Two Asian tech giants kicked off the current trend for book-style folding phones, but only one is a genuine force in the West.
Samsung continues to dominate the market, with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 launch rapidly approaching, while rival Huawei’s software issues and subsequent limited global presence have hampered its impact.
It’s allowed Samsung to take a more relaxed approach, offering nothing more than incremental improvements in recent years. However, competition is starting to heat up, with the likes of OnePlus, Oppo and Google all entering the market.
However, it’s Honor that’s pushing the boundaries more than any other company. The Honor Magic V3 was 9.2mm thick and 226g, as opposed to 12.1mm and 239g on the Z Fold 6 .
While the Z Fold 7 is expected to surpass that, Honor is going one step further. Its new Magic V5 is 8.8mm when folded, 4.1mm when unfolded, and weighs 217g. That’s not only setting a standard for folding phones, but it’s also challenging regular candybar phones.
The Magic V5 (right) is only slightly thicker than the Pixel 9 Pro XL (left)
Chris Hall / Foundry
Having spent some time with the new Honor Magic V5, I can’t help feeling that this is the phone for people serious about hardware. Honor has taken many of the best elements of the Magic V3 and just made them better, offering loads of upgrades .
The Magic V5 is only 0.3mm thicker than the Pixel 9 Pro XL I have in my pocket, but it’s lighter. Slipping a folding phone into your pocket is no longer the compromise it once was.
This physical design is boosted by enhanced durability, too. There’s an IP58 and IP59 rating, so it offers strong protection against water and some protection against dust. Given the complex hinge design, getting to the IP68 we see on many high-end phones is very difficult.
True flagship-level cameras?
I’m happy to accept that Honor’s 8.8mm thickness figure doesn’t include that big bump on the back of the phone, as it makes up for it with an impressive set of camera specs.
Honor told me that the decision to include such a pronounced camera housing is because customers don’t want to compromise on cameras or battery, so the Magic V5 was built to cater to their needs.
There’s a three-camera system on the Magic V5, with a 64Mp, 3x optical telephoto camera, 50Mp main lens and 50Mp ultrawide. I took a couple of test images, but the phone I was using wasn’t on the final software, so I couldn’t determine anything about the quality of these cameras.
Chris Hall / Foundry
That’s also been a criticism of Samsung’s Z Fold models in the past: it’s a flagship device, but lacks the flagship camera experience many expect.
Interestingly, Honor has switched from a 3.5x optical zoom on the Magic V3 to 3x here, while boosting the resolution with a new sensor. That’s going to be something to explore when we review the phone.
Will it be trumped by the rumoured 200Mp camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 7? Time will tell.
Chris Hall / Foundry
Serious power, folding phone or not
Beyond that, Honor has given the Magic V5 some serious credentials. Thanks to the use of silicon-carbon for the battery, it’s rated at 5820mAh – more capacious than most regular phones – while also supporting 66W wired charging.
That’s likely to provide great stamina for this device, while the Samsung Z Fold 7 is rumoured to keep the same 4400mAh battery (with 25W charging) as its predecessor. That’s potentially going to lead to a gulf in the user experience between these two devices.
Powering Honor’s phone is the Snapdragon 8 Elite, so it’s flagship-grade hardware, repeating the position of the previous phone and making this one of the most powerful folding phones available.
Dynamic displays
The Honor Magic V5 features a 7.95-inch display, offering 5000 nits peak brightness and Dolby Vision HDR support. This LTPO AMOLED panel offers variable refresh rates from 1-120Hz.
Based on my first impressions, this display is truly excellent. It’s bright and vibrant, while the 2352 x 2172 resolution offers excellent detail. There’s still something of a crease, but it feels nice and stable across the centre of the phone, so the folding section is well supported.
Those who have used folding phones will know the crease makes little real difference when you’re using the device. I’ve spent hours watching movies on folding phones without worrying about the crease or even noticing that it’s there.
At 6.45 inches, the external display feels very much like one on a regular phone. Even when folded, you aren’t giving up on a premium experience.
Software is likely to make or break it
There’s little to say about the software experience at this point. Honor didn’t say much about it and with the focus being initially on the launch in China, I’m not surprised: the software experience built around Google and offering AI features will come in the future.
I wouldn’t expect it to vary too much from the sort of thing we’ve seen on the Honor Magic 7 Pro or the Honor 400 Pro , though.
But for now I’m happy to put the software to one side. It’s Honor’s hardware that shines and this is going to be a powerful folding phone, which is slim, lightweight and potentially offering great battery life.
The ball now falls into Samsung’s court, while we’re expecting to hear more about the Honor Magic V5’s global launch later in the summer. Currently there’s no price on the Honor Magic V5, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it keeps the £1,699.99 asking price.
Author: Chris Hall, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Chris has been writing about consumer technology since 2008 and during that time has covered everything from small screens to big, covering smartphones, tablets, laptops and everything up to televisions and cars. Chris is a freelance journalist, co-founder of tech website The Disconnekt and former Editor of Pocket-lint.
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