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Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Two-minute review

After its strong showing with last year’s Magic 7 Pro, Chinese smartphone maker Honor is back with another excellent flagship. The Honor Magic 8 Pro is everything you could want from a top of the line smartphone, with a stacked spec sheet that features Qualcomm’s superb Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC (the same chip that powers the likes of the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra), backed up by 12GB of RAM and a generous 512GB of storage in all available models.

It almost goes without saying, but this is a seriously speedy phone that breezes through everyday tasks and is an absolute gaming powerhouse to boot. I’ve been using it as a daily driver for months, putting it through its paces with high-end titles like Zenless Zone Zero and the recent Tomb Raider port, which it handles effortlessly at maximum graphics settings. Whether you’re playing the latest games or watching movies and shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, you can rest assured that everything is going to look stunning on the top-notch 6.7-inch OLED display. It’s incredibly bright and vibrant, topping out at 6,000 nits, with a crisp 1256 x 2808 resolution and buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

I also love Honor’s new design, which refines the already strong look of the Magic 7 Pro with a larger and rounder camera module that gives the phone a more even look than before. The Magic 8 Pro comes in much better colors if you’re willing to venture outside the basic Black, too, including bright Sky Cyan and the radiant Sunrise Gold version that I tested. I’m a sucker for gold or rose gold colorways, and the shimmery back material here is an absolute stunner.

(Image credit: Future)

That said, I’m not too impressed by the addition of a dedicated, touch-sensitive AI Button on the Magic 8 Pro. This is effectively just Honor’s version of Apple’s Camera Control button, letting you zoom the camera in or out by simply sliding your finger across it. Tap it while on the home screen, and you’ll open up some of Honor’s AI tools, which are honestly a little lacking and don’t really justify a dedicated button. The AI Photos Agent is great, offering genuinely useful tools like the ability to remove passersby, upscale images, remove reflections, and so on, but the AI Settings Agent and AI Memories apps are both borderline useless.

Like other Honor devices, battery life is superb here. The battery optimization software can be a little too eager to shut down background apps that you might want to keep open, but it’s easy to add exceptions in the settings. The Magic 8 Pro unit that I used boasts a mega 7,100mAh silicon-carbon battery, which gives it more than enough juice to last a full day with moderate use. Even when you’re streaming content or playing intensive games, it’s difficult to run out of fuel in a single day. If you’re a lighter user, you should be able to achieve multiple days of runtime — especially if you enable the battery saver mode.

There is a caveat, though: buyers of the Magic 8 Pro in EU regions will get a reduced 6,270mAh silicon-carbon battery. This is a small downgrade that most aren’t going to notice, and will by no means restrict your ability to squeeze out a full day of use. Still, it’s worth bearing in mind given that competing devices like the Oppo Find X9 Pro and OnePlus 15 have batteries exceeding 7,000mAh in the same region.

Also, shoppers in the US and Australia have to contend with limited availability as Honor phones are not officially sold there. You may be able to import the Magic 8 Pro through some online retailers, but do bear in mind that this may impact network compatibility and your access to support or warranty services.

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Price and availability

• £1,099.99 in the UK
• Almost always on sale for £899.99
• Frequently comes with great freebies
• Not officially available in the US or Australia

If you’ve bought an Honor device before, you’ll know that they are always almost on sale via Honor’s official website. The Honor Magic 8 Pro is no exception, and while it has an £1,099.99 RRP, it’s easy to find for as little as £899.99 at various times throughout the year.

Considering the high specs (plus that generous 512GB of storage), the Magic 8 Pro is absolutely incredible value at that lower price, and things only get better when you factor in the various freebies Honor likes to throw in.

At the time of writing, in addition to the £200 discount, the Honor Magic 8 Pro comes with a decent budget tablet (the Honor Pad X9a) that normally goes for £149.99, plus a £49.99 power adapter and £59.99 earbuds — that’s about £260 of extra value right there. The same offer might not be available as you read this, but it’s always worth checking Honor’s official website for similar freebies before heading straight to Amazon and other third-party retailers.

