Honor Magic V5 review: thin-believable!
The Honor Magic V5 is going global...-ish. Now sold in Europe, here's how the biggest Z Fold 7 competitor performs!
The Honor Magic V5 was originally announced in July and dropped with the bombastic "thinnest foldable phone" promise. However, its initial launch was limited to China only, so all global customers could do was watch through the window pane with longing eyes.
Today, the Honor Magic V5 launches in Europe as well. Unfortunately, the phone will probably not be officially available stateside. You can still import one through 3rd party retailers, but you do need to be extra careful about carrier band support. Read twice, order once!
We've taken our time to test the Honor Magic V5 — performance, camera, display brightness and calibration. The phone is supposed to be the cream of the crop, with the best of everything. How did it fare?
Table of Contents:
Honor Magic V5 Specs
Up on Flagship Mountain
Let's start it off with a quick overview of the Magic V5 specs. Throw in the Galaxy Z Fold 7 specs for good measure!
| Honor Magic V5 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 |
|---|---|
| Size and Weight Unfolded: 156.8 x 145.9 x 4.1 mm Folded: 156.8 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm 217.0 g | Size and Weight Unfolded: 158.4 x 143.2 x 4.2 mm Folded: 158.4 x 72.8 x 8.9 mm 215 g |
| Display 6.4" external, 21:9 ratio OLED, 120 Hz, 5,000 nits peak 8" internal, 4:3.7 ratio OLED, 120 Hz, 5,000 nits peak | Display 6.5" external, 21:9 ratio AMOLED, 120 Hz, 2,600 nits peak 8" internal, 4:3.6 ratio AMOLED, 120 Hz, 2,600 nits peak |
| Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 nm, 4.32 GHz | Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 nm, 4.47 GHz, for Galaxy |
| Software Android 15, MagicOS 9 | Software Android 16, One UI 7 |
| Cameras Main: 50 MP, F1.6 Ultra-wide: 50 MP, F2.0 Zoom: 64 MP 3.0x, F2.5 Front external: 20 MP Front internal: 20 MP | Cameras Main: 200 MP, F1.7 Ultra-wide: 12 MP, F2.2 Zoom: 10 MP 3.0x, F2.4 Front external: 10 MP Front internal: 10 MP |
| Battery Size 5,820 mAh Si/C | Battery Size 4,400 mAh LiPo |
| Charging Speeds Wired: 66 W Wireless: 50 W | Charging Speeds Wired: 25 W Wireless: 15 W |
| Prices ~$1,600 (not officially available in US) €2,000 | Prices $1,999.99 €2,099 |
Honor Magic V5 Design and Display
Kind-of the thinnest foldable phone!
The Honor Magic V5 came out with the bold statement that it's the world's thinnest foldable phone, measuring at 4.1 mm (when unfolded). There was some scrutiny, some measuring tools were pulled out, and it turned out that nobody could get that 4.1 mm reading. Then it turned out that it's only the thinnest if you buy the white color (due to the finish thickness, I presume), and also that the phone comes with a screen protector that adds a few micrometers, and this and that...
OK, let's not dive into controversy and semantics. The bottom line is that the Honor Magic V5 is truly, incredibly thin. Can't give it the "thinnest" crown, as the Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures a few micrometers thinner, but let's not split hairs (ha! ha!).
When it's folded, it does feel like a "regular phone" with a 6.4-inch, 21:9 screen on the front that's fully usable. It also doesn't cheap out on specs — the high refresh rate and high peak brightness are both available on the cover and the main screen. Oh, they also both support the Magic-Pen, which is a separately-sold Honor stylus.
The camera module on the back is quite bulky, but due to it being positioned in the center, the phone doesn't wobble as aggressively as some other products in the segment (ahem, Fold 7).
The Honor Magic V5 opens with a nice, soft resistance. The chrease down the middle is quite shallow and nigh-undetectable when the screen is on and you are staring at it directly. yes, you can still easily find it if you go looking at an angle, but if you just want to use the phone and not be annoyed by a crease — the Magic V5 provides.
The closing is also worth noting — this phone clicks closed with a very soft sound that just oozes luxury. Unfortunately, the buttons on the side don't exactly match it. They are not bad or anything, but they do have a shallow travel and a bit of resistance with a click that's not very satisfying. To be fair, I can't seem to think of a modern foldable that has solid and clicky side buttons — must be the room and size limitations.
