Honor Magic Vs folding phone hits the UK this month for £1399
New CPU, better cameras and bigger battery for Honor's second foldable effort
When it comes to folding phones, Honor isn’t hanging around. It only tested the waters at the start of 2022 with the Honor Magic V, and was back with a follow-up less than a year later. The Honor Magic Vs is effectively a mid-life upgrade of that original effort, keeping the same inward-folding design but getting newer internals. Having launched in China first, the Magic Vs will be Honor’s first foldable to see a more global release, and lands in the UK from the 19th of May at £1399. That’s significantly less than the current book-style folding champ (and one of the best smartphones overall), the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
It arrives with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 CPU – a more efficient update of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 seen in the Magic V, but a generation behind this year’s crop of flagship phones. UK variants get 12GB of RAM and 512GB of on-board storage. Battery capacity has increased to 5000mAh, with charge speed staying the same as before at 66W over USB-C.
It keeps the same 6.45in OLED cover screen and 7.9in folding OLED main display as before, putting it in direct competition with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 here in the UK, and the Huawei Mate X2 in its home territory. The outer panel is good for 120Hz refresh rate, but the inner one tops out at 90Hz. A redesigned hinge has helped slim down the dimensions slightly compared to the first-gen phone, and lets it close shut with no gap between the two halves.
The biggest changes are on the photography front, with the 50MP main sensor found in the Magic V swapped for a 54MP Sony unit with an f/1.9 aperture lens. it’s joined by a 50MP ultrawide cam that doubles as a macro shooter, and an 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. It’s more of a mixed bag for selfie fans, with the outgoing phone’s 42MP front camera swapped for a 16MP sensor here.
On the software side, the Magic Vs will land with Honor’s new MagicOS 7.0 skin sat on top of Android 12. It supports stylus input for the first time, letting you scribble with a Bluetooth-equipped Honor Magic Pen – although there’s nowhere inside the phone to store it.
The Honor Magic Vs goes on sale directly from the Honor website on the 19th of May, for £1399. That makes it one of the most affordable book-style folding phones around, dramatically undercutting the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Amazon, Argos and Very will join in from the 26th of May, with UK network Three ranging it from June. As with all Honor products, there’s no indication it will be sold in the USA.
Brits that get an order in before the 26th of May through the Hihonor website can bag special launch offer pricing, which brings the device down to a mighty impressive £1199.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
