Honor revealed the Honor Magic V in January 2022 during a Chinese launch event, marking the company's first push into the foldable smartphone market. It's a Chinese exclusive with no worldwide release date planned, yet it combines high-end specs into a single folding compact. It has a similar design shape to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, however the front-facing display is somewhat broader. It has a 120Hz cover panel, a 90Hz inner display, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU that powers the whole thing.
We recently got some hands-on time with the Honor Magic V during the company's launch event for the Honor Magic 4 series at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While it still didn't have Google applications (and thus doesn't hint to a worldwide launch event anytime soon), we were able to play with it for a short period.
Honor Magic V: Specifications
| Specification | Honor Magic V |
|---|
| Dimensions & Weight | - Dimensions:
- Folded: 160.4 x 72.7 x 14.3mm
- Unfolded: 160.4 x 141.1 x 6.7mm
- Weight:
- Burnt Orange: 288g
- Space Silver, Black: 293g
|
| Display | - Cover:
- 6.45-inch OLED
- 2560 x 1080 pixels
- 431ppi
- 21:9 aspect ratio
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Main:
- 7.9-inch OLED
- 2272 x 1984 pixels
- 381ppi
- 90Hz refresh rate
|
| SoC | - Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
- Adreno 730
|
| RAM & Storage | |
| Battery & Charging | - 4,750mAh
- 66W fast charging support
|
| Security | Side-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Rear Camera(s) | - Primary: 50MP f/1.9
- Secondary: 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide
- Tertiary: 50MP f/2.0 Spectrum Enhanced
|
| Front Camera(s) | 42MP f/2.4 |
| Port(s) | USB Type-C |
| Audio | Stereo speakers |
| Connectivity | - 5G
- 4G LTE
- Wi-Fi 6 (2.4GHz + 5GHz)
- Bluetooth 5.2
|
| Software | MagicUI 6 based on Android 12 |
| Colors | - Black
- Space Silver
- Burnt Orange
|
Honor Magic V: Design
The Honor Magic V looks and feels a much like the Galaxy Z Flip 3, with a 6.45-inch 120Hz FHD+ display on the front and a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. On the rear, there's a rectangular camera module surrounded by what appears to be imitation leather. When the gadget is unfurled, it exposes a gigantic 7.9-inch foldable OLED display with a resolution of 2272 x 1984 and a peak refresh rate of 90Hz. There's also a fingerprint sensor incorporated in the power button on the right side, making it usable whether folded or unfolded.
The Magic V has a waterdrop hinge that decreases display creasing. There was no obvious wrinkle until you sought for it, and even then, you'd quickly forget about it. Honor also claims that its hinge design is the slimmest in the market when compared to similar competitors. Finally, when the display is folded shut, there are no obvious gaps between the sides. It is also unquestionably one of the thinnest.
It seemed solid to use and comfy to use. It's also one of the largest folding phones available – the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is somewhat smaller in daily use. However, there isn't much of a change, and if this one is released in the west, it will appear nearly identical. There's also the camera cut-out at the top right, which obstructs the display if that bothers you. It appears to be an odd placement.
Honor Magic V: Pricing & Availability
The Honor Magic V is a lot of fun to use, and the proliferation of foldable smartphones is fantastic. It runs MagicUI 6, which is built on Android 12 and keeps several EMUI-like features. Apart from being considerably easier to enter multi-window mode from within apps, there weren't any folding-phone-specific software features that I could notice on this particular handset. Even then, that's a standard Android function that merely becomes more handy on a larger screen.
As of January 18, the Honor Magic V is available for purchase in China at the following price:
- 12GB+256GB: CNY 9,999 (~$1,570)
- 12GB+512GB: CNY 10,999 (~$1,725)
