News

HONOR reveals 1st images of Magic8 Pro, introduces new AI technologies

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagship launching in China next month

Published

September 28, 2025

GadgetMatch

HONOR has revealed the first few images of the HONOR Magic8 Pro, which will launch next month in China.

The device comes in a light teal colorway that is somehow reminiscent of the Jade Cyan tone on the HONOR X9c.

In addition, the phone has a more squared look, especially its frame, with rounded corners. Meanwhile, the camera bump at the back is still very HONOR-looking.

But very noticeable is an extra button on the right side, which is reminiscent of the camera control button first introduced on the iPhone 16 series.

The HONOR Magic8 series will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform.

The phone will debut new groundbreaking on-device AI innovations, including Low-bit Quantization Technology for AI Models and Next-Generation Hybrid Retrieval Technology.

HONOR’s agentic AI capabilities and Qualcomm’s mobile platforms will make it possible for the upcoming phone to be even more efficient and packed with computing power. These advancements will also be available on the HONOR MagicPad 3 Pro.

High-efficiency on-device AI modeling

The Low-Bit Quantization Technology addresses computing power, memory, and energy consumption, which HONOR believes are the three biggest challenges of on-device AI.

Thanks to the new Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, this technology will help the HONOR Magic8 series deliver up to a 15% increase in modeling computing, 20% lower model consumption, and 30% less storage space compared to the previous HONOR device.

On top of that, Next-Generation Hybrid Retrieval Technology is designed to dramatically improve the way devices process and surface information.

By encoding text, images, and audio/video data into dense vectors and constructing high-efficiency semantic-level indexes, the system achieves millisecond-level similarity matching and boosts retrieval performance by up to 400%.

The breakthrough not only accelerates multimodal semantic search but also strengthens the foundation for intelligent agents. In turn, responses across a wide-range of real-world scenarios become faster and more accurate.

Magic Color

At the 2025 Snapdragon Summit China, HONOR also unveiled the first agent-powered Magic Color.

This innovation allows users to transform and restyle images or videos with simplicity, completing tasks such as locating an image, extracting key color tones, and applying those tones to a new target.

All the steps in the process are done through intuitive, one-sentence commands. That’s as Magic Color combines efficient on-device AI models and advanced semantic understanding to lower the barriers to complex image editing.

This shall enable everyday users and creators to achieve professional-grade results with ease. Looking ahead, HONOR plans to extend agent-driven capabilities across more than 200 vertical scenarios and 3,000 general scenarios, covering the top 100 applications.

AI Super Sampling for Gaming

Lastly, HONOR introduced its industry-leading Hyper-Fusion Core Architecture in collaboration with Qualcomm.

This deeply integrates HONOR Turbo X’s multiple core performance engines with Qualcomm Oryon CPU architecture.

By dynamically scheduling resources across cores, this architecture maximizes energy efficiency and performance for smoother and more responsive user experiences.

Along with this is the first GPU-NPU Heterogeneous AI Super Sampling Technology based on Snapdragon platforms.

This is designed to transform low-resolution, low-frame rate gameplay into high-resolution, high-frame rate experiences.

Similar to DLSS technology on PC, it leverages AI to reconstruct details, motion features, and lighting effects in real-time.

In practice, this enables demanding open-world titles to achieve 1080p at 120fps from 60fps, delivering both super-resolution and ultra-high frame rates.

Compared to traditional GPU-based upscaling, the combination of GPU-NPU computing reduces latency and jitter.

All the aforementioned advancements highlight HONOR’s vision for the Dual-Engine Era, where AI agent and performance optimizations converge to redefine the user experience and accelerate the arrival of general-purpose intelligent agent era.

News

Power Mac Center SM Aura is now an Apple Premium Partner store

With a new protection plan dubbed as “1Protect” for your precious new iPhones

Published

September 23, 2026

Vincenz

Photos and graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Power Mac Center has upgraded its SM Aura branch into an Apple Premium Partner (APP) store. The “APP” designation is the highest tier for reseller stores worldwide.

