HONOR just unveiled MagicOS 8.0 for its devices, and it’s a game-changer

HONOR might go under the radar in the US, but the brand is making waves in the rest of the world. Their Magic V2 is one of our favorite foldable smartphones in recent times, and it appears that HONOR is determined to compete with industry giants like Samsung, Apple, and Google. Today, the company introduced its new MagicOS 8.0, its latest Android interface, and we think it is a game changer with its on-device AI-focused features and the first-ever “intent-based user interface” (IUI).

HONOR is going big on AI, and MagicOS 8.0 is the first step towards it, powering platform-level AI features. At the heart of MagicOS 8.0 AI features is HONOR’s proprietary large language model (LLM), called MagicLM. HONOR says the new LLM has been developed in partnership with Qualcomm, and is optimized to run on the company’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. According to the company’s press release, MagicLM has 7 billion parameters, more than double that of Google’s Gemini model (3.25 billion parameters).

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MagicLM is the engine behind HONOR’s Intent-based UI. So, what exactly is IUI? Well, HONOR explains that MagicOS 8.0 can anticipate user requests by understanding language, images, gestures, and even eye movements. The main showcase of this feature is the Magic Portal on MagicOS 8.0, which understands what the user is trying to do and helps them perform that action faster. For example, below, you can see a user dragging and dropping a hotel booking confirmation into a ride-hailing app, and the app automatically recognizes that the user wants to book a ride to that location, and show options for cabs. Magic Portal is making its debut in China with support for over 100 popular apps.

MagicLM will also power features HONOR first showcased at the Qualcomm Summit last year. This includes a more powerful voice assistant, that will be able to generate videos with natural language prompts, access deeper information within apps, and do much more. HONOR also says MagicOS 8.0 is focused on privacy, with the AI models running on-device locally. The OS does make use of cloud-based AI models, which HONOR calls Hybrid AI Integration, but filters out personally identifiable details to ensure maximum privacy.

Other features of MagicOS 8.0 include improved MagicRing, which now offers 25% better power efficiency and 5x transfer speeds. There’s also a new feature called Parallel Space, wherein users can offload private images and files onto a secure location protected by a password. A shake-to-block ad feature has also been implemented, which removes intrusive pop-up ads.

MagicOS 8.0 is based on Android 14, and for now, it is only available in China, but we expect the brand to announce a global version by late February during MWC 2024. It’s not clear if the global version will offer the same features as the Chinese version, but we will update this article once we hear more.