Honor Magic Vs evaluation: Punching up

Worth When Reviewed

Not obtainable within the US

Ever for the reason that first Galaxy Z Fold cellphone launched – 4 years in the past – Samsung has loved basically zero competitors within the West.

Huawei has launched a string of book-style foldables that no-one will purchase as a result of they don’t run Google; Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have pushed their fashions in China however nowhere else; and weird gamers together with Pablo Escobar’s brother have run a string of small choices (and generally scams) to construct out {the marketplace}.

Lastly although, that adjustments. Honor is formally bringing its Magic Vs foldable to markets worldwide (besides North America), and for a worth designed to undercut its huge Samsung rival.

With a hinge that closes totally flat, a reasonably highly effective triple rear digicam, and an exceptionally slim physique, the Magic Vs undoubtedly has the {hardware} to place Samsung as a substitute. 

There’s a predictable lack of polish that holds the software program expertise again although – and some luxurious options I’d need to see at this worth – that make the Z Fold 4 a greater purchase for many. However what a aid to see Honor giving Samsung a run for its cash.

Design & construct

• Hinge that closes totally flat
• Exceptionally skinny for a foldable
• No IP ranking

Probably the most fascinating selection that Honor made in designing the Magic Vs is to construct it as a cellphone first, and a foldable second.

By that I imply that it’s designed to work in addition to attainable when closed, providing you with one thing fairly near a standard smartphone.

To that finish, the Magic Vs is skinny – simply 12.9mm thick when shut, making it solely slightly heftier than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. Don’t get me improper, it’s nonetheless chunkier than mainly any commonplace slab cellphone, however not a lot that it feels bothersome. 

Importantly, Honor has additionally made certain that when the cellphone closes, it closes flat. Samsung’s newest foldables nonetheless shut right into a wedge form, with a slight hole between the 2 halves of the show. 

Against this the Magic Vs seals shut, feeling strong and safe when closed. If something it’s slightly too comfortable – it’s inconceivable to open with one hand, and even with each generally it feels such as you’ve received a struggle in your palms to unfold the cellphone.

That solidity most likely helps the haptics, which have a reassuring heft to their buzzes, and are one a part of why the cellphone feels so premium within the hand.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Honor is boastful of how a lot it simplified the hinge for the Vs – down to only 4 parts, supposedly – however a part of the value for that’s that it’s not as succesful because the Z Fold 4 at sitting open at varied angles, with an inclination for the display screen to slowly wobble open if you happen to attempt to prop it up.

It’s not helped by the chunky, lopsided digicam module. I just like the look of this – a barely curved rectange set in opposition to the cyan or black physique of the cellphone – however it protrudes sufficient to make the cellphone exceptionally wobbly when mendacity down, and its weight imbalances issues additional when the display screen is partially open.

There’s one closing draw back to the design right here: whereas Samsung has managed to waterproof its newest foldables, there’s no IP ranking in any respect on the Magic Vs, and Honor has stated little to recommend you’ll be able to safely get this cellphone moist. It’s survived some gentle rain throughout testing, however I wouldn’t belief it with rather more than that.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

As all the time, a caveat for foldables: sturdiness is difficult to foretell, and even Samsung gadgets have routine points. Solely purchase one among these if you happen to can afford for it to interrupt down, and ideally be sure to’ll be lined by good insurance coverage. That is an additional edge for Samsung, which has extra widespread restore services you’ll be able to fall again on if wanted.

Screens & audio system

• Glorious, tall 120Hz AMOLED outer show
• Sq.-ish 90Hz inside show
• First rate, however quiet, audio system

As I stated earlier than, Honor determined to deal with optimising the Magic Vs to work properly when it’s closed. With that in thoughts, the corporate really put a greater panel on the cellphone’s exterior than on its inside.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The outside cowl show here’s a 6.45in 120Hz AMOLED panel with a decision of 1080×2560. It has a quicker refresh fee and better decision than the inside display screen, and runs brighter, with specs that mainly match most flagship cellphone panels, apart from missing LTPO tech for a dynamic refresh fee.

I’ve discovered myself utilizing this outer show rather more than the cellphone’s inside one – as appears to be supposed – and it’s by no means felt like a compromise from some other cellphone I evaluation. It’s a good condition, snug measurement, and appears improbable.

That stated, the inner show is barely extra restricted. The massive one is the drop to a 90Hz refresh fee, however it’s additionally a contact dimmer and fewer vibrant than the opposite display screen. It’s definitely not a unhealthy show, however you’ll discover the distinction.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

As with all foldable cellphone there’s a crease within the center. It’s laborious to identify head-on, however simply seen from an angle, and deep sufficient to note as you swipe over it. In order for you the direct comparability, I’d say the crease right here is on a par with the one you’ll discover on Samsung’s Fold, and extra noticeable than on the likes of Oppo’s China-only Discover N2.

