In addition to the thin foldable smartphones Magic V3 and Magic Vs3, Honor today introduced two new tablets in China – the MagicPad 2 with a 12.3-inch screen and sub-flagship Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, as well as the 12.1-inch Honor Pad 9 Pro with a powerful chip mid-level Dimensity 8100 chip.
MagicPad 2. Image source: Honor
Unlike last year’s MagicPad 13, which had an LCD display, the new MagicPad 2 features a 10-bit OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, 3000 x 1920 pixel resolution, and 1600 cd/m2 peak brightness. The screen claims PWM backlight dimming at a frequency of 4320 Hz, as well as TUV Rheinland certification confirming eye protection by reducing flicker and blue light intensity.
The thickness of the MagicPad 2 tablet is only 5.8 mm. It is smaller in size than last year’s model, but Honor has managed to retain a 10,050 mAh battery and support for 66 W fast charging. The new model also retains the 13-megapixel main and 9-megapixel front cameras.
The MagicPad 2 tablet runs on the Android 14 operating system with the proprietary MagicOS 8.0 shell. The platform offers support for many different AI functions powered by the Qualcomm chipset. The new product has expanded support for multitasking. The tablet can recognize handwritten formulas, handwritten text, geometric shapes, and objects on the screen.
MagicPad 2 claims support for Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6, as well as input using the Magic Pen 3. The tablet is equipped with eight speakers with IMAX Enhanced certification.
The tablet is available in white, black and blue colors. MagicPad 2 is offered in configurations with 8, 12 or 16 GB of RAM, as well as with 256, 512 GB or 1 TB of flash memory. Prices start at 2899 yuan ($400/€367) for the junior configuration (8/256 GB) and reach 4199 yuan ($580/€530) for the older version (16/1024 GB). The tablet is available for pre-order on the official Honor China website. Retail sales of the device will begin on July 19.
Honor Pad 9 Pro
The Pad 9 Pro tablet, in turn, is a more advanced version of the Pad 9 model. The device has a 12.1-inch display with a resolution of 2560 × 1600 pixels and a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It should be noted that Honor offers the Pad 9 Pro with two display options. One is a regular IPS panel, the other has a special coating that reduces screen flickering and blue light emissions.
Compared to its predecessor, the screen of the new Pad 9 Pro has thinner frames. In addition, the battery capacity of the new product has increased by almost 20% and is 10,050 mAh (Pad 9 has an 8300 mAh battery).
The device is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8100 processor (four Cortex-A78 cores with a frequency of 2.85 GHz, four Cortex-A55 with a frequency of 2.0 GHz). The tablet offers 8 or 12 GB of RAM, as well as 256 GB of permanent memory. The new product runs Android 14 with the proprietary MagicOS 8.0 shell. For the Pad 9 Pro, support for the new electronic pen Honor Magic Pen 3 is announced, and the manufacturer will also offer a proprietary keyboard. The new product also received a 13-megapixel main and 5-megapixel front camera.
Honor Pad 9 Pro is already available for sale. The device is available in gray and blue colors starting at 2,199 yuan ($300/€280). The version with a special screen is priced at 200 yuan ($27/€25) more expensive.