Honor MagicPad 4 review: Anything But Mid

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Execs

• Slim, light-weight physique
• Lovely OLED display
• Excellent efficiency
• Speedy charging

Cons

• Cluttered UI
• Restricted replace promise
• Equipment aren’t the very best

Our Verdict

With impeccable efficiency, a superb OLED show, and loads of productiveness and media playback options, the Honor MagicPad 4 offers you nearly every part you could possibly need from an Android pill at a really cheap worth. The software program wants honing, and the non-obligatory equipment aren’t the very best, however pound for pound, there’s little or no that may contact it.

Worth When Reviewed

This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined

Finest Pricing At present

Worth When Reviewed

Unavailable within the US

Finest Costs At present: Honor MagicPad 4

You may’t actually blame Samsung for turning out incremental updates to its prolonged pill household 12 months on 12 months. It’s nailed the components, and continues to offer the very best non-iPad {hardware} within the enterprise.

That’s the usual line, not less than, and it’s one which Honor would likely prefer to problem. With the MagicPad 4, it’s providing an especially highly effective, well-equipped pill that’s nearly as good at productiveness duties as it’s for media consumption.

Better of all, it manages to tug all this off at a massively aggressive mid-market worth.

This 12 months’s mannequin reinstates an OLED show and amps up the efficiency whereas dramatically decreasing bulk. It’s a reasonably formidable bundle. Should you’re searching for a Galaxy Tab or iPad Air different, this could be it.

Design & Construct

• 4.8mm thickness, 450g weight
• 93% screen-to-body ratio
• Stylus and keyboard case obtainable

The Honor MagicPad 4 is available in the identical two colors as its predecessor, gray and white, with the identical flat steel body and a really comparable rounded-square digicam module within the nook.

That is no lazy rehash, although. Quite remarkably, Honor has managed to shave about 17% off the thickness (now simply 4.8mm) and 24% off the burden (450g). These are vital variations.

It’s achieved a few of this by making the show and battery somewhat smaller, however the general impact makes for a internet optimistic. The Honor MagicPad 4 is a pleasure to wield, although with an absence of IP certification I’d be hesitant to set it up anyplace close to a shower or pool.

It makes it thinner than the Galaxy Tab S11 Extremely and the iPad Professional (M5) (each 5.1mm), leaving solely the area of interest and closely caveated Toall Paper as a thinner possibility at 3.1mm.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

This lighter physique additionally implies that an Honor MagicPad 4, along with its chunky Good Keyboard case, proves to be lighter than a MacBook Air 13. One thing to consider in case your workload is primarily gentle phrase processing, emails and net looking.

Or it will be if Honor’s Good Keyboard accent was higher. Hooking as much as the pill by way of the pogo pins on the again of the pill, it utilises a weird stand system that folds the highest half of the rear cowl again and away from the pill. I discovered all of it to be somewhat fiddly and insecure.

Whereas the keyboard itself presents a pleasant tactile typing expertise with loads of journey, I additionally famous that a number of the symbols weren’t matching up with the UK-calibrated keyboard software program on my check mannequin – a real ache when looking for these very important ‘@’ and ‘£’ symbols.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Honor boasts that its newest pill design has the beating of the iPad Professional (M5) from the entrance, because of smaller 4mm bezels and a superior screen-to-body ratio. Apple would possible argue that its ubiquitous pill’s chunky border is a characteristic, not a bug – all the higher to grip it with out interrupting the display – however the MagicPad 4 undoubtedly seems to be the half.

You too can add the Honor Magic Pencil 3 to the accent bundle, do you have to want. Honor’s stylus isn’t fairly as spectacular as Huawei’s on the MatePad 11.5S, but it surely gives a fairly pure handwriting expertise nonetheless.

It affixes onto the highest fringe of the pill via magnets, although it’s not essentially the most safe or intuitive system I’ve used, and appears considerably precarious when mixed with the aforementioned keyboard case.

Display & audio system

• 12.3-inch OLED show, 165Hz refresh charge
• 3000 x 1920 decision
• 2400 nits peak brightness

Honor made a barely odd determination with the MagicPad 3, increasing the scale of its show whereas reverting to inferior LCD panel expertise. Fortunately, the MagicPad 4 reverses that course.

This can be a lovely 12.3-inch OLED, wealthy in vibrant (but pure) color, and with a pointy 3000 x 1920 decision.

It additionally advantages from a boosted peak brightness in HDR content material of 2400 nits. That’s an enormous step past even what the Honor MagicPad 2 needed to provide with its personal OLED.

Regardless of this welcome reversion (or ought to that be advance?), the Honor MagicPad 4’s display retains the speedy 165Hz peak refresh charge of its instant predecessor. This isn’t a full LTPO panel with the fine-tuned flexibility that entails. Quite, it’s able to switching between 5 ranges of smoothness as the duty dictates: 165Hz, 144Hz, 120Hz, 90Hz and 60Hz.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

To be blunt for a second, something above 120Hz is extreme typically use, and even typically productiveness duties. It’s solely actually in sure video games that assist excessive body charges that such excessive smoothness pays off. The excellent news is that the MagicPad 4 has the facility to capitalise on this.

