HONOR Magic 2 revealed: Meet the phone that's apparently so smart it can read your mind

We’ve known it was coming for quite some time, but HONOR has finally unveiled the HONOR Magic 2. Much like its predecessor, 2016’s HONOR Magic, the HONOR Magic 2 is jam packed with ambitious, cutting edge features, so much so that you might want to take a deep breath before reading on.

Let’s start with what we already knew following its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reveal at IFA 2018. The HONOR Magic 2 features a 6.39-inch full-view AMOLED display (2,340 x 1,080) with no notch and, according to HONOR, an almost 100 percent screen-to-body ratio.

With so much real estate taken up by the display, HONOR has had to get creative to fit in certain features. In lieu of dropping the selfie camera, HONOR has opted for a slider design for the Magic 2, much like the OPPO Find X.

The main difference is this is a manual slider rather than a mechanized one. The “Magic Slide” design is built around a butterfly multi-track mechanism that clicks into place, which when slid down reveals a triple-lens front facing camera (16MP + 2MP + 2MP).

The near bezel-less design has also encouraged HONOR to outfit the phone with an optical in-display fingerprint reader.

Much like its parent brand’s latest flagship, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro, the HONOR Magic also features face unlock technology in addition to the in-display sensor. HONOR says the front facing triple camera enables “high-level 3D facial recognition,” so this may be a little more advanced than previous software-based solutions we’ve seen on HONOR phones.

Continuing the legacy of the original Magic, the Magic 2 is packed with AI-centric features, enabled by the Kirin 980 SoC and its dual NPU.

As well as scene recognition and other automated camera smarts, the AI suite also extends to a brand new virtual assistant named “YOYO” which HONOR calls an “all-in-one smart-living enabler possessed with mind-reading and machine-learning capabilities,” which to be honest sounds a little terrifying.

Speaking of the camera, the Magic 2 sports a 16MP ultra wide angle +16MP RGB + 24MP monochrome triple-lens rear camera with AIS. It also features 40W fast charging technology which HONOR claims will charge the phone up to 50 percent battery in 15 minutes. For a full overview of the phone’s hardware, be sure to check out our full specs rundown.

The HONOR Magic 2 goes on sale in China on November 6 and is available in Black, Red, or Blue (which makes us wonder where the white version leaked early today got to). Pricing starts at 3,799 yuan (~$545) for the 6GB RAM/128GB ROM model and goes all the way up to 4,799 yuan (~$690) for the 8GB RAM/256 ROM model. There’s also a 8GB RAM/128GB model for 4,299 yuan (~$615) that sits nicely in the middle.

Unfortunately, HONOR has confirmed to Android Authority that they don’t intend to launch the device outside China. So you’ll probably need to choose the Mi Mix 3 if you really want a slider phone.

What do you make of the HONOR Magic 2? There’s certainly plenty to talk about, so get your tongues wagging in the comments!