Honor Magic Vs Overview: An Spectacular First Strive That Virtually Rivals Samsung

Samsung lastly has a brand new rival within the foldable cellphone ring: The Magic Vs foldable from Honor, previously owned by Huawei. Honor revealed in September that it could deliver its Honor Vs to worldwide markets after a China launch. This week, it confirmed off its book-style foldable flagship designed for a worldwide viewers on the Cellular World Congress in Barcelona.

I had the possibility to check the Honor Magic Vs just a few days earlier than its launch. I used to be impressed with the machine’s slick {hardware}, which is light-weight but additionally allowed the 2 halves of the cellphone to fold flat towards one another with no hole. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, its greatest rival, nonetheless has a wedge-shaped hole when closed even in its latest iteration.

Past the standout options, the Honor Magic Vs packs all of the specs you’d count on from a 2023 flagship cellphone right into a slick bundle. That features a massive battery (5,000 mAh), quick charging (66 watts), a robust Snapdragon 8 Gen Plus 1 processor, and three years of OS upgrades in addition to 5 years of safety patches. The one knock I might give by way of specs is that it lacks the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip discovered within the Galaxy S23 line and OnePlus 11.

Nonetheless, it is not excellent. The crease is extra seen and discernible to the contact than different book-style foldables I’ve examined, such because the Oppo Discover N and the Huawei Mate XS 2. The cellphone additionally lacks wi-fi charging and an official IP score for water- and dust-resistance. By comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has an IPX8 score for water-resistance. 

That mentioned, the Magic Vs beginning value undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 4 by 200 euros, and also you additionally get extra storage for that lower cost. The Magic Vs begins at 1,599 euros for 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. By comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 begins at 1,799 euros for 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. There aren’t any present plans for a US launch, though the corporate mentioned a UK launch is anticipated in June.

Honor Magic Vs outer show is the main focus

The Magic Vs’ headline characteristic is its bendable show. Just like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, it has a canopy display screen and an inside display screen. The outer display screen measures 6.45 inches diagonally, whereas the interior show is 7.9 inches. I discovered each crisp, responsive and shiny, and every display screen additionally folds into the opposite with no discernible hole. 

In contrast to Samsung, Honor selected to equip the quilt display screen of its book-style foldable with superior specs. For instance, it has higher brightness (1,200 nits vs. 800 nits) and a better refresh price (120Hz vs. the interior display screen’s 90Hz). For reference, the Magic Vs’ interior display screen is a step beneath the 120Hz functionality of the Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

Contemplating it is a foldable cellphone, I discovered Honor’s option to be counterintuitive at first. Nonetheless, it appears Honor desires this machine to be a cellphone first, and a pill second. I believe this resolution helped lengthen the battery lifetime of the Honor Magic Vs — which, by the way in which, was unbelievable. (Extra on that beneath.)

Honor Magic Vs interior show has an apparent crease

Honor says the Magic Vs has a creaseless show, however that did not change into true. You may see and really feel the interior show’s crease from numerous angles. It was instantly noticeable as quickly as I opened the cellphone. I did not need to seek for it as I’ve with different foldable telephones, such because the Oppo Discover N or the Huawei Mate XS 2.

Regardless of the crease, watching motion pictures and flipping via photos is enjoyable and immersive. Whereas it did not trouble me a lot, such a big crease could also be a deal-breaker for some. However it’s a compromise that followers of foldables may need to be taught to reside with for now. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 nonetheless has a crease, although it is much less noticeable than prior to now. However Huawei’s Mate XS 2, which has a wraparound-style foldable cellphone design with one display screen, is mainly creaseless.

Key to the folding nature of this cellphone is the hinge. The corporate mentioned the hinge is crafted with an aerospace grade polymeric materials and has fewer parts in its supporting construction (simply 4 in comparison with 94). This helps make the hinge lighter and doubtlessly extra sturdy. Honor claims the hinge can face up to as much as 400,000 folds, which implies you’ll be able to count on perhaps 10 years of use out of it for those who assume 100 folds per day. CNET hasn’t been capable of independently confirm that declare.  

Honor Magic Vs digital camera

The Honor Magic Vs has three rear cameras, consisting of a 54-megapixel principal digital camera, 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto digital camera able to 3x optical zoom. There’s additionally a 16-megapixel selfie digital camera, which is one much less front-facing digital camera than the pricier Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

General, I used to be pleased with picture readability, dynamic vary, shutter pace and the flexibility of the digital camera. Whether or not I used to be in shiny, dim and even darkish lighting environments, the digital camera captured crisp, vibrant and correct pictures in quite a lot of lighting situations. That mentioned, this is not the very best digital camera. It would not measure as much as the iPhone 14 Professional Max for example, which tends to supply higher low gentle pictures. However I assume that is OK (kind of) because you’re actually paying for that fancy show, not the digital camera module. 

Honor Magic Vs battery efficiency

With a 5,000-mAh battery, the Honor Magic Vs has the biggest battery of any commercially offered foldable cellphone. Non-foldable telephones, such because the Galaxy S22 Extremely and the Galaxy S23 Extremely, have the identical battery capability.

The Magic Vs made it via most days of testing on a single cost with medium use. I did not have to trouble charging on the finish of the day since I often had greater than 20% remaining. However I charged in a single day anyway out of behavior. 

Once I ran a battery endurance check the place I watched YouTube movies, scrolled via my Instagram feed, performed Genshin Influence and took a 5-minute WhatAapp video name on the quilt display screen. The battery went from 100% to 86% in these 45 minutes.

The Magic Vs comes with a bundled 66-watt charger, which Honor says will utterly replenish a useless battery inside 46 minutes. Based mostly on my expertise, that declare was  true, which implies the Magic Vs outshines the Galaxy Z Fold 4 on this division. 

The Magic Vs runs on 2022’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. In my brief time with this cellphone, the machine carried out with no hitch whether or not it was powering a number of apps, operating video games, streaming YouTube movies and even simply switching between apps. 

Honor Magic Vs software program

The Magic Vs runs Android 13 and Honor’s MagicOS. I am a fan of MagicOS’ split-screen multi-tasking system, which features a slide-over menu that you just set off by swiping and holding from the edges. You may multitask with as much as 4 functions, and there is a break up display screen mode in addition to floating home windows. You can too transfer apps round and resize their home windows. 

It is a disgrace the software program would not take sufficient benefit of the cellphone’s folding design. I’d have cherished to see one thing like Samsung’s Flex mode on the Magic Vs. Though I might use the cellphone when it was half-folded and prop it up like a laptop computer, not one of the apps I used, even native ones, that have been tailor-made for that have. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s Flex Mode software program capabilities allow you to use the display screen when it is folded at a 90-degree angle. 

With the Magic Vs’ slender {hardware}, strong cameras, fabulous battery life and intuitive multitasking options, Honor has created a strong rival to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. However it’s nonetheless robust to advocate the Magic Vs over the Galaxy Z Fold 4 for a number of causes: There isn’t any IP score, the crease is extra seen, its software program would not actually benefit from the folding display screen and Honor gives fewer software program updates than Samsung. Honor made a strong first effort total, although, and I am so glad Samsung has extra competitors. 

For extra particulars on how the Magic Vs and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 evaluate, check out CNET’s specs chart beneath.