Honor is reshuffling the cards in the small world of foldable smartphones. Its Magic V3, the thinnest in the world in its category, does not neglect everything that makes a good smartphone. But the bill is steep.

Honor is reshuffling the cards in the small world of foldable smartphones. Its Magic V3, the thinnest in the world in its category, does not neglect everything that makes a good smartphone. But the bill is steep.

With its Magic V3, Honor has created the world’s thinnest foldable smartphone. Just that. Enough to strut around in front of the big Samsung with its Galaxy Z Fold6 and the challenger Google with its Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which has just arrived in our territory. It’s quite simple, this foldable smartphone has a thickness similar to – and sometimes less than – that of a large classic smartphone. A nice feat that the Chinese brand had already graced us with last year with the Magic V2, but pushed even further today.

Enough, perhaps, to overcome the reluctance of those who still find folding smartphones too big and too massive… and who don’t look at the expense. Because it’s the counterpart of this technological evolution. If we found that Samsung was going a little too far on the price of its Z Fold (starting at 1999 euros), Honor’s response hits the wallet just as hard. This is probably the price to pay, today, to enjoy an avant-garde smartphone before more brands bend to the exercise and real competition sets in to bring down prices. In the meantime, we were able to use this Magic V3 for several weeks. Here is our verdict.

Honor Magic V3 review: a very fine design

Change of direction for the design of this Magic V3. As we pointed out in the introduction, what first strikes the eye, and undoubtedly the handling, is its thinness. Take a look: 9.2 mm thick when folded. Count 12.1 mm for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, 11.7 mm for the OnePlus Open and 10.5 mm for the brand new Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. A few millimeters that seem like nothing but change everything. Folded, this Magic V3 is barely thicker (0.6 mm) than a Galaxy S24 Ultra. Honor is therefore getting closer and closer to the size of classic smartphones despite the presence of two screens. A nice technical feat. In terms of weight, however, it will be better to slip it into a sturdy pocket with its 230 g.

Beyond the finesse, the Magic V3 is now adorned on the back with a fairly massive photo island that seems to become its trademark on its high-end models. This one is placed on a rather becoming metallic octagon. Finally, note that the device benefits from an IPX8 certification to resist water but not dust. And, a little bonus compared to the Samsung model: the brand provides a protective case in the box.

Honor Magic V3 review: a very comfortable internal screen

The advantage of foldable smartphones is of course to benefit from two screens. One external for the majority of everyday tasks, as with a classic smartphone, the other external offering a doubled display surface to view photos, videos or work in better conditions. On the Magic V3, the developments are minimal compared to its predecessor. The external screen displays a size of 6.43 inches while the internal panel has a size of 7.92 inches. The firm indicates having improved their brightness, which did not really jump out at us.

Nevertheless, these two screens offer very good readability regardless of the ambient light conditions. Special work has been done on the fold of the internal screen. It is becoming less and less visible.

Honor Magic V3 review: average performance

Technical sheet

Inevitably, it is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that we find on board this high-end device. It is supported here by 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage space in a unique configuration. Unsurprisingly, the device performs well in all the benchmarks we subjected it to. However, it remains a hair below the Galaxy Z Fold6. The reason is simple: playing the finesse involves curbing the enthusiasm of the processor a little to avoid overheating. A point on which the Magic V3 is still struggling since the device tends to climb in temperature when it is heavily used. Nevertheless, the use remains very comfortable, including in games.

On the software side, Honor is not playing the same game as its competitors who tend to spread artificial intelligence functions everywhere. Here, AI is sprinkled sparingly. We find the classic image editing functions to which is added the Magic Portal present on previous devices. It allows, by sliding an element on the edge of the screen (text, an image, an address) to open the appropriate application to send it to a contact, open Maps, a note or even a Google search.

Finally, Honor fails to reach the level of Samsung and Google in terms of software support. The brand offers 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of security patches (compared to 7 years for the Korean and American). On a smartphone of this price, we would have appreciated the Chinese to align with its competitors.

Honor Magic V3 review: great versatility in photography

Folding smartphones, although very expensive, often have an undersized photo shutter compared to premium models. For this Magic V3, Honor raises the bar. The device is based on three modules: a 50 Mpx wide-angle (f / 1.6), a 40 Mpx ultra-wide-angle (f / 2.2) and a 50 Mpx 3.5x telephoto lens (f / 3.0). At the top of the external screen, we find a 20 Mpx selfie camera (f / 2.2) and an anecdotal 20 Mpx selfie camera (f / 2.2) also on the internal screen.

During the day, the wide-angle gives complete satisfaction with very clear shots in natural colors. The sharpness is also excellent and the details numerous. It is flawless.

The telephoto lens also gives good results but we would have liked them to be more precise. Smoothing can sometimes be aggressive. Up to 3.5x everything is fine. Beyond that, things get complicated.

The ultra wide-angle lens performs well during the day. There are many details and the colorimetry is correct.

When the light falls, the camera struggles to illuminate the scene. This sometimes results in shots that lack naturalness. Nevertheless, we still appreciate the amount of detail present in the image.

Finally, note that, like the Honor 200 Pro that we tested at the beginning of the summer, the Magic V3 also offers a portrait mode created in partnership with the Parisian artistic studio Harcourt. It’s up to you to take black and white (or color) portraits with the Harcour touch that always has its little effect.

Honor Magic V3 review: good battery life

Despite all its finesse, the Magic V3 can also boast of having the largest battery in a folding smartphone. It offers a capacity of 5150 mAh. That’s 750 mAh more than in the Z Fold6, 500 mAh more than in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and 345 mAh more than the OnePlus Open. The brand uses a technology other than the traditional Lithium polymer allowing it to refine the size of the battery while increasing its capacity. And it works well. Thus armed, the Magic V3 managed to last a little over a day and a half without going through the recharge box. Be careful, obviously, the more you use the large internal screen, the faster the discharge will be.

For charging, the device accepts 66W fast charging (and even 50W wireless charging). But you still need to have the brand’s charger, which is not included in the box. With our 100W Anker charger, it took us 1h15 to refill. 30 minutes of charging allowed us to regain 48% battery. We continue to dream of the day when proprietary charging systems will disappear.

Honor Magic V3 Review: A Very Salty Bill

For those who are eyeing the foldable smartphone side, the Magic V3 proposal is, in our eyes, the most interesting of the moment. Its slim design, its comfortable grip, its successful photo shutter and its good battery life clearly tip the balance in its favor against a still somewhat weak competition. It therefore takes a small lead… while waiting for its rivals to strengthen their game. The offensive will not come from Google but rather from other Chinese like Oppo or OnePlus who should soon unveil their response.

Samsung, for its part, is also said to be about to present a “Slim” version of its Z Fold6. But for all those who simply want to renew their smartphone and, why not, move towards a plant model, the bill is still very steep. Even with the launch offers and a price that falls from 1999 to 1699 euros (with a wireless charger, a wired charger and headphones offered even more), the Magic V3 remains a big investment compared to classic smartphones offering superior performance and better photo results for the same price, or even less. Smartphones with a foldable screen are still this year reserved for the wealthiest.