The audio system are one of many cellphone’s slight disappointments. I normally don’t care a lot both means about cellphone audio system, however the ones listed below are quieter and tinnier than I’d anticipated from a cellphone this measurement. Honor has additionally put each on the entrance half of the cellphone, that means they’re on the identical facet when it opens up, ruining the stereo impact.

Specs & efficiency

• Flagship-level Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip
• 12GB RAM and 512GB storage

One factor Honor hasn’t skimped is on energy. The Magic Vs is supplied with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 – not fairly the most recent flagship chip from Qualcomm, however nonetheless current, and highly effective sufficient to maintain up with essentially the most demanding stuff you are able to do on a smartphone.

For the worldwide launch, Honor has additionally determined to maintain issues easy, with only one model obtainable, outfitted with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That’s greater than Samsung gives by default, another excuse the Honor could look compelling based mostly on worth alone.

benchmarking apps, the Magic Vs lags behind a few of the newest slab flagships, however is a detailed match to the Z Fold 4 on pure efficiency.

Be aware that on the subject of graphical efficiency, there’s a distinction between the cellphone’s two shows. Whereas the outer display screen has increased pixel density, the bigger inside display screen has extra pixels general. Meaning it hits decrease body charges on the GFXBench graphics assessments, and also will run video games barely slower. That’s true for any ebook foldable after all, however value allowing for.

Elsewhere, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC make up the cellphone’s networking capabilities – all par for the course.

As for biometrics, as is typical for foldables there’s no in-display fingerprint scanner, however as a substitute one is constructed into the facility button, and works properly. Face unlock is an choice too.

Digital camera & video

• Spectacular triple rear digicam
• Versatile setup
• Two similar selfie cameras

Most foldables compromise on cameras to some extent. That’s true right here too actually – Honor’s greatest digicam is in its Magic 5 Professional flagship, not the Magic Vs – however I’ve been impressed with how succesful the providing right here is.

Let’s begin with the rear cameras, the place you discover a trio of choices: a 54Mp, f/1.9 foremost digicam, a 50Mp ultrawide, and an 8Mp telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

As you’d count on from any cellphone this worth, the principle digicam impresses. Pictures are crisp and detailed, even in decrease gentle, with respectable dynamic vary. Colors undoubtedly skew in direction of the intense, punchy, and over-saturated, however hardly ever go up to now in that course as to look completely unnatural.

Nighttime and low gentle efficiency isn’t up there with one of the best of one of the best, however the cellphone is greater than able to taking detailed pictures of a nighttime cityscape, solely often tripping up on easy methods to deal with vibrant lights inside an in any other case darkish body – an issue even the iPhone 14 Professional Max struggles with, so the Magic Vs is in good firm.

The 50Mp ultrawide doesn’t impress as a lot. Regardless of the same sensor decision there’s a definite drop intimately whenever you swap to this lens, which is exacerbated by dimmer lighting. Dynamic vary suffers too, and colors usually appear darker and flatter than the principle digicam. 

It’s removed from a nasty digicam, and stays a very good choice to have for group photographs or panoramic vistas, however don’t be fooled by the megapixel depend into considering that is on a par with the first lens.

Thankfully the telephoto is best. It’s a 3x zoom optical lens, with a digicam app shortcut for 10x, and an choice to go so far as 30x by pinching in. 

Pictures taken at 3x zoom look good, with little noise, a great deal of element, and a very good color match for the principle shooter. Even that 10x choice marks a pointy drop in high quality although, delivering photographs with that smooth watercolour impact even in good lighting, so I wouldn’t need to push this zoom too far. Listed here are a couple of comparability pictures on the 3x and 10x settings:

You get two selfie cameras, one on every show, providing you with choices for each photographs or video calls. To maintain issues easy, Honor has outfitted every show with the very same 16Mp, f/2.4 digicam, so there’s no purpose to desire one over the opposite on the subject of picture high quality.

Selfies come out nice from each cameras, with oodles of element and pure pores and skin tones. The algorithmic portrait mode impresses too, with a spread of bokeh choices and glorious edge detection that handles the wispy ends of my hair properly, with solely a few stray strands caught within the blur.

See if you happen to can spot the distinction between the 2 lenses in these pictures (with the inside digicam first in every pairing):

Video recording goes as much as [email protected] from the rear lenses, or [email protected] for both selfie shooter, and is typical for Android (which is to say: it’s good, however no iPhone). The primary draw back is that with no optical picture stabilisation on the principle rear digicam, you gained’t be capable of get particularly secure footage if you happen to’re taking pictures on the go. 

Battery & charging

• Large battery that runs all day
• Quick wired charging
• No wi-fi charging

Regardless of making a thinner foldable than Samsung, Honor has someway managed to squeeze in a much bigger battery.

The 5000mAh capability right here is among the many greatest you’ll discover in any flagship cellphone, and even with two shows to fret about it makes the Magic Vs an all-day cellphone.

