Honor Magic V3
Honor has knocked it out of the park with the Magic V3, offering the thinnest and lightest foldable to date, complete with solid battery life, great performance and a handy trio of cameras. The biggest hurdle continues to be Honor’s MagicOS 8, which lacks the polish and finesse compared to most other book-style foldables.
Pros
- Impressively thin and light
- Improved durability is welcome
- Easy all-day battery life
- Near crease-less inner display
Cons
- Camera performance varies in low-light
- MagicOS lacks the polish of alternative foldables
- Magic Portal isn’t all that helpful
Key Features
- A thin, lightweight foldable designMeasuring in at just 9.2mm thick and 226g, the Magic V3 is the thinnest and lightest foldable to date, putting it comfortably into candybar phone territory.
- Massive battery and fast chargingThe 5150mAh battery within the Magic V3 can provide around seven hours of screen-on time before needing a top-up. And, with 66W wired and 50W wireless support, it’s pretty rapid to recharge too.
- Capable rear camerasThe trio of lenses on the rear of the Magic V3 may not be able to compete with top-end candybar phones, but they perform pretty well for a foldable.
Introduction
Following its Chinese release earlier this summer, Honor has finally brought its impossibly thin Magic V3 to the international market following its IFA 2024 reveal – and it’s a big deal in the realm of foldable smartphones.
While brands like Samsung and Google continue to whittle down their book-style foldables, shaving millimetres off the thickness wherever possible, they still have a way to go. Honor, on the other hand, had already beaten the 2024 foldable competition with last year’s 9.9mm thick Magic V2, but the 9.2mm-thick Magic V3 takes it a step further.
Simply put, this is the thinnest foldable smartphone on the market right now, with impressive durability, top-end performance and solid battery life to boot. The question is, should you opt for the Honor Magic V3 over the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, OnePlus Open and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold?
I’ve spent the past few weeks with my SIM in the Honor Magic V3, and here’s what I’ve discovered.
Design
- Thinnest and lightest foldable around
- Sleek, premium look
- Big durability enhancements
Last year’s Honor Magic V2 was already an impressive foldable that led the way in hardware, measuring in at 9.9mm thick and 231g, so much so that it still beats pretty much every foldable released in 2024. With that in mind, I wasn’t expecting much from the Magic V3; maybe a spec bump, slightly better cameras or something along those lines, but very minimal changes to the core design.
Reader, I was very wrong.
Using what I can only imagine is some kind of dark magic, Honor has managed to slim the foldable down even further, now measuring in at 9.2mm thick when folded and just 4.4mm when unfolded, and it weighs just 226g. That’s not close to candybar phone territory, that’s comfortably within it – and it’s noticeable, from the very first moment I picked the phone up.
This thing is thin for a foldable, so much so that for the first few days, upon reaching for the phone in my pocket, I automatically assumed I’d left the house with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which I was reviewing beforehand. There’s none of that weight or heft that you’ll find from the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, making it an absolute joy to use, even in its folded form.
Flip the phone over and you’ll find a completely redesigned rear with an oddly angular-yet-circular camera housing that’s said to be inspired by European architecture. Whatever it’s based on, it’s certainly a different look to most of the large camera housings we’ve seen so far, for better or worse.
The matte finish of the rear completely negates fingerprints, and it’s available in Green, as seen in our review, as well as an understated Black and Reddish Brown – yes, the latter is the official name of the finish. How odd.
Durability is a key area of focus for the Magic V3, helping to dispel the worries from consumers about foldables being pretty delicate compared to regular candy bar phones. While that’s still the case, Honor has made leaps and bounds with the Magic V3. That starts with improved IPX8 that works down to 2.5m instead of the 1.5m offered by much of the competition, but there’s much more to it than that.
The frame of the phone is crafted from Honor Aerospace Special Fiber that’s apparently 100% stronger than steel, and Honor’s Anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield on the 6.43-inch cover screen offers 10x the drop and scratch resistance compared to the V2.
