A Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a 200MP telephoto camera, and 100W wired charging. These are great specs for the Honor Magic 7 Pro. But compared to Samsung’s advanced image processing and Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S25+, does that stand a chance? Let’s find out.
Specs overview: Magic 7 Pro vs Galaxy S25+
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| Components | Honor Magic7 Pro | Samsung Galaxy S25+ |
| Display | 6.8″ LTPO OLED, 1280 x 2800 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate | 6.7″ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 1440 x 3120 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| RAM & Storage | 12GB or 16GB RAM; 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage (UFS 4.0) | 12GB RAM; 256GB or 512GB storage (UFS 4.0) |
| Main Camera | Triple: 50MP (wide, OIS) + 200MP (periscope telephoto, 3x optical zoom, OIS) + 50MP (ultrawide) | Triple: 50MP (wide, OIS) + 10MP (telephoto, 3x optical zoom, OIS) + 12MP (ultrawide) |
| Front Camera | 50MP | 12MP |
| Battery | 5270mAh (Europe); 100W wired charging, 80W wireless charging |
4900mAh; 45W wired charging, 15W wireless charging |
| Software | Android 15 with MagicOS 9; up to 7 major Android upgrades | Android 15 with One UI 7; up to 7 major Android upgrades |
| Build & Extras | Glass front (NanoCrystal Shield) and back, IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance | Glass front and back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame, IP68 dust and water resistance |
| Price | Starting from £1,099.99 (≈$1,420) |
Starting from $999.99 |
Design
The Honor Magic 7 Pro has a slightly boxy design with a flat display and frame. The phone has a massive camera module on the back that is a blend of an outer square and an inner circle.
Regardless, it protrudes enough to make the phone wobble on a flat surface. It’s not a big deal as that’s the case with most flagship phones these days. Speaking of cases, they should level out the imbalance if you eventually decide to get one.
The phone comes in four colors of black, white, breeze blue, and lunar shadow gray. All of them have a matte glass texture on the back, except the lunar shadow gray variant, which has a marbled texture that stands out.
Now, is it in any way better than the rest? Well, not really. It’s more about aesthetics than it is about functionality. It just gives the phone a unique look and should feel slightly different in hand. Of course, it also looks better in bright lighting.
The front part of the phone houses a 6.8-inch display with NanoCrystal-grade strength and a noticeable pill-shaped cutout for the dual front-facing cameras. It reminds me of the iPhone 15, although it’s a much smaller version. At under 9mm thick, the phone manages to be slim despite packing a large battery.
But enough about Honor. Let’s move on to Samsung. If you’ve read our previous comparisons of the S25 series with the competition, you’d see how not much has changed since the S24 series. Sure, Samsung did make some improvements. But it’s nothing to beat a gong about.
The S25+ maintains a clean, minimal look with individual camera lenses on the back with thicker rings than before. The design is flatter, and the display is vibrant as ever, stretching nearly edge to edge with slimmed-down bezels.
Up front, the selfie camera sits in a hole-punch cutout. The display itself uses the Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and it’s the same thing on the back with an aluminum frame to solidify everything. Overall, there are seven color options available to you, including IcyBlue, Navy, and Mint.
Display
The Honor Magic 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25+ both have high-end OLED displays. But the Magic 7 Pro has an extreme 5000-nit peak brightness. There’s a caveat. That number only applies to small highlights in HDR content, not the entire screen. For full-screen brightness, it maxes out at 1600 nits.
On the bright side (pun intended), it supports Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid. You’ll still get excellent contrast and colors. The S25+, on the other hand, peaks at 2600 nits, which is significantly better than Honor’s phone.
Either way, you’re not going to have the best experience in sunlight using both phones. Even though the Galaxy phone has an advantage, Samsung phones do have a history of thermal limitations. After extended use in warm weather, brightness drops drastically. The Magic 7 Pro may also require you to do some tilting or shading your hand over the display to see clearly.
But brightness isn’t everything. The S25+ has the higher 1440p resolution. So, text and images are sharper. The Magic 7 Pro settles for 1280p. It supports HDR10+, which is more commonly used in streaming services. Still, it lacks Dolby Vision.
It’s also worth knowing that Honor used the NanoCrystal Shield technology on its display. That’s the same material used on the Magic 6 Pro phone. Following numerous tests, it withstood direct stabs from scalpels, drops of sharp knives, and even had stapler rounds flattened against it, all without visible damage. Honor claims it’s 10x stronger than regular glass, thanks to a silicon carbide layer, and it even has a Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) 5-star drop resistance certification.