The Honor Magic V5 comes in four colors — Black, Ivory White, Reddish Brown, and Dawn Gold. Though, some markets may or may not get all of them — the Reddish Brown option seems to be limited in some places.
In the box, we get the phone and cable. Honor SuperCharge charging plug may be included in some markets, which is nice. Well, nice for those that will get it that is. You also get a basic PU case as well as internal and external screen protectors (they are stated as "in the box", in reality they are applied to the phone).
5,000 nits peak brightness sounds very impressive, but "peak brightness" means only a small portion of the screen, for a limited period of time, and it's often unknown how those measurements were taken. That's why we measure full screen brightness (all white, all the screen) and then a 20% APL, where 20% of the screen surface is lit up to kind of simulate regular content you'd be viewing.
Phones typically get a higher reading in 20% APL, the Honor Magic V5 however acted a bit differently... for some reason (we checked multiple times). Full screen brightness was about 1,320 nits, which is on par with its competitors and quite adequate. 1,200 nits at 20% APL is not the end of the world, but definitely outdone by the competition.
Measurements also show that the screen calibration is pretty natural, leaning towards warm whites, which is appreciated. There are two modes to pick from in Settings — Normal and Vivid. It's very possible that store units will be set to Vivid, which is a cold calibration with very punchy color saturation. But as soon as you swap to Normal, the screen becomes much easier on the eyes.
There's also a whole suite of eye care features separate from the Display Settings. In a different tab, called Honor Eye Comfort Display, you can find toggles for Circadian Night Display, Defocus Eyecare, Natural Tone, Eye Comfort, and PWM dimming. All of these correct blue lights or screen flicker in a different way to make the screen easier on the eyes before bedtime.
For biometrics, there's a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button — it's incredibly fast and accurate. You can also set up face unlock with the selfie camera.
Honor Magic V5 Camera
That is one big camera
The Honor Magic V5 got 139.7 points in our camera test, which is generally good and on par with top-tier foldables. Still can't beat dedicated chocobar smartphones with their bigger cameras — like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which got 157.6 points. The Honor Magic V5 showed had pretty stable and predictable exposure deviations for landscape shots, but was a bit more unpredictable with a subject in front of the lens. It also has more oversharpening artifacts and doesn't give you an HDR preview in the viewfinder, which pulled the user experience score down a peg.
Again, the scores are up there, we are just explaining why they haven't toppled the best. The specs on the Honor Magic V5 cameras are quite respectable, and the phone does make good use of its sensors — a 50 MP main camera with a wide F1.6 lens aperture, 50 MP ultra-wide camera with pretty good distortion correction, and a 64 MP zoom camera with a 3x periscope lens. Of course, you can go up to 100x digital zoom and the phone utilizes AI to crisp those photos up. The resutls are... hit and miss:
Now, let's move on to some "normal" photos!
Photos come out vivid and fun. Maybe a bit too vibrant, especially with the greens, but definitely shareable. The oversharpening artifacts we noted down in the benchmark test aren't really a problem with real world photos. Dynamics are wide, though the HDR aura effect is definitely visible if you know what you are looking for. Indoors and in low light, the colors get washed out a bit quickly and dynamics seem a bit flattened, which is a letdown.
The ultra-wide camera is surprisingly soft — strikingly soft, even, when comparing the same scene taken with the main and then ultra-wide camera. Its distortion correction is pretty good though, so it's a give-and-take. Zooming in up to 10x holds up pretty well and is also definitely usable.
Video Quality
Video is pretty balanced, with nice deep contrast and well preserved highlights. The stabilization is solid and auto exposure does its job smoothly enough. You can definitely capture high-quality memorabilia or even social media content with this.
Honor Magic V5 Performance & Benchmarks
The thickest chip in the thinnest phone
The Honor Magic V5 sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite — the Android go-to top-tier SoC currently. Well, technically, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy that's in the Z Fold 7 is a bit faster, but that's because it's been overclocked as Samsung and Qualcomm are partners. Potato pot-ahto.
Does the Honor Magic V5 deliver? In droves!
In raw CPU benchmarks, the Honor Magic V5 does not step down to the Z Fold 7, despite the latter having the overclocked chip. Nope, they are on the same level. And, it's a good place to mention that the Magic V5 is definitely lightning-fast and a pleasure to use in the day-to-day. From the instant unlocking of the phone, to scrolling through websites and flipping through apps — it feels great.
