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Honor Magic V3 Review

Honor's confident smartphone sequel is a real head-turner, setting new standards for what to expect from a foldable flagship.
Ernest Doku author headshot
Written by Ernest Doku, Broadband and mobiles expert
Updated on 1 November 2024
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Honor Magic V3 Lead Image

Honor Magic V3 pros and cons

  • Ultra-slim, water-resistant design.

  • Impressive battery life and speedy charging.

  • Vivid displays with stylus-ready setup.



  • A bit of bloatware.

  • Room for app optimisation in foldable form.

  • Pricey device, but a lot for your money.

The Honor Magic V3 confidently strides into the foldable scene, showing off a seriously slim, lightweight design that does not skimp on either durability or performance.

With its vibrant duo of screens, advanced camera setup and long-lasting battery, this phone stands up tall against the established elite.

If you’re after a pocketable tablet experience that’s sleek and functional in equal measure, the Magic V3 is here to more than serve.

Design and specifications

At first glance, the Magic V3 immediately whispers rather than clamours for attention - it’s an unfathomably thin and beautifully designed phone full stop, let alone for a foldable device.

We’re talking a world-beating 9.2mm closed and a remarkable 4.35mm when open - frankly ridiculous when compared to current competition.

It's equally light, tipping the scales at just 226 grams - although that just for the black model, other colour variants add a couple of grams of opulence to reach 230g.

Somehow Honor has still managed to pack a whole lot into this narrow form factor, where aerospace grade fibres - another smartphone first - and NanoCrystal glass on the cover screen shield from drops and scrapes, both of which lend a solid, yet luxurious feel.

This resilience extends to the expansive inner screen, touting a hardiness 5 times that of a traditional protective screen cover - all the more reassuring given its price tag.

The all-important hinge is smooth, sturdy and has a reassuring heft when unfurled, making it a pleasure to open and close.

With an IPX8 rating, the device can handle accidental spills and even a quick dunk, surviving fresh water submergence of up to 2.5 metres for half an hour.

However, a lack of dust resistance means that if you’re a beach lover you’ll want to take extra care, or use the immaculately slick protective case provided.

Honor’s colour variants - Black (our model in for review at Uswitch), Green and an opulent Reddish Brown / Gold - vibrant twists on the typical staid options available to foldable fans, although they are awfully similar to the trio of hues the rival OnePlus Open is available in...

The difference in appearance of each almost give the air of bespoke trims for a sports car - each unique and evocative in different ways.

Mention has to be made of the camera's gorgeous octagonal housing - unmistakably inspired by the iconic angles of Audemars Piguets' Royal Oak wristwatches.

Honor are certainly not the only manufacturer to be taking design cues from the exacting levels of craftsmanship and detail of high-end timepieces,and the Magic V3's influences are entirely apparent when looking at its shapely rear.

So all in all a beautiful handset, whose svelte form and lightweight chassis entirely masks both its versatility and foldable nature.

Display and audio quality

The dual displays are an unmitigated triumph for foldable fans.

The 6.43-inch cover screen is perfect for daily use - the 20:9 aspect ratio and 2376 x 1060 resolution is perfect to avoid any usability issues or compromises, leaving you free to use the Magic V3 as one might a standard smartphone.

However, when the 7.92-inch inner display presents itself, a world of multitasking options open up, giving you a full-blown tablet experience on the go, raising the resolution to 2344 x 2156.

Both displays utilise OLED technology and offer up to silky 120Hz refresh rates, making the core tasks of gaming, video streaming, and browsing all feel fluid and responsive.

Plus, the displays are vivid, with rich colour accuracy and impressive brightness to make for an immersive - and cinematic - viewing experience.

Honor includes eye-care features like high-frequency PWM dimming and low blue-light emissions to reduce strain during longer sessions.

Support for Honor's Magic Pen stylus on both sets of screens serves up a welcome an added productivity boost, though this is available separately.

Audio, while clear, doesn’t quite deliver the deeper bass you might expect from a flagship foldable despite support for DTS:X Ultra surround sound, so it’s something to keep in mind if you’re a music lover - a small concession given wins elsewhere.

One important point to note is the incredibly subtle haptic feedback might feel a tad underwhelming; the vibrations are so faint you may wonder if it’s turned off altogether - a minor drawback for those who enjoy the extra tactile response of a touchscreen.

Camera performance

Honor hasn’t held back in the camera department, equipping the Magic V3 with a versatile 'Falcon' triple-camera setup that’s ready for all sorts of snapping scenarios.

The star here is the 50-megapixel main wide-angle sensor, which boasts a huge f/1.6 aperture.

This camera produces high-resolution photos that pop with detail and vibrancy, even in low-light settings.

Thanks to the large aperture, it captures more light, reducing noise in dim environments and delivering clear, dynamic shots.

The camera is also equipped with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) so you can rely on sharp, steady images even in challenging conditions.

