It’s been six months since the Honor Magic V2 was released in China, but the phone finally arrived in Europe with an event on Friday. Honor tried to get to the European launch faster than the Magic Vs, but it actually turned out to be slower (the Vs was unveiled in China in November 2022 and arrived in Europe in February 2023). Better late than never, we guess.
The Honor Magic V2 is highly rated by our team. Just look at the dimensions to understand why: it measures 156.7 x 74.1 x 9.9 mm and 231 g when closed. For comparison, the Galaxy S24 Ultra measures 162.3 x 79 x 8.6 mm and weighs 232 g, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.3 mm and weighs 221 g.
Of course, as a bar phone, the V2 offers a fairly conventional 6.43-inch display with 1,060 x 2,376 px (20:9) (well, it’s a 10-bit, 120Hz LTPO panel, so that’s pretty good, actually). But that’s not why we’re here, is it?
No, it’s the 7.92-inch 10-bit, 120Hz LTPO display inside. This is a mini tablet that fits comfortably in your pocket – more comfortably than an S24 Ultra, in fact. Unfortunately, the phone shows its age with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. But even Honor from a year ago has faster charging than Samsung and Apple with 66 W (there is however no wireless which would have increased the thickness). And the 5,000 mAh battery is as big as the Galaxy’s and bigger than the iPhone’s. Add in the 50MP main, 20MP 2.5x tele, and 50MP ultra-wide cameras and you have a serious contender.
Before we continue, we should mention that the Honor Magic V2 is priced at £1,700/€2,000 for a 16/512GB drive. Who does the Magic V2 compete against? The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 for example. This is also a year old (it launched at the same time as the V2), so it also has an SD 8 Gen 2 chip. It’s quite compact when closed, if thick and a bit heavy (154.9 x 67.1 x 13.4 mm and 253 g). The 23.1:9 cover display is quite narrow and the 7.6” internal display is smaller (and it is not an LTPO panel). The battery features wireless charging (15W), but the battery is smaller at 4,400 mAh (it also has 25W wired charging). the 50+10+12MP camera is similar to the S23/23+.
There is also the Google Pixel Fold with a very similar 7.6 internal display. The folded dimensions of 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm are oddly proportioned and this is a real 283g brick. The Pixel camera includes a 48MP main and 10.8MP 5x periscope, as well as a 10.8MP ultra wide angle. The battery is larger (4,821 mAh) and charging speed is slow for both wired and wireless chargers. The less said about Tensor G2, the better.
There is also OnePlus Open. This also has a 20:9 display cover, a little smaller at 6.3”. The internal display is almost as large as 7.82”, both are 10-bit 120Hz LTPO panels. Like the Magic and Galaxy, the Open has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. It pairs a 48MP main camera with a tele module 3x 64 MP and a 64 MP ultra wide-angle module. The 4,805 mAh battery charges only via a 67W cable.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 • Google Pixel Fold • OnePlus Open
Of course, these will be replaced later this year and the new models will bring updated hardware, which will make the generation gap with Magic V2 more noticeable.
Depending on where you live, you may also have access to the Tecno Phantom V Fold (it’s not available in Europe, though). This is a more affordable option and uses the Dimensity 9000+ chipset. It has a pretty decent camera setup with a 50MP main, a 50MP 2x tele and a 13MP ultra-wide, the 5,000mAh battery supports 45W wired-only charging. The cheaper build means it’s quite large at 159.4 x 72 x 14.2mm when folded and weighs a hefty 299g. Unlike some more expensive options, it features dual 10-bit 120Hz LTPO displays (6.42” coverage with 21.25:9 ratio and 7.85” internal display).
There is also the vivo X Fold2 and the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, but they are not widely available. The same goes for Huawei leaflets.
Tecno Phantom V Fold • vivo X Fold2 • Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 • Huawei Mate X5
You can check out our hands-on review of the Honor Magic V2 for more details on the phone. What do you think: could this be your next phone? Your first leaflet, perhaps?
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