Honor Magic V2 launches with upgraded cameras and lightweight foldable design

Honor has announced the successor to its Magic V and Magic Vs, the aptly named Honor Magic V2, launching in China, with a global launch expected to follow later this year, possibly as the Magic V2?

The widely available Magic Vs has been one of the most affordable book-style foldable phones since it landed at the beginning of 2023, combining big, usable screens with plenty of storage while undercutting the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

The Vs’s cameras failed to wow us when we tested it, missing out on optical image stabilization (OIS), and the phone was considerably larger than some other folding phones launched in China, like the compact Oppo Find N2. 

Honor’s clearly kept one eye on the competition with its update, as the Honor Magic V2 addresses most of these first-gen limitations, weighing less than an iPhone 14 Pro Max and adding OIS to the camera mix.

Honor Magic V2 cameras

The Honor Magic V2’s triple rear camera setup includes a 50MP main camera with an f/1.9 lens and OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.0 lens, and an f/2.4, 20MP telephoto camera with OIS and a three times zoom.

There are two punch-hole selfie cameras, one in the cover screen and the other in the large, main display, and these clock in with 16MP resolution and f/2.2 aperture lenses.

While we don’t know what sensor array Honor has opted for, the added OIS and resolution bump from 8MP to 20MP for the telephoto camera all bode well for its latest foldable.

Light and bright

The Magic V2 fast becomes one of the lightest foldables around, weighing just 231g in its vegan leather flavor. That’s significantly lighter than an iPhone 14 Pro Max, which weighs a hefty 240g.

Available in glossy black, Silk Black, Silk Purple and Gold, the phone’s profile is 9.9mm thin – currently the thinnest of any book-style foldable – and it sports a titanium hinge, so it should be secure as well as svelte.

As for the all-important displays, you might think that this lighter weight might mean smaller screens, but the V2 almost matches the Honor Magic Vs’s offering like-for-like, with its 6.43-inch front display and a 7.92-inch main display.

Better than the ample size of the screens, the front and main screen of this foldable enjoy the same 120Hz refresh rate, identical pixel densities – 402 pixels-per-inch (PPI), and similarly beaming peak brightness of 1600 nits from the main display, and 2500 nits from the cover screen.

Honor’s also carried forward its eye care, as championed on its other phones, including the Honor Magic 5 Pro and the recently tested 200MP midrange champ, the Honor 90. That means in addition to 3840Hz PWM dimming, the phone has passed the VICO visual comfort test with a rating of A+, and it’s TÜV Rheinland circadian-friendly certified.

The rest looks good too

With its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 power, 16GB RAM and either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage, gamers should have a great time loading Honor’s Magic V2 choc-full of triple-A titles. 

Thanks to 66W fast charging and a large 5000mAh battery, topping it up shouldn’t leave you waiting around, and while it charges, you can enjoy stereo sound from its dual speakers. 

Should the phone launch in the UK and other Western markets, users can look forward to full Google Play Store access, as we’ve come to expect from Honor devices since the brand parted ways with Huawei. 

So if you’re in the market for a foldable and haven’t settled on one just yet, with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 expected to drop at the end of July and OnePlus foldable leaks popping up online, 2023 looks set to be an exciting year. And if you can’t wait, the incredibly capable Huawei Mate X3 is on hand right now, albeit with no Google services, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is still the most durable foldable on the block.

Find out more about the best flip phones and best fold phones in our guide. Or you can find out which are our favorite phone cameras in our guide to the best camera phones or the best Android phones.