Honor Magic6 RSR Porsche Design review

Extra dynamic range and improved AF capability

Other than the display, the Magic6 RSR's key change compared to the Magic6 Pro is in the main camera and some of the auxiliary bits. Honor calls it Falcon Camera H9800 and that's a massive 800 more (though less than 10% really) than the Falcon Camera H9000 on the Pro.

Seriously though, there are supposedly actual differences. For one, as best as we can tell, the main camera on the RSR version is based on a different OmniVision sensor - the OV50K, as opposed to the OV50H.

It's a brand new design by OV, featuring what they call LOFIC technology (Lateral OverFlow Integration Capacitors). As OmniVision explains it, the sensor's pixels are capable of "storing more photoelectrons by collecting overflow electrons in the large capacitor within each pixel" - so basically the pixels can dump excess light nearby and continue capturing more. It's OV's way of achieving single-shot HDR, though they also employ other proven means of extending dynamic range like dual conversion gain and double exposures. Thanks to all that (but mostly the LOFIC part) the sensor should have up to 15EV of dynamic range, Honor says.

Magic6 RSR Porsche Design (above) and Magic6 Pro

It's still a 1/1.3" imager with 1.2µm individual pixels and a 4-cell color filter (OV's term for what Sony calls Quad Bayer and Samsung - Tetrapixel). It features 2x2 OCL PDAF, so its focusing is sensitive to phase changes in both principal directions. The lens in front of the sensor has a 23mm native focal length, but the camera somehow outputs 27mm-equivalent images (we've given up trying to figure out their inner workings).

An interesting bit here is that this primary camera has an SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) actuator, which takes care of both focusing and image stabilization - it's a contraption that relies on rapidly heating and cooling special alloy wires that contract in a controlled manner and thus move the lens assembly. The Magic6 Pro's main camera also uses the same principle, it's just that we only realized that once we dug deeper into the tech powering the RSR version.

Magic6 RSR Porsche Design (above) and Magic6 Pro

The rest of the cameras on the Magic6 RSR are the same as on the Magic6 Pro. and we won't be covering those here.

There's one other difference between the two models though, and it's in the more advanced LiDAR autofocussing tech that the Magic6 RSR has. It's the industry's first 1200-point array and it's capable of 60fps AF calculations for improved speed and accuracy. Or so say the promo materials.

Daylight photo quality comparison

One of the main promises that the new camera brings is improved dynamic range, though it's not like the standard Magic6 Pro was lacking in that respect. Either way, we deliberately shot some particularly challenging high-contrast scenes in our hopes to let the RSR version shine. As it turned out, making out differences between the two phones in dynamic range specifically proved quite difficult.

There might be subtle differences in color rendition, but they're not dramatic, and that's not what we're here for. And if you look at a pixel level, you'll note that the Pro's presentation is grainier, while the RSR's version of the shots is smoother, with an ever so slight loss in fine detail. But we wouldn't say there's a meaningful advantage in highlight preservation or shadow development on the RSR, when compared to the Pro. But to reiterate - the Magic6 Pro's main camera was already excellent in this regard.

Daylight samples, main camera: Magic6 RSR • Magic6 Pro

Low-light photo comparison

In low light, we observed slightly more nuanced tonal performance. The RSR often had an advantage at one end of the spectrum - whether it was slightly better developed shadows without sacrificing highlight preservation, or superior rendition of point light sources with more or less the same results in the dark areas. It was never a huge difference, but it was more of a difference than we saw during the day.

In the dark, the Magic6 Pro retained an edge in detail over the RSR as we saw in daylight. It's about as better than the RSR at that as the RSR is at dynamic range.

Low-light samples, main camera: Magic6 RSR • Magic6 Pro

Autofocus comparison

Other than the dynamic range, the RSR should be able to bring improved autofocusing accuracy and speed. We did a few rounds of head-to head comparisons with the ordinary Magic6 Pro, to mixed results.

For one of the batches, we had the RSR's toggle for focusing priority set to 'motion' (as opposed to 'object') - the Pro doesn't have that setting at all. We kept the 'motion sensing capture' toggle off on both phones - both have that, so it's not an RSR exclusive.

