I keep in mind again when skinny telephones have been all the craze a decade in the past — Vivo, Gionee, and different Chinese language manufacturers have been intent on creating gadgets that have been ultra-sleek, and the following insanity led to telephones just like the Vivo X5 Max, which was simply 5.1mm thick. To place that into context, the Galaxy S24 is available in at 7.6mm. Whereas these gadgets ticked numerous containers on the styling entrance, they’d poor thermal administration, and tiny batteries.
Fortunately, this development fizzled away after just a few years, and types began specializing in issues clients really cared about: bigger batteries, higher cameras, and so forth. Why am I dredging up obscure cellphone information, you ask? Properly, utilizing the Magic V2 jogs my memory of these ultra-thin gadgets from years previous; Honor in some way managed to create a tool that is roughly the identical dimension as a daily cellphone, and that takes away numerous the friction in utilizing a foldable.
The Magic V2 is simply 4.7mm thick when unfolded, going as much as 9.9mm while you fold the gadget. The OnePlus Open is 5.8mm unfolded, and 11.7mm when folded, and the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is positively chunky, coming in at 6.1mm unfolded, and 13.4mm whereas it is folded. Heck, the Magic V2 is only a smidgen thicker than the OnePlus 12.
Primarily, the Magic V2 modified my view of foldables, and one of the best reward I may give the gadget is that I did not wish to return to a daily cellphone after utilizing it. That stated, it has its share of points; the Chinese language model debuted final July, and whereas Honor launched the Magic V2 globally at IFA, it is solely happening sale now. Meaning you are principally getting a mid-2023 cellphone, and it is nonetheless operating Android 13 out of the field.
It is lacking just a few extras, and the software program wants numerous work — the OnePlus Open has helpful multitasking options that you just simply do not get right here, and there is no mud or water resistance. So must you nonetheless take into account the Magic V2, or did Honor wait too lengthy to launch the gadget outdoors China? Let’s have a look.
Honor Magic V2: Worth and launch date
Honor unveiled the Magic V2 foldable in China again in July 2023, and introduced international availability at IFA on September 1. Though the foldable was introduced on the present, Honor solely kicked off international gross sales beginning January 26. Fortunately, the Magic V2 is now obtainable in choose European markets, debuting at £1,699 within the U.Ok. and €1,999 in different nations within the area.
Honor is promoting a single version of the Magic V2 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Honor can be bringing the Porsche Design variant of the Magic V2 to international markets, however there is no data on what that can value but — the launch is at Cellular World Congress on the finish of February, in order that’s after we’ll get to know extra in regards to the gadget.
Honor Magic V2: Design
The perfect half in regards to the Magic V2 is that it does not really feel like a foldable. It has roughly the identical dimensions as a big cellphone — just like the Galaxy S24 Extremely — and at 231g, it really weighs 3g much less. Greater than the rest, it’s the svelte design that makes utilizing the Magic V2 so gratifying; I used all of the foldables launched within the final 18 months, and I maintain coming again to this cellphone.
That is down to 2 causes: the thickness of the cellphone, and the size of the outer display. The svelte design means the Magic V2 is simply as straightforward to carry and use as a daily cellphone, and that completely makes a distinction in every day use. The Open is on the smaller facet as foldables go, however even that’s significantly bigger than what Honor is providing right here.
Honor additionally did an excellent job with the outer display, and the 6.43-inch dimension is ideal. It has a typical 21:9 ratio, so it is not awkward to make use of just like the too-narrow cowl display of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. In truth, I discovered myself utilizing the outer display for many mundane duties, solely unfolding the gadget to play video games, browse Reddit, or learn books.
The hinge additionally contributes to the gadget’s general attract. It does not want a lot drive to open, and it has a clean articulation. You too can simply prop up the foldable at any angle between 45 to 130 levels, supplying you with loads of flexibility when taking pictures images or taking part in video games. Similar to with Samsung’s gadgets, the digicam controls swap to the underside half of the display while you’re on this Hover mode.
