Honor’s Magic V2 impressed me as quickly as I took it out of the field. From the light-weight design and brilliant, expansive shows to the respectable cameras and reliable battery life, there’s loads I like about it.
Nonetheless, my favourite half in regards to the Magic V2 is its portability. Honor proves {that a} foldable cellphone could be a highly effective productiveness machine with out burdening you with its dimension and weight. Because the Magic V2 is awfully transportable, it would not essentially really feel like I am holding a foldable cellphone except I slide my thumb over the place the place the screens meet.
The Magic V2’s {hardware} backs up my actual world expertise. The V2 is the lightest and slimmest book-style foldable cellphone out there, although it launched final 12 months. When folded, it is simply 9.9 millimeters thick, making it barely thicker than a bar cellphone and handy to hold round. For reference, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5, a direct competitor, is 13.46 mm thick when it is closed.
7.5
Magic V2
Like
Exceptionally light-weight and slim
Unobtrusive crease
World-class {hardware}
Do not like
No IP score for water and dirt resistance
Software program wants extra polish
No wi-fi charging assist
Processor and Android OS from 2023
The Magic V2 weighs 231 grams. That is 2 grams lower than Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 Ultra and greater than 50 grams lower than the Google Pixel Fold. The V2’s skinny and lightweight design makes it really feel extra like a daily cellphone and fewer like an experiment. (I ought to observe that the OnePlus Open, which my colleague Eli Blumenthal reviewed final 12 months, comes near matching the V2’s svelte, light-weight construct.)
Regardless of the cellphone’s compact dimension, Honor has packed it with flagship specs, together with final 12 months’s still-peppy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a triple-camera module full with a telephoto lens and a big battery that helps 66-watt quick charging. It additionally comes with 4 years of Android software program upgrades and 5 years of safety updates, which is identical because the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and OnePlus Open. We’re anticipating the rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 to be supported for seven years if Samsung follows the identical strategy because the Galaxy S24 collection.
Learn extra: Best Foldable Phones in 2024
However as compelling as it’s, the Magic V2 has its shortcomings. It lacks a few of the fancy ending touches I might anticipate from a book-style foldable of this value and caliber. For one, it would not have an official IP score for water and dirt resistance. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, by comparability, is rated IPX8 for water-resistance and could be immersed underneath 1.5 meters of freshwater for as much as half-hour. Practically all foldables, together with the Magic V2, lack mud resistance aside from the IP52-rated Motorola Razr Plus, which presents some resistance in opposition to mud and water splashes.
The Magic V2 additionally lacks wi-fi charging assist, a function that’s current in most of its rivals. And lastly, not all apps are optimized for the V2’s screens. This can be a related situation my friends skilled when reviewing different foldables. The CNN app, for instance, is not but optimized for the inside display whenever you obtain it. However the black bars on the perimeters of the display disappear as soon as you modify the decision within the Settings panel.
The Magic V2 went on sale in components of Europe and the UK, in late January for £1,700 (converts to roughly $2,160 or AU$3,280) or 1,999 euros. This can be a decrease beginning value within the UK than the £1,749 Galaxy Z Fold 5 ($1,800, AU$2,559), however the Z Fold 5 prices 1,899 euros. Honor says there are presently no plans for a launch in the US.
Utilizing the Magic V2
Due to the abundance of display actual property, the Magic V2’s massive inner show makes it a greater multitasker than my regular bar-shaped cellphone. I might watch a YouTube video in a single window, browse Instagram on the opposite, and sort out an e-mail in a 3rd floating window. I might additionally take notes whereas on Zoom calls since I can overlay a Zoom video on high of a doc.
The Magic V2 runs on MagicOS 7.2 based mostly on Android 13, which Honor says provides a slew of sensible options to help in multitasking. Nonetheless, nearly each flagship cellphone launched in 2024 runs on Android 14 as an alternative of Android 13. That is in all probability as a result of the Magic V2 was launched final 12 months, however Honor hasn’t stated when Android 14 is predicted to reach.
The Magic V2’s AI options
Nearly each main smartphone maker is profiting from the AI hype cycle, and Honor isn’t any completely different. It launched a number of new AI-based options to the Magic V2 this 12 months, together with a novel addition known as Privateness Name. It is an AI-based “directional sound expertise” designed to stop sound leaking, or cases when the particular person you are speaking to on a name could be heard by folks round you even when they are not talking loudly. Honor says the display and the receiver work collectively to regulate the amount of the incoming audio to swimsuit completely different environments. I examined it out and it appeared to work as marketed. I had a buddy name me and requested her to talk loudly on the cellphone. I requested my husband if he might hear the dialog or any of the phrases she was saying, however he stated he couldn’t.
Honor additionally launched a function known as Magic Textual content, which jogs my memory of the iPhone’s Live Text function from iOS 15 in 2022, tha acknowledges textual content content material on a picture and converts it into editable textual content. Like Stay Textual content, I might anticipate this function would turn out to be useful you probably have hand-written recipes or notes that you just need to digitize simply, so long as the handwriting is legible and clear. In my expertise, it was intuitive to make use of and it is undoubtedly a welcome addition. All I needed to do was faucet and choose textual content in a picture within the Gallery app, hit copy after which paste it into an e-mail or wherever I wanted the textual content.
