Honor announced today at IFA 2022 its new Dual Flagship strategy – in short, Honor launches its foldable phones internationally. And as the company “embraces the connected future,” it introduced its upcoming MagicOS 7.0, which aims to connect smartphones, computers, and IoT devices together.
Before we dive into the other major new announcements, let’s review the new launches. Honor 70 is available in select European markets as of today. In the UK, an 8/128GB unit can be yours for £480 (with the option to split that into three £160 installments). In continental Europe, the 8/128 GB model will sell for 550 euros, and the 8/256 GB model for 600 euros. We have an Honor 70 review to find out all about it.
Honor Pad 8 will be launched today as well, and the 12-inch tablet will be available in several markets across Europe. In the UK you can pick up one (4/128GB) for £250 (or 3 x £83.33), on the Continent €330 with the 6/128GB model also available for €350.
The company is also updating its 14-inch Intel laptop — the new Honor MagicBook 14 features a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12500H processor and can be configured with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 GPU. This is the first Honor laptop to offer OS Turbo operating system, which improves energy efficiency by more than 20%. This means that the 75Wh battery is enough for 17 hours on standby. And there’s fast charging, so 15 minutes of charging equals 3.5 hours of playback time.
Pre-orders for the new Intel-powered MagicBook 14 begin today in select European markets. The base i5 version is €1,099, while the addition of a discrete RTX2050 GPU increases it to €1,299. Open sales and deliveries begin September 18th. Note: Honor has a new MagicBook 14 with Ryzen 6000 processor, but that device hasn’t made its way to Europe yet.
Today Honor also introduces Spatial Audio – a headset technology for the next generation of AR and VR experiences that uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to track your head and create an immersive 3D sound stage. Spatial audio is capable of placing virtual sound sources as close as 15 cm (6 in) and up to 10 meters (33 ft). Along with AR and VR, this technology can be used for movies, music, and games.
Incidentally, Honor worked with Arloopa to challenge two famous artists – Yunuene and Timo Helgert – to create an on-site AR experience at Hamburg’s Speicherstadt (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) centered in the iconic Wasserschloss building.
Well, let’s talk about the company’s dual core strategy. It will bring “the upcoming flagship foldable smartphones and all-round flagship smartphones” to Europe and other regions around the world for a two-pronged approach to the premium market.
That could start with Honor’s first foldable phone, the Magic V, as already listed on the company’s European sites. There’s no price or release date yet, so we’ll keep an eye on that (“upcoming” might mean the plan is to bring the next foldable device, not the Magic V). As for the “all-round pioneer”, this role will continue to be filled through the Magic4 series and its sequels.
Honor 70 and Pad 8 launch with Magic UI 6.1 (based on Android 12). The next major version of the software will be called MagicOS 7.0 and it will not only be limited to smartphones but also PCs and IoT.
Most of the details are still kept secret, but the company revealed one feature – the new operating system will allow users to control a Honor laptop, smartphone and tablet with the same keyboard and mouse. Also, there will be a seamless file exchange between devices. MagicOS 7.0 will be fully revealed in the last quarter of 2022.
Before that, Honor will enable another way to collaborate between smartphones and PCs – it will expand support for Microsoft Phone Link (formerly Your Phone) internationally (currently only available in China). Honor Magic4 Pro will be among the first global models to get Phone Link support, and Honor 70 will receive it soon as an OTA update.
We’ll be dealing with the new Honor devices on display today, so stay tuned for more details on them soon.