Honor says the hinge is made out of titanium this time, permitting the producer to avoid wasting weight and dimension, and it is a key think about getting the foldable right down to 9.9mm. The hinge closes totally flat with no seen hole, and the model says it’ll final 400,000 unlocks. There is no telling about that, however within the month I used the Magic V2, I did not run into any points in anyway.
One other factor I like in regards to the hinge is that the crease is barely seen; you possibly can nonetheless make out a crease in every day use, nevertheless it is not anyplace as noticeable because the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and it’s nearer to the Open. On that notice, the interior display is terrific, and it’s a smidgen bigger than its rapid rivals. However what stands out is that the gadget goes down to simply 4.7mm when unfolded, and it feels futuristic.
There are solely so some ways to design a foldable, however I feel Honor did a very good job with the foldable; the oblong digicam housing appears to be like distinctive, and the purple coloration variant appears to be like upmarket. The glass again has a silky texture, and the stainless-steel sides have a shiny coat. I might have appreciated a matte texture, however aside from that, I haven’t got any quibbles with the design.
There is a fingerprint sensor baked into the ability button on the facet, and it does a very good job with authentication. The one function that is lacking on the gadget is ingress safety; whereas we nonetheless do not get IP68 water resistance on foldables, Samsung has IPX8 as normal on its telephones, and that makes them way more resilient to the weather. Honor ought to have added at the very least IPX4, as it could have made the gadget maintain up significantly better towards different foldables.
Honor Magic V2: Shows
The most important differentiator for the Magic V2 is that it has a big cowl display that is an identical to what you get on a daily cellphone. The 6.43-inch outer OLED panel has a decision of 2376 x 1080, and like most different telephones, you get a 120Hz refresh with dynamic switching based mostly on context. The perfect half is that it has HDR10+ and goes as much as 2,500 nits, making it one of many brightest on a foldable but.
The interior display is among the many largest of any gadget, with the Magic V2 providing a 7.92-inch OLED show with a decision of 2344 x 2156 and 120Hz refresh. You get HDR10+ right here as effectively, and whereas it does not get as shiny because the outer display — maxing out at 1,600 nits — it’s nonetheless greater than enough in every day use. I had zero points with display visibility below harsh daylight with both display.
Each panels additionally sport LTPO, dynamically adjusting the refresh in keeping with the content material on the display, and this makes a distinction on the battery facet of issues. Honor eschewed Corning’s Gorilla Glass and as a substitute makes use of a customized various, and within the two occasions the foldable took a tumble from a top of 5 toes, it did not decide up any harm, so clearly the protecting layer is doing its job.
Chinese language manufacturers are main the best way in the case of DC dimming, and the Magic V2 has 3,840Hz PWM dimming on each screens — this makes the foldable an awesome alternative in the event you’re delicate to PWM points. You additionally get a typical night time mode that switches the colours on the display to hotter hues at night time.
Each the interior and outer screens have vibrant colours and a very good quantity of customizability, and as I stated earlier, the scale of the outer display meant that I ended up utilizing it much more than on different foldables. Honor nailed the temporary on this space, and the outer display is simply pretty much as good because the tablet-sized interior panel.
Whereas the outer display is nice for mundane duties, the interior display is excellent for taking part in gaming or streaming content material. The non-standard ratio means there’s some letterboxing, however it’s nonetheless extremely gratifying — the modern design actually performs into Honor’s palms right here. And in the event you want an absurdly expensive clock, there is a Standby mode that launches a clock when the display is off and the interior display is semi-folded — that is much like Standby mode in iOS 17, nevertheless it’s designed to make the most of the foldable panel, and I actually prefer it.