As with most other Honor phones, the Magic 8 Pro is not officially sold in the US or Australia.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Specs

Here's a look at the Honor Magic 8 Pro's key specs:

Honor Magic 8 Pro

Dimensions

161.15 x 8.4 x 75mm

Weight

219g

OS

MagicOS 10, based on Android 16

Display

6.7-inch OLED, 120Hz

Resolution

1256 x 2808

Chipset

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

RAM

12GB

Storage

512GB

Battery

7,100mAh (tested), 6270mAh (EU)

Rear cameras

50MP wide (f/1.6) + 50MP ultra-wide (f/2.0) + 200MP telephoto (f/2.6, 3.7x optical zoom)

Front camera

50MP (f/2.0) + 3D Depth Camera

Charging

120W wired, 80W wireless

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: DesignFutureFuture

• Sleek and stylish
• Follows usual Chinese phone design trends
• New AI Button

Honor hasn’t rocked the design boat with its latest flagship, but rather opted to refine the already strong aesthetics of the Honor Magic 7 Pro. The biggest difference with this new model is a more rounded ‘squircle’ camera bump, which has been moved a little higher up and made ever so slightly larger to give the phone a more balanced look. It’s a very sleek and stylish design, provided you like a big camera module — a trend in most Chinese flagships.

The phone feels lovely in the hands, with the hefty aluminum frame giving a good impression of durability. The back is plastic, but it’s impressively high-quality and reinforced in such a way that I didn’t even notice it wasn’t actually glass until I checked the device's spec sheet.

I’m very clumsy with my phones and generally use them without a case, which is a recipe for quite a few nasty drops. Embarrassingly, in my time with the Magic 8 Pro, I’ve dropped it from arm height directly on concrete a couple of times, and it’s emerged unscathed, bar a few small nicks on the Honor NanoCrystal Shield screen and a tiny dent in one corner. This is an impressive showing, and I have no doubts that it could take a much more intense beating with similarly strong results.

In addition to the volume rocker and power button, the right side of the Honor Magic 8 Pro now boasts a new AI Button. Unlike the other buttons, it’s flush against the side of the phone and is touch-sensitive. You customize what the button does in the phone’s settings menu, and I’ve found it’s most useful when used to open the camera, though given the existing camera shortcut on the lock screen, it’s not really something that I use a lot.

The Magic 8 Pro is available in three colors: Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black. My personal favorite is comfortably Sunrise Gold, which happens to be the one sent to me for testing. It’s got a lovely shimmery look to it, with a subtle gold color that looks luxurious but, importantly, not overly garish.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: DisplayFuture

• Impressive brightness
• Strong resolution and refresh rate
• Features Magic Capsule

The Honor Magic 8 Pro has a formidable 6.7-inch 1256 x 2808 OLED panel with HDR support that's capable of reaching a blinding 6,000 nits brightness. Cranked up to the max (which is 1,800 nits in non-HDR content), it remains fully visible in even the harshest sunlight.

The 120Hz refresh rate is silky smooth and ensures that scrolling social media and system menus looks and feels great.

Some might not appreciate the rounded corners or subtle curve along the edge of the phone’s display, but I find that it's lovely under the fingers.

At the top of the screen, you'll find a small island with the front camera and 3D depth camera. You can use this for 3D face recognition, though I was perfectly happy just sticking to the Magic 8 Pro’s impressively snappy under-screen fingerprint reader.

This island is also home to the Magic Capsule, Honor’s take on Apple’s Dynamic Island concept. It provides an easy way to see your current song, any active timers, whether you have a voice recording running, and similar system app functions.

The whole screen is covered by Honor's NanoCrystal Shield coating, which seems to hold up quite well. You're still going to end up with scratches if you accidentally stick the phone in a pocket next to your keys, but otherwise, you shouldn't expect to pick up many blemishes in general use. I also appreciate the fact that the phone comes fitted with a plastic screen protector right out of the box, too.