Actually, I examined it whereas protecting the MWC 2023 commerce present the place it was given its worldwide launch. Meaning heavy utilization, with roaming information, hot-spotting my laptop computer, and taking loads of photographs. By means of all that, I nonetheless normally had 30% of the battery left by the point I hit my resort mattress.

Charging is quick too, with 66W wired charging over USB-C. I discovered that might restore 40% of the battery in simply quarter-hour, and 77% in half an hour – quick sufficient for nearly anybody.

The one actual draw back is that there’s no wi-fi charging assist, which is the trade-off to get these quicker wired speeds.

Software program & updates

• Ships with Android 13 and MagicOS 7.1
• Foldable implementation is imperfect
• Three OS upgrades and 5 years of safety patches

The software program is the only greatest purpose to skip the Magic Vs and purchase Samsung’s foldable as a substitute.

The Vs ships with Android 13, operating Honor’s MagicOS 7.1 pores and skin on high. MagicOS is much from my favorite Android pores and skin at one of the best of instances, and isn’t helped right here by a half-hearted integration of foldable options – even omitting many which might be constructed into Android itself.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Not one of the additions discovered within the foldable-focussed Android 12L are included right here, such because the taskbar or Google’s personal tackle multi-tasking.

The software program model I’m operating doesn’t even embody an app drawer – a elementary and fundamental a part of the Android OS – although I’ve been assured that’s on the way in which within the subsequent replace, so must be included by the point the cellphone is on sale.

Honor does supply its personal vertical split-screen choice for operating two apps, and it really works fairly properly, however there’s extra versatility in Samsung and different rivals’ gadgets.

Simply as irritating is the truth that each different time you open and shut the cellphone a pop-up warns that some apps gained’t show correctly and suggests you re-open them. For what it’s value, solely 1Password and Slack have really struggled to adapt to the altering facet ratio, and I’d most likely reasonably simply put up with these edge instances than be warned each time.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The opposite software program annoyance isn’t actually Honor’s fault: too many Android apps merely can’t deal with the massive, sq. inside show properly. Some apps open in narrower home windows and letterbox the show. Some open totally however amplify content material so hardly something matches within the show anyway. Video calls routinely crop awkwardly, reducing off half the feed.

It’s been years since foldables began rolling out and app assist nonetheless doesn’t really feel significantly better, even from main gamers like Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Hopefully elevated competitors from Honor and others will pace up progress, however for now be able to compromise.

Lastly, in a welcome contact Honor has introduced that it’ll ship three years of Android model updates to the Magic Vs, with 5 years of safety patches. That doesn’t fairly match Samsung’s four-year software program promise, however it’s a serious enchancment from earlier Honor handsets, and means the Magic Vs ought to final you a couple of years of use.

Worth & availability

Whereas Honor has confirmed that the Magic Vs is launching in Europe and elsewhere around the globe, we really nonetheless don’t know precisely when – although it must be inside a month or two.

We do a minimum of know the value – although solely in Euros for now. In Europe it is going to value €1,599 for a mannequin with 12GB of RAM and 512GB storage.

That’s round €200 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 4 at full worth, and consists of double that cellphone’s default storage. 

Nonetheless, contemplating the Samsung gives slicker software program, S Pen assist, waterproofing, wi-fi charging, and higher restore choices, it stays the higher purchase for most individuals. In spite of everything, if you happen to can afford to purchase a cellphone this costly, you’ll be able to most likely afford to spend slightly extra.

Try our full information to the greatest Android telephones for extra choices, or the greatest Honor telephones for extra from the model.

Verdict

The Honor Magic Vs is a powerful foldable cellphone, and a notable step up in high quality from the first-gen Magic V.

The {hardware} is slick, with a slim physique and safe hinge design, and this base feel and appear undoubtedly trumps Samsung’s providing. Sooner charging and extra highly effective rear cameras give the Magic Vs an additional edge.

However in a cellphone at this worth level, the dearth of software program polish is a serious downside – and options like waterproofing and wi-fi charging appear like unacceptable omissions.

Honor hasn’t fairly overwhelmed Samsung at its personal recreation – however it will get kudos for being the one firm courageous sufficient to strive.

Specs

• Android 13 (MagicOS 7.1)
• 7.9in 90Hz foldable OLED, 2272 x 1984
• 6.45in 120Hz exterior OLED, 2560 x 1080p
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB storage
• Digital camera:
  • 54Mp foremost digicam (f/1.9)
  • 50Mp ultrawide & macro digicam (f/2.0)
  • 8Mp 3x optical zoom digicam (f/2.4)
  • 16Mp entrance digicam (f/2.45)
• Facet-mounted fingerprint sensor
• WiFi 6
• Bluetooth 5.2
• NFC
• 5G
• 4900mAh battery
• 66W wired charging
• Twin-SIM
• Top
• Width
  • Unfolded: 141.5mm, folded: 72.6mm
• Depth
  • Unfolded: 6.1mm, folded: 12.9mm