But there's a more special treat waiting below:
GPU Performance
We use 3DMark's Wildlife Extreme stress test for GPU performance. The entire point of the test is to get the phone to throttle and measure its best perfomance but also how low it would drop when it's heating up. Well... the Honor Magic V5 didn't hit the Z Fold 7's top score fair enough. But it also, surprisingly, doesn't throttle much at all! So, it's either got some next-level thermal management, or some "benchmark optimizations" running in the background.
While gaming on it, it doesn't get too hot and doesn't drop frames. In general, it's a great gaming device, especially with that huge screen.
Honor Magic V5 Software
The Honor Magic V5 comes with Android 15 out of the box, fully reskinned with MagicOS 9.0.3 on top. It's an interface that looks like it took its initial inspiration from iOS, but has evolved into a mix of a lot of the good things we've seen throughout different phones and different brands. Like the oversized folders — these hold more apps, but are big enough that you can launch an app by simply tapping on it, no need to open the folder. That's great for people like me that like to keep a minimum of homescreens and as many apps as possible on the first screen that greets you when you unlock the phone.
There are also a lot — a lot of AI tools on board. From cropping and resizing subjects in photos, to a video editor that lets you automatically or manually create collages and full-on social media videos without needing to download extra software (though, you probably will). There are also a few subscription services hidden throughout — an AI Image to Video feature that transforms a picture into a short 5 second clip. You can make 3 clips for free, if you wish to test it.
Honor also inclodes voice call translation and a new, probably revolutionary, deepfake AI detection. The latter works within video calls — you can activate it on demand and have the AI check for inconsistencies and tampering with the incoming video feed. Seems like a feature that will become more and more important in the coming years.
Honor commits to 7 years of OS and security updates, which is great — on par with the industry leaders. Now, we only hope the updates are quick to deploy!
Also, Samsung fans that lament the loss of the S Pen for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 may be happy to know that the Magic V5 still supports Honor's own Magic Pen. It has 4096 pressure levels and tilt detection, works on both the internal and external screen, and is an "active" pen. Meaning it should have pretty good palm rejection, but it does need a charged battery and Bluetooth connection to the phone to work. And it costs €99.90.
Honor Magic V5 Battery
Silicon-Carbon fittings
The Honor Magic V5 may be thin but still has a 5,820 mAh battery. How is this possible? Well, Honor is utilizing new-ish Silicon-Carbon tech, which allows it to make denser batteries. Si/C batteries are great, but their longevity is still under question. Honor has been on the forefront of developing new battery tech, so our hopes are high that the manufacturer has implemented the proper optimizations and precautions to prolong the cell's life as much as possible.
PhoneArena Battery Test Results:
The Magic V5 also chargies super fast with its 66 W brick — 30 minutes on the wire gets you up to 80%. A full charge is attained in 47 minutes total. And, if you have the Honor charging puck, you can also charge it wirelessly with 50 W.
Honor Magic V5 Audio Quality and Haptics
The Magic V5 has stereo speakers that sound surprisingly spations and details. They do have a small hump in the upper midrange, but it's not exactly grating.
Unfortonately, you don't get to enjoy the stereo sound at its best when gaming on the unfolded screen. The speakers are situated diagonally — there is one on each flap of the device. When opening a fullscreen game that automatically rotates to "horizontal" view, you will end up with one speaker on the bottom left and one - on the top right. This means that, no matter how you hold it, one of your hands will always be directly over a speaker.
As for haptics — this has been true for all Android flagships in a while. It clicks and clacks quickly and accurately, and is a pleasure to use.
Should you buy it?
In general, the Honor Magic V5 has all the markings of a top-tier modern foldable. Its thin, its displays are brilliant, its cameras are not the best but more than adequate. Its performance is fantastic, and its software is a hodge-podge of all the useful multitasking features you've seen competitors do. From triple-app multitasking to saving screenshots and documents to a "Favorites" space, to AI features for image, text, and voice.
And it still supports a stylus!
In Europe, the Honor Magic V5 is slightly cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — its main rival — and I'd say that it does have the chops to stand up to it.
If you are in the US, the Honor Magic V5 may be an exotic but risky buy. First, you have to go through a 3rd party reseller. Which also means that support and warranty may be spotty. Second you have to double- and triple-check if you can connect it to your carrier.
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