Honor Launches Thinnest Foldable Phone Yet With the Magic V3

Sep 05, 2024

Ted Kritsonis

Close-up of a modern smartphone with a textured brown leather back and a large, circular, multi-lens camera module with gold accents. The device is shown from the back and side, highlighting its slim profile and elegant design.

Honor is looking to take on the best foldables in the market by launching the Magic V3 beyond China. During a keynote on the eve of IFA in Berlin, Honor outlined plans to infuse the device with AI-driven features to augment the software experience and camera output.

Unlike other Chinese phone vendors, Honor doesn’t have a current partnership with an established photography brand, like Leica (Xiaomi), Zeiss (Vivo), and Hasselblad (Oppo/OnePlus). AI is supposed to offer something unique to camera performance, but one of the selling points is the viability of the device’s overall user experience. It’s set to launch in global markets in black, green, and reddish brown — just not in North America, so you’ll have to import it from an online retailer.

Thinner, Slimmer, Trimmer

At 9.2mm (0.36 inches) when folded, the Honor Magic V3 is the thinnest foldable phone available, at least for now. Sooner or later, some brand will likely beat that number, but getting it that thin is still impressive. Fold it out, and it’s a mere 4.35mm (0.17 inches) thin.

A person in a suit presents on a stage with a large screen behind them. The screen displays a comparison of smartphone thickness: HONOR Magic V2 (9.9mm), Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (12.1mm), and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (13.4mm). Audience members are taking photos.

Honor includes a case to cover the back (with a kickstand), along with a bumper for the front that increases both metrics, but when naked, the V3 rivals standard slab handsets in depth. Honor is also playing up its “Super Steel Hinge”, which it says can withstand up to 500,000 folding cycles, thus giving it SGS Durability Certification.

A person holding an open foldable smartphone displaying its home screen. The screen shows various app icons, including Gallery, Facebook, Messenger, TikTok, and others, with a space-themed wallpaper of Saturn in the background. The time displayed is 15:47 on Thursday, 5th September.

Both screens are OLED panels — 6.4 inches (2376 x 1060) for the exterior display and 7.92 inches (2344 x 2156) for the interior screen. You get 120Hz refresh rates on both, plus a very bright 5,000 nits of peak brightness on the exterior screen (it’s 1,600 nits for the interior one).

To protect these screens, Honor uses its own anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield glass on the outer screen and its Super Armored Inner Screen on the foldout display. While Honor threw some shade at Samsung and the Galaxy Z Fold 6, it spent most of the time presenting contrasts with the iPhone 15 Pro Max to market the Magic V3 as a serious alternative to one of the best (and most expensive) slab phones out there.

A black Honor smartphone with a circular camera module on the back is suspended in mid-air against a dark background. Water splashes dramatically around the phone, emphasizing its water-resistant feature. — Credit: Honor

Honor CEO George Zhao even showed a video of the phone going through a cycle in a washing machine. It apparently still worked, though it also seemed a little too pristine after banging around the drum inside, so its overall durability is somewhat murky. It has IPX8 protection and is the first folding phone you can submerge down to 2.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.

The Magic V3 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It appears to be a single SIM, though you can install eSIMs on it as well. Being a global launch, it’s also more open to different bands, so 4G LTE and 5G could work perfectly fine.

Camera Features

Strangely, Honor said little about the cameras. With all the thinness, there is a noticeable camera bump in the rear, an octagonally-shaped module that’s a complete departure from the row previously seen in the Magic V2. Honor puts three cameras in there, led by the 50-megapixel wide lens using a Sony IMX906 Type 1/1.56 image sensor and f/1.6 aperture. The 50-megapixel telephoto uses a periscope lens and Lidar Matrix autofocusing to go with its optical image stabilization and f/3.0 aperture. Finally, we have the 40-megapixel ultra-wide camera, also with OIS and an f/2.2 aperture.

A man in a suit is presenting the Honor Falcon Camera System at an event. A large screen behind him displays the camera's features, including a 50MP telephoto, a 50MP wide, and a 40MP ultra-wide camera. The audience is seated, viewing the presentation.

Both front cameras use the same 20-megapixel sensor, marking a different approach not always seen in other models. Samsung has routinely used lower-resolution front cameras on its Fold phones, particularly for the interior screen, making this an interesting move.

A hand holding a smartphone displaying the camera app on the screen. The app is in "Portrait" mode with three filter options, one of which is selected. The interface shows tabs for "Aperture," "Night," "Portrait," "Photo," and "Video" modes at the bottom.

Black and white photo of a young man with short, dark hair and strong facial features. He is gazing into the distance with a contemplative expression. He is wearing a collared shirt, and the background is blurred, focusing attention on his face. — Credit: Honor

Similar to Xiaomi’s phones, Honor’s camera app gives you a choice between a Natural, Vibrant, and Authentic style. In lieu of a partnership with a camera brand, Honor is instead collaborating with Harcourt, the famed photography studio founded in Paris in 1933. The Magic V3 has a specific portrait mode designed to emulate the unique and professional look the studio is known for. This is a carryover from the Honor 200 Pro, so it is not the company’s first device offering it.

A close-up of the back of a green smartphone with a prominent circular camera module featuring multiple lenses and sensors. The phone's back has a smooth texture and curved edges, with side buttons visible. The background is blurred.

Google is also involved on the AI front, bringing its Magic Eraser feature into the built-in editing tools in the Magic V3. It’s not clear how extensive the collaboration goes, but considering that a Google Cloud rep took the stage during the keynote, it may be safe to assume whatever deal they’ve inked has some legs. Some of the AI tools stem back from the flagship Magic 6 Pro.

Another example is the AI Motion Sensing Capture, which lets the AI control the shutter at a high speed for moments and then select the best photo from the burst.

Coming Soon

The Honor Magic V3 won’t come cheap at 2,000 Euros, which roughly converts to $2,200 USD. Samsung recently went as low as $1,900 for the Galaxy Z Fold 6, while the OnePlus Open is regularly at $1,700. The latest Google Pixel Fold 9 Pro settles in the middle at $1,800. They’re all expensive, but the market is starting to look more competitive.

Image credits: Featured image by Honor. Images by Ted Kritsonis unless otherwise noted.