Honor Magic V3 overview: skinny and light-weight

With its newest Magic V3 cellphone providing, Honor goals to make headway within the client foldable market. The corporate touts the V3 because the thinnest book-style foldable on the market, and it hasn’t been afraid to be vocal about that truth.

The foldable phone category is stronger than ever, with the likes of Samsung, Google, Motorola, OnePlus, and lots of different gamers on the worldwide stage. Honor is banking on the V3’s impressively skinny design in an effort to stand out from the gang, however has the corporate managed to ship the products?

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Honor Magic V3

Honor’s newest book-style foldable cellphone is extremely skinny and light-weight — extra so than many slab-style units.

Execs

• Skinny and light-weight
• Vivid show
• Loads of RAM and storage to work with

Cons

• Software program is not good
• Crease is minimal however nonetheless noticable
• No IP ranking for mud resistance

Value, availability, and specs

The vast majority of book-style foldable telephones are starting to settle right into a primary template in relation to their dimensions. Honor’s Magic V3 matches that invoice completely, with a canopy display screen that is formed and sized very like a traditional cellphone display screen, and an unfolded show that is near being a sq..

Extra particularly, the Magic V3’s OLED cowl show measures in at 6.43-inches and comes at a decision of 2376 x 1060 pixels. Against this, the interior OLED show measures in at 7.92-inches, with a decision of 2344 x 2156 pixels. Pixels are indiscernible at 402 pixels-per-inch on each shows, they usually additionally each include quick 120Hz refresh charges and stylus pen assist.

The precise dimensions of the cellphone are available in at 6.17 x 5.72 x 0.17-inches (156.6 x 145.3 x 4.35mm) when unfolded, and 6.17 x 2.91 x 0.36-inches (156.6 x 74.0 x 9.2mm) when folded. Mixed with its 7.97oz (226g) weight, the Magic V3 is a very skinny and light-weight system so far as foldables come.

Working the present is Qualcomm’s newest flagship cellphone processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. A 5150 mAh battery pack powers the unit, and 66W wired and 50W wi-fi charging are each current for fast prime up speeds.

The digicam array on the Magic V3 is much like different book-style foldables in the marketplace, with twin 20-megapixel f/2.2 selfie shooters, and a triple rear lens setup. These clock in at 50-megapixels at f/1.6 for the extensive angle lens, 50-megapixels at f/3.0 for the periscope telephoto lens, and 40-megapixels at f/2.2 for the extremely extensive shooter.

The Honor Magic V3 is obtainable in black, inexperienced, and reddish brown colorways, and is available in a single configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

What I appreciated concerning the Honor Magic V3

The V3 is thinner and lighter than many non-foldable telephones

As talked about, the spectacular mixture of thinness and lightness are what make the Magic V3 stand out from its friends. This has been a revelation for me, as I can go forward and use the system like a traditional cellphone once I need to, with none main compromise.

A giant a part of what makes the V3 really feel like a no-downside cellphone expertise, is Honor’s resolution to make the folded side ratio similar to some other trendy handset. The cellphone’s width is sweet and extensive, versus the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6‘s uncomfortably skinny footprint. I am a fan of the in-hand really feel, together with when unfolded. The interior show is a pleasure to make use of when on the sofa or mendacity in mattress, and I discovered the side ratio labored properly for me.

Construct high quality is one other excessive level, with the V3’s hinge design evoking the sense that this can be a well-built product. The system opens and closes satisfyingly, and each side of the construct feels premium throughout the board. The system’s rear is fabricated from laborious plastic versus glass, however it feels good and durable when paired with the steel aspect frames.

Maybe my favourite design consideration right here is Honor’s implementation of an ambient show mode, which it dubs Standby. If the identify wasn’t already a touch, this mode takes inspiration from Apple’s StandBy function, displaying a clock or different helpful widgets when the system is not actively in use. Honor’s implementation is triggered at any time when the cellphone is positioned in tent mode or in laptop computer mode, and I discover it to be an awesome perk when perching the cellphone on my work desk or nightstand.

Regardless of which orientation you might have the Magic V3 working in, there is no escaping the fantastic thing about the cellphone’s punchy shows. Having quick 120Hz refresh charges on each the interior and outer screens is a plus, as is digital pen assist. Honor is especially pleased with its new Eye Consolation Show expertise, which presents a few health-conscious additions to the show tech stack.

There’s an AI-infused Defocus Eyecare setting that makes use of under-the-hood myopic defocus stimulation tech, and it is supposed to alleviate the refractive state of your eyes over time. It is a function that is laborious to check or vouch for in its present state, sadly. For what it is value, I did not discover any distinction in show acuity when toggling the function on. One other addition is Extremely-high Frequency PWM Dimming, which Honor says will decrease display screen flickering to enhance eye consolation. In any case, I am a fan of Honor’s health-based initiative in precept right here.

