We put the Honor Magic6 Pro through our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance in both recording sound using the built-in microphones, and playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specifications include:
- Two speakers (front top under screen, bottom side)
- No jack audio output
Playback
Pros
- Excellent overall performance, especially timbre, spatial and volumetric
- Snappy attacks, punchy sound
- Excellent performance while gaming
Registration
Pros
- Excellent audio zoom, well controlled wind noise
- Natural and pleasant timbre, both for the main signal and for the background
- Very noisy recordings, excellent signal-to-noise ratio
- Consistent performance across use cases
Against
- The maximum volume has some room for improvement
- Very subtle distortion and compression at high SPL
With a SBMARK Audio score of 155, the Honor Magic6 Pro is among the best devices tested to date with our audio protocol, delivering excellent results in all playback and recording subtests. In reproduction, our experts particularly appreciated the performance of the Magic6 Pro in terms of timbre, spatiality and volume. The attacks were snappy and the overall sound was quite punchy. A slight increase in the low end brought more depth, although it could also lead to some resonances or slight distortions, which could also deteriorate the bass accuracy. Playback quality was especially good when gaming, but the results were also excellent for watching movies and consuming music.
In recording tests the audio zoom function proved to be excellent and very effective, while wind noise was very well under control. The timbre was pleasantly natural for both the main and background signals, in all cases of use. Furthermore, the recordings were very noisy, with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Recording with the main camera provided the best results, although performance was very consistent across all our use cases.
Test summary
About SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section brings together key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
Listen to the playback performance of the tested smartphone in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Recordings of smartphones playing some of our music tracks at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment using 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm
Here’s how the Honor Magic6 Pro fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:
Playing use case scores
In our playback tests, the timbre was very good in all use cases and at all volumes, offering an excellent balance between highs, mids and lows, with great coherence. The highs sounded very natural and were accompanied by a nice, warm midrange. The bass was quite deep and powerful but left some room for improvement, as the increase in the low end could bring some subtle resonances or distortions. Overall, the tone worked very well for gaming on the phone, but it was also very good for watching movies and listening to music.
Frequency response of music playback
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency output by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a bass note or the sound of a drum impact is reproduced.
The dynamic results were very good, especially for attack and punch. The attack was very snappy, especially at nominal volume, but even with distortion well under control at maximum volume, transients managed to stand out very well. The punch was remarkably good thanks to the solid low-midrange energy. The results for bass accuracy were not at the same high level however, as the bass envelope was compromised by subtle distortion and potentially also by the resonance mentioned earlier in the timbre section.
Secondary attributes of spatial tests include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude.
The device also achieved excellent performance in the spatial category, thanks above all to a very broad sound stage. The perfectly centered stereo image also rotated appropriately with the orientation of the device, even adapting to vertical orientation, improving the user experience. Individual sound sources were very easy to locate within the soundstage, and in our tests both distance and depth rendering were excellent.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how smoothly the volume increases and decreases based on user input.
The Honor Magic6 Pro provided excellent consistency across the entire volume scale. Minimum volume level tuning was excellent, offering good intelligibility of soft sections in highly dynamic audio content, such as classical music, without being too loud. The maximum setting was also tuned well, providing excellent volume.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip Hop | Classic | |
| Honor Magic6 Pro | 72.1 dBA | 68.7 dBA |
| Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max | 75.1 dBA | 72.3 dBA |
| Huawei Mate 60 Pro+ | 74.9 dBA | 71.5 dBA |
The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume going from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume increases match user expectations:
Music volume consistency
This line graph shows the relative volume of playback versus the user-selected volume increment, measured at different volume increments with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on-axis at 0.20 meters.
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which the sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
Unwanted artifacts in audio playback were overall well handled on the Magic6 Pro. Distortion was well under control, with only some moderate distortion evident, especially in the high and low end. Compression wasn’t an issue, but our testers noticed some very subtle volume fluctuations at low volume levels.
Total harmonic distortion during playback (maximum volume)
This graph shows total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device playing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the device’s maximum volume.
How the score of the audio recording is composed
SBMARK engineers test recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are made in our laboratories and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
Here’s how the Honor Magic6 Pro fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
Recording use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, mids, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
Timbre proved excellent in Magic6 Pro recording tests, with a very flat frequency response and great tonal balance, consistent across all use cases. The recordings sounded pleasant and natural. The midrange was particularly excellent, as were the highs, although it probably could have sounded even brighter. In the Concerto use case, the device managed to perform quite well with the high SPL provided by the lab speakers, as the tonal balance was not drowned out by excess low end and the highs were not aggressive.
Video frequency response of life
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency captured by the smartphone while recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a voice’s plosives (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Recording dynamics were also very good, thanks to an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. In our tests, the device did a great job of reducing background noise without affecting the main signal. Our testers found the background subtle but natural. Compression was noticeable on a few occasions, such as on screaming vocals, but it was well under control and didn’t compromise the envelope.
Secondary attributes for spatial testing include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude on recorded audio files.
The recorded sound stage was very broad, with good localizability of individual sound sources. The distance performance was also very good.
Directivity of registration
The loudness score represents how well the audio on recorded files is normalized and how well the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
The recording volume was excellent. The Honor Magic6 Pro is the loudest device tested to date, both in the lab and in our real-life tests.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); For reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Videos about life | Selfie videos | Memorandum | |
| Honor Magic6 Pro | -21.4 LUFS | -16.9 LUFS | -16.2 LUFS | -18 LUFS |
| Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max | -24.9 LUFS | -22.1 LUFS | -20.5 LUFS | -19.2 LUFS |
| Huawei Mate 60 Pro+ | -25.4 LUFS | -20.2 LUFS | -18.9 LUFS | -21.4 LUFS |
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as how the phone is held.
Recording artifacts were well under control. The compression was slightly noticeable but overall not problematic. Our experts observed slight distortion when recording at high sound pressure levels, but they were well within acceptable limits. The device also handled microphone occlusions well.
In this audio comparison you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:
matrix(3) {
[“Honor Magic6 Pro”]=> string(71) “resources/Honor/Magic6ProV2.2/HonorMagic6ProV22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max”]=> string(76) “resources/Honor/Magic6ProV2.2/AppleiPhone15ProMaxV22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Huawei Mate 60 Pro +”]=> string(73) “resources/Honor/Magic6ProV2.2/HuaweiMate60Pro+V22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a” }
Recordings of a speech sample with light background noise, exposed to a turbulent wind of 5 m/s
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend together in the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context to the surrounding environment.
The recording background was excellent, not intrusive, with a pleasant brightness as well as a homogeneous and natural timbre.
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