• Display score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Cameras

(Image credit: Future)

• Great camera performance
• Especially good in challenging environments
• Aggressive image processing

The Honor Magic 8 Pro’s camera array is headlined by a 200MP telephoto shooter with 3.7x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. It performs excellently on the whole, though photography purists will inevitably spot that images do tend to suffer from rather aggressive processing that sometimes leaves edges looking a little too smooth or even slightly smudged if you like to zoom in on captured photos.

Still, the results are always bright and cheerful with strong colors and loads of detail. The optical zoom is speedy and effective, and you can get some surprisingly good results from the 100x digital zoom, though you should expect lots of visible AI processing. 4K 120fps video capture is also supported on the Magic 8 Pro, which makes it feel decidedly flagship.

This telephoto shooter is joined by a 50MP ‘Ultra Night’ wide lens, which really comes into its own in challenging lighting conditions. Whether it’s at a bustling club or an eclectic show, the Magic 8 Pro manages to capture details impressively clearly. It deals with motion extremely well, too, helping you effortlessly achieve great shots.

The weakest part of the camera setup is easily the 50MP ultra-wide, which is decent but nothing special in this market segment.

You also get plenty of cool modes to play around with, including Harcourt-inspired portraits and an absolutely incredible Stage mode that really takes the camera performance to another level at concert events.

• Cameras score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Camera samplesFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFutureHonor Magic 8 Pro review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers lightning-fast performance
• Flawless in daily use and gaming
• Some audio settings tweaks needed

What is there really to say about the performance of a phone outfitted with Snapdragon’s latest top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset? You can easily achieve a rock solid 60fps in demanding titles like Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero, even with the graphics cranked all the way up to the maximum settings. The phone stays impressively cool under heavy load, too, and doesn’t suffer from too much battery drain.

For daily use, the performance of the Magic 8 Pro is simply flawless, whether you’re scrolling through social media apps, online shopping, or browsing the internet. The 12GB of RAM (plus a rather superfluous additional 12GB of ‘Honor RAM Turbo’) is more than enough to multitask effectively and ensures that you will rarely struggle to flick between multiple apps.

The base 512GB capacity is excellent too, and should be plenty for most users. I download a helluva lot of high-fidelity music and high-end games, and have barely scraped past the 250GB mark in months of use.

The speakers on the Magic 8 Pro are also surprisingly good. No, they’re intended to replace your standalone JBL speaker, but music that you blast is perfectly pleasant and has an impressive level of bass. Just make sure to enable the premium bass mode in settings and disable 3D surround sound, as the latter leaves music sounding tinny and weird.

Also, make sure to turn off both Honor Sound Spatial Audio and Honor Sound Stereo Studio under Headphone Sound Effects settings, otherwise your sound with headphones is going to feel noticeably off.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Software

(Image credit: Future)

• MagicOS 10 is easy to use
• Seven years of support promised
• AI features are hit-and-miss

As a former Apple user, I've always championed Honor's MagicOS 10 for its attractive design and ease of use. Yes, the brand is rather shameless in its copying of the Silicon Valley giant’s latest software innovations (just seen MagicOS 10’s very Liquid Glass-inspired transparent new look), but it's hard to argue with the results.

Menus are well laid out and look pretty, and there are plenty of customization options to play around with. All of the system apps look great and are brimming with functionality too, with the well-organized Notes app and transcribing Voice Recorder regular favorites when I'm working at tech events.

In the EU and some other markets, Honor has also promised seven years of software support. This is an excellent commitment and puts Honor up there with market leaders like Samsung.

I do have to admit that I expected a lot more from the phone's AI features, given the brand's focus on them in marketing. There are a few good inclusions here, like some effective AI photo editing tools and the ability to generate summaries or graphs in Notes, but some of the software feels half-baked.