Of course, it’s the inner screen that’s most delicate, and that’s why Honor has used what it describes as a Nanoscale Aluminium Oxide Layer on the internal screen that essentially acts like a non-newtonian fluid, turning solid on impact for 20% improved impact resistance and 5x the scratch resistance compared to its predecessor.
Screens
- 6.34- and 7.92-inch screens
- One of the shallowest creases around
- Both screens share the same flagship tech
The Honor Magic V3’s cover screen is best described as your average flagship phone screen because that’s exactly what it is. It measures in at 6.43 inches and boasts key specs including a 5000 nits peak brightness, 120Hz LTPO OLED tech, Dolby Vision support and an FHD+ resolution, complete with a candybar-standard 20:9 aspect ratio and slimline bezels.
This is a screen that you can use happily every day, completely neglecting that inner foldable display if you so desire. That’s not the point, of course, but it emphasises just how nice the cover screen is to use, especially compared to the relatively narrow cover screen from Samsung’s popular foldable.
Apps display exactly how you’d expect, and that’s especially handy for gaming; while gaming on the boxier inner screen is doable – and something I do most of the time – the aspect ratio means that you’re not getting the full widescreen view that standard phones provide. That’s fine for casual offline games like those I play, but for online shooters like COD Mobile, the cover display is still your best option.
Enough about the cover display, because it’s the inner 7.92-inch OLED foldable screen that’s most exciting.
Aside from the impressive durability improvements outlined earlier, the inner OLED panel has one of the shallowest creases of any book-style foldable right now, measuring in at just 78um. For context, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures in at 217um, so safe to say that it’s not all that noticeable in everyday use.
Looking straight-on, you won’t see any crease, and it only becomes slightly visible when viewing off-angle – but even then, it’s not egregious. I’d say it’s in line with the OnePlus Open – though to my eye, the OnePlus foldable has an ever so slightly shallower crease.
Regardless, this is one of the best foldable screens around, offering top-end tech including a whopping 2.3K resolution and many of the specs of the cover screen, including the same 120Hz LTPO refresh rate, support for Dolby Vision and 5000nits peak brightness. It’s a boxier panel at 9.78:9, but with most foldable manufacturers using a similar design, most popular apps now natively support the aspect ratio.
It’s a joy not only for texting and browsing the web, but it makes using two apps at once – like my benchmarking apps and Google Sheets – much easier. I’ve found that it has also replaced my Kindle as my go-to device for reading, especially with the phone’s black-and-white e-reader mode.
I also love the new Defocus Eyecare addition to the eye-care roster, which Honor claims uses “myopic defocus stimulation to dynamically display and relieve the refractive state of your eyes”.
While the effectiveness of other elements like PWM dimming and circadian night display tech is hard to gauge, I instantly felt eye strain relief when toggling on the Defocus Eyecare tech in a dark room, and I wasn’t even aware of the feeling of strain beforehand. I’m not sure if it’s a placebo effect or genuinely impressive tech, but for whatever reason, I really noticed a difference there.
Cameras
- Main 50MP camera handles most scenarios well
- Boosted 50MP 3.5x telephoto is great for portrait photography
- 20MP selfie cameras on both screens
The Honor Magic V3 offers a boosted triple camera setup comprised of 50MP main, 50MP telephoto and 40MP ultrawide lenses, while you’ll find dual 20MP selfie cameras on both the external and internal screens.
That all said, the 50MP primary shooter is where you’ll likely be putting most of your effort. It’s the best performer of the three lenses with its combination of a fairly large 1/1.56-inch sensor and wide aperture that lends itself well to most shooting scenarios, from bright outdoor conditions to low light scenarios.
HDR performance is impressive, with the phone able to boost low light and reign in those highlights in complex shots for a nice balance between the two, even with strong backlighting.
