A foldable smartphone that feels like a regular phone.
We have seen quite a few foldable smartphones announced this year, but one of them easily stands out. The device in question is the HONOR Magic V3, and that’s the best foldable smartphone of 2024 in our eyes. This handset was announced back in July in China, while it took HONOR much less time to deliver it to global markets, compared to the Magic V2. The global variant was announced in September during IFA 2024 and was made available not long after that. With that being said, let’s see what makes this phone so special.
Unbelievably thin and light for a foldable of this size
The design is definitely one of the major advantages of this foldable phone. The HONOR Magic V3 is, as we speak, the thinnest and lightest book-style foldable smartphone in the market. Its predecessor kind of felt like a regular smartphone in the hand, and this phone pushed the ante even higher. When closed, it actually feels like a regular phone in the hand. Needless to say, that is great, and something that all foldable phones should strive towards. It is only 9.2-9.3mm thick when folded (depending on the model), and 4.35-4.4mm thick when unfolded.
It’s not all about the thickness either. The HONOR Magic V3 with a vegan leather back weighs 226 grams, while the glass back model weighs 230 grams. That’s also fairly light for a foldable phone of its size. There are regular slab phones out there that are heavier than this, a lot of them, actually. It’s really difficult to explain, you have to actually hold and use the phone to be able to truly appreciate the craftsmanship here. HONOR paid extra attention to the curves on the phone too, to make it curve in all the right places so that it feels like a regular phone when folded.
The cameras have been improved drastically, and fast wireless charging has been added
The design is a big part of it, but HONOR also improved the camera setup on this phone drastically compared to its predecessor. That was one of the things that surprised us the most. The camera hardware improved, yes, but the end results have improved drastically. That is especially true for the main and (periscope) telephoto cameras. The images that come out of the phone are well-balanced. They’re vivid, and yet not too processed. The dynamic range is great, and the performance in low light is also very good. It’s easily one of the best camera setups in any foldable to date.
Despite the fact how thin the phone is, HONOR also managed to enlarge the battery on the inside. There is a 5,150mAh battery pack included here, not to mention that rather fast wireless charging has been added. 66W wired charging support on top of 50W wireless charging support is on offer here. The HONOR Magic V3 is a complete package and easily one of the best foldable smartphones on the market, if not the best one.