Originally opened in 2014, the redesigned store now houses its retail space, training center, and a service center in one.

The new space also puts more emphasis on learning. Free group demos will be held every Friday to Sunday. These will cover topics such as iPad creativity, or camera features, personalization, and Continuity for the latest iPhone series.

To celebrate the opening, customers can also score discounts on select Apple devices and accessories until September 27, 2026.

Deals include up to:

₱PhP 36,000 off MacBook Pros
PhP 19,500 off iPads
PhP 3000 off Apple Watches; and
PhP 11,000 off iPhone models

There are also service discounts until September 25. Plus, new iPhones purchases here are also covered with 1Protect coverage options.

ICYMI, it’s a partnership between PMC and Bolttech. It’s basically a new way to protect your precious new iPhones.

Your regular one-year warranty does not cover accidental drops and water damage. Purchasing this new coverage plan (good for one year) gives you an unlimited dose of that.

Parts are guaranteed original and is an official part of AppleCare Services.

This protection program also covers one-time unwarranted exchanges (or change of mind returns) from micro scratches to color options. It will even replace your iPhone (of the same model and configuration) if it was stolen once.

There’s also the 1 Infinite loyalty program. Members can earn points from purchases and redeem them for devices, accessories, services, and training.

The Power Mac Center SM Aura APP store is located on Level 2 and is open daily from 10AM to 10PM.

News

MediaTek launches the Dimensity 9600 Pro

Smartphones are scheduled to launch later this year.

Published

September 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The stage is set for next year’s smartphones. Both MediaTek and Qualcomm have unleased their upcoming flagship chipsets for the coming generation. If you’re looking for the Qualcomm side of things, go here. But if you’re looking for MediaTek, then you’re in the right place.

The Dimensity 9600 Pro adopts the 2nm process mode, which makes MediaTek one of the first companies to use it. The chip itself features a 2+3+3 All Big Core CPU. Specifically, it has two C2-Ultra cores going up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores going up to 4.35GHz, and three C2-Pro ones going up to 3.1GHz. This configuration can reportedly achieve 17 percent better single-core performance and 15 percent higher multi-core performance.

Besides all that power inherently built in, the chipset also has the G2-Ultra NX GPU. This GPU can deliver 27 percent higher peak performance, 24 percent lower power consumption, 18 percent faster raytracing, and gaming at up to 185 frames per second.

Finally, the chipset has the Imagiq 1290 ISP. With this engine, the processor can handle 60fps motion capture and 4K240 direct-output ultra-slow-motion video.

Alongside the Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek is also launching the Dimensity 9600M, a slightly more lightweight option of the Pro that deliver flagship level performance to more users outside of that price point.

Smartphones that will come with the Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M will launch sometime in the fourth quarter.

News

Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series

This time, there are two models.

Published

September 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The end of the year always heralds the next step of processors for next year’s smartphones. Besides the oodles of phone rumors we’ll have before the year ends, these new processors give us a powerful hint of what the new machinery can do. Today, Qualcomm has unveiled that next generation, announcing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

Yes, this time, the Snapdragon flagship chipset will come in two flavors. Let’s start with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

The “base” model of the duo has an octa-core Oryon CPU with two prime cores going up to 5GHz. It also has an Adreno GPU that touts 35 percent faster performance compared to the previous generation. Additionally, the chipset has a 16MB Flex Cache which can supposedly leverage the cache better to deliver better single-threaded performance.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will also have a new Spectra ISP. The engine can support single image capturing at 320 megapixels, or 64 megapixels with a triple rear camera combo. It also supports 8K video capturing at 30fps. Further, Intelligent Pixel Control features better contextualization skills so the camera can more accurately detect what you’re taking a photo or video of.

Finally, the X105 5G modem offers the usual array of 5G connectivity options but also goes up to supporting Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 8.

Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 offers much of the same as the duo’s regular model. However, it features 18MB of high performance memory, video recording that goes up to 60fps at 8K resolution, and new Matrix Cores that boost frame generation for gaming.

As expected, both models will appear in new smartphones from later this year to next year.