I tried the Honor Magic 8 Pro photography kit, here's how it compares to the competition

I’m a little obsessed with smartphone camera kits. I’ve tried everything from Xiaomi’s ergonomic grips to Vivo’s teleconverters and Oppo’s own take on the concept.

I’m a firm believer in these kits, as although the setup can be cumbersome, I’ve taken shots that I wouldn’t have been able to without these accessories. And most importantly, they let me leave my heavy full-frame setup at home more often, and my spine is very thankful for that.

Clearly, camera-focused Chinese phone manufacturers feel the same way, as more and more of these devices keep popping up. Until now, Honor had neglected to jump on the trend, but that changes with the new Honor Magic8 Pro Professional Imaging Kit developed in collaboration with Telesin.

I’ve been testing this kit for the past couple of weeks, and it’s another impressive showing that blends elements of all the other camera kits that came before it. So, let’s take a closer look.

What’s in the box?

Honor’s photography kit comprises three main parts. There’s a phone case, a magnetic grip with tactile controls, and a teleconverter lens with a bayonet mounting system. You also get a 67mm filter adapter, along with both a neck and wrist strap.

As mentioned, there are parts of this kit that remind me of the other brand’s efforts. For instance, the bayonet lens mounting system is almost identical to Vivo’s, as is the neck strap, while the magnetic grip is quite similar to Oppo’s system. But that’s not to say there’s nothing new here.

The phone case has a thermally conductive material on the inside, and it looks like there’s a small heat sink in the middle of the magnetic ring. Telesin offers additional accessories that work with this magnetic mount, too, like a fill light and an active cooling fan for long shoots.

The case and grip are mostly made from plastic, but they feel very high-quality. Meanwhile, the lens and its mount are entirely metal, and they seem like they’ll stand the test of time.

The grip

The grip handle adds familiar DSLR-style controls to the Honor Magic 8 Pro, and attaches via super-strong MagSafe-compatible magnets. It’s a small detail, but I really like that the grip has these magnets on both sides, so if you want to use a MagSafe tripod, for example, you can attach it without needing to remove the grip first.

There are a couple of other advantages to this design when compared to a USB-C grip like you’ll find in Vivo and Xiaomi’s equivalent kits, too. Firstly, it can be rotated, so if you’re shooting vertically, you can still have an ergonomic grip with easily reachable controls.

Secondly, this design doesn’t block the USB-C port on the phone. Other kits offer a USB-C passthrough for charging, but they don’t usually support data transfer. So, for instance, if you want to use a wireless microphone receiver or an SSD, you can do so with this grip, and you wouldn’t be able to do so with others.

Of course, there are downsides, too. This grip doesn’t charge your phone, and you’ll need to remember to charge it from time to time, as it’s basically a fancy Bluetooth remote.

As for the controls, there’s a two-stage shutter button (half press to focus), a video button, a zoom rocker, a power button, and a very satisfying ratcheting control wheel. Unfortunately, though, there doesn’t seem to be a way to reprogram these controls; they’ll just work in their default configuration.

It’s not a huge problem, but it’s a slight annoyance. For instance, the control wheel switches camera mode (from photo to video and so on), which is fine, but I’d much rather have it control my EV compensation. All the other grips I have tried give you more options.

The teleconverter

The teleconverter looks and feels very similar to Vivo and Oppo's efforts. I have no way of actually knowing, but I wouldn't be shocked if these were all made in the same factory. To be clear, that's a good thing. These lenses are all extremely high quality, with a weighty metal build and glass optical elements.

The bayonet mount looks very similar, too, but it's not cross-compatible with the Vivo and Oppo kits, in case you were curious. It comes supplied with a rubber rear cap and a metal top cap to keep the glass protected.

The metal lens cap is another premium touch, but mine is extremely loose, and it falls off if you look at it the wrong way. It's an easy fix with some foam tape, but I shouldn't have to be DIY-ing a solution. Keep in mind, though, that this is a sample size of one, and other units might have a better fit.

This lens gives you a 2.35x magnification, and it works with the phone's built-in telephoto, just like the other examples. When attached, it gives you an FOV equivalent to around 200mm, in full-frame terms. But, of course, you can digitally zoom much further than that.

Image 1 of 7

Compared to digitally zooming with the built-in lens, the teleconverter makes an immediate difference to the level of detail. It looks best at 200mm, but you can go all the way to around 1600mm and still get pretty usable results.

As I found with the other teleconverters, though, it's not long-range zooming that makes these lenses so appealing. If you shoot medium close-ups, the compression created by this longer lens produces stunning results with a shallow depth of field. These photos look like they were shot with a larger mirrorless camera, not a phone, and, in my opinion, that's the best thing about these external lens kits.

It's also great in low-light conditions. When you shoot at 200mm, you're using the whole 1/1.4-inch sensor, rather than cropping in on it. This means photos and videos are brighter, with less noise and motion blur.

Of course, this lens is just as useful for video shooting, and I was immediately impressed with the stabilisation when doing so. Autofocus is decent, too, but it does better with human subjects than birds. Still, it's nothing that tapping the screen can't fix, and there's a manual focus option if you want further control.

The software

If you try to use the teleconverter lens without first setting up the software, you'll be greeted with an upside-down image that's very shaky. To fix it, you'll need to dive into the settings menu on the camera app, find the Accessories section, and toggle on the Teleconverter option.

Once that's done, there will be a new Teleconverter mode available in the quick settings (swipe up in either Photo or Video mode).

You get a decent amount of options here, including a dedicated Stage mode for concert photography, as well as a selection of filters to use. In video, you can capture at up to 4K120, but the stabilisation isn't so good on that setting, so if you want to keep things looking smooth, you'll need to stick to 4K60 and below.

It's similar to the way Oppo's camera app handles the teleconverter, and it comes with the same downsides. There's no way to shoot in RAW or high-res mode, and there's no Log profile available for video shooting, either. Vivo is a step ahead here; the teleconverter for the X300 Pro is accessible in every camera mode.

Final thoughts

I have been impressed with every teleconverter kit I have tried so far, and the Honor Magic 8 Pro kit is no different. It has a very similar level of optical quality (despite lacking the Hasselblad/Zeiss branding) and produces very similar results.

This Telesin kit has some distinct advantages, too. It's the only solution that factors in thermal performance, with its conductive layer on the phone case, and the ability to rotate the grip and keep the USB-C port accessible gives it a leg up over Vivo's options.

If you own the Honor Magic 8 Pro, and you want to take your phone photography to the next level, this is a great purchase. However, getting your hands on this kit could prove tricky. Currently, it's available to buy in China, Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE, and Bangladesh. When I asked about a European release, I was told it was unconfirmed.

This means that for now, the only way a lot of our readers can get one is by importing. It's a bit of a pain, but on the plus side, I have the UK model Magic 8 Pro, and the software supports this accessory just fine. So, the only hurdle is physically getting one.

You might also like...

Interested in mobile photography? Check out more of the best camera phones, or best Android phones for photography in our guides.