TL;DR
- HONOR has launched the Magic V5 and claims it to be the “world’s thinnest foldable.”
- The Magic V5 beats the OPPO Find N5, which previously held the thinnest foldable’s title, and will also beat the Galaxy Z Fold 7, given the latter’s rumored thickness is true.
- The biggest drawback of the HONOR Magic V5 is its limited availability and the low probability of its coming to the US.
In merely half a decade since the first foldable phones started hitting the market, the segment has gotten much crowded and competitive. The relative newness of the category, compared to candy bar phones, leaves room for innovation and ways to make it more acceptable and mainstream. In this pursuit, HONOR has announced the Magic V5, its newest book-style folding phone, with claims to the title of “world’s thinnest foldable.”
The previous champion in this regard was the OPPO Find N5, measuring 8.9mm when shut. HONOR snags the merit by claiming that the Magic V5 measures only 8.8mm when folded. We, as mere humans, wouldn’t be able to tell which of the two is slimmer, but it doesn’t waver from HONOR’s claim.
When opened, the Magic V5 is 4.1mm thin, which, again, is negligibly smaller than the Find N5. Incidentally, the V5’s dimensions also prove its claim against the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is expected to be 8.9mm and 4.2mm when folded and unfolded, respectively. Of course, it might change when Samsung officially launches the foldable phones next week.
The phone comes in four colors: Dawn Gold, Silk Road Dunhuang, Velvet Black, and Warm White, the last of which also weighs the least out of the bunch. Besides the white one that weighs 217g, the others measure 222g on the scale.
Despite its slimness, HONOR’s foldable features slightly smaller inner and outer displays than counterparts from OPPO and Samsung. The inner screen measures 7.95 inches diagonally (versus 8.12 inches on the Find N5), while the outer display measures 6.43 inches. Both of these are OLEDs with a 120Hz refresh rate. HONOR says these displays attain a peak brightness of 5,000 nits while playing HDR content and support high pulse-wave modulation (PWM) frequencies to ensure your eyes feel less stressed when using the phone in low light.
The HONOR Magic V5 is also stocked well in terms of specifications, running a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, complemented by HONOR’s self-designed E2 chip for better energy efficiency. There are storage options up to a terabyte, while 12GB and 16GB RAM options are offered based on the storage configurations. Powering the HONOR Magic V5 is a 6,100mAh battery, which can be recharged at 66W using a wired charger and 50W with a proprietary wireless charger.
The triple cameras on the back include two 50MP sensors for the primary and ultrawide-angle shooters and a 64MP periscope telephoto for long-range shots. Both screens come with 20MP cameras for selfies and video calling. All of these cameras, including the front-facing ones, support 4K video recording.
The Magic V5 comes with Android 15 and HONOR’s MagicOS 9, which features a host of generative AI features powered by DeepSeek.
The one aspect where the HONOR Magic V5 loses out to competitors is its availability, which is currently limited to China. Considering the previous foldable, Magic V3, was available more widely in parts of Asia and Europe, we can expect the same of V5 too. The Magic V3 was unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin last year, which is where we could see the V5 debut as well this year.
The Magic V5’s pricing starts at CNY 8,999 or roughly $1,250, though it can’t be used as a parameter to gauge prices for international markets, where Chinese products are usually more expensive than direct conversions.
