Honor Magic Vs Review – Is This Slim Magic Foldable Phone Worth the Hype?

The Honor Magic Vs is technically the brand’s first foldable smartphone launched in Malaysia though it’s actually the second it’s ever made following the release of the original Magic V that did not make an official appearance here. We managed to get our hands on an Honor Magic Vs review sample and took it for a spin around the block for the past several weeks to see if the latest slim foldable really has the magic!

 

@hitechcentury We unbox the spanking new Honor Magic Vs 5G foldable flagship ahead of its impending launch in Malaysia! #fyp #techtok #honormagicvs #unboxing #malaysia #asmr #hitechcentury ♬ original sound – Hitech Century

Honor Magic Vs Review – Build and Design

In terms of design, the Honor Magic Vs is, in essence, a flagship foldable that features a large front-cover display and a foldable inner display, both of which use OLED panels though each has different refresh rates. 

This classic form factor was pioneered by the Samsung Galaxy Fold series but Honor has refined the concept and taken it to new heights with a slimmer and thinner form factor that implements a new, redesigned hinge as well as liberal usage of light magnesium and titanium alloys throughout its chassis. 

When put on a weighing scale, our Honor Magic Vs review sample weighs just 267g, making it slightly lighter than the older Magic V by 26g. Compared to the industry standard of foldables – the Galaxy Z Fold4, the Honor Magic Vs is about roughly the same weight and slightly larger on account of its bigger sized front and folding displays.

In order to slim down the silhouette of the Honor Magic Vs, the phone uses a new gearless hinge mechanism formed from a single-piece casting method to minimise the number of components needed down from its predecessor’s 92 moving parts down to just 4 without compromising on durability. The hinge is robust enough that it now has the ability to fold halfway up unassisted without flopping over while appearing relatively flush with the casing when viewed from the side. 

When folded, our Honor Magic Vs review sample measures in at just 12.9mm thin and when fully unfolded, it’s a mere 6.1mm thin. Even with slimmed down dimensions, Honor has managed to cram in a larger 5,000mAh battery than the earlier Magic V which had a more modest 4,750mAh battery.

The rear of the phone is done up in a beautifully frosted blue finish that resists fingerprints nicely with the backplate featuring a triple camera array housed in a slightly raised squarish camera housing in the corner with a small LED flash perched on the side. 

Its sides are finished in a shiny metallic blue that’s suitably eye-catching without appearing gaudy. On the base of the phone is one of two matching speaker grilles, a dual nano SIM card slot and a USB-C port for charging and docking duties.

Up top is another speaker that pairs up with the one at the base to form a stereo pair along with an IR blaster that allows the phone to control simpler devices like TVs, air conditioners and the like. On the right side of the phone is a volume rocker on one half and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader on the other.

When held, the Honor Magic Vs feels especially premium indeed with its metal chassis and sleek sides. The gapless hinge is also of note as the gap is so narrow that you can place a piece of paper in between and confidently hold the phone up just with the sheet of paper alone.

Up front, our Honor Magic Vs review sample features a large and relatively wide 6.45-inch FHD+ OLED display that has a 21:9 aspect ratio and a fast 120Hz refresh rate. Up top is a small 16MP camera for selfies. The wider, larger aspect ratio makes the front cover display much easier to use especially for texting.

Opening the phone is still a two-handed affair on account of the strong magnets holding it shut but the mechanism itself opens in a smooth fashion to reveal the folding 7.9-inch OLED display that has a slightly lower 90Hz refresh rate and a squarish 19.3:9 aspect ratio. There’s still a crease in the middle but it’s less prominent than competing phones. Perched in the upper right corner of the main folding display is a small 16MP selfie camera. 

Unfortunately, the biggest quibble here is that the phone lacks any water or dust resistance so some care needs to be taken if you happen to be out in the rain which is a likelihood seeing Malaysia’s unpredictable weather.

Bundled with our Honor Magic Vs review sample is an impressive array of goodies. Not only do you get a casing – in this case a light blue one that snaps onto the rear of the phone but also a fast 66W charger and USB-C cable to go with it too. The front cover display also has pre-applied a screen-protector.

