The thinnest foldable on the market

HONOR is no stranger to foldable phones, launching the China-only Magic V in January 2022 before bringing the Magic Vs to global markets back in February. Now, the company has announced its third foldable, dubbed the HONOR Magic V2, and this seems like the firm’s most ambitious foldable yet.

The most notable thing about the Magic V2 is its design, as HONOR claims it’s the thinnest foldable in the world at 9.9mm thick when folded. Unfurl the handset and it’s as thin as 4.7mm, although it’s a little thicker with the camera bump included.

By comparison, the Google Pixel Fold is 12.1mm thick when folded and 5.8mm thick when unfolded, while HUAWEI and Xiaomi’s thinnest book-style foldables measure in at ~11mm thick when folded and just over 5mm when unfolded.

HONOR has also sought to hype up the foldable’s durability, claiming that its titanium hinge cover is 150% stronger and 27% narrower than the Magic V hinge cover, for one. The manufacturer adds that the hinge is rated for 400,000 folds, which is broadly in line with claims from other brands. We asked HONOR whether this same figure extends to the screen but the company said it didn’t have data to share in this regard. Nevertheless, this hinge is of the free-stop variety, allowing you to use it in partially folded positions for video playback, hands-free photography, and more.

Shifting to the screens, the Magic V2 brings a 7.92-inch folding OLED display (2,344 x 2,156, 10:9). Expect a 120Hz LTPO panel here with 1,600 nits peak brightness. Interestingly, the Magic V2’s folding and outer screens both support stylus input, with HONOR claiming sub-millisecond response times, 0.42ms input lag, and a stroke prediction algorithm. Unfortunately, the screen lacks ultra-thin glass here, which is a little disappointing when other brands are offering this tech.

Switching to the smartphone display, HONOR’s foldable brings a 6.43-inch 120Hz LTPO screen (OLED, 20:9, 2,500 nits peak brightness). The company is also using so-called nanocrystal glass on this screen for improved protection.

The screens are powered by an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, featuring the same 3.36GHz boosted CPU clock speed and 719MHz GPU frequency as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. This chipset is paired with 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.

A 5,000mAh silicon carbon battery keeps the lights on here, while 66W wired charging is on tap for brisk top-ups. Those hoping for HONOR to finally bring wireless charging to its foldables will be disappointed, as the company has skipped this feature ostensibly due to the focus on a thin design.

In terms of photography, the HONOR Magic V2 brings a triple rear camera system here. Expect a 50MP main shooter, a 50MP ultrawide lens, and a 2.5x 20MP telephoto camera. Otherwise, a 16MP camera can be found on both screens for selfies and video calls.

The Magic V2 is only available in China right now, retailing for 8,999 yuan (~$1,253) for the base 16GB/256GB model. Meanwhile, the 16GB/512GB variant will set you back 9,999 yuan (~$1,393). Want a 1TB model? Then you’ll be spending 11,999 yuan (~$1,671).

HONOR also hinted at a global launch later this year, so you might not have to import the Magic V2 if you really want it. Either way, between Samsung, OnePlus, Google, and others, there’s no shortage of foldable phone competition in the second half of the year.