In non-gaming media, the MagicPad 4 advantages from a 3:2 side ratio and assist for IMAX Enhanced content material. There isn’t all that a lot round, however if in case you have a Disney+ account, you’ll be capable to expertise the likes of the most recent Incredible 4 film in a method that makes higher use of the peak of the display, with smaller black borders.

Honor’s a stickler for eye care in its shows, and the MagicPad 4 follows go well with with 5280Hz PWM dimming.

Complementing this fantastic show is a beneficiant eight-speaker setup which, mixed with Honor’s AI Spatial Audio expertise, makes for an impressively spacious, well-separated soundstage.

It’s somewhat missing in low-end oomph for my liking, although – actually in the event you examine it to an iPad Professional. It must be famous, in fact, that Apple’s premium pill prices round double the cash.

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
• 12 or 16GB RAM
• 256 or 512GB storage

A gentle sample has emerged of Honor MagicPad tablets providing superb, if not-quite-top-level efficiency. The MagicPad 4 is one other to suit that mould, but it surely’s more durable than ever to identify the compromise.

In contrast to the MagicPad 3, it’s not utilizing a year-old flagship chip for the job. Quite, Honor has turned to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, which has a barely decrease CPU clock velocity and a lesser GPU than the all-singing Elite variant.

It’s the identical chip that powers the OnePlus 15R and the Motorola Signature – two stylish, almost-flagship telephones that handle to attain quite a bit whereas undercutting a lot of the competitors on worth. Honor is performing the same trick with the MagicPad 4, solely within the pill area.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Due to the usage of this part, along with both 12- or 16GB of RAM, the Honor MagicPad 4 feels each inch a top-level performer. Flitting between a number of windowed apps in PC mode (see the Software program part) is a pause-free expertise, as is taking part in Future: Rising on greater graphical settings.

That is the purpose within the evaluation the place I’d often hit you with some benchmark checks to both rubber-stamp or dramatically counter my anecdotal impressions, however I can’t accomplish that. Honor has seemingly blocked this from being doable forward of the official launch.

In our expertise with these aforementioned telephones, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is about as succesful because the Snapdragon 8 Elite – the highest Android processor for a lot of 2025. It’s obtained greater than sufficient energy on faucet for any process, although you may not fairly be capable to hit the complete 165fps in 3D video games.

Storage is a straight alternative between 256- and 512GB, which ought to show enough for the overwhelming majority of individuals with £500 to spend on a pill.

Cameras

• 13Mp rear digicam
• 9Mp entrance digicam

Honor has given the MagicPad 4 an easy photographic set-up involving a 13Mp rear digicam and a 9Mp entrance digicam.

I resisted the temptation to make use of the time period ‘bathroom normal’ there, as a result of it implies that we must be getting one thing higher in our mid-priced tablets. The reality, in fact, is that nobody must be taking photos with such unwieldy units besides as an absolute final resort.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

To that finish, once I say that the Honor MagicPad 4 doesn’t take superb photos, it’s not with any nice sense of disapproval. However fantastic, whereas we’re right here, photographs taken with this pill are missing intimately and liable to overexposure, even in supreme outdoor lighting.

The entrance digicam, too, is incapable of capturing even half-decent selfies. Its fixed-focus nature implies that there’s no nice pop to the topic in opposition to the background, pores and skin tones are washed out, and every part moderately smudges collectively.

That’s to be anticipated. What these cameras can do is scan paperwork (within the case of the principle digicam), given sufficient lighting, in addition to conduct rudimentary video calls (from the entrance digicam).

Video seize can lengthen to 4K, however by no means past 30fps. Why would you wish to file video on a large slab of steel and glass, you ask? Nicely, fairly.

Battery Life & Charging

• 10,100mAh battery
• 66W charging

As Honor’s smartphone batteries appear to be getting larger and greater, it’d increase eyebrows to study that the Chinese language model has gone in the wrong way for its 2026 pill.

Whereas the Honor MagicPad 4’s 10,100mAh cell is ostensibly a downgrade from the MagicPad 3’s 12,450mAh unit, a number of issues must be considered.

As mentioned, it is a smaller pill than its predecessor, with a correspondingly smaller show. It additionally runs on a extra environment friendly processor. This can be a smaller battery, sure, but it surely’s not small for the scale and capabilities of the pill.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

What issues is that the MagicPad 4 can get you thru a full day of combined utilization. In additional ‘regular’ use case eventualities – selecting it up sporadically for the odd video, recreation, net session or doodle utilizing the stylus – I used to be capable of undergo every week or so while not having to cost up.

As that means, it holds onto its cost very nicely throughout protracted unused spells, too.

Given Honor’s obvious block on utilizing benchmark instruments forward of the embargo, I used to be unable to run the MagicPad via our typical PCMark battery check. Nevertheless, I did observe that the pill misplaced round 8% following an hour of high-quality 2160p/60fps HDR video streaming on YouTube, which is about what I’d anticipate from a contemporary pill.

