First Impressions
Although it’s far too early to provide a definitive verdict, the Honor Magic V2 could possibly be a really tempting choice for foldable followers with a a lot thinner and lighter design than another out there proper now, paired with nice shows and a succesful digicam setup.
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Thinnest and lightest foldable roundMeasuring in at 9.9mm thick when folded and simply 231g, the Honor Magic V2 comes nearer to plain smartphone territory than another foldable launched this yr. -
Spectacular digicam setupThe trio of high-res cameras on the Magic V2 ought to ship crisp imagery, additional improved by Honor’s Falcon Seize AI tech. -
An even bigger battery than the competitorsAt 5,000mAh, the Magic V2 has the most important battery of any big-screen foldable proper now, which ought to translate to robust on a regular basis battery life.
Introduction
The Honor Magic V2 has had its worldwide debut at IFA 2023, bringing Honor’s newest foldable to the Western market – and it’s an unbelievable little bit of foldable equipment.
Boasting a folded thickness of simply 9.9mm and weighing 231g, the Honor Magic V2 is a triumph of engineering that brings the foldable nearer to its candybar smartphone brethren than another foldable that has come earlier than it. It’s a severe competitor to different well-liked big-screen foldables just like the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Whereas I’m not but able to ship my closing verdict, I spent a few hours enjoying with the Honor Magic V2 at a pre-brief in London forward of its IFA 2023 reveal, and right here’s what I believe to this point.
Design and screens
- Thinnest and lightest foldable available on the market
- Very shallow inner crease
- Premium show tech on each screens
Honor has managed to do the unimaginable: create a foldable smartphone that isn’t thick or overly heavy, bringing foldables nearer to their candybar smartphone brethren than ever earlier than.
Merely put, the Honor Magic V2 is a triumph of design and manufacturing, measuring in at an impressively skinny 4.7mm thick when unfolded and 9.9mm thick when folded. For comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 measures 13.4mm thick when unfolded. Actually, it’s a lot nearer in width to plain smartphones than another foldable round.
It’s an identical story in relation to weight as, at 231g, the Honor Magic V2 truly weighs lower than the iPhone 14 Professional Max or the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, not to mention the likes of the 253g and 283g from Samsung and Google’s foldables respectively. This makes an enormous distinction not solely within the pocket however within the hand, making for a way more comfy expertise whether or not you’re utilizing the exterior or inner shows.
That’s thanks partly to Honor’s new hinge mechanism, which boasts a 91% titanium alloy building for improved rigidity, and there’s 0 hole when in its folded place to assist cut back the quantity of mud and particles increase on the inner panel.
The brand new hinge additionally delivers a a lot shallower crease on the inner foldable show not solely when in comparison with the Magic Vs, however the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold too. If you happen to have a look at the display off-centre, it’s nonetheless there, however the tactile feeling of working your finger over the crease is sort of non-existent. There’s nonetheless a methods to go earlier than we attain the fabled creaseless foldable, however Honor’s implementation is among the many finest I’ve seen to this point.
Elsewhere, the 7.92-inch inner show expertise could be very a lot a premium one, with a 2K decision, a super-smooth adaptive 120Hz refresh price, IMAX Enhanced show tech and a peak brightness of 1600nits that ought to make it straightforward to make use of, even in brilliant daylight.
Importantly, the Magic V2 additional develops the dimming tech current on latest fashions just like the Magic 5 Professional and Honor 90 with a boosted 3840Hz dimming price to assist cut back eye fatigue, and it’s a function out there throughout each the exterior and inner shows.
The exterior show is one other deal with. Just like the Google Pixel Fold, the exterior 6.43-inch show is way shorter and squatter than what you’ll discover from the comically tall-and-thin 6.2-inch cowl show on the Galaxy Z Fold 5, extra carefully resembling an ordinary smartphone show. This makes the quilt show an amazing choice for scrolling by means of TikTok, replying to messages and extra with no need to unfurl the interior show.
It’s additionally simply as tech-packed because the bigger interior show, boasting a FHD+ decision, adaptive 120Hz refresh price and a peak brightness of 2500nits, making it greater than succesful sufficient for HDR playback and use in even the brightest of circumstances.
There’s one key space the place the Magic V2 falls behind the competitors although; water resistance. Whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 5 boasts the identical IPX8 water resistance as its predecessor, the Magic V2 doesn’t boast any sort of official IP score in any respect, so don’t go dunking it in water.
Nevertheless, the Honor consultant I spoke to at my briefing assured me that the foldable could be very a lot splash-resistant, so it ought to survive a brief stint within the rain. There’s nothing by way of safety on the mud entrance, although that’s a problem the bigger foldable market nonetheless has to face.
Cameras
- 50MP foremost and 50MP ultrawide lenses
- 20MP 2.5x telephoto
- AI-infused Falcon Seize
Not content material with simply boasting the most effective design of any foldable to this point, Honor has its sights set firmly on images chops with the Magic V2. Flip the foldable round and also you’ll discover a rectangular digicam housing with three high-res cameras prepared to be used. That features a 50MP foremost, a 50MP ultrawide and a 20MP 2.5x telephoto with digital zoom as much as 10x.
