Honor CEO shows off foldable Magic V on video; phone to be unveiled January 10th

If you're a smartphone enthusiast, you probably know the Honor story by now. A Huawei sub-brand, Honor was considered guilty by association and forced to abide by the restrictions placed on Huawei by the U.S. These restrictions prevent Huawei from obtaining supplies from its U.S. supply chain (which forced the company to develop its own successful ecosystem), and cutting-edge (read 5G) chips from certain foundries.

If you believe the story, and there is no reason to think otherwise, Huawei brass wanted to get Honor out from under the big thumb of the U.S., so it sold the company to a consortium for approximately $15 billion. Earlier this year, Honor started using Google Mobile Services (GMS) and 5G Snapdragon chips on its new models.

With momentum on its side, Honor had the biggest growth rate in 5G phone shipments worldwide during the third quarter with a sequential quarter-over-quarter gain of 194%. And sometime this month, the company is expected to unveil its first foldable phone which it calls the Honor Magic V.

Honor CEO George Zhao gave an interview to the Phoenix Network, a China-based media outlet. During the interview, which was recorded on video, the executive had an open Magic V in front of him. Because the screen is dark, it is likely that the phone in the video is a prototype.

At the end of the video, Zhao closes the phone as one would close a book confirming its resemblance to the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Today, Honor announced that the Magic V will be unveiled on January 10th.

For now, let's take a look at the latest rumored specs which include an external "cover screen" that will weigh in at 6.5-inches with a small curve on the right side. That display will refresh 90 times each second (90Hz) and sport a centered hole-punch selfie snapper.

When the phone is fully open, it reveals a large tablet-sized display believed to be 8-inches with a resolution of 2200 x 2480, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and a hole-punch camera in the upper right corner. The Magic V could be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset which is built by Samsung using its 4nm process node. The phone will support 5G connectivity.

The foldable is expected to come with a 50MP primary camera and the battery will charge at 66W. Android 12 might be pre-installed. Honor has released a new teaser for the device which shows off in detail the design of the phone.

Foldables are becoming more mainstream and consumers no longer see them as a novelty device. As proof of that Samsung saw shipments of its foldable phones increase fourfold from 2020 to 2021. Until Samsung can bring down the price of these devices, demand for them will still be limited. Eventually, as more manufacturers enter the business, the supply chain will lower their prices and these phones will wear more competitive price tags.

The pandemic actually helps provide consumers with a reason to buy the foldables that open up from a 6-inch smartphone to an 8-inch tablet. That's because some people are starting to work from home again and could use a tablet if they didn't previously buy one for this purpose. And some schools are reverting back to holding virtual classes which could mean more demand for the product throughout the world.

Sure, these devices are expensive. But with shipments rising 400% year-over-year, it is apparent that someone is buying them. And we suppose that some spouses and partners can try to justify the expense by pointing out that they are actually buying two products (a smartphone and a tablet) for the hefty price they are paying.