Review: Honor's mid-range MagicPad 2 tablet has a unique OLED advantage

Honor's resurgence in the last two years has been dominated by foldables like the Magic V3, but the brand is doing a good job in the tablet category as well. The budget Pad 9 delivered a massive 12.1-inch panel and standout battery life, and it was ideally suited for consuming content on the go. Honor followed it up with the Pad V9 last month, and it does a great job.

The brand is building on that momentum with the MagicPad 2. While you get a decent number of options these days if you want a good Android tablet, most products still come with an LCD panel. The MagicPad 2, meanwhile, has a 12.3-inch OLED panel, and that in itself is a huge differentiator. The switch to OLED means you get richer colors and excellent contrast levels, and the MagicPad 2 is an entertainment powerhouse.

There's terrific built-in sound, powerful hardware, and the tablet has excellent battery life. If you need a device to consume media on the go, the MagicPad 2 is easily the best mid-range tablet currently available.

Honor MagicPad 2: Pricing and availability

Honor debuted the MagicPad 2 in July 2024, and the tablet is available in select global markets. It is sold in a single 12GB/256GB model in the U.K., and it retails for £399 ($518) on Honor's website when you use the code APD2FE50. It costs £499 ($628) on Amazon U.K. as of writing.

If you're looking to pick up the tablet, I'd suggest doing so from Honor. The brand exclusively sells the white variant of the tablet on its site, and the best part is that it bundles the MagicPad 2 Smart Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Pencil 3 with all orders, which is an additional savings of £160 ($200).

Honor MagicPad 2: Design

The MagicPad 2 looks and feels like a high-end tablet, and the white color option that I'm using is fantastic. It doesn't have a glass back, with Honor instead going with a fiber material that brings down the weight. The white model has a distinct pattern that evokes memories of the OnePlus 11 Marble Odyssey, and the satin texture is great to hold.

You'll notice a slight green tinge when viewing the back at an angle, and an advantage of not using a glass back is that it doesn't pick up any smudges. The mid-frame is made out of metal, and the tablet is relatively thin at just 5.8mm. Coming in at 555g, it's on the lighter side of the scale when you consider the size of the panel.

The rear camera island doesn't draw too much attention to itself, and it doesn't protrude from the chassis, so there isn't a wobble when using it on a table. The power button is located up top, and the volume buttons are on the right, and they're easy enough to access.

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Honor did a good job minimizing the bezels, the camera is correctly positioned along the leading edge. If anything, the only point of contention with the MagicPad 2 is that it doesn't have a fingerprint sensor — you only get a PIN or passcode unlock and face unlock. I get that using an optical fingerprint sensor adds cost to the device, but Honor should have at least bundled a fingerprint module that's baked into the power button; not having it at all is a notable omission.

Other than that, there are no problems with the design of the MagicPad 2. It feels good to hold and use, and it's thin and light enough that you don't quite realize you're using an oversized tablet.

Honor MagicPad 2: Display

Honor outfitted the MagicPad 2 with the best panel in this category; the tablet has a 12.3-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 3000 x 1920 and 144Hz refresh, and it gets HDR10. It goes up to a maximum brightness of 1600 nits, and while that's when viewing HDR content, I didn't see any problems viewing the panel outdoors. It doesn't get quite as bright as the iPad Pro M4 — Honor doesn't use a tandem OLED — but it is still more than adequate.

If anything, the inclusion of the OLED panel gives the tablet a distinct edge over just about every other mid-range Android tablet. Colors are vibrant and contrast levels are excellent, and Honor continues to lead the industry when it comes to eye protection features. The tablet gets Defocus Eyecare tech — which is on the Magic V3 and Magic 7 Pro — alongside 4320Hz PWM dimming, and a blue light filter.

Best of all, Honor's ebook mode is available on the tablet, and it makes the MagicPad 2 an absolute joy to use for reading books and long-form content. While I'd still choose an e-reader while traveling, the monochrome mode is significantly easier on the eyes when reading text, and I'm glad Honor retained it.

At the other end of the scale, HDR content looks fabulous on the tablet, with Netflix and YouTube taking advantage of the feature. The tablet has powerful built-in sound, and it's loud and detailed enough that you don't need to use a headset or earbuds while watching a TV show or movie. Gaming is similarly enjoyable, and I didn't have any issues even in demanding titles.

Overall, the massive OLED panel and the feature-set combine to make the tablet the best in its category, and if you need a device to consume multimedia on the go, this is the best option in the mid-range category.

