Honor has announced full details of its Honor Magic Vs foldable phone, with the device sporting a 7.9-inch internal display and a design reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series.
This comparison is made on any foldable phone that opens like a book and has an external display thanks to Samsung being first to market, but the Magic Vs might end up impressing thanks to a remarkably thin design and at a competitive price.
The original Honor Magic V launched in January 2022 but was limited to the Chinese market. The new and improved Vs is set for a European launch and will finally arrive on the continent at MWC 2023, just days away.
In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the Honor Magic Vs, including a full specs rundown – or find out why we think it might have the hardware to hold Samsung back.
When will the Honor Magic Vs be released?
Honor announced the Magic Vs in China on November 23, 2022, and it went on sale there that month.
As Honor confirmed plans for a European launch, and while it took months for details to finally emerge, we finally know the phone will get its international launch at MWC on February 27 alongside the Magic 5 line.
The event will take place at 1:30 p.m. local time, which is 12:30 p.m. GMT / 7:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. PT, and you can watch it live here:
How much does the Honor Magic Vs cost?
In China, the Honor Magic Vs costs ¥7,499 ($1,050 / £880) for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
A 12GB/256GB version costs ¥7,999 ($1,120/£940) and a 12GB/512GB version costs ¥8,999 ($1,260/£1,060).
The above conversions are the US Dollar and British Pound conversions at launch. When the phone arrives in Europe, you can expect prices to be a bit higher than the exact Chinese yuan equivalent.
That said, Honor’s pricing here is very competitive given that the cheapest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 costs $1,799 / £1,649.
Henry Burrell / Foundry
What are the specs and features of the Honor Magic Vs?
The phone has been in development for a while now, so it uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset rather than the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
The 7.9-inch internal screen surpasses the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 7.6-inch, though Honor’s is capped at 90Hz compared to Samsung’s 120Hz.
Honor also managed to make a thinner foldable with its 6.1mm thickness when open, beating the Z Fold 4 by 6.3mm. That might not sound like a lot, but it all makes a difference to a phone’s in-hand feel, so we can’t wait to test the Magic Vs.
Perhaps the best one-up the Magic Vs has over rival folding phones is that it closes completely flat. Samsung’s Flip and Fold phones still close in a wedge shape.
Henry Burrell / Foundry
To the rear is an impressive array of cameras led by a 54Mp f/1.9 lens using the Sony IMX800 sensor. Add to that an ultrawide 50p and things look good, but the 8Mp 3x optical zoom might not be much to write home about. We will have to see.
In China, the foldable runs on Android 12 using Honor’s new MagicOS 7.0 software skin. We hope to see Android 13 coming soon as new phones are now launching with the latest version.
If Honor can effectively launch the Magic Vs in many countries at a competitive price, it could prove to be a good leaf for Samsung, which has seen little real competition so far. The Huawei Mate Xs 2 is impressive, but Huawei’s usual pitfalls combined with the exterior display design are off-putting.
Xiaomi’s book-shaped foldable, the Mi Mix Fold 2, looks slim and powerful, just like the Oppo Find N2, but both are still confined to the Chinese market. Foldables could be the future, but we need companies like Honor to step up. Fingers crossed, the Magic Vs makes for a good fist.
Here are the full specs of the Honor Magic Vs:
- Foldable 7.9-inch 90Hz OLED, 2272 x 1984p
- 6.45-inch 120Hz, 2560 x 1080p outdoor OLED
- Android 12 (MagicOS 7.0)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset
- 8GB/12GB RAM
- 256GB/256GB/512GB storage
- 54Mp IMX800 main camera (f/1.9)
- 50Mp ultra-wide and macro camera (f/2.0)
- 8Mp 3x optical zoom camera (f/2.4)
- 16Mp front camera (f/2.45)
- Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
- WiFi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- NFC
- 5G
- 4900mAh battery
- 66W wired charging
- Dual-SIM
- Height
- Width
- Unfolded: 141.5mm, folded: 72.6mm
- Depth
- Unfolded: 6.1 mm, folded: 12.9 mm
