Honor Magic V2 hands-on review

Introduction

Honor just pulled the wraps off of what is their third-generation large foldable, even though the name may not be all that self-explanatory - the Magic V2 arrives to replace the Vs, which was a significant enough change from the original V to count as more than a mid-cycle refresh. We were invited to the Magic V2's announcement event in China and got to spend some time with early samples of the new foldable, and we have some initial impressions to share.

First things first, though. These being pre-production units of the Magic V2, they're not running anything close to commercial-grade firmware, so we will be limiting our observations to just the hardware (and there's plenty to look at).

Next in line is the matter of availability. Honor is not detailing international plans for the Magic V2 for now, but we are hopeful things might end up the Magic Vs way with a global launch a few months down the line. That's just us being ever so optimistic, though.

Now, on to the device itself for a quick rundown of the specs. Some of the most impressive numbers come from the dimensions and weight fields where the footprint is smaller than that of an iPhone 14 Pro Max, but, more importantly, so too is the weight - Honor has managed to shave off some 30g from the Vs' heft to bring the number to a properly impressive 231g (with some caveats depending on back panel material - but more on that later). The Magic V2 is also the first foldable of its kind to go below 10mm in thickness, if only barely.

The displays have gotten improvements across the board too. The internal one now supports up to 120Hz refresh rate (90Hz on the Vs), and maximum brightness is specified at 1600nits (800nits on the old model). The cover display's claimed brightness has been doubled, too - to 2500nits. Both are LTPO OLEDs, of course and feature 3840Hz PWM dimming. Diagonals remain unchanged at 7.92 inches on the foldable panel and 6.43 inches on the cover, but the aspects have been slightly tweaked.

The camera system has gotten some tweaks too. The rear setup now features two 50MP modules for main and ultrawide (somewhat of a sidestep from the Vs' 54MP+50MP arrangement), and a new 20MP telephoto that offers 2.5x zoom (the Vs had a more basic 8MP 3x unit). Two 16MP selfie cameras, one per display, complete the picture - now with f/2.2 apertures vs. the Vs' f/2.45 ones. We don't doubt the changes are in the right direction, but we'll still have to wait for a review unit to verify.

Honor Magic V2 specs at a glance:

• Body: 156.7x145.4x4.7/4.8mm unfolded, 156.7x74.0x9.9/10.1mm folded, 231g/237g; Glass front, eco leather or glass back, magnesium alloy frame, titanium alloy folding mechanism.
• Display: 7.92" Foldable OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2156x2344px resolution, 402ppi; Cover display: OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 6.43", 1060x2376px, 402 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Magic UI 7.2.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.0, PDAF; Telephoto: 20 MP, f/2.4, PDAF, OIS, 2.5x optical zoom.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.2; Cover camera: 16 MP, f/2.2.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+; Front camera: 4K@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 66W wired charging.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers; stylus support on both displays.

Honor also had much to say about the new silicon-carbon battery used in the Magic V2, touting its vastly improved energy density. We don't doubt it's at least partially responsible for the weight reduction, even though capacity has remained the same at 5,000mAh. The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset should help squeeze some more life out of it too.

That's more or less the basics covered; let's see what that Magic V2 is all about in the hand.