Honor MagicPad 4 review: Amazingly thin

The MagicPad series has always been at the top of the food chain when it comes to Honor slates. And the latest model, the MagicPad 4, is a prime example with its stunning OLED display, ultra-thin design, narrow bezels, and ample performance.

I can’t fault this tablet; it’s very close to perfection, with one sole issue we have to talk about — availability. It’s almost impossible to find this great iPad alternative in the States, and even globally, the MagicPad 4 can be pretty rare, depending on the country you’re in.

That said, if you manage to get your hands on a unit, the asking price of £599 in the UK and €599 for the 12/256GB version in select European markets might turn out to be a deterrent. It’s not a cheap tablet, but in my opinion it’s worth every penny.

Honor MagicPad 4 Design and Display

One of the best OLED displays on a tablet

The design is definitely one of the strongest features of the MagicPad 4. This thing is just 4.8 mm thick, but specs are specs. Holding the slate in your hands is awe-inspiring. It’s actually thinner than some foldables on the market (the Galaxy Z Fold 6, for example, is over 5 mm thick unfolded)!The aluminum unibody is barely as thick as the USB-C port, and snapping the Honor Magic-Pen to the frame shows how thin this device really is. (Hint: the pen is noticeably thicker and looks a bit strange on the upper frame).

On the back there’s a square camera bump housing just one wide-angle lens with a 13MP sensor underneath. The Honor logo is actually engraved in the aluminum, and you can feel it slightly deeper into the back panel. Very classy.

Finally, let’s talk about the weight. At 450 grams, this 12.3-inch tablet is lighter than the 11-inch iPad Air, which is pretty astonishing. And when we go to the 12+ inch rivals, I can’t think of a model that’s lighter 

Unfortunately, the retail box is as thin and lightweight as the tablet itself. There’s not much inside, but you still get a powerful 66W charging brick and a USB-C cable. The other accessories, such as cases, keyboards, and the Magic-Pen, are either sold separately or a subject of various bundle offers.

Moving to the next big talking point — the display. Not only is it very bright, but Honor managed to shrink the bezels to around 4 mm. This gives the MagicPad 4 quite a futuristic and premium look.

Specs-wise, it’s a 12.3-inch OLED with a 3000 x 1920 pixel resolution (around 290 PPI) and a 93% screen-to-body ratio. The panel can go up to 165 Hz in the refresh rate department, but several other options are also available.

Last but not least, this screen features most of Honor’s eye protection tools taken from the Magic Pro smartphone flagships. Time for display tests.

In Europe, 700 will get you the base version plus the Honor Magic-Pencil 3, the HONOR MagicPad4 Smart Keyboard, and the Honor Mousebuds earbuds.

As for the MagicPad 4 Smart Keyboard, it’s pretty affordable and gets the job done. The keys are big and with long travel, and there are two positions you can place the table when you open the keyboard. There’s a more expensive version called the Smart Touch Keyboard, and that one includes a touchpad. 

The same goes for the different stylus options; there are several models supported. The bundled Magic-Pen 3 works fine, but the Magic-Pencil 4s is the better version, as it has a physical button near the top for additional features. You can press it to control different apps, press and hold to launch Notes, or double press to activate the eraser feature.

Honor MagicPad 4 Performance & Benchmarks

Snapdragon 8 but not Elite

The Magic Pad 4 comes with a flagship Qualcomm processor, but sadly, it’s not of the Elite family. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 inside this slate is still a powerhouse, and in normal day-to-day tasks, the tablet feels very smooth and fast.The two storage versions feature different RAM options as well, the 256GB variant comes equipped with 12GB of RAM, while the 512GB model has 16GB on board. 12GB is absolutely fine, but if you want to be futureproof, get the 16GB version.

Let’s see how this chip performs in the slim and lightweight body of the Magic Pad 4.

CPU Performance Benchmarks:

Synthetic benchmarks confirm the real-life experience – the tablet is plenty fast, toppling the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. The iPad Pro is still undisputed champion here thanks to the M-series chips, but the MagicPad 4 is not a slouch.

Honor keeps on perfecting its MagicOS UI skin on top of the usual Android base. This time around, we’re talking about MagicOS 10 and Android 16. This is by far the most complete and powerful version of MagicOS I’ve tested so far.

The transparency mode looks great and it’s very customizable (albeit reminiscent of Apple Glass), there’s a new PC Mode that allows you to open apps in floating windows and resize and rearrange them for improved multitasking, and also something called Global Taskbar – an easy way to open apps in split-screen mode, drag them inside on the home screen in floating mode, etc.

Finally, the MagicPad 4 comes equipped with a good variety of AI-powered tools. AI Efficient Office is designed to help you with your writing and other office-related endeavors. It includes AI Writing Tools, a special AI Agent to take care of meetings for you, summaries and memos, speech to text, smart reminders, and many more.

In terms of software support, Honor promises six years of major Android updates (at least in the EU).

Honor MagicPad 4 Audio Quality

The Honor MagicPad 4 comes equipped with eight(!) speakers and also features Honor’s Spatial Audio. The sound is very rich and detailed, given the thin body of the tablet. Bass frequencies can be physically felt when you’re holding the slate watching movies or listening to music.

I was really surprised by the sound quality, especially watching IMAX Enhanced content. This tablet supports DTS:X sound, which preserves the full dynamic range of the original movie mix. 

The Spatial Audio feature is hit and miss — thanks to the eight speakers, when it activates properly, you get a pretty good simulation of surround sound. Other times it’s not as impressive. But overall, the sound system on the Magic Pad 4 is very, very good.

There’s no haptic feedback on the tablet, but it’s not uncommon or unusual in tablets.

Honor MagicPad 4 Battery and Charging

Honor MagicPad 4 Camera

Basic

Tablets and cameras – these two don’t go well together and it’s been the case for decades. The Honor MagicPad 4 is no exception. It’s somewhat understandable, who would try and use a tablet for a shooting session, but slapping a decent camera on those things won’t hurt, right? We have a 13MP camera on the back, listed as an “autofocus” one, and a 9MP front camera with fixed focus. Enough about specs; they’re pretty sparse anyway. Let’s take a look at some samples.

Video Quality

Still images are a bit better than the video sample; the exposure is a tad better, photos are not as dark, and there’s some additional color here and there, but overall, all the drawbacks from the video section can be seen here as well.

The front camera produces decent colors, the skin looks natural, and the yellow jacket kind of pops out in a pleasant way. That said, the level of detail is not great, courtesy of the 9MP sensor. Overall, for a quick video call or a meeting, the MagicPad 4 will suffice, but don’t expect miracles from the camera system.

 

Should you buy it?

Absolutely! That is if you can find one. Sourcing the MagicPad 4 in North America could be rather difficult, and even in some European countries, availability isn’t great. If you’re based in the UK, you’re in luck; Honor has a strong presence on the Albion. But if you manage to get your hands on one of these beauties, you’d be delighted. It’s one of the thinnest tablets I’ve ever reviewed; it’s lightweight and comfortable, the bezels are narrow, and the screen itself is a marvel to look at.

You also get good performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, and the sound system is brilliant! These are pretty important areas in a slate, and I can forgive the mediocre camera performance and the lack of wireless charging. Overall, as far as flagship OLED tablets go, this one is great.