The digicam expertise is fairly nice as properly — it does not fairly obtain Pixel or iPhone-level high quality underneath tough taking pictures circumstances, and that is most likely right down to post-processing and machine studying algorithms that may fortunately be up to date over time. I like that there is a periscope lens on board, and I by no means discovered myself wanting extra optical zoom past the three.5x vary the foldable is ready to ship.

Efficiency was constantly snappy, together with shutter pace when quickly taking motion pictures. The under-the-hood Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 actually packs a punch, touchdown a rating of 1,362 in single-core and 4,767 in multi-core within the Geekbench 6 benchmarking app. Even with the thermal constraints that come together with such a skinny cellphone chassis, the V3 by no means skips a beat.

Whereas I am usually not the largest fan of proprietary quick charging options, Honor’s resolution to bundle the 66W SuperCharge charging brick within the field is a consumer-friendly transfer that I admire. I do want that the adapter made use of USB-C versus USB-A, however that is neither right here nor there. Quick 50W wi-fi charging can also be supported, however you will must shell out the additional cash on a appropriate wi-fi charging base. For those who relaxation the Magic V3 on any outdated Qi charging pad, you will get a a lot slower price of someplace within the vary of between 5W and 15W.

Lastly, I actually loved utilizing the capacitive fingerprint sensor embedded within the V3’s sleep/wake button. I used to be impressed by how fast and correct it’s, even whereas being constrained to a really small floor space.

What I did not like concerning the Honor Magic V3

The software program pores and skin is not totally my cup of tea

Whereas the efficiency of the Magic V3 is silky clean, and I’ve little to complain about in relation to battery life, warmth administration, and display screen visibility, I do have one main gripe — Honor’s Magic OS pores and skin on prime of Android 14.

There’s nothing deal-breaking right here, however I discover myself eager for a extra Google-esque person interface. Honor liberally grafts many iOS-isms onto Android, which I by no means totally received used to.

Fortunately, bloatware is stored to a minimal out of the field, and the cellphone does not endure from the identical app and repair duplication points that proceed to plague Samsung’s Galaxy lineup. That being stated, I would want if TikTok, Instagram, and Reserving.com weren’t preloaded apps on the system.

Being 2024, there is a suite of on-board AI instruments included within the software program package deal. I discovered Magic Textual content to be helpful, which is a software that permits you to extract textual content from photos on display screen. Magic portal, then again, allows you to drag photographs and textual content throughout apps and companies. It really works properly, however it’s a slightly unremarkable function. I wasn’t capable of take a look at out Face-to-face translation throughout my time with the system, however I think about it would be helpful in a pinch.

Lastly, the Air Gestures fall squarely into the gimmick class. The function purports that can assist you navigate your cellphone by making varied hand gestures, and I discovered it to be hit and miss. I felt this fashion again when Samsung, LG, and Google all tried the idea in a method or one other, and I truthfully assume it is time to put the concept to relaxation.

The one {hardware} quibble I’ve with the V3 is its lack of a mud resistance ranking for some further peace of thoughts, however it’s a reasonably small criticism. The handset is licensed with an IPX8 ranking, which makes it immune to splashes of water and ingress of static contemporary water at 2.5 meters for as much as half-hour. In different phrases, you do not have to be afraid to tug out the V3 should you’re ever caught within the rain.

Must you purchase the Honor Magic V3?

The V3 is a superb system, however there’s stiff competitors from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus

Honor has crafted a wonderful cellphone within the Magic V3, and its engineering efforts needs to be applauded. The unbelievable thinness and light-weight physique of the system is an actual, real step up for the foldable cellphone class. I hope different cellphone makers (cough, cough, Samsung) observe in Honor’s footsteps right here and are available out with sleeker units within the close to future.

Efficiency on the Magic V3 is great, and its cameras are completely sufficient for each day utilization. My solely actual gripe with the cellphone’s person expertise is its MagicOS software program pores and skin sitting on prime of Android 14. I’ve grown accustomed to Google’s Pixel-based imaginative and prescient for Android, and Honor’s interface strays fairly removed from this template. As for the AI options, they’re cool in idea however considerably underwhelming in observe.

The Honor Magic V3 is a superb smartphone, and a very good foldable system. The software program expertise is not totally to my style, however I acknowledge that that is a matter of non-public desire — in any case, the system is silky clean in operation. There’s rising foldable competitors from others like Google and OnePlus, however the sheer thinness of the Magic V3 has me preferring it over these different units whereas out and about.

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Honor Magic V3