Honor Magic V3 hands-on: Effortlessly upstaging the Galaxy Z Fold 6
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Honor clearly knows what it's doing with foldables, and although the Magic V2 launched a year ago, it continues to be among the thinnest and lightest devices around. The ultra-thin design is a major differentiator, and it is the main reason why I used the Magic V2 more than just about any other foldable in 2024 — it doesn't feel cumbersome in the least.
Honor is putting all the learnings from the Magic V2 toward its latest foldable, the Magic V3. The foldable retains the best features of its predecessor, but it is thinner and lighter, and that makes it even better to hold and use. Coming in at just 9.3mm folded and an incredible 4.4mm unfolded, the Magic V3 is unbelievably thin.
The overall design is largely the same as last year, but the Magic V3 switches to a new camera module that's similar to that of the Magic 6 Pro, and it looks much more elegant. What I like the most about the camera island is that it is centered, and there's no wobble whatsoever when using the Magic V3 on a table; this was a bugbear on the V2.
At 226g, it is 5g lighter than the V2 while offering a bigger 5150mAh battery. By contrast, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 weighs 13g more, and you get a much smaller 4400mAh battery. To give you additional context, the Pixel 9 Pro XL weighs 221g, and it doesn't fold in half. Honor once again is proving that it is the brand to beat when it comes to foldable designs, and the Magic V3 looks and feels like a device that's a few generations ahead of what Samsung is offering.
The hinge has a smooth articulation, and it doesn't take much effort to unfold the device. Honor says the hinge has better durability this time around, and that it can withstand 500,000 unlocks. It is a little stiffer than the hinge on the V2, but that's a good thing — it allows the V3 to stay locked at various angles between 40 to 150 degrees. What continues to be great is that the hinge doesn't lead to a noticeable crease — it definitely isn't as evident as Samsung's offering.
While Honor didn't change the dimensions of the inner and outer screens, both panels have better brightness levels, and class-leading PWM dimming. Honor is also rolling out a defocus mode that's meant to relieve eye strain, and the brand continues to lead the way when it comes to eye comfort.
Ingress protection was an area where Honor lagged behind its rivals last year, and thankfully, the Magic V3 gets IPX8 water resistance as standard, allowing it to weather the elements much better. Honor is also rolling out bold new colors, and the green variant does a great job accentuating the design of the camera housing.
Honor is positioning the Magic V3 against the best foldables, so it isn't astonishing that the device gets the latest tech. It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage with the base model. It has the latest connectivity modem, NFC, USB 3.1 with DisplayPort 1.2, and in the little I used the device, I didn't see any issues with lag or jitter while gaming.
Obviously, battery life is a key area of consideration on a foldable, and the Magic V3 has a 5150mAh battery that uses a silicon-carbon substrate to increase longevity. While I haven't used the device enough to gauge battery life, I got a day's worth of use between charges, and I don't see any problems in this area.
Honor is upgrading the cameras as well, with the Magic V3 offering a new 50MP camera alongside a 40MP wide-angle lens and 50MP zoom lens with 3.5x optical zoom. The foldable gets a lot of the same features as the Magic 6 Pro, including AI-based scene recognition and motion-tracking.
Honor doubled down on AI-assisted software features in Magic OS 8.0, and the Magic V3 runs the 8.0.3 build out of the box that comes with a few extras. Honor is teaming up with Google to bring the search giant's best AI features to its devices, and this is absolutely the right move; Google has class-leading translation and image editing AI features, and you can now use these on the Magic V3.
While Honor got a lot right with the Magic V2 last year, the brand messed up availability; the foldable went on sale in the U.K. at the end of Q1 2024 — six months after its global debut — and that was undoubtedly detrimental to its sales figures. Honor isn't making that mistake this time around; the Magic V3 will be available in the U.K. starting September 5, and it has mainstream carrier backing.
Coming in at ￡1,699 ($2,233), the Magic V3 is positioned against the Galaxy Z Fold 6. I'll reserve judgement for the review, but if you're ready to switch to a foldable and want something that's just as easy to use as a regular phone, the Magic V3 needs to be on your radar — it is one of the best phones I used in 2024.
