Honor’s Magic V6 packs a three-fold design

On paper, the Honor Magic V6 looks like a huge leap forward for foldable phones: It’s super thin, has a super-large battery, and is super waterproof. In fact, it’s only the larger battery that feels like a meaningful change. Some additions are slightly better than the previous ones.

This is not entirely a problem for Honor. It’s getting harder to make a foldable phone stand out; even last year’s offerings sounded like complete phones. Pura X Max for Huawei he was known for his new look, which we hope to see both Samsung and apple repeat later this year. So there is three timeswhich sounds like a different beast. But Android notebooks have grown in popularity, now they can go toe-to-toe with popular smartphones in almost any way.

Honor has been one of the manufacturers that is pushing the curved front very hard, so it has earned the right to release a phone with a slightly curved design. I just wish the company would have done more to update the software, as MagicOS is still the main thing that is bringing Magic V6 back.

Magic V6 it was launched at the MWC trade show in February. At the time, it was only sold in China; it has taken until now for Honor to start releasing it worldwide. Call now sold in Malaysia and Singaporewhich costs RM 7,699 (about $1,930). Many countries, including the UK and Europe, are due to follow suit by the end of this month.

It’s best to start with just three phone basics, even if it’s too much. For starters, it’s the world’s thinnest folder, 4mm thick when unfolded, and 8.75mm when folded (well, the white version is – some models are slightly thicker than 9mm). Closed, not thicker than iPhone 17 Pro Maxwhich is a real act. But it is 0.05mm thinner than that The previous generation Honor Magic foldable. That’s about the width of a human hair, so I think it’s safe to say that we’re in some pretty rough territory here.

The Magic V6 is also the first foldable phone with an IP69 rating, meaning it’s dustproof and can survive high-speed, high-temperature water jets. This means that the V6 has better dust protection than the V5’s IP59 and can survive the IP68 water exposure. Pixel 10 Pro Fold I can’t, but the results are minimal. I can’t say that I run into high-speed jets with my phone in hand very often, but even so, the extra peace of mind is welcome.

The most important of the three additions is the battery, which is now 6,660mAh thanks to the improved silicon-carbon cells (although China will get a larger version of 7,150mAh). That’s bigger than any foldable phone out there and a decent jump from the Magic V5’s 5,820mAh capacity. And it pays off. The V5 can last a day and then another, but I’ve been using the V6 comfortably for two days at a time, charging it every other night, and I struggle to see how even a heavy user could run this thing in a day. This, for the most part, feels like a meaningful change.

Elsewhere things are boring, but that’s because I take them for granted in color folders. Of course Magic V6 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Of course it offers up to 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Of course it also includes wireless charging (but, of course, it doesn’t support Qi2). Of course it has dual 120Hz OLED displays and a triple rear camera and support for a stylus. These things are not expected anymore, they are to think.

However, as foldable phones have progressed, there are some drawbacks. The camera is still great. The triple rear camera here is excellent and probably the best in any foldable bar Oppo Find N6. But, like the phone, the camera system here lags behind the most advanced phones, which are stored with small sensors that reduce light capture, high saturation in many shots, and color variation. Summary: The camera is good, but not perfect, and this is one of the biggest things you can do with any foldable phone.

The crease is another, of course. The V6 is subtle, but nowhere near hard to spot almost invisible on Oppo’s latest. And then there is durability. Yes, there is an IP69 rating, but it is still fragile: the hinge is weak, the inner screen is soft, and it is difficult to protect it fully with a case. Outside of China, Honor can’t compare to repairing and supporting Samsung devices, so you may have a hard time if it breaks.

Then there are programs. The good news is that Honor promises seven years of OS and security updates, two more than Oppo and what Google and Samsung offer. The downside is that Honor’s MagicOS is one of my favorite Android skins. The UI is clunky (and heavily inspired by Apple’s Liquid Glass), Honor carries the phone with its apps, and multitasking isn’t as powerful or smart as Oppo’s. I love using other versions of the Android OS, and the software is the main reason why the Oppo Find N6 remains my favorite.

We don’t know exactly what the rumored foldable iPhone will deliver, or the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for that matter. But Apple is entering a mature market, and I have to give credit to Honor as one of the companies that has made sure that is the case. Over the past few years its magic foldables have pushed the limits of foldable design and battery capacity over and over again, and the Magic V6 is the culmination of hardware progress, even if Honor has abandoned its software side. This is an interesting, full-fledged twist, but all the lifting is starting to get boring. Let’s see if Apple can make things fun again.

Photography by Dominic Preston/The Verge