Specs
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Accelerated Edition (4nm) |
| Memory | 512GB+12GB RAM |
| Display | Cover Display 6.45″ AMOLED 120Hz, HDR10+ 1200 nits Peak Brightness Foldable Display 7.9″ Foldable AMOLED 90 Hz, HDR10+ 800 nits Peak Brightness |
| Camera | 54 MP, f/1.9, 27mm (wide), PDAF 8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), PDAF, 3x optical zoom, OIS 50 MP, f/2.0, 13mm, 122˚ (ultrawide), AF 16 MP, f/2.45, ( cover selfie) 16 MP, f/2.45, ( inner display selfie) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C 3.1, WiFi 6 |
| OS | Android 13, Magic UI 7.1 |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh, 66W Honor Fast Charging |
| Available Colors | Cyan, Black |
| Retail Price | 512GB+12GB – RM 5999 |
Design
The Honor Magic Vs has a sleek and sophisticated design. When folded, it’s about the same size as a regular smartphone, and it’s surprisingly thin and light. When unfolded, the 7.9-inch OLED display is absolutely gorgeous. The colors are vibrant, the contrast is excellent, and the viewing angles are wide.
Hinge: Smooth and Seamless
The Honor Magic Vs employs a sophisticated hinge mechanism that allows for a smooth and seamless folding and unfolding experience. The hinge is durable and can withstand repeated use, ensuring that the phone retains its integrity over time. Unlike some other foldable phones that exhibit a noticeable gap when closed, the Honor Magic Vs achieves a flush closure, enhancing its overall aesthetic appeal.
Crease: A Noticeable but Not Disruptive Feature
As with all foldable phones, the Honor Magic Vs exhibits a crease at the point where the display folds. This crease is a natural consequence of the folding technology, and while it is noticeable, it is not overly distracting during regular usage. The crease is less pronounced compared to some of its competitors, and it doesn’t interfere with the overall viewing experience.
Durability: Built to Last
Honor has taken significant measures to ensure the durability of the Magic Vs. The phone’s frame is constructed from lightweight yet robust aluminum, providing a solid foundation for the foldable display. Additionally, the hinge mechanism has undergone rigorous testing to ensure it can withstand repeated folding and unfolding cycles. The display itself is protected by a layer of ultra-thin glass, enhancing its resistance to scratches and impacts.
Apart from that I honestly wished that there would be an official IP rating for the Magic Vs, it would definitely give a competitive edge in the foldable market since it’s still relatively small in Malaysia.
Overall Design Impression
The Honor Magic Vs strikes an impressive balance between form and function. Its sleek design, with a subtle gradient finish, exudes elegance and sophistication. The hinge mechanism operates smoothly, and the crease, while noticeable, doesn’t detract from the overall user experience. The phone’s durability is further enhanced by its robust construction and protective elements.
An Unusual Pair of Displays
Pros:
- Vibrant OLED technology for rich colors and deep blacks
- High refresh rates for smooth and responsive interactions
- Ample screen sizes for comfortable viewing and multitasking
- Impressive brightness levels for both cover and inner displays
Cons:
- Inner display crease is noticeable but not distracting
- Cover display resolution is slightly lower than inner display
The Honor Magic Vs, Honor’s latest foldable smartphone, boasts two impressive displays: a 6.45-inch OLED cover display and a 7.9-inch OLED foldable inner display. They’re both HDR10+ capable and produce colors consistently.
The 6.45-inch OLED cover display is ideal for everyday tasks like checking notifications, making quick calls, and browsing the web. It offers a crisp resolution of 2560 x 1080 pixels, ensuring sharp and detailed visuals. The display also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, making interactions smooth and responsive. Colors are vibrant and accurate, with deep blacks and well-saturated hues. The cover display provides a comfortable viewing experience even in bright sunlight, thanks to its 1200 nits peak brightness.
When unfolded, the Honor Magic Vs reveals its true star: the 7.9-inch OLED foldable inner display. This expansive screen is perfect for immersive entertainment experiences, whether you’re watching movies, playing games, or reading e-books. The resolution of 2280 x 1148 pixels ensures stunning clarity, and the 90Hz refresh rate delivers fluid and responsive visuals. Colors are equally impressive on the inner display, with OLED technology bringing life to content. The inner display also boasts a respectable 800 nits peak brightness, ensuring comfortable viewing even in well-lit environments.
Performance
The Honor Magic Vs is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which may be dated but it is still one of the most powerful smartphone processors on the market. This chipset is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, ensuring smooth and responsive performance even for the most demanding tasks.
The Honor Magic Vs delivers impressive benchmark scores, putting it neck and neck with other flagship smartphones. In Geekbench 5, the Magic Vs scored 1200 points for single-core performance and 3700 points for multi-core performance.
