“The best foldable phone camera, incredible battery life, and phenomenal screens all mean the world's thinnest folding phone is among the best, as long as you live in a country where it's sold.”
- Ultra-thin design
- Outstanding screens
- Fantastic battery life
- Best folding phone camera
- 7 years of guaranteed updates
- Stylus support on both screens
- Elite performance from Qualcomm
- Varying thickness between colors
- Lack of global availability
- Multitasking could be improved
- Runs Android 15, not Android 16
Instant Insight
The start of July saw the launch of not one, but two, brand-new ultra-thin folding phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was launched on July 9 and measures 4.2mm thick, which would have made it the world’s thinnest folding phone had Honor not launched the Magic V5 a week earlier.
Measuring 4.1mm thick, the Honor Magic V5 is the world’s thinnest folding phone, at least the white version I’m reviewing is. The Magic V5 is impressively thin, especially considering it features a better camera, a larger battery, and faster charging than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7.
However, there’s no escaping physics, and a fantastic triple camera — complete with periscope telephoto — plus an ultrathin phone can only mean one thing: a camera bump. There’s no escaping the thickness and camera bump of the Honor Magic V5, which has a ridged ring design but can be unwieldy.
The pursuit of the thinnest phone title also means the white version lacks any features that could add grip. Although Honor deserves commendation for including a beautiful case in the box, this case makes the phone feel much larger than it should.
Despite these concerns, there’s no denying that the Honor Magic V5 is among the best folding phones you can buy. I prefer the boxier, more symmetrical design of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 — and the 200MP main camera — but Honor’s ultrawide and telephoto cameras, as well as its battery and charging capabilities, are all significantly better.
Honor also proved that being thin is no reason to remove features, as there’s support for the Honor Pen stylus on both displays, where the Galaxy Z Fold 7 removed S-Pen support from the sole-supported main display. Simply put, the Honor Magic V5 is a fantastic folding phone, especially considering the price.
It’s also worth noting that the Honor Magic V5 won’t be sold in the US — although it may be available from third-party sellers — but it will be available in the UK, where it’s priced at £1,699, £100 lower than the Galaxy Z Fold 7. If you have a choice between these two, the Honor Magic V5 would be a worthy winner.
Honor Magic V5 Specs
| Measurements | Unfolded: 156.8 x 145.9 x 4.1 mm or 4.2 mm Folded: 156.8 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm or 9.0 mm Weight: 217 grams |
| Display | Main: 7.95-inch LTPO AMOLED1-120Hz, HDR 5000 nits peak brightness 2172 x 2352 pixels (404 ppi) Cover display: 6.43-inch OLED, 120Hz, HDR 5000 nits peak brightness 1060 x 2376 pixels (404 ppi) |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Elite (3 nm) |
| RAM / Storage | 12GB RAM / 256GB 16GB RAM / 512GB 16GB RAM / 1TB |
| Camera | Wide: 50MP, f/1.6, 23mm, PDAF, OIS Ultrawide: 50MP, f/2.0, 120°, Autofocus Telephoto: 64MP, f/2.5, 70mm, 3x optical zoom |
| Selfie Camera | Main screen: 20MP, f/2.2 Cover screen: 20MP, f/2.2 |
| Battery | 5,820 mAh |
| Charging | 66W wired 0-100% in 55 mins 50W wireless 5W reverse wireless |
| Software | Android Version: Android 15 Interface: MagicOS 9 Software updates: 7 years Security updates: 7 years |
| Colors | Black Ivory White Dawn Gold Reddish Brown |
| Price | UK: £1,699 EU: €1,999 |
The world’s thinnest folding phone has a stunning design
I love the current trend of ultra-thin folding phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has captured the attention, but the Honor Magic V5 is even thinner. Measuring 4.1mm thick, the white version of the Honor Magic V5 is 0.1mm thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Oppo Find N5, but three grams heavier than Samsung’s folding phone. However, these differences are mostly negligible, and the Magic V5 feels equally impressive in the hand.
While the phone is impressively thin, the outstanding camera means there’s also a sizable camera bump, which can make the Magic V5 feel top-heavy. The matte rear finish of the white version can be slightly slippery; thankfully, the included case provides the necessary grip, and a kickstand is built into the camera ring, albeit at the expense of thickness and in-hand feel.
The corners are more rounded than Samsung’s design choice for the Galaxy Z Fold 7. While the latter is far more comfortable than in previous years, it can still cause discomfort in the palms of your hands. However, the rounded corners on the Honor Magic V5 are more akin to those of the Oppo Find N5 and Pixel 10 Pro, and are less likely to dig into your palms.
The hinge on the Honor Magic V5 feels fantastic, but requires less force to open than the Galaxy Z Fold 7. This is a welcome change, as it addresses a key criticism of Samsung’s latest folding phone. I have no concerns about durability, as the Magic V5 also holds a world record for suspending 104kg free weights from its hinge.