It’s not the perfect snapper, with shots in the evening sometimes looking a little soft, and finer elements like my dog Luna’s hair can sometimes blur, but these are largely small complaints. It also veers between more natural-looking low-light photography and seriously overbrightened photography, with no way to control which you’ll get at any point.
The ultrawide seems like a bit of a downgrade on paper, with a lower-res 40MP snapper with a narrower f/2.2 aperture, but you likely won’t be able to tell the difference in real-world performance.
As with most ultrawides, it’s best suited to bright environments where it’s truly in its element, with vibrant colours and plenty of detail. There’s also autofocus that allows for some pretty decent close-up photography, but that all falls to the wayside as light levels start to drop.
The 50MP periscope lens is not only higher resolution but offers improved zoom capabilities at 3.5x. That’s the ideal focal length for portraits in my opinion, and especially combined with the Harcourt Portrait Mode effects that made their debut on the Honor 200 Pro just months ago, but it’s also a handy snapper when you need to close the distance between you and your subject.
It does offer 100x digital zoom capabilities, but as with most 100x zoom lenses, the results are pretty unusable most of the time.
Are these cameras going to best camera phones like the Pixel 9 Pro XL or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra? No, not a chance. But, considering foldable cameras have only been ‘fine’ until relatively recently, the uptick in performance is welcome.
And, as with most foldables, the phone’s form factor makes it easy to use the rear-facing lenses with a preview for selfies, meaning you won’t be using the 20MP cameras for all that much. They’re fine for a quick snap and video calling, but for the best results, stick to the rear lenses.
Performance
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 power
- Rapid everyday performance
- Top-end connectivity
At the core of the Honor Magic V3, you’ll find Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a combination of 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage as standard. This is very much a flagship-level spec for a flagship-level device, matching the offering of most of the book-style foldable competition, and everyday performance reflects this.
The Honor Magic V3 never breaks a sweat, able to handle everything I could throw at it and then some. In fact, I could run two games in split-screen with solid performance from both titles, although the phone did start to get a little warm when pushed to such demanding levels. I’m not sure how helpful that is in everyday use, but it’s a perfect way to show off just how capable the phone is.
That extends to general use too, with apps opening instantly, rapid animations and smooth scrolling that’s completely lag-free, regardless of whether you’re using the FHD+ cover screen or 2K inner screen. Again, that’s to be expected from a flagship-level chipset, but it’s nice to see here.
Benchmark tests show that Honor could potentially have squeezed more out of the 8 Gen 3, however, with competing 8 Gen 3-equipped foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Vivo X Fold 3 Pro besting the Magic V3 in both CPU and GPU tests, but I’d argue that you really won’t be able to tell the difference in everyday use. I certainly couldn’t over my few weeks of testing.
Connectivity is similarly top-notch, offering support for the latest standards including Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 and support for a range of GPS technologies, alongside standard inclusions like 5G connectivity, NFC for mobile payments and the Honor-favourite Infrared port for controlling TVs.
Software
- MagicOS 8 based on Android 14
- Not quite as polished as other foldables
- Handy Honor ecosystem features
It’s easy to see that Honor’s hardware is among the best around, but sadly, I can’t say the same about the software. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly fine, albeit far from stock, approach to Android 14 in the form of MagicOS 8 with clear iOS inspirations, but I think it lacks in key areas compared to the foldable competition.
Take multitasking for example; the V3 offers the basic functionality we’ve seen before, allowing you to either run apps in split-screen or in floating windows, but it can’t quite compete with OnePlus’ Open Canvas tech that lets you run three full-screen apps simultaneously, making it a much smoother multi-app experience.
Nor can Honor’s intent-based Magic Portal compete with the advanced AI prowess on offer from the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, with the competition offering a much wider variety of AI-powered tools and features.
There are also little oddities about the MagicOS experience that need polishing, like notification text that’s noticeably larger than text elsewhere in the OS with no way to change it, no way to access quick settings from the lock screen, and, even with Honor’s intelligent battery optimisation turned off, some apps just don’t deliver notifications on time.
