So the day has come when I can share the unboxing of the new to the UK market, Honor Magic V2 5G. I have a little spoiler for you though, I am impressed by this foldable’s hardware very impressed!
So let’s get into the video for you then.
As you can hopefully see from above I am enjoying the hardware on this folding phone it is so much sleeker than any other folding phone I have used before and I have used most of them! I currently use a Pixel Fold as my main phone (when I am not doing reviews) and this is quite a significant step on from what the Pixel Fold offers in terms of design. I still can’t wrap my head around how they have managed to get this phone so slim (more on that later) especially when you think that it has got a 5000mah Silicon Carbon battery inside! The battery isn’t the only great spec inside the Magic Fold V2, we also have a Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 8th Gen 2 as the processor and this is backed up with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of Storage and this is the only option. Of course, the phone has all the other goodies that you would expect to see on this type of phone for Connectivity specs:-
- Bluetooth 5.3, BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC, APTX, APTX HD
- USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen1, DP1.2
- 2.4GHz：802.11 b/g/n/ax/be, MIMO
- 5GHz：802.11 a/n/ac/ax/be, MIM
- Support NFC, eSIM
- Wraparound antenna
Rear Camera Module
The camera array is pretty impressive with a triple header setup with the following details:-
Triple Rear Camera
• 50MP Ultra Wide Camera (f/2.0)
• 50MP Wide Camera (f/1.9) 8, OIS
• 20MP Telephoto Lens Camera (f/2.4), OIS
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- Exterior Front Camera
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- Internal Front Camera
Around the front we have got two cameras there are two screens
• 16MP Wide Camera (f/2.2) (Interior screen)
• 16MP Wide Camera (f/2.2) (Exterior screen)
The rear cameras will support videos at 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+
Whilst the front will support up to 4K@30fps. These front cameras will also support a basic face unlock.
Side profile, Unfolded
As for the rest of the visible hardware, we have the power keys on the right side when the phone is unfolded and the volume rocker on the left.This is quite a nice setup for both folded and unfolded use cases. When the phone is unfolded the buttons are not in your way and it is easy to develop a muscle memory to find where the buttons are. When the phone is closed the buttons are then sitting above each other but they are still easily defined by the separation from the buttons being on either half of the phone.
Power and Volume key placement
External 6.79″ Display
Coming to the screens which is what you came here for these are both very good quality screens with the outer being a 6.43″ display with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.2%. the PPI is 402 and the resolution is 2376 x 1060 which is a nice 20:9 ratio and more akin to a normal phone. The screen will go up to 2500nits in terms of brightness which is plenty to see on the dreak days of January! It is protected with Nanocrystal Glass which is good to see but would have preferred to see some G0rilla Glass Victus here. There is also factory fitted screen protector which is removable but I have kept mine in place for the time being.
Internal 7.96″ display
The inner display consists of a 7.92′ panel with a screen-to-body ratio of 90.4%. The PPI is the same 402 with a resolution of 2344x 2156 which means a near square 9.78:9 ratio. The interior screen is not quite as bright at 1600 nits, but if I am out and about I have found that I am less likely to open the display up so this lower brightness is fine on a foldable for me. There is no glass screen protector here but you do get a very well-fitted plastic screen protector covering the Ultra Thin glass underneath. This one should not be removed but if you buy one early enough then you can get at least 6 months of Honor Care included to repair the screen if needed for free!
That leads me to the hinge the real crux of the folding phone, this is very easy to describe. It is smooth with a nice flick at the end of the opening motion. there is enough tension for the phone to be kept open at a variety of angles but not quite as many as my Pixel Fold. It will stay open at angles up to about 150 degrees before the flick closes, this is an improvement over the previous Magic Vs. When closing the hinge will snap closed once you get past approx 15 degrees and it is a satisfying snap at that. When closed the two halves sit flush to each other like all good folding phones do now.
Bottom showing USB Type C 3.1 port, Speaker and Sim tray
Something I was very keen to see is how the hinges affected the screen crease and I am extremely pleased to say that this is a vast improvement over what I have become used to in the Pixel Fold and the likes of any of the Galaxy Z Fold line up. It is very near to being invisible and it is barely noticeable when you are viewing the inner display. In terms of the feel you will notice it but your finger does not feel like it drops into a canyon when crossing the crease area, which is a great feeling.
Top view showing Speaker, IR blaster and mic
Vegan Leather back view
That about wraps up the main things that make this phone what it is apart from one of the headliners the dimensions! Normally I don’t get too excited by these measurements but you can feel the difference. In terms of when the phone is folded, this phone is 156.7mm high, 74.1 mm wide and 9.9mm thin. When it is unfolded the height remains the same but the width goes out to 145.1mm and the depth becomes 4.7mm (excluding the camera bump)! To say this phone is thin is an understatement. When the phone is folded up it has about the same 3D footprint as the likes of a regular 6.5″ screen slab phone but it is still thinner than most. When you unfold it then the slimness goes to a different level and it is truly remarkable. However, the great news is even with this thinness the phone does not feel fragile which was a surprise. Honestly, if you compare this phone to the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and 5 it feels like the fatter cousin! I nearly forgot the other important figure for this phone which is the weight or the lack of it. The phone in its Vegan leather version is only 231g (the glass-backed version is 237g) My Pixel Fold is the right fat boy in comparison!
So in terms of the hardware and initial unboxing experience, I have been very impressed by the Honor Magic V2 5G and it matches up to the hype I have been seeing for the last 6 months since I first saw it being released in China. However, hardware alone does not make the phone and I will be reporting back on the software in my full review once I have used it for a bit more time.
All that remains now is to let you know that if you want your own Honor Magic V2 5G then you can buy one now from Honor directly at the hihonor.com/uk website and they have got some launch offers that can reduce the price to £1199.99 via vouchers from the full RRP of £1699.99, if you act fast then you will get a bundled Bang & Olufsen Beocom Portal headset via redemption that are worth £399!
Pre-orders are open now and shipping can be as soon as the beginning of next week.