The brand new Honor Magic V3 is the best-designed foldable cellphone I’ve examined to this point. At simply 9.2mm thick when folded, it builds on the success of the Magic V2 and extends its lead over the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Having used each Samsung and Honor foldables, I can confidently say the Honor is much forward concerning {hardware}.
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For reference, the Honor Magic V3 measures 9.2mm when closed and 4.4mm when unfolded. Compared, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 12.1mm folded and 5.6mm open, whereas Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 10.5mm and 5.1mm. Each Samsung and Google have decreased the load of their foldables to 239g and 257g, respectively, however Honor went even additional, bringing the Magic V3 to simply 226g — solely 5 grams heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
After 24 hours with the Honor Magic V3, it is the closest foldable I’ve examined that has come to really feel like an everyday slab cellphone. It helps that the cellphone is extra comfy to carry as a result of the corners are rounded, in contrast to the sharper edges of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. At no level did it really feel like I used to be utilizing a cellphone folded in half. Honor additionally examined the Magic V3 for IPX8 water resistance, which means it might deal with splashes, although it lacks mud resistance. Samsung stays the one model providing a foldable with an IP score for each requirements.
The Honor Magic V3 encompasses a 6.43-inch cowl display with a 20:9 side ratio, which is sort of an identical to conventional slab telephones. In consequence, apps like Google Chrome and YouTube do not require any particular scaling, and you do not get undesirable black bars on each the highest and backside of the display.
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When unfolded, you get a 7.92-inch internal display with a 9.78:9 side ratio that is near having two slab telephones stacked facet by facet. Each shows supply a 120Hz refresh price and are sharp, vivid, and vivid. As somebody who likes to learn on foldables, I particularly love what Honor has executed with its telephones due to the higher PWM price (for lesser eye pressure) and the book mode, which turns it right into a black-and-white show.
Nevertheless, whereas the hinge on the Honor Magic V3 is robust and feels sturdy, I favor Samsung’s tackle it. The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s hinge is extra sturdy and seems like it may be folded a whole lot, if not 1000’s, of instances. It may additionally unfold to an extent after 120 levels, whereas the Honor Magic V3 cannot. It expands mechanically, regardless of how little you open it, which could be a problem when utilizing the cellphone at an angle.
So far as cameras go, the Honor Magic V3 sports activities a triple rear setup with a 50MP major lens, a 50MP periscope lens with 3.5X optical zoom and as much as 100X digital zoom, and a 40MP ultrawide-angle sensor. From my first impressions, the principle lens is nice for portrait pictures, whereas the ultrawide, with its lack of element and colour, could be underwhelming. On the entrance, you get a 20MP selfie shooter underneath each shows.
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Honor’s new cellphone runs MagicOS 8 on high of Android 14. This, to me, is one other space the place Honor can enhance due to the old-looking aesthetics. In some methods, the expertise mimics that of different Chinese language launchers like Xiaomi and Oppo. That is to not say that every one the options on the cellphone are unattractive.
First, Magic Portal turns into a floating file administration system, so you’ll be able to simply drag content material from one app to a different. You’ll be able to, for instance, decide a paragraph of textual content or a screenshot and drag and drop it into one other app, like Docs. Secondly, I’ve loved the power to create expanded folders like those you’ll be able to see within the above picture. It makes my dwelling display look extra organized.
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With the Magic V3, Honor has managed to pack a 5,150mAh battery inside the skinny and light-weight physique, which is way more than Samsung’s (4,400mAh) and Google’s (4,650mAh) folding telephones. The Honor additionally prices quicker at 66W wired and 50W wi-fi. As for the remainder of the specs, the cellphone fields a flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
That is all to say: the Honor Magic V3 is a superb piece of {hardware} that is mainly spoiled each different foldable cellphone for me. It is extra polished than ever earlier than, although I want the corporate refined its software program expertise extra. Whereas the machine might not be available within the U.S., if ever, it offers us a glimpse on the potential future through which the foldable market could be headed. From simply my preliminary hands-on time with the machine, I would say the longer term seems to be vivid.