped with a 10,050mAh battery, MagicPad 2 performs well across activities offering around 9 hours and 42 minutes of active use. This includes solid performance in video playback and gaming, although web browsing times are average.
Charging
Tablet supports 66W Honor SuperCharge. With the provided charger, it reaches about 35% in 30 minutes, and a full charge takes around 106 minutes.
Speakers
MagicPad 2 has a powerful eight-speaker setup, providing immersive, high-quality sound. It supports IMAX Sound for content from compatible streaming services, enhancing audio clarity and depth.
Honor MagicPad 2 offers a rich display, good battery life, quick charging & impressive audio, making it a well-rounded tablet choice.
Software
Honor MagicPad 2 uses MagicOS 8.0.1 on Android 14. It looks similar to previous versions and includes useful features for multitasking, like split-screen and floating windows for up to three apps.
Honor Connect allows you to link your Honor devices for easy file transfers and smooth workflows but it only works with newer Honor phones and laptops. AI features include noise reduction for calls and voice note transcription. Magic Portal helps you quickly search or take notes from what’s on the screen.
Notes app works well with the stylus, improving handwriting and recognizing shapes. However, it doesn’t support desktop mode, and you can only connect to external screens wirelessly.
Performance
MagicPad 2 has Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage (up to 16GB RAM & 1TB storage in some versions). It performs well for multitasking and gaming, staying stable even without active cooling.
MagicPad 2 is a solid tablet with great multitasking features and strong performance.
Camera
Honor MagicPad 2 has a 13MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture and 9MP selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture. Main camera takes decent photos, though zooming in with the 2x crop zoom may reduce quality. The selfie camera and video quality are average, with muted colors and soft images, even for video calls at 1080p. The back camera’s video quality, even in 4K, lacks sharpness and dynamic range.
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Pros and Cons of Honor MagicPad 2
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
| 🌟 Great OLED display (144Hz, HDR10+) | 🔒 No fingerprint reader |
| ⚡ Good performance | ⏳ Slow charging |
| 🎶 Amazing speakers | 🚫 Charger not included (some markets) |
| ✍️ Optional stylus and keyboard (often free) | 🚫 None |
Conclusion
MagicPad 2 is a solid all-around tablet. It offers beautiful OLED display, powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor for productivity and gaming and excellent speakers. Included keyboard and stylus make it great for work. Battery life is good and software adds useful features. However, it lacks fingerprint reader which is a notable downside.
