Honor Magic V2 evaluate: Nice foldable kind

Folding smartphones have been out there for 5 years now, and their novelty could be sporting off. Maybe that’s simply us. But the most recent book-style foldable from Android telephone maker Honor is simply so extremely skinny that we needed to sit up and take discover.

Phones that fold are enjoyable however they’re very costly, fragile, and sometimes have odd-shaped screens. Samsung sells essentially the most foldables globally, however its Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a big almost-square inside display and an annoyingly skinny outer show. When it’s closed the telephone appears like a chunky, heavy TV distant management.

The Honor Magic V2 is a better-designed telephone, however its software program shouldn’t be as straightforward to get together with as Samsung or OnePlus’s competing telephones. And while you’re spending greater than £1,600 on a telephone, stuff like that actually issues, irrespective of how fairly the {hardware} is.

• Incredible skinny design
• Vegan leather-based possibility
• Screen crease is usually invisible

If you weren’t bought on the thought of foldable telephones but then the Honor Magic V2’s design might effectively change your thoughts. It is skinny – impossibly skinny – undoubtedly extra spectacular than the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Google Pixel Fold, and even the extra refined OnePlus Open. At 231g, it’s additionally solely 10g heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The again of our evaluate unit was coated in fingerprint-resistant black vegan leather-based, which is gorgeous to the contact, however a matt purple glass model can be out there within the UK. It’s solely 9.9mm thick when closed, which is barely 2mm greater than an iPhone 15 (the purple V2 is 10.1mm). When a telephone with a hidden inside display is virtually as skinny as a standard telephone it’s clear Honor has finished one thing particular right here, and it reminds you simply how futuristic and leading edge it’s to have the ability to purchase a gadget that has a folding display.

When unfolded there’s a plastic rim across the border of the plastic show, with quantity rocker on the left edge and an influence button with a fingerprint sensor constructed into the ability button on the appropriate, which works effectively persistently.

A 3-camera array stands out of the again, spoiling the skinny look considerably. The hinge mechanism feels sturdy and Honor says it’s constructed to last as long as 400,000 open and closes. That’s sufficient to cowl you for greater than 100 open and closes per day for ten years. Only time will inform if the telephone will final, because it is dependent upon a variety of components. It has an IP65 ranking, which suggests it’s pretty dustproof, however will solely face up to splashes. Don’t take this telephone close to the pool.

There’s a USB-C port on the underside and a lesser-spotted IR blaster on the highest edge – an infrared beam that you should utilize to regulate TVs and different home equipment like a distant management.

• 7.92-inch inside display
• 6.43-inch outer display
• Both have clean 120Hz refresh charges

The most essential a part of a folding telephone is its folding display. Luckily Honor has finished a strong job right here, with the crease in the midst of a big 7.92-inch OLED show that’s much less seen in most lights than the deep groove in Samsung’s present crop of foldables. The panel has good brightness however because it’s plastic it’s arduous to see in vivid lights as it’s fairly reflective. Despite that we discovered it nice to learn on, with news apps and the Kindle app increasing to fill the entire show. You would possibly cease carrying your Kindle full cease, although the blue mild from the display (like all telephone screens) means you do get eye pressure at night time.

It’s very excessive decision so issues look pin-sharp as they scroll easily due to the 120Hz refresh charge. The outer display is simply pretty much as good and clean, and is a superb, regular telephone form. Paired with the thinness when shut, the Magic V2 is the primary massive folding telephone that genuinely feels regular to make use of when closed.

Both screens have single selfie digicam minimize outs so you may snap your self whichever one you’re utilizing, or take video calls.

• Solid 50MP foremost digicam
• Decent telephoto and ultra-wide lenses
• Selfie cameras at high of each screens

The Magic V2’s cameras are excellent, if a rung or two beneath the easiest. This is kind of typical for foldable telephones, which may’t slot in one of the best sensors when telephone makers preserve them slim. The exception is the massive digicam bump on the OnePlus Open, whose cameras are exceptionally good.

That stated, we have been removed from disenchanted with the lenses on the V2. Images from the 50MP foremost sensor are crisp and sharp, and outcomes often rival most different high-end smartphones:

We have been impressed with the two.5x optical zoom of the 20MP telephoto too. The beneath shot was taken at 2.5x from the identical spot because the picture above:

The ultra-wide lens is sweet in a pinch to seize extra of a scene, and at 50MP it captures respectable color vary and element. But we a lot most well-liked capturing with the primary and zoom at 2.5x, making the V2 surprisingly versatile as a digicam contemplating it is a folding gadget. But regular non-folding telephones such because the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max produce higher outcomes whereas costing much less.

