The Honor MagicPad 4 is a real upgrade with its stunning OLED display – and it's light and cheap enough to take on the iPad

Honor had a rather successful MWC, capturing the imagination of the world with its AI-fused hardware. But with so many devices launched in quick succession, many may have missed an updated MagicPad 4 being released at the start of the event.

I was given a review unit ahead of the event, alongside its MagicBook 14 Pro. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip, an improved OLED display, and 16GB of RAM. It also has one of the thinnest tablet chassis around, making it a bit of a lightweight powerhouse.

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Honor MagicPad 4: Design

The design looks largely similar to the MagicPad 3 we reviewed at the end of 2025, though Honor has managed to shave off over 1mm in thickness (5.79mm to 4.8mm), which looks to be the result of a slightly smaller battery size.

Having used the MagicPad 4 at MWC, carrying it around Barcelona, I can say it's a perfect little mobile work device. It's light, with versatile accessories that are simple to connect, and the keyboard stand, though unusual in that it has to be pulled off the top half of the tablet, is very sturdy. The only gripe is that the pen connects magnetically to the top of the laptop, so it often gets lost inside a rucksack.

Without the keyboard case, the MagicPad 4 is an attractive device that comes in two nice colors (white and gray). It has shiny logos and a square camera bump in the top corner. The 12.3in OLED display has relatively minimal bezels and a very unobtrusive camera cutout. Unlike the flashy-looking MagicBook laptop, the MagicPad has a more understated and professional look.

Honor MagicPad 4: Display

One of the few downsides to the MagicPad 3 was an underwhelming screen, but that has been improved on the 4, quite considerably. The switch from LCD to OLED is noticeable, with the display now producing 99% for sRGB gamut color coverage. Painting and illustration apps are a perfect showcase for color representation and the display is capable of quite striking color and sharp detail. And it can get very bright, peaking at 697:23cd/m2.

Refresh rates tell us what we really use these devices for: endless scrolling. And the MagicPad 4, like the model before it, has up to 165Hz. I could lose whole days swiping up on Instagram, YouTube, and the various mobile news sites I visit, because they look liquid smooth with that top refresh rate. I also appreciated the many different display settings. From ambient color temps to blue light filters for reading and nighttime scrolling (we all do it).

Honor MagicPad 4: Specs and performance

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor and RAM size give the MagicPad a great platform to run on. It's highly responsive and well optimized for prolonged use or intensive workloads (that you can do on a tablet).

How fast is the MagicPad 4? I don't know because, for some reason, it wouldn't download Geekbench 6 – something we have noticed other reviewers struggling with. It feels sharp, though, powering through web searches, videos, multiple apps, and much more. It's not going to be M5 iPad Pro speed, but it is up there with other recent tablets we've reviewed, like the OnePlus Pad 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11.

It also scored well in our looped video test, lasting 13hrs 35mins. For a tablet in this middle price tier, that is excellent. We have to exclude the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro here, as that was freakishly good (28hrs, 12mins). But other models, like the Huawei 11.5 S and the OnePlus Pad 3, had similar scores at a higher price point.

Honor MagicPad 4: Features

Are tablets ever a suitable replacement for laptops? Each year, we seem to get a crop of models that get that little bit closer to being fully loaded work machines, like the iPad Pro (M5). The Honor MagicPad 4 is also a potential laptop replacement, but with a much more palatable price.

To start with, it has a good keyboard and trackpad; there's only one level of tilt with the keyboard stand, but it is sturdy. The keys themselves have fairly good travel, though the board is quite thin, so you will feel the bottom if you type with thunderous speed. And the trackpad is small, but highly responsive and has a smooth click action.

Another reason the MagicPad 4 is a good work device is the sheer volume of work-related features it possesses – it actually has too many, such that not all could be tested in the time I had the unit. The best three to mention are desktop mode, Honor Docs, and Honor Connect – which allows you to share content between Honor and Apple devices, seamlessly.

You can switch into Desktop mode simply by tapping an icon in the home screen toolbar. This turns the fluid tablet interface into PC-style windows, which are more familiar to keyboard use. Here, Honor Docs proves itself a worthy alternative to Microsoft Word (on a tablet, that is), and what's more, you don't have to pay as you do for 365.

Honor MagicPad 4: Is it worth it?

The Honor MagicPad 4 is a super little business tablet, with great accessories, and brilliant work-centric features. It's also very affordable, making it a top-tier alternative to the iPad. And, there are early bird discounts that add more value – it's currently available for £499.99 on the Honor website.

Honor MagicPad 4 specifications