Honor was once a daughter company of Huawei — so for my second camera comparison here in Pakistan, I wanted to find out: can the student finally beat the master? I put the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra head-to-head against the Honor Magic8 Pro across photos, selfies, video, and night shots.
Photo Styles: Warm vs. Bright
Right out of the gate, the color philosophy of these two phones couldn’t be more different. On Vivid (Huawei) vs. Vibrant (Honor), the colors coming from the Huawei are noticeably warmer, and the sky tends to blow out a bit. The Honor, on the other hand, gets significantly brighter, with contrast that’s striking at 2x zoom — and honestly closer to reality. At 3.7x, both get closer to each other, but the Huawei starts sharpening more aggressively at 10x. The Honor stays brighter here too, though some noise creeps in. Overall, the Huawei looks a bit more “artificially polished.”
Switching to the Original style (Huawei) and Natural style (Honor), the colors sit closer together, though the Pura is consistently brighter across the main and telephoto lenses.
On the default styles — Original on the Huawei, Vibrant on the Honor — the Pura shot comes out brighter and slightly more detailed, with visible extra sharpening. At 100x zoom, the Honor pulls ahead with more detail.
AI Zoom Enhancement
The Honor’s AI enhancer shows its value gradually — barely noticeable at moderate zoom, but by 50x and especially at max zoom, it gives a genuinely visible improvement over the unprocessed shot.
Selfies & Portrait Mode
With portrait mode on, both phones deliver strong selfie quality, though the Honor’s colors are more accurate. The real gap shows up in background separation: the Honor does a noticeably better job isolating the subject from the background than the Huawei, whose cutout looks a bit sloppy in comparison.
For real portraits (shot of a local guide who drove me around), the Magic8 Pro comes out brighter and has a slight edge in overall quality, even though the Huawei’s colors were arguably better captured. The Honor also retains more facial detail as you zoom in, holding up impressively even at 7.4x.
Staying Connected While Traveling
Quick sponsor note: while shooting this comparison across Pakistan, I used Saily — an eSIM service from the security experts at NordVPN — on my Xiaomi 17T Pro. Instead of hunting for local SIM cards, you just download the app, pick a plan for over 180 countries (Pakistan included), and you’re connected the second you land, all while keeping your primary number active for WhatsApp and 2FA. Link’s in the description — use code ALISCHAN for $5 off your first data plan.
Video Recording
This is where the story flips. Shooting 4K at 30fps, the Huawei’s wide-angle option is noticeably wider than the Honor’s, and generally handles highlights better in bright, high-contrast scenes.
At 60fps, the same pattern holds — the Huawei stays punchier and better controlled, while the Honor tends to run a bit brighter and slightly overexposed in the background.
Night Mode & Low Light
Both phones have dedicated night modes, and the differences are stark. The Honor takes noticeably longer to process shots (up to 3 seconds at times), while quality-wise, its main lens output is superior in most scenes — better detail, better color accuracy on tricky subjects like illuminated signs.
Ultra-wide shots disappoint on both phones at night, though the Honor edges ahead slightly. At heavy zoom (50x+), people and distant objects start looking artificial on both, so I wouldn’t rely on either for anything beyond casual use in the dark.
For low-light video specifically, though, the story reverses again: the Huawei pulls clearly ahead, while the Honor really struggles in this department.
The Verdict
So does the student finally beat the master? For photos — yes. The Honor Magic8 Pro was overall better, with stronger processing especially at higher zoom levels. For video — no. The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra stays clearly ahead here, especially in low light, where the Honor’s weaknesses become obvious.
It really comes down to what matters more to you: if you’re a photo-first shooter, the Honor takes this one. If video quality — especially after dark — is your priority, the Pura 80 Ultra is the stronger pick.
For the full breakdown with all the side-by-side shots, check out the complete video comparison!
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