Using both selfie digicam provides you respectable sufficient photographs however you can too take a photograph with the telephone unfolded and cleverly use the entrance display to point out you a preview of the shot, permitting you to take a selfie utilizing the superior foremost digicam. 

• Zippy efficiency
• Great for gaming
• All-day battery life and quick charging

The telephone makes use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which isn’t the most recent however continues to be very high-end. It means gaming efficiency is great, helped alongside by a beneficiant 16GB RAM. You get the benefit of the massive inside show, although some well-liked video games show with black bars on the high and backside. Others resembling Call of Duty absolutely fill the massive vivid display, and are a pleasure to play.

Apps open shortly and every thing feels fluid regardless of the ability beneath the hood wanted to run a number of apps at a time – and due to the massive display you may even run two side-by-side in break up display mode, and have a 3rd one floating in a window.

It’s not as helpful as having a number of home windows open on an enormous PC monitor, but it surely’s enjoyable to observe the soccer whereas texting, or have Chrome subsequent to Google Docs to repeat and paste textual content or word issues down. Speaking of notes, the Magic V2 truly works with a pen stylus for notes, drawing and enter on each screens, but it surely’s solely out there in China. Honor advised us it isn’t on sale within the UK, which is a disgrace.

Battery life is great due to a big 5,000mAh cell inside. We usually gotwell right into a second day of use earlier than needing to cost, which the telephone can do at fast 66W speeds, however there’s annoyingly no charger within the field – solely a cable. You’ll should stump up much more money to get the suitable charger. There’s no wi-fi charging right here, both.

• Ships with older Android 13
• MagicOS can really feel clunky
• Five years of software program help is sweet

For essentially the most half, the Magic V2 is totally high quality to make use of and gained’t frustrate. But having used different folding telephones, we discovered the software program just a little limiting and at occasions unpolished. Samsung’s One UI and OnePlus’s Oxygen OS really feel extra seamless of their multitasking and splitscreen modes. We needed to wrestle a bit with the Honor to get issues working, but it surely’s high quality after just a few days of getting used to the MagicOS pores and skin.

It’s a disgrace this costly telephone is caught on Android 13 at launch, however we’d hope it will get Android 14 quickly as Honor is promising 4 years of Android updates and 5 of safety updates, taking you to 2029. That’s respectable, however lags behind Samsung and Google’s seven (not that all of us preserve telephones that lengthy anyway).

There are some good software program additions resembling in-game gaming controls to cease notifications and lock display brightness in addition to enhance efficiency. Parallel Space enables you to create a second consumer profile with a distinct Google account too, or you may run a separate app drawer of labor apps if your organization runs on Google providers. It retains your private and work lives digitally aside, which we like.

The open-screen homescreen enables you to match quite a bit on there, and we did like MagicOS’s possibility for bigger folders, the place you may put as much as 9 apps and entry all of them immediately, letting you match extra icons on a web page. The system additionally provides you lately used apps within the dock, and the YOYO assistant can be utilized to counsel apps you may want at the moment utilizing AI (see beneath screenshot).

The Honor Magic V2 prices £1,699.99. You should purchase it within the UK from Honor, Amazon, Argos and Currys.

This is an analogous worth to the £1,749 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, £1,749 Google Pixel Fold, and £1,599 OnePlus Open. All are among the many most costly smartphones on this planet.

You can spend lower than this for a telephone with higher battery life and digicam high quality for those who don’t need a foldable. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and OnePlus 12 are all higher cameras with longer lasting batteries than the Honor Magic V2 – the worth premium for foldables is the comparatively younger hinge tech you’re getting.

The Honor Magic V2 has one of the best design of any book-style foldable, arms down. It’s unbelievably skinny however doesn’t sacrifice something for it. Honor has merely bested its rivals on this regard. It makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 seem like an outdated prototype.

This is a supremely costly gadget, and for the cash we’d have anticipated barely higher cameras and a extra polished software program expertise. It’s additionally annoying that there isn’t any quick charger within the field, and we want it have been absolutely waterproof.

But with two wonderful screens, surprisingly good battery life, strong cameras, and nice efficiency, the Magic V2 is without doubt one of the finest folding telephones you should buy.