The AI Settings Agent is a prime example of this. On paper, it's a chatbot that can adjust your phone settings by turning off Bluetooth, enabling your hotspot, and so on when asked by voice or text. A cool idea, but in practice, it's slow, buggy, and can't parse complex commands at all. Then there's the AI Memories app, which is simply baffling. It's just a bog average screenshot tool with the word “AI” slapped on it for no apparent reason.

There's also no getting around the fact that buyers outside of China are missing out on the YoYo Agent, Honor's agentic AI assistant. Instead, you get Gemini built-in which is much less exciting.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Battery

(Image credit: Future)

• 7,100mAh silicon-carbon, or 6,270mAh in the EU
• Easily powers through multiple days of use
• 100W wired charging, 80W wireless charging

Honor has always delivered phones with superb battery life, and the Honor Magic 8 Pro is no exception. As I mentioned previously, the model I tested sports a 7,100mAh silicon-carbon battery, though buyers in the EU will have a slightly smaller 6,270mAh model.

It comfortably lasts a full day of use and then some, and I’m a particularly frequent phone user who’s always checking social media and blasting music through my headphones.

With minimal use, you could easily squeeze multiple days out of a single charge, especially if you turn on the battery saver mode. The phone supports blazing-fast 100W wired charging, plus staggering 80W wireless charging, provided you use Honor’s own peripherals.

In terms of the competition, the Magic 8 Pro is comparable to the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, though it offers faster wired charging than both of those phones. The OnePlus 15, meanwhile, remains the overall battery life champion — but the Honor runs it close.

• Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the Honor Magic 8 Pro?Honor Magic 8 Pro scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The Honor Magic 8 Pro is killer value, with its top-of-the-line specs and generous starting storage capacity, especially if you can find it with freebies thrown in.

5 / 5

Design

Although Honor doesn’t rip up the design rule book, the Magic 8 Pro is still a lovely-looking phone that comes in some great color options.

4 / 5

Display

A great display that’s bright, smooth, and offers a high resolution. The slight curve on its edges and rounded bezels might be divisive, though.

4 / 5

Performance

Qualcomm’s fastest chip is paired with a healthy 12GB of RAM. What else is there to say?

5 / 5

Software

Brilliant, easy-to-use software with a wealth of features and an excellent support commitment. Some of the AI tools are a bit underwhelming, though.

4 / 5

Cameras

Simply put, the Honor Magic 7 Pro is the longest-lasting Android flagship around. It charges extremely quickly, too.

4 / 5

Battery

A phone that can power through multiple days with standard use. It’s a shame that some buyers get a slightly smaller battery than others, though.

4.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a stellar all-rounder
The Honor Magic 8 Pro is one of the best all-rounders on the market. It’s got killer performance, a strong display, compelling software, great cameras, and incredible battery life.

You find it on sale with freebies
The Honor Magic 8 Pro is good value for money at full price, but discounts and freebies, including accessories and even entire tablets, take it into must-buy territory.

You want long-term support
With its seven years of promised software support, Honor is up there with market leaders like Samsung. This is a phone you can rely on for years to come.

Don't buy it if...

You don’t like parts of the design
Elements like the slightly curved screen and squircle camera module won’t be to everybody’s tastes.

Honor Magic 8 Pro review: Also consider

Not so keen on the Honor Magic 8 Pro? Stack it up against these compelling alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung’s previous flagship is still a fantastic buy, and easy to find on sale. You get a similarly powerful chip, 12GB of RAM, some great cameras, and beloved software — but you do lose out on the battery and storage front.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

OnePlus 15

If you’re a buyer in the EU, then you might want to go for the OnePlus 15 instead. Unlike the Honor Magic 8 Pro in the region, it has a massive 7,300mAh battery and can be configured with even more RAM.