Honor Magic V2: Efficiency and battery
On condition that the Magic V2 launched practically seven months in the past, it does not fairly have the most recent {hardware}. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, however you continue to get 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Having used the foldable towards the likes of the OnePlus 12 and iQOO 12, I do not assume final 12 months’s {hardware} is a limitation — the 8 Gen 2 is simply as quick and fluid as its successor, and it holds up extremely effectively in demanding video games.
| Class | Honor Magic V2 | OnePlus 12 |
|---|---|---|
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Total) | 13625 | 12542 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Internet Searching) | 11956 | 10157 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Video Modifying) | 7482 | 6057 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Writing) | 14847 | 16945 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Photograph Modifying) | 29590 | 23586 |
| Geekbench 6 (single-core) | 1426 | 936 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 4231 | 4729 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (rating) | 2943 | 4062 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (FPS) | 17.625 | 24.325 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (rating) | 4173 | 7826 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (FPS) | 15.87 | 29.76 |
I used the Magic V2 for a month, and I did not see any slowdowns or lag. I wasn’t certain about its thermal administration given the svelte design, however the foldable does an astonishingly good job in prolonged gaming periods, and whereas it throttles after the 30-minute mark, you continue to get playable framerates with none jitter.
On that notice, the cellphone did an awesome job in 3DMark’s demanding Photo voltaic Bay stress check, selecting up a stability rating of 54.2%. The thermals did not exceed 40 levels, and that is decrease than most 2024 telephones.
There are not any points with overheating in every day use, and on the entire, the Magic V2 is simply as performant as a daily cellphone in — and that is a very good factor. In the case of connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, AptX HD, and DisplayPort 1.2 over USB-C, supplying you with the flexibility to attach the gadget to an exterior monitor.
There’s so much to love on the battery facet as effectively, and the 5,000mAh battery ensures the Magic V2 lasts a day with none points. Even with heavy use, I did not should cost the foldable earlier than the tip of the day, and it’s the greatest foldable cellphone you should purchase proper now in the event you want all-day battery life.
I am operating PCMark’s Work 3.0 battery life check on all gadgets this 12 months, and the Magic V2 lasted 15 hours and 41 minutes, a really respectable rating that is significantly better than every other foldable. With the identical check carried out over the interior panel, it delivered a rating simply shy of ten hours — once more, an awesome displaying.
If you finally must cost it, there’s 66W charging tech. It takes simply over an hour to cost the battery, and there are the same old options to make sure you maximize battery longevity.
Honor Magic V2: Cameras
The Magic V2 has upgraded cameras, together with a 50MP foremost digicam with OIS, and a 20MP zoom lens that has OIS and goes as much as 2.5x optical zoom. The 50MP wide-angle lens is identical because the Magic Vs, however modifications to the tuning means you get higher images. There is a 16MP digicam positioned on the entrance.
Honor retained the identical digicam interface as final time, however you now get the flexibility to separate the viewfinder and controls between the 2 halves of the folding display, and this leads to significantly better versatility. The function is an identical to what you get on Samsung telephones (Flex Mode), and it enables you to shoot images and movies in distinctive angles.
The taking pictures modes are unchanged, and also you get a Professional mode that permits you to tweak varied parameters, dual-view choice that means that you can take movies from each the entrance and rear cameras on the similar time, Film mode, and all the same old choices. What’s attention-grabbing this time is that there is AI-assisted movement sensing, and the Magic V2 is ready to lock in on a topic with relative ease. It could possibly additionally take respectable images of fast-moving objects, one thing that almost all telephones battle with — together with flagships.
Picture 1 of 8
The Magic V2 takes good images in daylight situations, producing photographs with nice dynamic vary, vibrant colours, and plenty of element. Honor’s coloration tuning tends to skew towards saturated colours, so whereas the resultant photographs look nice when sharing on social media, you do not essentially get correct colours.
Portrait photographs are respectable as effectively, and whereas you do not get the identical high quality because the likes of the OnePlus 12, they’re on the similar stage as different foldables. The wide-angle lens is respectable in its personal proper, and whereas you do not get pictures which are fairly as detailed or vibrant as the principle digicam, they’re enough for sharing on social media.
The foldable does an awesome job in low-light situations as effectively, delivering low noise ranges and preserving intricate particulars. The OnePlus Open nonetheless has an edge on this specific space, however the Magic V2 is not far behind.