On paper, that looks as if a succesful choice, particularly in comparison with the 50MP foremost, 12MP ultrawide and 10MP 3x telephoto from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and 48MP foremost, 10.8MP ultrawide and 10.8MP 5x telephoto from the Google Pixel Fold.
In fact, the Pixel Fold has the benefit of Google’s digicam processing tech to spice up the standard of photographs captured on the foldable, so it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how the Magic V2 compares as soon as I get a pattern again to the workplace.
The Magic V2 additionally sports activities the identical Falcon Shot digicam tech from the flagship Honor Magic 5 Professional, utilizing a mix of AI and quick lenses to seize way more element from fast-moving topics. It was a function I actually praised with the Magic 5 Professional, capable of seize even my German Shepherd working at full velocity, so it’s nice to see it out there right here too.
It’s protected to say that I’m wanting ahead to placing the Magic V2’s digicam providing to the check within the coming weeks.
Efficiency and software program
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 energy
- 16GB of RAM
- Android 13 with MagicOS 7.2
The Honor Magic Vs was an amazing big-screen foldable, however because of a vastly delayed worldwide launch, it meant that the telephone’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 had already been changed by the newer, extra highly effective Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 by the point it hit the UK.
It appears Honor is eager to rectify issues with the Magic V2, which has a a lot shorter turnaround in comparison with its predecessor, that means its upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 continues to be the perfect cell chipset round, present in most 2023 flagship smartphones.
That’s paired with a whopping 16 of RAM and both 256-, 512GB or 1TB of storage, although like its predecessor, there isn’t any solution to broaden storage post-purchase.
Efficiency throughout my restricted time with the Magic V2 was speedy, with no apparent stuttering or lag it doesn’t matter what I used to be doing, be it snapping images of the skyline of London or working two apps side-by-side to check its multitasking chops.
I’ll you should definitely run a bevvy of benchmark assessments as soon as I get a overview pattern again to the Trusted Opinions towers, and I’ll delve deeper into its efficiency chops for the complete overview, however I can confidently say that the Magic V2 is just not a processing slouch.
Turning to software program, the Honor Magic V2 comes working Android 13 and Honor’s MagicOS 7.2 on prime. Like most Chinese language producers, Honor’s MagicOS is a bit like marmite – you’ll adore it or hate it.
There are foldable-specific features like a devoted split-screen gaming mode that allows you to play two video games concurrently. It looks as if a little bit of a gimmick – who needs to play two video games directly – nevertheless it does not less than present simply how succesful the chipset on the coronary heart of the foldable is.
The software program promise is but to be confirmed, however provided that Honor’s flagship Magic 5 Professional and Magic Vs each supply three OS upgrades and 5 years of safety patches, I’m anticipating one thing very related right here.
Battery & cost speeds
- Massive 5,000mAh battery
- Speedy 66W wired charging
- Quick charger within the field
Regardless of the thinness of the Magic V2, Honor has managed to incorporate two super-slim cells that complete 5,000mAh. It will not be any totally different to the Magic Vs, nevertheless it stays the most important capability of any foldable available on the market proper now, 600mAh greater than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5.
I used to be truly capable of see the batteries throughout my pre-briefing and was impressed by simply how skinny they’re, measuring round 2.7mm thick and the dimensions of a bank card.
In fact, it’s troublesome to say how this can affect battery life, however contemplating we discovered Honor’s Magic Vs may comfortably final all day and probably two days on a single cost with lighter use, I’d speculate that it’d be very related from the up to date V2, however I’ll put that to the check in my full overview.
Not content material with having the largest battery capability amongst foldables, Honor has outfitted the Magic V2 with impressively quick 66W wired charging, with a quick charger within the field. Honor has but to make claims about cost occasions, however given the Honor Magic Vs’ 66W charging would offer a full cost in below an hour, I’d count on one thing related right here.
Granted, it will not be any higher than its predecessor, and there are many candybar telephones that cost sooner, however in comparison with the 25W and 30W from Samsung and Google’s big-screen foldables respectively, it’s fairly speedy – on paper, anyway.
Newest offers
Early Ideas
It’s too early to provide my closing ideas, however the Magic V2 has all of the hallmarks of an amazing high-end foldable.
Even from this early stage in my overview course of, it’s clear that the Honor Magic V2 is Honor’s foldable magnum opus, with a design and construct a lot extra superior than what’s on supply from large names like Google and Samsung.
It’s not simply a looker both, with extremely specced inner and exterior shows, a really succesful digicam system and a number of the quickest charging you’ll discover on a foldable.
Pricing, which is unknown on the time of writing, will possible have a giant impact on how well-liked the Magic V2 is, but when Honor can strike the stability, it has the potential to be a vastly well-liked foldable.
Jargon buster
mAh
An abbreviation for milliampere-hour and a solution to categorical the capability of batteries, particularly smaller ones in telephones. Usually the upper the mAh, the longer the battery will final however this isn’t all the time the case.
OLED
Natural Gentle Emitting Diode is panel expertise that enables every particular person pixel to supply gentle fairly than counting on a backlight. This allows the display to precisely show blacks by turning off the pixel, leading to improved distinction in comparison with standard LCD panels.
IP score
An abbreviation for ‘Ingress Safety Code’, which helps you to know to what extent a tool is likely to be waterproof or dustproof.