Read our full OnePlus 15 review

Honor Magic 8 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

OnePlus 15

Price:

£1099.99

$1,299 / £1,249 / AU$2,149

$899 / £899

Display:

6.7-inch OLED, 120Hz

6.9-inch AMOLED, 120Hz

6.78-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz (165Hz for select games)

Cameras:

50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 200MP telephoto w/ 3.7x zoom

200MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 10MP telephoto w/ 3x zoom + 50MP telephoto w/ 5x zoom

50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 50MP telephoto w/ 3.5x zoom

Processor:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Battery:

7,100mAh (tested), 6,270mAh (EU)

5,000mAh

7,300mAh

How I tested the Honor Magic 8 Pro

• Tested for multiple months
• Used as a daily driver
• Compared to other phones

I tested the Honor Magic 8 Pro over a period of multiple months, with Honor providing the phone a few weeks before its official launch back in October 2025.

It’s been my daily driver for that entire time, used for hours every week, and thoroughly compared with my hands-on testing of other phones from Honor in addition to top Android alternatives. Throughout my testing time, I was careful to evaluate the phone’s performance in a wide range of apps, including top games, social media applications, and more.

Read more about how we test

First tested March 2026

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The Sivga Robin SV021 Pro are wired over-ear headphones that punch above their budget, just about, but the bass is a mess.

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Sivga Robin SV021 Pro: Two-minute review

The Sivga Robin SV021 Pro are some primo-looking over-ears, designed to compete quite handily in a febrile market of Middleweight Listener Headphones That Tend To Feature Some Kind Of Wood In Their Construction. True to their mission, everything about the SV021 Pro is, at the very least, good — if not great — albeit with some caveats.

I went from absolutely loving them to pretty assuredly ‘meh’-ing them, and back again, multiple times during the course of my review. Even now, I don’t quite know what to make of them. They look the part, but sometimes feel a bit flimsy; they’re extremely comfortable, but might not fit smaller heads as well as mine; they sound great with respect to mids and highs, but the bass is off-kilter to the point that a quite-good soundstage is often choked. Every action, an opposite reaction (if not equal, per se).

Through all that, and on average, they quietly and not-so-surprisingly get decently strong grades – all the way to getting a good spot at the local polytechnic, and a dependable job with a reputable multinational firm. A win by technicality. A VAR victory.

What does this mean? That I’ve probably been a bit mean about them; that they’re pretty good, both in general and for the price. I think? But among the best wired headphones on the market? I'm not sure.

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Price and release date

• Released February 2026
• $179 / £179 / approx. AUS $339

Sivga is a Chinese hi-fi brand, one which has been carving a space for itself in the wearable audio world since 2016. It sits pretty within a (relatively) new coterie of of industry-disrupting Chinese audio brands, leveraging experience and regional manufacturing capabilities to undercut a lot of the big names.

Indeed, Sivga has clearly taken aim at a handful of key operators in the headphones space, at least with its latest tranche of wood-plated objet d’audio. They seem pointed to the general space otherwise occupied by such listener-chic over-ears as the Meze Audio 99 Classics — and designed to undercut them quite handily.

The Sivga Robin SV021 Pro, are a successor set of closed-back over-ear headphones, improving on the OG SV021s with an smooth redesign and some quietly upgraded innards. They retail at $179 / £179 / AU$339 (approx.), making them some of the cheaper wood-flecked headphones available on the market, save for some tight competition from compatriot hi-fi disruptors like FiiO.

That’s a hotly contested price range for headphones more generally, but not so much for this new breed of bougie-aesthetic, headphones-as-statement home-listening accoutrements — headphones designed to be thought of differently.

So, do the Sivga Robin SV021 Pro compete?

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: SpecsSivga Robin SV021 Pro Specs

Type

Closed-back

Drivers

50mm dynamic

Impedance

45 ohms

Weight

289g

Connectivity

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Frequency range

20Hz - 20kHz

Extras

Hemp pouch, 3.5mm TRS to dual 3.5mm TS cable, 6.3mm TRS adapter

Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Features

• Fetching wood-backed ear cups
• 45-ohm impedance
• 50mm aluminum-diaphragm dynamic driver

The Sivga Robin SV021 Pro are a pair of passive, closed-back over-ear headphones and, hence, there’s not much to say on the features front. They do one thing, and one thing only: receive sound from your amplified sound source of choice.