Next up is another 50-megapixel effort, this time a periscope telephoto lens with an f/3.0 aperture, offering 3.5x optical and awesome 100x digital zoom.

This is the lens for all your close-up and long-distance needs, capturing detail-rich photos from afar and without the noise or degradation one might expect.

Last but certainly not least is a 40-megapixel, f2/2 aperture ultrawide lens, ideal for capturing a broader field of view for landscapes or group shots.

The rear camera system impressively supports 4K video recording at 60fps across all three lenses, making it a solid choice for high-quality video enthusiasts.

The smooth, stabilised footage, even in motion, ensures you’ll capture memories clearly and without shaking.

Selfie fans can also rejoice at the 20-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture - no slouch at capturing the perfect portrait.

It handles video calls well, offering clear detail and 4K video at 30fps—ideal for high-resolution content.

It wouldn't be an Honor phone if there wasn't one more flourish of AI wizardry this time their Motion Sensing Capture and Studio Harcourt portrait mode, give professional-level colour grading and refined lighting that highlights facial features.

Performance and software

The Honor Magic V3 packs Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor alongside 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, giving it ample horsepower for multitasking, gaming and everyday productivity.

Apps load quickly, and the phone handles heavy-duty tasks with ease on its large, immersive inner display.

Whether you’re leaping between multiple apps running in tandem or running graphics-heavy games, the Magic V3 delivers smooth, reliable performance that more than matches frontrunners in the foldable field.

Running on Android 14 with Honor’s custom MagicOS 8.0, the software experience is full of considered touches.

Honor has built a user-friendly experience around Google’s ecosystem, meaning all your familiar apps like Gmail, Maps, and Photos are deeply integrated and instantly accessible - unlike Huawei's current run of devices.

MagicOS 8.0 overlays smart features which learns your routines and preloads frequently used apps at the times you’re most likely to need them - a bit of AI magic keeps things efficient without being intrusive.

Another highlight is Magic Portal, a digital hub which lets you drag and drop content - photos, links, text - across apps for a workflow that’s simple and intuitive, especially on the immense inner display.

It’s perfect for productivity, complete with an app taskbar that serves up something close to a mini-desktop experience.

Battery management and background app performance are also enhanced with AI, helping to optimise resources automatically and extend battery life in the background, leaving you to focus on what matters most.

These subtle tweaks make day-to-day use feel smooth and efficient.

While MagicOS brings a lot to the table, it does come with some pre-installed apps that could feel redundant, especially given Google’s already robust suite of tools.

Many of these can simply be removed to streamline your experience, and it’s worth taking a bit of time to tidy up if you prefer a cleaner interface.

Honor promises four years of OS updates and five years of security patches, which keeps the Magic V3 competitive, though it doesn’t quite match the longest support cycles on the market.

However, given the Magic V3's deep integration of Google services - including Circle to Search - useful AI-driven features, and the latest iteration of Android, the Magic V3’s software experience is both practical and polished in equal measure.

Sample image of Tower Bridge from the Magic V3.

Battery and charging

Battery life is a major win for the Magic V3. With a hefty 5150mAh battery, this foldable keeps you powered through a full day of heavy use, from video streaming to gaming to browsing.

The inner display alone can handle over 21 hours of video playback while using the outer screen more conservatively can stretch your battery life even further.

Charging options are equally impressive, with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging speeds that let you power up quickly.

The phone reaches full charge in under an hour with wired charging, though you’ll need to purchase the 66W charger separately to get the fastest speeds.

Wireless charging is among the quickest available for a foldable, and important to note the device stays remarkably cool while charging throughout thanks to a titanium vapour chamber - particularly when unfolded for efficient heat dissipation.

Honor Magic V3 UK pricing

Retailing for a firmly premium £1,699 at time of writing, Honor's Magic V3 is every bit the flagship foldable smartphone.

Thankfully a deluge of discounts - from a £300 voucher immediately drawing the price down to £1,399, as well as a free Honor Band 9 smartwatch, X6 Earbuds, a SuperCharge 100W power adapter and six months of screen protection cover for peace of mind - all available via the Honor Store - make things that much more palatable.

Network pricing is closer to £50 per month, still within that top tier, but it's entirely apparent what that cost is getting you.

Compare Honor phone deals

Compare and choose from a range of Honor smartphone deals

Verdict

The Honor Magic V3 is nothing short of an incredible entrant to the fierce foldable market, and a definitive statement of the Chinese manufacturer's intention to continue to fly far beyond its 'youth brand' roots.

With its ultra-thin form, durable build and battery efficiency, this device is pricey, yet perfect for professionals, creatives, and multitaskers alike.

Though it has a few quirks and room for refinement on the software side, the Magic V3 more than cements its place as the best foldable on the market today.

For anyone ready to dive into the world of multi-form smartphones, the Magic V3 has more than enough style, power, and battery life to keep up with you.

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