Honor Magic V3 review: something magical this way folds

The Honor Magic V3 makes a striking first impression. Not just because my review unit is the version finished in a golden brown that would bring flashbacks to The Stranglers fans, but due to the sheer size of the camera unit on the back edge.

But really this is all about slimness. While other manufacturers still struggle to break the 10mm barrier, the Magic V3 is a super-slender 9.2mm. That’s little thicker than a typical standard phone. Sure, there’s a great lump of a camera unit on the rear to spoil the lines, but there is ample compensation.

Picture glory: Honor Magic V3 photography

Above: a selection of photos from the Honor Magic V3

One reason I’ve hesitated to recommend folding phones to friends in the past is the cameras. The Honor Magic V2 was pretty good, but the V3 blows it out of the park in terms of quality, zoom and software.

By software, I’m really talking about the Harcourt filters. Switch to Portrait mode in the Camera app and you can choose between Harcourt Vibrant, Harcourt Colour and Harcourt Classic. I was genuinely stunned by how effective the photos were.

Harcourt effects only work with the main rear camera, but that’s the joy of a foldable phone: activate the rear screen and you can take a selfie with it.

The other great thing about this camera setup is that it’s so flexible. The main 50MP camera offers a highly effective 3.5x optical zoom, and Honor complements that with a 50MP wide and 40MP ultrawide camera.

One of the reasons why I’ve kept hold of my Huawei P30 Pro for so long was its amazing camera, and even though it had a 5x optical zoom I’m finally convinced to put it away in a drawer. I’ll keep using the Magic V3 until Honor asks for it back.

A double-screen experience

Day to day, you’ll mostly be using the front screen. This is one reason why I prefer Honor’s implementation to both the Pixel Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6. It’s a tiny fraction slimmer than a normal phone, but I genuinely never notice this in normal use. That’s quite an achievement.

The actual quality isn’t special, but I don’t mean that in a critical way. It’s just that all OLED panels, particularly on high-end phones like this, are cut from the same high-quality cloth. Colours pump, it’s easy to read in bright sunshine and I found no issues with colour accuracy.

Personally, I only switch to the unfolded screen when there’s a specific reason. (One of the joys of the slim Magic V3 is that you almost forget it’s there.) For instance, I’ve watched YouTube videos, used it as a quasi second screen to hold reference information whilst I’m tapping away on my laptop, and read Kindle books.

Perhaps I would be tempted more often if Honor had invested the same time and money in supporting software as Samsung, but here it still feels like it’s playing catch-up. One nice touch is that Honor laptop owners can extend their screen across to the Magic V3, but that’s about all that stands out.

Speed and battery life

Honor packs a 5,150mAh battery into the Magic V3, and if you don’t use it aggressively that will be enough to last a day. But I have been using this phone aggressively, and that means I tended to top it up before heading out in the evening.

Fortunately, it supports 66W wired charging and that means you can get it from zero to full within an hour. And with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside, the fastest currently available for Android phones, you can be confident this will stay a speedy phone for years.

Honor Magic V3 review: wear and tear

I’ve only been using the Magic V3 for two weeks, and so far it’s survived life in my pocket without scratches. It helps that Honor doesn’t use a metal or glass rear, instead opting for vegan leather. Which, incidentally, everyone I’ve showed this phone to has loved.

People obviously worry about hinges, but Honor is confident here. And rightly so, in my view. It not only feels robust, but has the tested numbers to back it up from independent testing outfit SGS: they reckon it can be folded 500,000 times. You’d need to fold it 30 times per day for 13 years to reach that number.

Honor claims the hinge is made from “super steel”, while the “aerospace special fibre” it uses for the main body is twice as strong as steel. We’ll only know for sure in a few years, of course, but there are reasons to be confident.

This resistance to wear and tear extends to the screens, with the inner panel protected by an impact-resistant silicone gel. “When you drop your phone,” I was told at a briefing, “the gel immediately becomes solid to protect your phone”. That’s in addition to a coating to protect against scratches.

The outer screen? That’s protected by, wait for it, an “Honor anti-scratch nanocrystal shield”. Apparently, this involves more than 4,000 layers of silicon nitrate, and SGS has given it a five-star rating.

There’s also great water resistance, up to 2.5 metres, but no dust resistance. But no folding phones offer dust resistance yet.

Honor Magic V3: early verdict

If you’re reading TechFinitive then the chances are that you’re thinking about a phone for business use. And there is an argument for this folding phone.

First, it’s versatile. You may only use the internal screen occasionally, but if you’re trying to read through a long PDF report or grapple with a spreadsheet then it’s a halfway house between a phone and a tablet. It’s also great as a navigation aid.

Plus, if you want to show people that you’re on the cutting edge of technology, trust me when I say that the Honor Magic V3 will have the desired effect. It’s also a great conversation starter in meetings or networking events.

The obvious downside is price.

How much is the Honor Magic V3?

You can buy the Honor Magic V3 in three different colours: Reddish Brown, Green and Black. It’s available right now from honor.com/uk, O2, Three, Amazon, Argos and Very. EE and Vodafone will add them to their roster of phones soon.

Prices start at £1,699 in the UK. Not cheap, but it still compares well to Samsung and Google. Honor is also sweetening the deal for Brits buying from a retail partner, by including a pair Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX headphones worth £549 – for a limited time only.

However, if you buy the Magic V3 from honor.com/uk then you can claim £300 off via a discount code – taking the price to £1,399. You’ll also receive an Honor Magic-Pen, speedy 66W charger and six months of added screen protection cover.