Chinese manufacturer Honor is taking advantage of the IFA show in Berlin to launch its new folding smartphone: the Magic V3. A little technological gem that aims to stand up to the giants Samsung and Google.
The foldable smartphone war is definitely on. Samsung opened the ball a few years ago and since then, others have followed suit: Huawei, Honor and Google. But this summer of 2024 is set to be the period of range renewal. Samsung complied with the exercise in July during its Galaxy Unpacked with its Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 followed by Google with its new Pixel 9 Pro Fold which we will talk about again soon. Today it is Honor’s turn to take the stage. Last year, the Magic V2 had already met with great success with critics thanks to its unrivaled thinness (9.9 mm). For this 2024 edition, the Chinese company is doing it again. It has once again signed a foldable smartphone in the thinnest book format of the moment, without depriving itself of mocking Samsung in passing.
Folded, the Honor Magic V3 is only 9.2 mm thick, while the Samsung model is almost 3 mm thicker (12.1 mm). These 9.2 mm are therefore close to the size of a classic high-end smartphone. Google also does a little better than the Korean with its Pixel 9 Pro Fold and its 10.2 mm thickness. In terms of weight too, the Magic V3 puts the Z Fold 6 to the test with its 226 g compared to 239 g for Samsung and 257 g for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
On the photo side, the device covers its back with a trio of convincing sensors (50 Mpx wide-angle, 50 Mpx 3.5x telephoto lens and 40 Mpx ultra wide-angle). Everything is also supported by the famous Harcourt processing, the quality of which we were able to appreciate during the test of the Honor 200 Pro.
Under the hood, Honor’s device has nothing to be ashamed of either. It is of course powered by the flagship SoC of the moment, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from Qualcomm, supported by 12 GB of RAM like Samsung. The difference is in terms of storage. Honor is betting on 512 GB from the outset, while Samsung is content, for the starting model, with 256 GB… for the same price.
The price, precisely, remains the sticking point for this type of smartphone. On this ground, manufacturers seem to agree. The Honor Magic V3 is negotiated at 1999 euros like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (but with 256 GB less storage space). The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is marketed at 1899 (in 16-256 GB version).
As usual, to make the pill a little easier to swallow, Honor is offering a launch offer to lower the price of its new Magic V3 to 1699 euros until October 6 with the help of a 300 euro discount coupon while offering a Magic Pencil stylus as well as a 66 W charger (this one is not delivered in the box).