How it does that, though, may be of note. The Robins are equipped with 50mm dynamic drivers, utilizing an aluminum composite diaphragm that gives them a sort-of trademark upper-register solidity. These are powerful performers with respect to high mids and treble, as we’re about to discover.

The frequency range remains the same as the OG SV021, at a relatively unremarkable 20Hz - 20kHz. That said, the new driver design yields a slightly higher impedance of 45 ohms. By asking for a just a little bit more juice, the Pros give a little more richness in return.

Each ear cup is separately addressed by a 3.5mm TS connector; the SV021 Pro ship with a braided dual 3.5mm TS to 3.5mm TRS cable, terminated with some very suave-looking matte-aluminum connectors. They look the part, and they certainly don’t get in the way sonically.

The bigger USP here, really, is the visual design, more on which shortly. For now, though, the SV021 Pro come in two distinct colorways — beechwood and zebrawood. The former features bright wood earcups with silvery hardware and Wes-Anderson-chic tan fabrics, while the latter pairs a streaky walnut-esque wood finished with smoky metals and executive-chic black fabrics.

Both come with the requisite cable, a 3.5mm - 6.35mm adapter, and a nice hemp pouch to keep them in. That being said, I don’t think the bag would do much to protect them from the rigors of public transport, nor do I think these headphones are particularly travel-friendly in general.

Ultimately, there’s not much to complain about. Audiophiles might be upset at the lack of potential for balanced outputs, and I might be upset at the somewhat-hamstrung frequency range on offer, but everything else points to an above-average performer at a below-average price point, as far as passive headphones go.

• Features score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Sound quality

• Tight, clear treatment of mids and highs
• Immersive soundstage
• Irrepressible and unfocused low-end representation

The SV021 Pros are, put simply, a mixed bag. There’s a great deal of good here, from a decently spacious soundstage to a general, non-fatiguing brightness in their representation, which lends even more to that soundstage.

In fact, it’s the Sivga SV021 Pro’s handling of high-end that sets it apart. Something like Pile’s Blood, a minimalist guitar-and-ambience ode to agnosticism, sounds as excitingly tactile, brittle and frail as it should. There’s an airy sheen here, thanks to which voices sound absolutely phenomenal.

Mitski’s latest album Nothing’s About To Happen To Me was on heavy rotation in my final few days' reviewing these headphones, both at its Hi-Res 24-bit/96kHz best on Qobuz and at its analog best on vinyl. It was an absolute joy to scrutinize through the SV021 Pro, if only for giving a little more space to Mitski’s satin-silk vocal timbre. I’ll Change For You is every bit the tear-jerking ballad it was written to be, vocal front, center and soaring. Where’s My Phone? simply has 'the juice'.

There’s a delightful tightness to transients, tissy hi-hats and high-tuned snares alike. Reedy instruments benefit from both that air and tactility, as do soft-played pianos — all of which speaks to a slightly more even-handed frequency response than the sharp V-shaped profile of the OG SV021s. There is still some prominent V-ing going on here, though, as demonstrated by the double-edged sword that is the SV021 Pros’ handling of bass.

It’s refreshing to hear a set of headphones with a supple low midrange; it lends gravitas to crooners like Mitski, and gives a lot of welcome energy to the rockier stuff. Despite the brighter sound profile, listening to Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf, revealed no ‘lack’ in heft. In fact, the transient response gives a little more grit to the brighter guitars of No One Knows, and some gratifying growl to the bass.

Unfortunately, the low end is as much a problem as a presence. I’d go as far as to say that the SV021 Pro overcompensate. When injecting them with any amount of audio-volume welly, the bass builds into a bulging mess of directionless energy.