That’s not to say that MagicOS is a complete write-off – far from it. There are elements that I love, like the option for larger folders on the home screen, the ability to extend app icons to display shortcuts and the way that you can use the V3 as an external screen when using an Honor-branded laptop or tablet – it just needs a little more finesse to truly stand out.
Thankfully, with four OS upgrades and five years of security patches, the experience should continue to improve for the next few years. It’s not as long-lasting as the Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s seven OS upgrades, but they remain outliers in the Android market at large.
Battery Life
- 5150mAh battery
- Easy all-day battery life
- Speedy wired and wireless charging support
Despite the slim dimensions of the Magic V3, Honor has managed to fit the largest battery of any foldable so far within, measuring in at a respectable 5150mAh silicon-carbon battery that’s in line with the candybar competition.
Combined with two Honor E1 chips within the phone that Honor claims boosts power efficiency by up to 3x compared to the V2, an energy-efficient 4nm chipset and LTPO tech on both screens, it’s safe to say that the Magic V3 delivers true all-day battery life.
I’ve been using the Magic V3 as my daily driver for over two weeks now, and I’ve not once had to charge my phone before getting to bed – and that’s with a healthy mix of scrolling through TikTok, checking emails, messaging on WhatsApp and even gaming across the two screens.
On less busy days where I’d only have around four or five hours of screen time, I’d finish the day with close to 40% in the tank. Pushing the phone even further, I found that I could get close to seven hours of screen-on use before getting the 10% battery warning. That not only beats the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 but even the OnePlus Open, my go-to foldable prior to the V3.
The Honor Magic V3’s 66W wired charging is just shy of the OnePlus Open’s 67W wired charging, though the difference is negligible, with the phone achieving 53% charge in 30 minutes, with a full charge in just shy of an hour. Regardless, it’s still speedier than what you’d get from Google and Samsung foldables, and you’ll get the 66W charger in the box too.
Instead, the Magic V3 stands out with its wireless charging provision, offering a whopping 50W wireless charging support – some of the fastest around – though you’ll need a specific Honor-branded wireless charger (which I don’t have to hand, unfortunately) to make the most of that high-speed charging.
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Should you buy it?
You want a thin and light foldable
The Honor Magic V3 is the thinnest and lightest book-style foldable available right now.
You want a great AI-powered software experience
Honor’s MagicOS is the weak point of the experience, lacking the polish and handy AI features present with much of the competition.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to foldable hardware, Honor has a significant lead with the Magic V3. Last year’s Magic V2 was already thinner and lighter than all the 2024 foldables we’ve seen so far, but the Magic V3 takes that even further. It really does feel like a regular smartphone when folded, and it makes all the difference to everyday use.
Despite its svelte dimensions, the Magic V3 boosts durability with improved screen protection and water resistance, and even manages to pack in a 5150mAh battery that’s larger than any other foldable right now. That, combined with the performant-yet-efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 means the phone can last all day, with around seven hours of screen-on time before needing a top-up.
The cameras are also pretty good for a foldable; I’m not sure it’s the very best around, especially when compared to Google’s AI-infused Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but it’s a great set of rear lenses that’ll service you well in most scenarios.
For me, the only real downside is software, with Honor’s MagicOS 8 lacking the polish and, frankly, the finesse of the foldable competition. Honor’s AI-powered Magic Portal and related AI features seem a little lacklustre compared to the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which ship with more genuinely useful features and offer a more polished overall experience.
It’s still fine for everyday use, but it’s not exactly the most exciting approach to Android 14 we’ve seen from a foldable.
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We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
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Used as a main phone for over two weeks
Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
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FAQs
Yes, and it’s a 66W charger at that, allowing you to take advantage of the phone’s fast charging capabilities from day one.
Honor has committed to four OS upgrades and five years of security patches for the Magic V3.
It’s IPX8 rated, but it’s protected down to a boosted 2.5m instead of the standard 1.5m offered by other foldables.
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