HONOR has a pattern of jumping into Android beta early. The Magic7 Pro was one of the first non-Pixel phones to support Android 16 beta 3 last year. Now the company is back at it. HONOR announced that the Magic8 Pro now supports Android 17 beta 3, making it one of the first non-Pixel devices to give developers access to Google’s near-final platform build.
Beta 3 is where Android 17 has impacted platform stability. The APIs are locked, and developers can begin final testing and push their Android 17 apps to the Play Store. For Magic8 Pro developers, Honor says this is a chance to test new features, check app compatibility, and optimize the device’s hardware before the stable rollout.
The beta brings several things worth noting. System-wide Bubbles lets users float any app in a resizable window. Minimize it and it becomes an icon that you can drag back from anywhere on the screen. RAW14 image support is another addition, which opens up 14-bit uncompressed photo data to third-party camera apps.
This should pair well with the Magic8 Pro’s 200MP telephoto lens and its AiMAGE camera system. There’s also a small but handy change in Quick Settings, which splits Wi-Fi and mobile data into separate tiles. On top of that, there are new per-app dark theme controls, a redesigned screen recording menu, and a new Location button. That button limits the app’s access to the current session rather than ongoing background tracking.
Honor attempts to get early Android access
The Magic8 Pro has a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a 6,270mAh battery on the European model. HONOR has committed to seven years of Android updates for the device. Getting developers onto beta hardware early is part of how the company plans to stay on that schedule. The Magic7 Pro went through the same process with Android 16.
As we covered when Beta 3 first dropped, it marks the point where the foundation for Android 17 is essentially done. The stable release is expected in June 2026, with Pixel phones being first in line as usual. Other OEMs are also joining the beta. HONOR has not shared any timeline for the stable Magic8 Pro update. But with developer testing already underway on the hardware, things should run relatively smoothly when the time comes.