Something as delicate as Mitski’s Dead Women, a soft-sold Trojan horse of rich and unsettling bassy weight, is run a little roughshod by the Robins; subby energy quickly becomes overwhelming, choking the dynamics and ultimately feeling to cramp the soundstage with pillows. Feed the Robins a little too much in the way of sub, and you may even catch some distortion.

That said, they are capable of handling more curated instances of bass fairly well. Mitski’s I’ll Change For You has a thick-thumping kick and a woolly electric bass, which benefit greatly from that upward EQ tilt towards the lower reaches.

All told, I don’t think I’ve had a more confusing experience evaluating a set of headphones. There’s a lot to love, and to love a great deal, about the SV021 Pros’ upper register definition and even-handedness; about their transient reproduction; about how all this comes together without creating a fatiguing listening experience. And yet, there’s a big bassy elephant in the room, that loves to stand right in your peripheries making things feel awkward and a bit small, actually.

For their sins, the SV021 Pro are quite an enjoyable listen. Whether it’s the kind of balanced, sensitive listen their wood-backed home-listener aesthetic is selling, I’m not quite as sold.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Design

• Exceedingly comfortable to wear
• Easy-to-like aesthetics
• A bit rattly at times

As far as aesthetics go, the SV021 Pro are absolutely a winner. My review headphones were the beechwood variant, bearing bright earcups and tan fabrics in the way of a tight velour and a soft pleather – all mounted in matte aluminum hardware. The fabrics suit my tastes to the ground, and the wider look of the headphones is great (if a little school-cafeteria-furniture-y, in certain lights).

They are a little lighter in weight than they look, which I initially interpreted to be a not-so-good thing, but which actually turned out to be a Very Good Thing Indeed. Particularly so for the fact that they’re so dang comfortable to wear.

The earcup cushions are pillowy as anything, and that soft velour fabric around your head is supremely soft. The pleather that furnishes the inside and outside of each cup is surprisingly soft, too. The only reason for which I ever felt even slight discomfort wearing them was for their closed-back nature – after a while in any set of closed-backs, you can expect your ears to get a little claustro.

There’s a ratchet system attaching each earcup to the headband, by which height is set. The system is reassuringly secure, if a little bit rattly when not on your bonce. I am the recipient of a surprisingly small head, and the very lowest setting for each ear cup is about perfect for me; others with smaller heads may encounter some difficulties.

Another minor complaint comes from the placement of the output terminals on each earcup — at the bottom, facing straight down — which isn’t great in practice. There’s a great deal of sound transferred to the cups through the cord, so you’re practically guaranteed to hear the consequences of those braided cables rubbing on your shoulders whether you stand or sit.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Value

• Good price for their niche
• Great value, comfort-wise
• Hard to recommend for active listeners

I wasn’t sure where I’d fall on the Sivga Robin SV021 Pro, and, writing this up now, I’m still not. Ultimately, they’re decent. Initially, they didn’t blow me away, but with time I found real magic in certain areas. Yet, for each parcel of magic, I found a bit of a nuisance counterargument. Broadly, they certainly don’t fall short of what they’re promising.

They strike me as a less-expensive alternative to something like the Meze Audio 99 Classics; a budget-conscious option for more-than-serviceable over-ear hi-fi, that doesn’t also do away with any sense of rarefied visual design by virtue of price. A distinguished pair of listener headphones for the entry level.

In this sense, the SV021 Pro succeed. For the money, you get a highly dependable set of headphones that look the part, are remarkably easy to wear for long stretches, and don’t give you much reason to complain while you’re wearing them — provided you don’t push them too hard. If you like the look of them and like the look of that price point, you’re probably going to like them a lot.

