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HONOR’s new flagship arrived, and some of you are probably wondering how it compares to the very best of Samsung. Well, in this article, we’ll compare the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro. Both of these phones are flagships for their respective companies. Both of them are quite large, and both of them are quite pricey as well. There are quite a few differences here, though.
As per usual, we’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare them across a number of other categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. If you’re wondering which one to get, this article will hopefully be of some use. Let’s get to it.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (flat, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2,600 nits max brightness)
6.8-inch LTPO OLED display (curved, 120Hz LTPO, HDR, 5,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
3120 x 1440
2800 x 1280
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
12GB (LPDDR5X)
12GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
200MP (wide, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, multi-directional PDAF, 0.6um pixel size), 12MP (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF 1.4um pixel size), 10MP (telephoto, f/2.4 aperture, OIS, Dual Pixel PDAF, 1.12um pixel size, 3x optical zoom), 50MP (periscope telephoto, OIS, PDAF, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (wide, f/1.4-f/2.0 aperture, OIS, PDAF, Laser AF, 23mm lens), 50MP (ultrawide, f/2.0 aperture, 122-degree FoV, 13mm lens), 180MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.6 aperture, 2.5x optical zoom, OIS, PDAF)
– Front cameras:
12MP (wide, f/2.2 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF, 22mm lens)
50MP (f/2.0 aperture, 22mm lens), ToF 3D camera
– Battery:
5,000mAh
5,600mAh
– Charging:
45W wired, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless (charger not included)
80W wired, 66W wireless, reverse wireless, reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm
162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9mm
– Weight:
232/233 grams
225/229 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic)
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) & 3D facial scanning
– OS:
Android 14 with One UI 6.1
Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0
– Price:
$1,299+
€1,299+
– Buy:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Best Buy)
HONOR Magic6 Pro (HONOR)
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Design
You’ll immediately notice how different these two phones are. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has sharp corners, and completely flat top and bottom sides. The HONOR Magic6 Pro has curved corners, while its top and bottom sides are also flat, but not completely. Both devices come with a frame made out of metal, but different materials are in use. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s frame is made out of titanium, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro’s is made out of aluminum.
Both phones have glass on the back, but the Magic6 Pro also comes in a vegan leather variant. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flat display with thin bezels and a centered display camera hole. The HONOR Magic6 Pro has a curved display and a pill-shaped hole in it. It also has thin bezels. In fact, both smartphones seem to have uniform bezels, at least it seems that way when you look at them straight on.
Their backplates are also quite different. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has four cameras back there, each of which protrudes from the backplate directly. The HONOR Magic6 Pro has three cameras, and they’re placed inside a camera island that looks unlike anything else on the market. That camera island is also centered, which is not something we can say for the Galaxy S24 Ultra cameras.
The two phones are basically the same when it comes to height, the difference is 0.3mm. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is considerably wider, though, while they’re very similar in terms of thickness. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is heavier than both HONOR Magic6 Pro variants (glass & vegan leather), but not by much. Neither one of these two phones is light, not at all. Do note that the Galaxy S24 Ultra also packs in an S Pen stylus. Both devices do come with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. The in-hand feel is entirely different, and the glass models of both phones are very slippery.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra features a 6.8-inch QHD+ (3120 x 1440) Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panel. That display is flat, and it has an adaptive refresh rate. Its refresh rate goes from 1 to 120Hz as needed. The display supports HDR10+ content, and it has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. The display aspect ratio here is 19.5:9, and the Gorilla Armor display protection is used on the front.
The HONOR Magic6 Pro, on the flip side, features a 6.8-inch 2800 x 1280 LTPO OLED display. That panel is curved and it also has an adaptive refresh rate. Its refresh rate also goes from 1 to 120Hz, as needed. HDR content is supported here, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The theoretical max brightness of this panel is 5,000 nits, though you’ll never be able to get that high.
Both of these displays are outstanding in their own right. They are not only bright and vivid, but they have great viewing angles and good touch response. The blacks are also quite deep, as they should be on AMOLED displays. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s panel does have one advantage you may be interested in, however. It is less reflective. It’s not that the Magic6 Pro’s display is especially reflective, but the Gorilla Armor glass does a fantastic job of upping the ante in that regard, so the difference is noticeable.
