Hands-on: Honor Magic 6 RSR gives one of Android’s best phones an even better design

Ben Schoon | May 2 2024 - 12:15 pm PT

The Honor Magic 6 Pro quickly, and surprisingly, became one of my favorite Android phones when I reviewed it earlier this year, and now the Magic 6 RSR is giving that device a fresh coat of paint.

Honor’s “RSR” series is built in collaboration with Porsche Design. We first saw it on the Honor Magic V2 RSR that Max Weinbach reviewed recently. That foldable picked up a thin-and-superlight body with better scratch resistance and an enhanced design, but also a more premium price tag.

The same can be said of the Honor Magic 6 RSR.

This new device from Honor and Porsche Design takes everything that was good about the Honor Magic 6 Pro – the trio of cameras, excellent display and biometrics, performance, and excellent battery life – and supercharges it with a new design and some other tweaks.

The first thing I noticed about the Honor Magic 6 RSR versus the Pro is that the new design on the back is just stunning. The car-like curves of the back of the device give it such a nice feeling in the hand. The camera module gets even bigger changes, ditching the off-circle of the Pro for this unique hexagon look that I just love. The camera hardware underneath is unchanged which is good news, but the design just stands out so much more.

As mentioned, the display looks virtually unchanged to the eye, and has the same combo of an in-display fingerprint sensor paired with actual, secure face unlock at the top of the device in a small pill-shaped cutout.

But there are some changes on this model.

The cover glass is more scratch-resistant with the same “NanoCrystal Shield” as on the Magic V2 RSR – I haven’t spent enough time for that to come into play, but this same tech survived Max’s torture test on the V2. The OLED panel underneath is also the first “Dual-Layer” which, according to Honor, drastically lengthens the lifespan of the panel. In my use, though, the two displays feel and look identical, the RSR should just stay looking this good for a lot longer.

There are also some software tweaks on this special edition, such as some fun sound effects, a black and gold color and icon theme, and a speedometer look for the charging animation.

The Honor Magic 6 RSR, like the Pro, won’t be coming to the US, but it’s coming to Europe, the UK, and other regions starting today. In the UK, it’s priced at £1,599, an additional £500 over the Pro. Is it worth that additional cost? For most folks, probably not, but this is still one of the best Android phones out today, so it’s nice to see this special edition make it even better.