Our Verdict
The Honor Magic V2 boasts incredible hardware, rivaling the top dogs in the foldable smartphone market while delivering decent software that is obviously inspired by iOS. However, a lack of quality-of-life features and a mediocre design make it hard to call the perfect foldable.
- Impressive hardware
- Great battery and charging speed
- Gorgeous display
- Affordable for a foldable
- MagicOS isn’t very customizable
- No IP rating
- Some minor design flaws
In 2019, with the release of Samsung’s first Z Fold smartphone, the market was uneasy about the hardware. And rightfully so, as the specs didn’t match the standard handsets that Samsung usually offers and the prices were high. However, there was enough interest in a foldable smartphone that Samsung has continued to launch new additions annually, with other competitors entering the ring.
While the foldable market still doesn’t come close to normal candybar smartphones, there’s more innovation than ever. Enter Honor, with its range of foldable smartphones, and despite the impending global launch of the Magic V3, the Honor Magic V2 is still a solid option that delivers great hardware. But, is it worthy of its expensive asking price, or our list of the best foldable phones? There’s only one way to find out.
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Price and availability
The Honor Magic V2 doesn’t hide the fact that it’s a luxury smartphone made for the big spenders, with a retail price of £1,699.99 (€1,999.99). That puts it around the same cost as Honor’s foldable competitors, like the Pixel Fold’s original price of £1749.99 and Fold 6’s £1,799.99 price tags. However, there’s only one storage and memory configuration, with the device offering 512GB and 16GB of RAM.
As for colors, the device comes in four: Black, Silk Black, Silk Purple, and Gold. I’m reviewing the one in Silk Purple, and it looks sleek yet bold, offering a similar luxury feel to some of the biggest smartphones in the world. Fortunately, with the impending release of the V3, you can pick up the Honor Magic V2 at a lower price of around £1,100 in the UK.
Unfortunately, the device is unavailable in the US. The Magic V2 launched back in 2023 in China, with an early 2024 release in Europe and the UK, but there’s no indication that the V2 or the V3 are coming to the US just yet. There are US Amazon listings, but they’re not official, so there’s always a slight risk.
Specs
Features and software
One of the major things you’ll need to adjust to if you decide to pick up the Magic V2 is the Honor’s OS. The review unit I’ve been testing is running MagicOS 7.2 with Android 13. On the surface, MagicOS feels like a good mix of Apple’s iOS and other Android software, like Samsung’s OneUI, but it doesn’t have the same quality control as the operating system on iPhones.
At the basic level, MagicOS uses a variety of touch-based gestures, unlike the standard navigation bar that other Android smartphones focus on. It also requires swiping at different parts at the top of the screen to access the notifications and control center menus, which will feel familiar to anyone transferring from an iPhone. However, MagicOS isn’t flawless.
While it’s a perfectly acceptable Android skin, MagicOS is notably less customizable than OneUI. Samsung’s various features within the Good Lock app make it easy to completely alter your smartphone’s look, while MagicOS doesn’t offer the ability to customize your Honor handset fully. And, despite the iOS-inspired design, MagicOS still stumbles to bring the same organic interactions, like having to go through settings to adjust the inside screen’s ratio on apps, to name just one example.
That being said, it’s hardly a huge problem. If the hardware and design of the Magic V2 entice you, MagicOS shouldn’t be a massive concern, especially for anyone moving from one Android to another. Fortunately, Honor is promising five years of security patches and four years of Android updates for the Magic V2, putting it in line with competitors. However, Android 14 will be taking up one of those major updates.
The impending MagicOS 8 should be out of beta soon, offering multiple design changes and improvements, including exclusive foldable updates. Of course, Honor is promising AI features as part of the update, which shouldn’t surprise anyone interested in technology right now, but we’re yet to see how much the new MagicOS version changes.
Design
Honor Magic V2’s most impressive design feature is its slender build. Boasting a 9.9mm thickness when folded, it’s one of the thinnest on the market, with only the upcoming Magic V3 beating it with a 9.2mm thickness. Either way, it’s a lot better than the Fold 6’s 12.1mm thick design, even if the Fold 6 feels a lot more comfortable to hold.
The Magic V2’s mix of materials gives it a luxurious and strong finish, even if the hinge isn’t as impressive as the one on the recently released Z Fold 6. The frosted back of the Silk Purple feels a bit slippery and paired with the large cover screen, it can feel vulnerable to falls. I haven’t tested dropping it myself, and I’m not going to. However, the sturdiness of the handset leads me to believe it can take some hits.
Speaking of materials, the hinge itself is reportedly made of titanium, with Honor testing the hinge strength with up to 400,000 folds, equating to around 100 times a day for 10 years. That said, it’s notably fluid with the review unit I received. It doesn’t stay up like my Fold 6 and feels too easy to fold open or shut, which may put some users off.
Unfortunately, that’s not the worst part. The Honor Magic V2 lacks an IP rating, meaning it has no protection against water or dust. Today, most handsets are usually IP68, and while foldable phones are unsurprisingly behind in IP ratings, the Fold 5 and Fold 6 are IPX8 and IP48, respectively, putting them ahead of Honor’s flagship folding smartphone.
Despite the issues, the Honor Magic V2 has a very sleek design. The overall quality feels superb, which is no surprise considering the price, and the buttons feel tactile and nice to press. I’m not keen on the large cover screen myself, as I prefer the Fold 6’s narrow front screen that resembles most basic handsets like the S24 or the iPhone 15, but it’s much nicer to look at and use than the unruly Pixel Fold’s cover.