Honor Magic Vs Review – Specifications and Benchmarks

In terms of hardware, our Honor Magic Vs review sample is issued with a solid array of specifications that still puts it in flagship territory. Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset that was the flagship chipset for 2022 and which is just a step behind the latest cutting edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has a very respectable performance envelope that’s still well ahead of the curve for what mobile apps require. 

In Malaysia, the Honor Magic Vs only comes in one storage variant with 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage which represents substantial value compared to other competitors in the market as many come with 256GB for a higher price. 

The provided 12GB RAM puts it on par with other competing foldable flagship phones that’s further augmented with 7GB of RAM Turbo virtual RAM. The phone’s RAM Turbo virtual RAM can’t be modified in the firmware or deactivated so the 7GB remains assigned off the onboard 512GB of storage. Here’s how it stacks up on paper:

Price	RM5,999
Display	6.45-inch OLED display, 1080 x 2,560 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,200 nits peak brightness, 431ppi, HDR10+ [cover display] / 7.9-inch foldable OLED display, 1,984 x 2,272 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate, 800 nits peak brightness, 381 ppi, HDR10+ [folding display]
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1
OS	Android 13 with MagicOS 7.1
Memory	12GB RAM + 512GB
Camera	54MP F/1.9 primary camera w/ PDAF and Sony IMX 800 sensor+ 50MP F/2.0 ultra wide angle camera + 8MP F/2.4 telephoto w/ 3x optical zoom + OIS [rear] / 16MP F/2.45 fixed focus camera [front cover display] / 16MP F/2.45 fixed focus camera [main folding display]
Battery	5,000mAh w/ 66W SuperCharge fast charging
Size/Weight	160.3 x 141.5 x 6.1 mm [unfolded] / 160.3 x 72.6 x 12.9mm [folded[ / 267g

Running under the hood is the latest Android 13 overlaid with their own MagicOS 7.1 interface. Of note is that Honor has guaranteed 3 years of OS updates which means that the Honor Magic Vs will get Android updates all the way to Android 16 and also has 5 years of security updates too.

When subjected to benchmarks, our Honor Magic Vs review sample scored the following:

3D Mark Wild Life	Maxed out
3D Mark Wild Life Unlimited	7,586
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme	2,717
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited	2,355
Geekbench 6 Single core	1,228
Geekbench 6 Multi core	3,811
Geekbench 6 OpenCL	5012
Geekbench 6 Vulkan	6,496
PC Mark Work 3.0	12,629
PC Mark Battery Life	12 hours 31 mins (cover screen only) / 11 hours 56 min (main screen only)

In terms of overall performance, Honor’s flagship foldable did not disappoint with more than sufficient pixel crunching power to handle everything asked of it under practical usage scenarios. Gaming was a treat with maxed out settings on PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile.

Benchmarks are on par with phones that have an equivalent processor though synthetic benchmarks don’t tell the full picture of a phone’s capabilities. The phone also supports 5G connectivity and the full suite of Google Play apps while Honor’s guarantee of at 3 years of Android updates lends it some measure of future proofing.

Running open apps on the main display and flipping to the main foldable OLED display works for the most part though not all apps appear in the right aspect ratio and you may occasionally need to restart an app for it to format correctly. You can manually tweak options via the phone’s App Scaling feature which lets you set the aspect ratio from Full screen to 4:3 and 16:9 though you’ll need to experiment on a per app basis to make the most out of it.

That quirk aside, MagicOS 7.1 offers relatively solid multitasking capabilities on the folding display with the ability to project up two separate apps side by side with a pop-up app window to boot for a theoretical maximum of three apps running simultaneously at a time.

The front 6.45-inch OLED display on our Honor Magic Vs review sample is of note with the wider 21:9 aspect ratio making games a delight to play and also allowing for more screen real estate for texting and web browsing.

Screen brightness on the main cover display is excellent overall with great daylight visibility and excellent colour rendition while the refresh rate ensures silky smooth scrolling through menus and smooth gaming. Of note is the display’s 1,920Hz pulse-width modulation that ensures the touchscreen remains flicker free which makes it easier on the eyes over the long term.