The Magic6 Pro, on the other hand, has a display with a higher PWM dimming, a 4320Hz one. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s PWM dimming is set as 2,160Hz, which is also very good, but not to the level of the HONOR Magic6 Pro. The bottom line is that both of these panels are outstanding, some of the best out there.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Performance
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. That is an overclocked variant of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, basically. Samsung is also using 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM here, and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 fuels the HONOR Magic6 Pro, while the phone has 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and it uses UFS 4.0 flash storage too. So they’re basically on the same level, hardware-wise.
They’re basically on the same level in real-life use too, actually. Both of these smartphones offer great performance, in our experience. They fly through everything you throw at them in regular, everyday use. Both phones do a great job when it comes to multitasking, and the same goes for launching apps, consuming multimedia, browsing, and so on. They’re both very fluid in that regard. We did notice more stutters on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, in all honesty, but they were so rare that they’re almost not even worth noting. Both phones did a fantastic job.
The same can be said for gaming too. Not a single game that we tried out was a problem for either of these two phones. Genshin Impact is usually the final boss when it comes to games, and they both handled it with grace. They did get warm after prolonged gaming, but never too warm to handle or anything of the sort. Also, the heat produced did not affect our gameplay at all. They’re both fantastic performers.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Battery
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a 5,000mAh battery. The HONOR Magic6 Pro ups that to 5,600mAh thanks to its silicon-carbon battery. Both of these smartphones have fantastic battery life, actually. They’re amongst the best battery life smartphones that we’ve used, as far as flagship phones are concerned. In fact, they’re easily in the top three of that list, so you definitely don’t need to worry about battery life.
Crossing 8 or 9 hours of screen-on-time proved to be possible with both of these smartphones, for us. They were very close in our battery drain test too. For most people, both of these phones will be two-day smartphones in terms of battery life. Those of you who are a bit more intense when it comes to using your phones, you’ll be happy with the battery life here, that’s for sure. Do note that we’ve been able to reach such high numbers without gaming, though, but we were also not easy on the phones. Your mileage may differ, though, of course, and it most likely will. Both of these do offer great battery life, though.
When it comes to charging, the Galaxy S24 Ultra supports 45W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The HONOR Magic6 Pro supports 80W wired, 66W wireless, reverse wireless, and reverse wired charging. The Magic6 Pro charges a lot faster, in fact, and that goes for both wired and wireless charging. Neither smartphone comes with a charger in the box, though, so keep that in mind.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Cameras
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a 200-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom), and a 10-megapixel telephoto unit (3x optical zoom). The HONOR Magic6 Pro has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (122-degree FoV), and a 180-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (2.5x optical zoom).
The camera performance from both smartphones is outstanding, actually, though different. Each of these two phones shines in some aspects. During the day they both provide excellent, bright photos with plenty of details. The color science is a bit different, though. Their secondary cameras do a good job of keeping the same color profile, though that’s not always possible. During the day, all cameras on both phones do a great job, in all honesty, even with HDR photos.
Things do get a bit trickier in low light, however. The Galaxy S24 Ultra was a bit more consistent when it comes to balancing out street lights, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro was a bit more consistent in general, at least when the main camera is concerned. We expected the Magic6 Pro’s ultrawide camera to do a better job in low light, but that was not really the case. It was a bit softer than the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s, but still very good. The telephoto camera on the HONOR Magic6 Pro did shine in low light, however. It did a fantastic job, and we actually ended up using it for daytime shots quite a bit as well, and for macro photography too.
Both phones can capture fantastic photos in both good lighting and low light. Their telephoto cameras also trade blow depending on the zoom range and what conditions you’re shooting in. The Galaxy S24 Ultra was our preference for video recording, though, even though the HONOR Magic6 Pro was not bad in that regard, not at all.
Audio
Both of these smartphones have a set of stereo speakers. Both of them actually have a set of very good stereo speakers, and the output is good too. The distortion is very minimal on both, though slightly more noticeable at the very highest volume on the Magic6 Pro. It’s such a small difference that not many of you will notice it, though. Both sets of speakers are well-balanced.
Neither phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can always use their Type-C ports to connect your wired headphones, however. Both phones also support Bluetooth 5.3, in case you prefer wireless audio connections.