In this scenario, we had a somewhat better experience with the RSR, getting mostly reasonably sharp frames of our test subject. The Pro, in comparison, wasn't as good. We shot another round with the same settings where the RSR was notably better than the Pro, but we'll refrain from posting the samples due to their... explicit nature.

Daylight samples, main camera, Magic6 RSR

Closer inspection of these photos, however, suggested that most of the blur due to motion, rather than missed focus - the Pro was shooting at around 1/250 of a second, while the RSR was closer to 1/500s. On the screen of the Porsche Design phone you could see the active focus zone squares illuminating while capturing these shots, unlike the Pro. Essentially, the 'motion focus preferred' setting had sent the RSR phone into more of a shutter priority mode, and since the Pro doesn't have that, it was basing its exposure parameters on just the light, and not so much the subject matter.

Daylight samples, main camera, Magic6 Pro

So for yet another round of testing, we enabled the 'motion sensing capture' option on both phones. We were looking at faster shutter speeds on both devices now (at least 1/1000s but up to 1/5000s) and they had both switched the aperture to f/1.4, doubling the light reaching the sensor - for the previous test both were shooting at f/2.0.

In these conditions, we got more or less comparable results in terms of hit rate, though our model was admittedly in a different, more relaxed mood at the time.

Daylight samples, main camera, Magic6 RSR

Daylight samples, main camera, Magic6 Pro

We also gave the telephoto cameras a try, since we established that the LiDAR on the RSR was operational regardless of which camera was active (more or less as expected), and that was also the case with the Pro's more rudimentary laser AF bits. As you can see, neither phone gave us keepers. Once again, part of the reason was the slow shutter speed, but it's not like the focus has been moving closer as the dog was.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera, Magic6 RSR

Daylight samples, telephoto camera, Magic6 Pro

Overall, in our not overly scientific or particularly extensive test, we didn't see a spectacular improvement in hit rate on the Magic6 RSR over the Magic6 Pro. Perhaps with different subject matter and/or photographer with better technique the results would be different. Then again, if the idea is to get a foolproof pet-capture camera system for... operators with limited skill, maybe we're not quite there yet.

Final words

With the smartphone having reached a very advanced and mature state, making truly groundbreaking improvements has gotten ever more difficult. The law of diminishing returns has cast its shadow upon us and things can look a little bit stale, particularly if you're of a more grim disposition. In this reality, it's precisely handsets like the Porsche Design Honor Magic6 RSR - small-batch and exorbitantly expensive anyway - that can be the vehicles for some most welcome innovation.

We were more than a little skeptical when comparing specsheets between the regular Magic6 Pro and the RSR version. Having seen the Magic V2 and its Porsche Design counterpart, which had no meaningful differences underneath the surface, didn't help. And while we've learned not to expect miracles at this point, it turned out that it wasn't all empty marketing speak.

The improved autofocusing system on the Magic6 RSR did give us a better hit rate with erratically moving subjects, compared to the standard model - with caveats for subject distance, and shutter speeds, and who knows what else. The advancements in dynamic range were harder to spot, though probably the combined effects of all the other processing isn't quite allowing the hardware developments in that area to shine through. Plus it's not like the 'plain' Magic6 Pro had us complaining about dynamic range.

The new display - in Honor's words the industry first dual-layer OLED - is another advancement that must have taken tons of R&D to a smallish net end result. It's hard not to make it look like we're downplaying the feat of lowering long-term degradation. But we just don't see a single-digit percentage drop in brightness in several years of smartphone use as the most pressing problem to solve. We will, however, take some extra efficiency and, with that, improved autonomy any day of the week (especially on weekends) - by the looks of it, the tandem display could be giving us that.

Never really meant as a review-review, our brief exploration of the Magic6 RSR Porsche Design served its purpose. We won't be telling you to run to the store and buy one, since it's anything but a mainstream product and it can hardly justify its price premium over the already pretty solid (and not too affordable) Magic6 Pro. But we do like seeing some new tech every now and then, and we can picture some of the bits of this exclusive version trickling down into more ordinary devices.

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