Honor Magic V2: Software program
Whereas Honor nailed the temporary almost about the {hardware}, the Magic V2 does not fairly measure up on the software program entrance — it nonetheless runs MagicOS 7.2 based mostly on Android 13 out of the field. The interface does not look fairly as polished, and it nonetheless has too many similarities to older variations of EMUI. That stated, the worldwide model now has a Management Middle as normal, with the notification pane break up in two — the toggles are positioned on one web page, and the toggles getting their very own web page.
Xiaomi makes use of an identical system in MIUI, and OPPO additionally affords this function in Chinese language ColorOS builds. However each manufacturers allow you to swap to a typical notification pane, and you do not get that right here. The settings web page is in want of an overhaul as effectively, and the design of Honor’s inventory apps is outdated to place it mildly.
You get just a few foldable options, however they are not as intensive as different gadgets. MagicOS 7.2 enables you to simply launch multi-window mode — nice for maximizing the display actual property — and you may simply alter app scaling. You get a dock on the backside of the display that reveals lately used apps, however you miss out on an app drawer icon that permits you to pull up all put in apps with out having to enter the drawer itself.
Additionally lacking is the persistent dock that stays on the backside of the display on the OnePlus Open and Samsung foldables; that is my favourite foldable function because it lets me seamlessly soar between apps, and it is annoying that it is not obtainable on the Magic V2. Honor wants so as to add just a few options to make the Magic V2 on par with its rivals, and the UI is certainly in want of an overhaul.
As for updates, the Magic V2 will decide up 4 Android OS updates together with 5 years of safety updates. That is according to different foldables, however Honor is not the quickest at rolling out updates, and the model hasn’t detailed when it’ll ship Android 14 to the Magic V2.
Honor Magic V2: The competitors
The OnePlus Open continues to be probably the greatest foldables you will get for the time being. It is not fairly as modern because the Magic V2, nevertheless it additionally has highly effective {hardware}, battery that lasts all day, a big outer display with an interior display that has the least seen crease on this section, loads of helpful software program options, and a stellar digicam package deal that is on par with flagships. That stated, the Open continues to be on Android 13, and my unit did not get the replace to OxygenOS 14 as of writing.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 can be a contender, however the foldable does not have anyplace near the identical stage of refinement because the Magic V2. The design appears to be like outdated, the crease is definitely noticeable, and I am continuously irritated by the tall-and-narrow outer display that simply does not serve a lot utility. Samsung’s solely benefit is that it affords IPX8 water resistance and customized software program options, however the model now not has the benefit on this class.
Honor Magic V2: Do you have to purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You desire a foldable that is simply as straightforward to make use of as a daily cellphone
- You want a foldable with one of the best battery life and quick charging tech
- You are on the lookout for a tool with a usable outer display and tablet-sized interior display
- You want high-end {hardware} that is nice for gaming
You should not purchase this if:
- You want one of the best software program options on a foldable
- You want all of the extras
I can not assist however really feel that Honor shot itself within the foot by delaying the worldwide launch of the Magic V2 by greater than six months. The Magic V2 had the potential to dominate the foldable dialog because of its svelte design and {hardware}, however in 2024, it’s overshadowed by the likes of OnePlus.
The delay additionally highlights Honor’s software program foibles, with the Magic V2 debuting with Android 13 out of the field — that is simply not excusable on this class. That stated, the Magic V2 is not any much less spectacular at the moment, and even subsequent to the Open, it clearly has so much to supply.
What I like probably the most in regards to the gadget is the modern design — I’ve stated it just a few occasions on this evaluation, however the Magic V2 genuinely seems like a daily cellphone more often than not, and that places it in a league of its personal. The interior display can be probably the greatest on this class, as are the cameras, and the {hardware}. Battery life is best than every other foldable I used so far, and Honor deserves numerous credit score for cramming a 5000mAh battery into such a skinny design.
From a {hardware} viewpoint, the Magic V2 is faultless; that is one of the best showcase for a foldable but. The software program wants work, but when what I’ve seen of MagicOS 8.0 is any indication, Honor is lastly making amends on this space, modernizing the interface and rolling out much-needed tweaks. For those who just like the look of the {hardware} and do not thoughts ready for Android 14, you must get the Magic V2.