Design and shows
The Honor V2’s supremely light-weight design is a standout function. The hinge is produced from a titanium alloy that not solely retains it gentle however must also make the cellphone extra sturdy, in keeping with Honor. The corporate additionally claims the cellphone can face up to as much as 400,000 folds. That theoretically means the hinge will present 10 years of use (assuming 100 folds per day), though whether or not the versatile display itself would final that lengthy stays to be seen. CNET hasn’t been capable of independently confirm that declare. By comparability, Samsung says it is Galaxy Z Fold 5 can deal with round 200,000 folds.
The Magic V2 is simple to make use of when folded, as its 6.43-inch cowl display is much like the display dimension of a regular nonfolding cellphone. Its peak brightness of two,500 nits made it simple to observe movies in sunny environments, though not underneath direct daylight.
Inside, you may discover a 7.92-inch show with a crease that is barely noticeable. I needed to maneuver the cellphone to particular angles to even see the crease, which is spectacular. I watched movies and skim the information seamlessly with out the crease feeling intrusive. This can be a huge enchancment over the older Magic VS, its predecessor, which had a clearly seen line operating down the center.
The inside show of the Magic V2 was brilliant sufficient at 1,600 nits, making it simple to observe YouTube movies outdoor.
The Magic V2’s 5 cameras
The Magic V2 has 5 cameras. There is a 50-megapixel most important digital camera, 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and a 20-megapixel digital camera with a telephoto lens on the again of the cellphone. You can too use this trio to snap selfies because of the Magic V2’s foldable design, which allows the duvet display to perform as a viewfinder. There is a 16-megapixel digital camera on the duvet display and a second 16-megapixel digital camera underneath the show of the inside display. Check out the photographs under to see the cameras in motion.
Normally, photographs from the V2 are respectable however not one of the best you may get from a cellphone. Whereas photographs taken with brilliant gentle have been sharp and colourful, photos taken in indoor or low gentle environments appeared shadowy. However should you’re not a diehard photographer, the V2’s cameras ought to be simply high quality for taking snaps. CNET’s Patrick Holland reviewed the rival Galaxy Z Fold 5 cellphone final 12 months and located that whereas photos have been crisp in brilliant environments, the cellphone tended to oversaturate colours.
Foldable telephones’ cameras are typically a weak point in comparison with equally priced non-foldable telephones. You are primarily paying for the cellphone’s versatile show quite than for the sort of top-of-the-line cameras you discover on the Galaxy S24 Extremely, Pixel 8 Professional or iPhone 15 Professional Max.
Magic V2 battery and efficiency
Honor crammed a 5,000-mAh silicon carbon battery into the Magic V2’s slim and svelte body. In my expertise, the battery lasted all through the day after reasonable use: fast cellphone calls, social media scrolling, studying emails, watching YouTube movies and listening to music.
I ran a battery endurance take a look at during which I streamed a YouTube video for 3 hours on the cellphone’s inner display. In that point, the battery dropped from 92% to 77%, which is 15%. By comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 drained simply 10% and the Pixel Fold misplaced 24% of its battery once we had put these telephones by the identical endurance take a look at.
Because it was launched in 2023, the Magic V2 runs on final 12 months’s top-of-the-line processor from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. My take a look at cellphone might deal with nearly the whole lot I threw at it, together with graphic-intensive video games corresponding to Genshin Influence and operating Zoom video calls whereas taking notes. It is a disgrace Honor did not refresh the worldwide model with the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is powering new flagship telephones in 2024.
Efficiency exams
Telephone | Geekbench 6 single-core | Geekbench 6 multicore |
---|---|---|
Honor Magic V2 | 1,824 | 4,254 |
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 | 2,014 | 5,419 |
Google Pixel Fold | 1,458 | 3,540 |
OnePlus Open | 1,571 | 4,556 |
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 | 1,842 | 4,508 |
General ideas
General, I used to be impressed with the Magic V2 folding cellphone. It has slick {hardware} that makes Honor’s Magic V2 probably the most transportable book-style foldable cellphone I’ve ever used. Dimension and weight have been a disadvantage for book-style foldable telephones, and the Honor Magic V2 is a compelling try at fixing that. It is also backed up by high-end specs, together with a zippy processor, a flexible digital camera module with a telephoto lens, an inside display with a hard-to-find crease and quick charging. Nonetheless, for a cellphone of this value, I might anticipate it to run on the most recent model of Android and a processor from this 12 months. Moreover, the Magic V2 lacks some desired ending touches corresponding to an official IP score and wi-fi charging assist.
Honor’s Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Extremely
How we take a look at telephones
Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team is definitely utilized in the actual world. We take a look at a cellphone’s options, play video games and take photographs. We study the show to see if it is brilliant, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes, utilizing standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark in addition to our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and enjoying graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.
All of the cameras are examined in a wide range of situations, from brilliant daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like evening mode and portrait mode and evaluate our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life by utilizing the cellphone day by day in addition to operating a collection of battery drain exams.