Honor MagicPad 2: Hardware and battery

While it's not using the latest silicon, the MagicPad 2 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, and it does an admirable job in its own right. It handles demanding games well, and there are no problems with overheating or aggressive throttling. It comes in a solitary 12Gb/256GB configuration, and there's no way to get the 512GB model globally.

Regardless, the tablet doesn't have any shortcomings in this area, and it does a good job with routine tasks as well as intensive workloads. The tablet doesn't have cellular connectivity or NFC, but the Wi-Fi 6 modem maintains a strong signal, and I didn't see any problems with connectivity. There's Bluetooth 5.3 as well, and you get AptX HD and LDAC.

There's an 8MP camera up front, and while it isn't noteworthy, it does a decent enough job in video calls, and that's the most I used the module. The back of the tablet houses a 13MP camera, but even entry-level phones have much better cameras, and I wouldn't advice using the one at the back of the MagicPad 2.

The MagicPad 2 comes with a 10,500mAh battery, and it easily has over ten hours of screen time between charges. That is in line with other tablets of a similar size, and there are no issues in this area. Honor bundles a 66W charger in the box, and it takes the tablet just over 100 minutes to fully charge the battery.

Honor MagicPad 2: Accessories

Honor sells two accessories with the tablet: the MagicPad 2 Smart Bluetooth Keyboard, and Magic Pencil 3. The keyboard accessory does a good job safeguarding the tablet, and it positions the panel at a 60-degree angle, making it convenient to use. The keys don't have backlighting, but the key travel is astonishingly good, and I was able to get a decent amount of writing done on the keyboard.

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I didn't see any issues with Bluetooth connectivity either, and it stayed paired to the tablet after setting it up. The Magic Pencil 3 is also decent, and it is good to take notes with. Handwriting recognition is decent, but it constantly corrected my name to Danish, and that just made me want to eat a pastry.

Honor MagicPad 2: Software

Honor debuted the tablet with MagicOS 8, but it picked up an update to the Android 15-based MagicOS 9.0, bringing a cleaner UI and plenty of new features. Honor is positioning AI as a key point of differentiation, and that's evident when using the tablet; with utilities like Magic Portal, real-time translations, and a suite of image-editing tools, there's a lot to like in this regard.

Honor also did a good job rolling out multitasking features on the tablet, and the only quibble I have with the interface is the split notification shade. The Control Center sits to the right and houses all the toggles, and notifications get a dedicated pane. A unified solution would have been better, but it's clear that Honor wants to maintain consistency with its phones.

Outside of that, there are no problems with the interface. The UI is fluid — thanks to the 144Hz refresh — and there's enough customizability available. The biggest issue with the tablet is that it will only get one software update and three years of security updates, and that just isn't enough in 2025. With the MagicPad 2 making the switch to MagicOS 9.0, it will not get any other platform updates, and Honor needs to change its policies.

Honor MagicPad 2: The alternatives

I like the OnePlus Pad 2 in this segment; it also has a sizable 12.1-inch panel, but it uses an IPS LCD instead of OLED. It has beefier hardware and better multitasking utilities, but the battery doesn't last quite as long. It is the closest alternative to the MagicPad 2, but I'd still suggest getting Honor's tablet as it has an OLED panel.

Honor MagicPad 2: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You need a tablet with an OLED panel
• You want good hardware
• You need terrific battery life
• You want useful accessories

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You want long-term software updates
• You need reliable biometrics to unlock the tablet

Honor got the basics right with the MagicPad 2; it has a sleek design, standout battery life, and good internals. The biggest reason to pick up this tablet over its mid-range rivals is the OLED panel; the quality of the panel combined with 144Hz refresh makes the MagicPad 2 the ultimate choice for consuming multimedia at home or the go. This alone allows the tablet to distinguish itself from its rivals, and whether you're looking to stream TV shows, movies, play games, or read ebooks, the MagicPad 2 easily gets my recommendation.

The only point of contention with the tablet is that it won't pick up any platform updates; it made the switch to the Android 15-based MagicOS, and other than three years of security patches, it won't get any other updates. Honor claimed a win by promising seven years of software updates to the Magic 7 Pro — becoming the only Chinese brand to do so — but that doesn't extend to its other devices, and it's a shame that a tablet with as great a potential is being hobbled in this way.

Even then, there isn't another device that's as good as the MagicPad 2. So if you are looking to pick up a tablet mostly to watch TV shows and movies, it is the best choice in this category.