But. If you’re the kind of person that generally desires a little ‘more’ from passive headphones like these, in any sense of the term, you might be left wanting. Their EQ balance and low-end handling leaves a little to be desired, and, smart as the design is, there are a few missed opportunities from a quality-of-life standpoint. In particular, the transmission of vibrations through the cable, and the solidity of the ear cups as they attach to the headband.

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by other iterations of this ‘hygge’ headphone style, and maybe I’ve been a bit of a curmudgeon in the process of reviewing these, ultimately, extremely serviceable over-ears. Their comfort and quality, overall, already go some way to justifying that asking price. Everything else, for me, is just a bit of a juggle.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Should you buy them?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Solid passive over-ears, but missing balanced outputs.

4 / 5

Sound quality

Titanium composite drivers promote high-end performance. Messy bass response much to their detriment.

4 / 5

Design

Very easy on the eye, slightly undone by rattling headband mechanism and cable sound contamination.

4.5 / 5

Value

There are better budget listening headphones out there, and better wood-backed headphones too.

3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future / James Grimshaw)Buy them if...

You like the look of them
It’s hard to fault the these headphones' visuals, and harder still to argue against the power of a good first impression. At this price, headphones don’t usually look quite this swanky!

You’re a passive listener
The EQ balance of the Sivga SV021 Pro is such that your passive listening is rewarded – with gutsy lows, supple strings and an incredible treatment of vocals. It’s a homely comfort food of a sound, for some.

Don't buy them if...

You’re an active listener
There are many shortcomings here, from sound contamination through the cable to a low-end that doesn’t really know how to act. These headphones can sound great, but don’t do great under scrutiny.

You want commuting headphones
There’s very little in the way of sound isolation to speak of here – besides which, they’re too nice to risk crunching up in a packed bag, or dropping on public transport.

Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: Also consider

Sivga Robin SV021 Pro

Meze Audio 99 Classics 2nd Generation

FiiO FT1

Type:

Over-ear, closed-back

Over-ear, closed-back

Over-ear, closed-back

Driver:

50mm dynamic

40mm dynamic

60mm dynamic

Frequency range:

20Hz - 20kHz

15Hz - 25kHz

10Hz - 40kHz

Impedance:

45 ohms

16 ohms

32 ohms

Connector:

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Weight:

289g

290g

340g

Extras:

Hemp pouch, 3.5mm TRS to dual 3.5mm TS cable, 6.3mm TRS adapter

Dual-TS to 3.5mm TRS cable; 3.5mm-to-6.35mm TRS adapter; USB-C DAC/AMP dongle; carry case

Dual-TS to 3.5mm TRS cable, Dual-TRS to 4.4mm TRRRS cable, soft case

Meze Audio 99 Classics 2nd Gen
The Meze are perhaps the best mid-weight wood-backed over-ears on the market right now – a niche category, sure, but no small achievement! They’re almost twice the price of the Sivga Robin SV021 Pro, but it’s a small price to pay for a better interpretation of the same essential sound character and, in my humble opinion, a much better-looking set of headphones.
Read our Meze Audio 99 Classics 2nd Gen review for more

FiiO FT1
The FiiO were the first closed-backs out of the gate from the competitor Chinese brand, in 2024. These over-ears are cheaper, balanced, come with bigger drivers and exhibit a broader frequency range – but they may be a more oppressive wear than the SV021 Pro.
See our in-depth FiiO FT1 review for more

Sivga Robin SV021 Pro review: How I tested

• Tested for 4 weeks
• Used at home, through a Volt 4 audio interface and Vestax mixer/amp
• Predominantly tested using Qobuz and vinyl records

Much of my testing took place in my attic studio, where I listened primarily to lossless audio using the streaming service Qobuz, as well as audio from my digital library. This was through a Universal Audio Volt 4 audio interface, and also through the headphone output from a pair of Edifier MR5 monitor speakers.

I also spent a little time listening to vinyl records, played on a Vestax PDX-D3 turntable through the headphone output of a Vestax PCV-275 mixer.

• First reviewed: April 2026
• Read more about how we test