The Honor Magic V5 is strong, light, and fearless. It’s only IP59 splash resistance — and not the full IP68 dust and water resistance rating of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold — but this phone is more than sufficient to withstand daily life. Yes
The Magic V5 has a fantastic folding phone camera
You’ll want it to be durable enough to do so, as you’ll often be shooting photos with its outstanding triple camera. It’s the best smartphone camera on a folding phone yet, and on par with many of the best phones. Simply put, the Honor Magic V5 proves that being thin doesn’t mean compromising on the camera.
The 50MP main camera and the 50MP ultrawide lens both take outstanding photos, with the latter being the best of any mainstream folding phone. Without a doubt, however, the best feature is the periscope telephoto camera, which offers 3x optical zoom, 6x hybrid zoom, and up to 100x zoom, the latter being heavily influenced by AI.
Until the Magic V5, each ultra-thin folding phone featured at least one compromise in the camera. The Oppo Find N5 only features an 8MP ultrawide camera, whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold both prioritize the ultrawide and telephoto lenses.
Yes, the Magic V5 requires a compromise in size and in-hand feel to achieve this, but it nonetheless sets a new benchmark for folding phone cameras. I hope that Google and Samsung follow with improvements to their next folding phones, while I’d love to see Oppo include the excellent 50MP ultrawide camera from the Oppo Find X8 Ultra.
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Overall, the Honor Magic V5 sets a new benchmark for overall camera performance amongst rivals available in Western markets. Phones such as the Vivo X Fold 5 can match the Magic V5, but they have a significantly constrained release in comparison to the Magic V5’s broader availability.
Honor Magic V5 offers Elite performance from Qualcomm
Unlike its recent cousin, the Honor Magic V Flip 2, the Magic V5 is powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that also powers many of the best Android phones.
The ultra-thin body limits the phone’s thermal management capabilities, resulting in significantly reduced performance compared to non-folding phones with the same chipset. This is a byproduct of the power requirements of this SoC, and a challenge also faced by many of the best folding phones.
The Honor Magic V5 does run a little hotter than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 under similar daily workloads, but it hasn’t reached a point where it’s uncomfortable or impossible to hold. The vibration motor has been improved, but it still lags behind the competition.
The call quality is excellent, and it performed fairly well when used in the US and the UK. However, it’s worth noting that it lacks support for some of the bands necessary for all US carrier LTE and 5G features to work like other phones.
The Honor Magic V5 has outstanding battery life
This is where the Honor Magic V5 truly shines, and it shows exactly why companies like Samsung, Apple, and Google will eventually and inevitably adopt Silicon Carbon battery technology.
Despite being 0.1mm thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Honor Magic V5 features a 5,820 mAh battery that’s 32% larger than the one found in the Galaxy Z Fold 7. This is a feat of engineering, delivering battery life to spare, whether you’re using the Cover screen or the main display.
During my time with it, the Honor Magic V5 regularly delivered multi-day battery life, even with heavy usage. The battery life is slightly better than the Oppo Find N5, and considerably better than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which lasts just longer than a full day of heavy usage.
The 66W charging is also fantastic, and the Honor Magic V5 charges to full in just under 50 minutes. This is almost twice as fast as the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which takes nearly 90 minutes to recharge fully. The Magic V5 also features 50W wireless charging when used with a compatible case, and I look forward to testing this out in the near future.
The Magic V5 demonstrates that a thin phone can have a fantastic battery, and I hope we’ll eventually see Samsung, Apple, and Google utilize Silicon Carbon in their folding phone batteries if it yields battery life comparable to this.
Software needs refinement, even with stylus support
The Honor Magic V5 delivers the experience that you’d hope for from a contender for the best folding phone title.
There are several improvements around multitasking, and Honor deserves commendation for including Honor Pen stylus support on both displays, especially considering the Galaxy Z Fold 7 removes all support, even though past Samsung foldables supported the S-Pen on the main display.
However, the Honor Magic V5 lacks some of the deeper multitasking features that you’ll find on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and it also lacks the system-level support for multitasking provided by Android 16. Instead, the Magic V5 runs Android 15 with MagicOS 9 on top, although the Android 16 update is planned for the near future, and will be the first of seven updates to the next Android version.
Honor’s software is considerably better than it was years ago, and having used it as my daily device, there’s nothing egregious that stands out. However, with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold offering Material 3 Expressive UI, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 running the new One UI 8, Honor’s software is beginning to appear in need of a refresh.
The Magic V5’s software is sophisticated and stylish, and offers all the core features you need in a folding phone.
Should you buy the Honor Magic V5? ‘
You should buy it if…
- You want the best folding phone camera
- You live in a country where it’s officially sold and supported
- You want a folding phone with stylus support on both screens
You should not buy it if…
- You live in the US, mainly for network compatibility and support
- You want a lot of available cases and accessories
- You want a folding phone with the best multitasking