The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the S25+ survives rough drops on concrete or asphalt, which are way harsher than smooth surfaces. Corning claims it can handle a one-meter drop onto concrete without cracking, which is a big deal because regular aluminosilicate glass usually gives out at half that height.
That sounds more important than taking direct stabs from a few sharp objects, even though scratch resistance is great too. You’re just more likely to accidentally drop your phone than have someone stab it so hard with a scalpel. It could slip out your hands or pocket.
Performance
Performance is one area I’m happy to discuss because there’s nothing much to say. The Galaxy S25+ and Honor Magic 7 Pro use the same Adreno 830 GPU and Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The only real difference is that the 25+’s prime core runs at 4.47 GHz, while the Magic 7 Pro is slightly lower at 4.32 GHz.
As for how that’s possible, since they share literally the same chip, it’s normal. Manufacturers often tweak the same chipset to fit their design priorities. It comes down to binning and tuning. Some chips naturally handle higher clock speeds better, so Qualcomm provides slight variations.
Honor may have pushed the clock speed for a small performance edge, while Samsung balanced it for better efficiency and thermals. But in reality, you wouldn’t even notice a difference if you weren’t told.
Everything else, from the Adreno 830 GPU to the efficiency cores, is identical, so gaming, AI tasks, and battery efficiency should be the same. Ultimately, software optimization will matter more than this small clock speed difference.
Memory and battery
If processors didn’t sway your buying decision, maybe the memory and battery will. The Honor Magic 7 Pro has the upper hand in both areas. It offers more storage options, going up to 1TB with 16GB of RAM, while the S25+ stops at 512GB with 12GB of RAM. Both use UFS 4.0, so speed isn’t an issue, but if you need more storage and RAM, Honor is the obvious side to join.
The Magic 7 Pro has 5850mAh battery internationally, and 5270mAh in Europe. Either option is much larger than the S25+’s 4900mAh cell. Honor is also miles, or watts, ahead in charging with 100W wired to get you a full charge in 33 minutes and 80W wireless to get you to full charge in 44 minutes. The S25+ offers just 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. Even reverse wireless charging is better on Honor.
Cameras
The Honor Magic 7 Pro’s 200MP periscope telephoto lens is undeniably impressive, especially with its 1/1.4-inch sensor. Samsung stuck to a more conservative 10MP telephoto camera, although it still offers 3x optical zoom with optical image stabilisation, and it’s no secret how the brand’s image processing tends to handle zoom shots really well.
Both phones have a 50MP primary sensor, but Honor’s variable f/1.4-2.0 aperture can switch between a wider size in low light and narrower size for sharper daytime shots. Again, Honor went for a 50MP sensor, while the S25+ uses a 12MP one with Super Steady video stabilization.
Honor’s selfie camera is a 50MP lens with Time-of-Flight 3D sensor that improves Portrait mode with accurate background and face unlock security. It also has a capped resolution of 4K. Meanwhile, Samsung’s front camera is a 12MP front lens that can shoot in 8K.
All that considered, if you want top resolution shots, extreme detail, and versatility in zoom and low light, get the Honor Magic 7 Pro. If you care about consistency, video quality, and real-world usability, get the Galaxy S25+.
In the end, the most important thing is that your phone uses its camera hardware and software well. Of course, there’s also personal preference. Personally, I’d go with the S25+ because it has more realistic results and natural colors.
Software and features
The S25+ runs on One UI 7, which is based on Android 15. It comes with Samsung’s signature customization options, deep integration with the Galaxy ecosystem, and features like Samsung DeX and S Pen support.
On the other hand, the Magic 7 Pro runs MagicOS 9. It’s also based on Android 15, but focuses on being a lighter UI with some AI-driven enhancements. It’s not as deeply customizable as One UI 7.
Unsurprisingly, both phones have artificial intelligence on board. Samsung presents Galaxy AI with live translations, text-to-speech improvements, AI-driven photo editing, and the new Now Bar, among other capabilities. Honor AI powers Magic 7 Pro’s smart recommendations, voice assistance, and camera optimizations.
Both the Galaxy S25+ and Magic 7 Pro are guaranteed seven years of major OS and security updates, extending software longevity through 2032.
Fill your Galaxy with Magic
Judging purely based on specifications and hardware, the Honor Magic 7 Pro is the better phone. Seriously, it’s more than tempting. But then there are some who prefer Samsung’s software and overall consistency in daily use. The S25+ is also more durable in build, so there’s a bit of a dilemma. Yet again, it’s up to you to decide what matters most. If you want raw power and flashy features, go for the Magic 7 Pro. But if you want a phone that will hold up well over time or want to buy into Samsung’s Galaxy for the first time, the S25+ is a good investment.
