Honor Magic 6 RSR improves one of the best Android phones

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 new 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 recently reviewed. That foldable gained a slim, super-light body with better scratch resistance and an improved design, but also a higher price.

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

This new device from Honor and Porsche Design takes everything good about the Honor Magic 6 Pro (the trio of cameras, great display and biometrics, performance, and excellent battery life) and supercharges it with a new design and a few 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 simply stunning. The car-like curves on the back of the device give it a very pleasant feel in the hand. The camera module gets even bigger changes, ditching the Pro’s off-circle look for this unique hexagonal look that I love. The camera hardware underneath hasn’t changed, which is good news, but the design stands out much more.

As mentioned, the display appears largely unchanged to look at and has the same combination of an in-display fingerprint sensor combined with a real, secure face unlock at the top of the device in a small pill-shaped cutout.

But there are some changes in this model.

The glass cover 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 technology survived Max’s torture test in V2. The OLED panel underneath is also the first “dual layer” which, according to Honor, dramatically extends the life of the panel. However, in my use the two screens feel and look identical, the RSR should continue to look that way for much longer.

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

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

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