Much like other competing foldables, opening the Honor Magic Vs is a two-handed job. Once you get past the initial resistance from the magnets holding it shut, the phone opens smoothly and is capable of remaining in a half open position.

While there’s no software or firmware that takes advantage of this mode just yet, this enables you to prop up the rear cameras for group shots and time lapse photography hijinks and enables the use of the selfie camera mounted in the folding display for video calls and mugshots.

When fully unfurled, the main 7.9-inch OLED display serves up crisp detail and luscious hues on par with the front cover display though its refresh rate maxes out at 90Hz which is only apparent if you’re paying attention. The speakers on our Honor Magic Vs review sample did not disappoint and belying its slim dimensions were able to kick out quite a decent amount of sound sufficient for gaming and movie watching duties.

In terms of battery life, the Honor Magic Vs offers superb endurance. In PCMark’s battery life test, it managed 12 hours and 31 minutes of usage assuming usage of the cover display only and 11 hours and 56 minutes if solely relying on the main folding OLED display.

Assuming you combine usage for both modes, you’ll comfortably get more than a full day’s worth of battery life. In practical use, our Honor Magic Vs review sample easily lasted through a whole day with texting, light gaming, movies and music. Charging it on the bundled 66W charger is fortunately a fast affair with an hour or so to juice it from dead zero to full.

Honor Magic Vs Review – Cameras

Our Honor Magic Vs review sample features a rear triple camera array built around a primary 54MP F/1.9 camera with an Sony IMX800 camera sensor with phase detection autofocus though it lacks optical image stabilisation. 

Paired with this is a secondary 50MP F/2.0 ultra wide angle camera and a 8MP F/2.4 telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Combined, this camera setup offers 12.5MP pixel binned snaps at up to 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom along with 4K@60fps video with up to 10x hybrid zoom. Up front and on the main display, you get identical 16MP F/2.45 fixed focus selfie cameras capable of 16MP stills and up to 1080P@30fps video. 

At present, there’s minimal functionality and a non-optimised menu for the camera interface when you fold the phone up halfway up to prop it up for timelapse shots or video calls though on the bright side, you have the options of activating the front cover display to take advantage of the rear triple camera for selfies.

Shots for the main rear camera are excellent in daylight out from the ultrawide angle all the way to 3x optical zoom with good dynamic range and nice detail, though at 30x digital zoom, shots start getting soft and noisy.

 

Shots in night mode for the rear camera are handled well as well with good retention of detail and shadows from the ultra wide angle camera down to 3x zoom though shots at 10x and 30x zoom tend to look a bit on the soft side. If you’re generally sticking to the main camera and out to 3x zoom, you’ll get very respectable results.

The front and main display offer decent mugshots with good skin tones and detail and if necessary, the camera UI turns the display partially white to act as a fill light when taking shots in dim light.

Videos on the main rear camera are excellent in daylight on the main 54MP rear camera and the telephoto camera at up to 4K@60fps with footage though results from the ultrawide camera look slightly washed out in comparison. Videos from the two selfie cameras are serviceable but aren’t stellar.

Should you buy the Honor Magic Vs foldable?

The Honor Magic Vs features good quality OLED displays with the front cover display featuring an excellent 120Hz refresh rate and a wide, very usable aspect ratio. Multitasking – the raison d’etre of a flagship foldable – is executed in a sound fashion on the phone’s main display and it offers otherwise excellent battery life with a good rear camera to boot. 

In the Malaysian market, its RM5,999 asking price is a compelling proposition as you’re getting considerably more storage at 512GB than competing foldable phones while featuring a wider more practical front display, generous provision of a free casing and charger too though the lack of water resistance and wireless charging is something to factor in before you buy. If you’re looking for a foldable flagship phone outside of the usual incumbents, this is worthy of consideration. 

Honor Magic Vs review sample courtesy of Honor Malaysia. For more details and to purchase please visit https://www.hihonor.com/my/phones/honor-magic-vs/