Display
Speaking of the cover display, the Magic V2 boasts an impressive 6.43-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, gloriously showcasing the vibrant colors of the device. It can reach a peak brightness of up to 2,500 nits, which is more than enough to be usable even in direct sunlight. With the V2’s display, Honor has used drop-resistant nanocrystal glass that hopefully should stop the screen from smashing due to an unfortunate incident.
Inside, you get a 7.92-inch display with up to 1,600 nits of brightness, the same OLED screen, and a 120Hz refresh rate. The crease is still noticeable, especially when you run your finger over it, but it’s not obvious when looking straight at the inside screen. Neither screen is anything too special compared to rival foldables. Still, it’s impressive enough that I had a great experience with them, whether watching YouTube videos or playing the best mobile games.
Cameras
The Honor Magic V2 follows a similar pattern in foldable smartphones, where the cameras aren’t nearly as impressive as standard handsets. However, the trio of back cameras on the flagship are hardly disappointing, delivering well-lit images that look vivid and incredible.
While the shots are often beautiful and detailed, there are some unfortunate instances of oversaturation.
There’s clearly some great software, as the processed image looks much better than I expected when looking at the screen. The snaps of my new puppy, Leia, and the shots of the plants near where I live came out wonderfully, and I was seriously impressed. Unless you’re an amateur photographer, I doubt most people worry about needing the best smartphone cameras.
That being said, the front cameras aren’t great. No foldable smartphone delivers mind-blowing front-camera selfies, including the latest Galaxy Fold. However, much like the Fold lineup, you can actually use the Magic V2’s back cameras for selfies with the press of a button, giving you more impressive selfies than a candybar phone, in most cases.
Performance
While most flagships in 2024 feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Magic V2 comes with 2022’s 8 Gen 2, due to Honor first releasing the V2 in China in July 2023. However, despite the last-gen chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is still an impressive CPU, and it still performs superbly well despite being succeeded by the latest Qualcomm chip.
Firstly, I played Marvel Snap on the handset, and, unsurprisingly, I experienced no hiccups in performance whatsoever. Neither the cover screen nor the inside display had problems during gameplay, and the device was relatively cool throughout my hour of game time. It’s a similar story for Call of Duty Mobile, which has been available for a few years.
However, I had some problems with Zenless Zone Zero on the device. While the Magic V2’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is powerful enough to play Zenless Zone Zero without any frame drops, the game produces a lot of heat with the Magic V2, with the device getting fairly warm near the camera bump. It’s not as hot as it gets if you’re playing the gacha game on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it may lead to throttling after hours of playtime.
Of course, Honor’s flagship foldable had no issues running my standard social media apps, with the likes of Twitter and YouTube running without any problems, aside from the occasional Android bugs and mishaps that pop up from time to time. Most people would expect this from an expensive smartphone, but I wanted to test it to give it a full run-through on the device.
Battery
The Magic V2 is leagues above the battery life of its rivals, with the 5,000 mAh battery being much larger than the Fold 6 and Pixel Fold’s 4,400 mAh and 4,727 mAh capacities respectively. And, thanks to the silicon-carbon materials used in the production of the Magic V2’s battery, it stays remarkably light in weight compared to lithium-ion.
Unfortunately, the Magic V2 doesn’t support wireless charging. However, Honor’s flagship offers lightning-fast charging, with the Chinese manufacturer recommending that you purchase the 66W SuperCharge brick alongside it (unfortunately, it’s sold separately). If you get that, or a similarly powerful brick, expect your device to be up and running within an hour, from 0% to a full charge, with charging usually taking around the 45-minute mark.
As for the actual battery life of the device, I used the V2 from the moment I got up (about 6 AM) until the evening and still had around 25% left before I put it on charge at around 9 PM. Pairing an excellent battery capacity with fast charging means you’ll have almost no downtime without the device, which is seriously impressive.
Should you buy the Honor Magic V2?
If you’re interested in moving away from the heavy hitters in the industry like Apple, Google, or Samsung, the Honor Magic V2 is an excellent device. The performance is brilliant, despite the handset using a last-generation chipset. While a lack of wireless charging may make it difficult for some, the high 5,000 mAh capacity and rapid charging sweeten the deal.
That being said, there are a few reasons to avoid the Magic V2. Firstly, there’s the elephant in the room with the upcoming release of the V3 globally, bringing a thinner foldable with upgraded specs. And, if you’re typically enjoying the beach or have slippery hands, then the lack of an IP rating means you may want to look at other devices. The cameras aren’t the best in the industry but often offer better images than some folding competitors.
Alternatives
If our review of the Honor Magic V2 hasn’t quite sold you on Honor’s foldable flagship, here are some options that might suit you better:
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
While the Galaxy Z Fold 6 falls flat in some regards, like a smaller cover screen and battery capacity, Samsung’s impressive OneUI operating system and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 make this a great option as a first foldable smartphone or an upgrade. While it’s not a massive improvement over the Z Fold 5, it offers plenty of quality-of-life changes, including a higher IP rating, that make it worth picking up. Check out our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review for more details.
OnePlus Open
In recent years, OnePlus’ smartphones have become seriously impressive devices that are usually budget-friendly compared to the major players in the market. The OnePlus Open is another book-style foldable that delivers an impressive Android skin with OxygenOS. While the Magic V2 is thinner and has a larger battery capacity, the OnePlus Open’s US availability and faster charging rate of 67W, along with an IPX4 rating, make it a good option against Honor’s foldable. See our OnePlus Open review for the full lowdown.