In real-world usage, the Honor Magic Vs lives up to its benchmark scores. The phone is incredibly fast and responsive, with no lag or slowdown to be seen. Apps launch quickly, multitasking is a breeze, and even demanding games like Genshin Impact run smoothly at high frame rates.
The Honor Magic Vs served well as an entertainment device though I wished the display refresh rates were flipped. Would’ve enjoyed a 120Hz unfolded screen.
Multitasking
The Honor Magic Vs’s large foldable display makes it ideal for multitasking and multiwindow use. The phone’s software supports a variety of multitasking features, including split-screen, floating windows, and app continuity.
Split-screen allows you to run two apps side-by-side on the display. This is a great way to stay productive, as you can check your email while watching a video or browsing the web while chatting with a friend.
Floating windows allow you to run apps in resizable and movable windows on top of other apps. This is a great way to keep an eye on an app without having to switch away from the app you’re currently using.
App continuity allows you to seamlessly transition between using an app on the cover display and the inner display. This is a great way to continue using an app without having to relaunch it when you unfold the phone.
Battery Life
The Honor Magic Vs boasts a large 5000mAh battery, which is among the largest in its class. This generous battery capacity, coupled with the phone’s efficient power-saving features, ensures impressive battery life.
In moderate usage, the Honor Magic Vs can easily last for a full day on a single charge. With typical usage, including browsing the web, checking social media, watching videos, and making calls, I consistently achieved screen-on times of around 6-7 hours, while heavier usage and gaming knocks it down to 4-5 hours.
The Honor Magic Vs supports 66W fast charging, which allows you to quickly top up the battery when you need it. With the included charger, you can charge the phone from 0 to 50% in just 15 minutes, and it takes only 45 minutes to reach a full charge.
Camera System
- 54 MP, f/1.9, 27mm (wide), PDAF
- 8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), PDAF, 3x optical zoom, OIS
- 50 MP, f/2.0, 13mm, 122˚ (ultrawide), AF
I don’t usually get to say this about foldable cameras systems, but the Honor Magic Vs boasts a versatile camera system that can capture stunning photos and videos in a variety of lighting conditions.
The Honor Magic Vs’s main camera is a 54MP sensor that produces sharp and detailed images with accurate colors and good dynamic range. In good lighting conditions, the camera can capture photos with impressive detail and clarity. Even in low-light conditions, the camera performs well, with minimal noise and good color reproduction.
The 50MP ultrawide camera is great for capturing wide-angle shots. The camera produces photos with good detail and minimal distortion. Colors are good but not as in-depth as the main sensor. Still, that’s a small compromise since I favor more detail than color since you can always fix that in post.
The 8MP telephoto camera allows you to zoom in on subjects up to 3x without losing quality. Beyond that point would be digital crops, which did well as far as digital zooms are concerned. At face value , optical zoom did pretty well, taking plenty of detail that’s further sharpened in post, so I was able to take distant shots without sacrificing too much on quality. As for digital, while useable, has lots of noise and artifacting, which is typical in the category. Hey, at least it’s not the worst I’ve seen!
Selfies
The Honor Magic Vs has two selfie cameras: a 16MP front-facing camera and a 16MP inner display camera.
Both cameras produce good quality selfies with accurate colors and good dynamic range. The front-facing camera is great for taking selfies and video calls, while the inner display camera is useful for taking selfies when the phone is unfolded. This consistency is admirable as I usually see inner display cameras being cheaped out on in the process, so it’s really nice to see that HONOR really wanted to make even the inner display camera usable.
Portrait shots turned out really good. Detail is sharp, colors are neutral with no bias and you can even select whether you want to include bokeh or not. My hair, as untidy as it is, is the perfect way to test subject seperation, and the Magic VS really kept my entire person in focus while the windows and wall got blurred out perfectly.
The Verdict
Even though the Honor Magic Vs was late to the foldable game in the Malaysian market, it really left an impression on me that foldables now can get thinner, lighter and more sturdy without much compromise. It would’ve been simply better if there was at least an IP rating to keep the competition heated. The cameras were great, and so was performance. You might not be getting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but do know that software experience also relies on optimization over just raw power.
I may have enjoyed the design, cameras and hardware, but software is where it becomes a bit of a let down. Yes, software improvements happen overtime, but as a 2nd-generation foldable, I expected a better multitasking experience that’s more gesture focused, as well as a better ability to stack multiple apps at once, like 4 apps, with 2 on each half of the unfolded screen.
I look forward to the Magic V2 that’s coming soon, but for now, the Magic Vs proved itself to be a worthy foldable to pick up if you’re looking for something less bulky, flatter, and want to charge quickly.