Honor has provided its pill with 66W SuperCharge assist. It doesn’t bundle in any kind of charger, however utilizing a suitably speedy Vivo charger that I needed to hand (which produced the telltale ‘Tremendous Quick Charging’ notification), I used to be capable of get it from empty to 55% in half-hour, and on to 100% in 1 hour and 10 minutes.

That’s impressively quick.

Software program & Apps

• MagicOS 10 with Android 16
• Regular Honor bloatware
• At the least three years of updates

The Honor MagicPad 4 ships with Android 16 – the most recent (on the time of writing) model of Google’s OS. That’s not, in fact, what you’ll be interacting with daily, like it’s a Pixel Pill.

Honor’s MagicOS 10 UI comes slathered on prime, for higher or for worse, relying on what you want to obtain.

Whereas there’s ample customisation potential, and the UI performs admirably easily for essentially the most half, it’s additionally stuffed with pointless bloatware. Fb, Reserving.com, TikTok, Instagram – all come preinstalled with out your say-so.

So too do three cheap-looking video games and WPS Workplace, all 4 of which, for some purpose, share area in a folder titled ‘Prime Apps’. Curious.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Honor additionally masses its newest pill with a bunch of its personal home-brewed purposes, together with Honor Children (an academic app for youthful customers), a totally superfluous secondary app retailer known as App Market, and a wise house accent app that’s known as Honor AI House for who-knows-what purpose.

Speaking of AI, Gemini comes preinstalled (naturally), whereas the Honor AI part of the Settings menu rounds up the entire firm’s personal AI instruments. There’s a combination of the same old writing help and real-time transcription choices combined in with options that most likely don’t warrant the AI descriptor, equivalent to Air Gestures.

Magic Portal enables you to circle display content material utilizing a moderately odd however efficient knuckle enter, after which ship the content material to the Notes app, the share software, electronic mail and the like. Honor’s AI Reminiscences software options closely right here, which helps you to extract textual content and picture data and put it aside for later reference.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

MagicOS 10 is much extra spectacular with regards to getting issues achieved past the same old informal media consumption.

Hook the pill as much as its keyboard case accent, and also you’ll be requested if you wish to enter PC mode. This makes it in order that apps boot up in windowed kind, permitting you to stack and run a number of purposes aspect by aspect, such as you would in your desktop PC or laptop computer.

I additionally appreciated the best way during which I may share recordsdata comparatively simply between the pill and my MacBook utilizing the free Honor WorkStation app.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

It’s not my favorite tackle Android, then, however MagicOS 10 is nicely calibrated for energy customers and people in search of to get actual work achieved on the go.

One closing fly within the ointment is Honor’s subpar software program assist. The MagicPad 4 will obtain not less than three years of updates, which is an enchancment on the MagicPad 3, however falls in need of Samsung’s agency seven-year promise and even the divisive Pixel Pill simply obtained given a bonus two years.

Worth & Availability

• £599.99 for 12GB/256GB
• £699.99 for 16GB/512GB
• Early fowl accent bundles obtainable

Retail availability for the Honor MagicPad 4 commenced from 3 March 2026. You may decide it up immediately from the official Honor retailer, in addition to the same old on-line retailers.

Costs begin from £599.99 for the model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is accessible in gray or white. The 16/512GB mannequin prices £699.99, and is accessible in gray solely.

There’s additionally a tempting early fowl provide being run that cuts the value of the pill whereas bundling within the Honor Magic Pencil 3 and Good Keyboard equipment, that are price a mixed £170.98, without spending a dime. Take a look at the Honor web site for extra.

The Honor MagicPad 4 shouldn’t be obtainable within the US.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

At this worth, Honor’s pill can depend the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ as a direct rival. Samsung’s pill begins from £50 extra, but it surely bundles in a stylus as a part of that worth. In nearly each different {hardware} class, the MagicPad 4 has it outgunned.

You may also think about the OnePlus Pad 3 or Xiaomi Pad 7.

It’s additionally the identical worth because the iPad Air M3, which pulls up in need of the MagicPad 4 with its show, however in fact offers you that impeccable iPad OS software program and potent Apple M3 silicon.

Take a look at our record of the very best tablets to see our present prime suggestions, or it’s your decision a finances pill as a substitute.

Do you have to purchase the Honor MagicPad 4?

The Honor MagicPad 4 is a really well-equipped Android pill for the cash being requested.

For across the worth of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ or an iPad Air, you’re getting a slick OLED show and near-flagship efficiency.

It’s all wrapped up in one of many slimmest pill our bodies round. There are weaknesses regarding software program, together with a cluttered UI and extreme bloatware, and the non-obligatory equipment aren’t the very best of their type.

Regardless of the downsides, the Honor MagicPad 4 is without doubt one of the best Android tablets in its class.

Specs

• Android 16
• 12.3in, 3000 x 19207, OLED, 165Hz show
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
• 12GB/16GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• 13Mp, f/2.0 rear digicam
• 5Mp telephoto macro digicam
• As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
• 9Mp, f/2/2 front-facing digicam
• Eight Audio system with Honor Spatial Audio
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be
• Bluetooth 6.0
• 10,100mAh battery
• 66W charging
• 273.4 x 178.8 x 4.8mm
• 450g
• Launch colors: Gray, White