Phone Comparisons: Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3

This time around we’ll be comparing two foldable smartphones, one from Google, and one from HONOR. These are the best foldables these two companies have to offer, and they launched a couple of months ago. This is a comparison between the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3. Both of these smartphones have their upsides, but they’re vastly different despite the fact they’re both book-style foldables.

The two companies took completely different approaches here. The HONOR Magic V3 is actually the thinnest and lightest book-style foldable on the market. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has some catching up to do in that department. In any case, we’ll first list their specifications, and then we’ll move to compare them across a number of different categories. With that being said, let’s get down to it.

Specs

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold & HONOR Magic V3, respectively

– Screen size (main):
8-inch Foldable LTPO OLED display (120Hz, HDR10+, 2,700 nits)
7.92-inch Foldable LTPO AMOLED (120Hz, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 1,800 nits)
– Screen Size (cover):
6.3-inch OLED (120Hz, 2,700 nits)
6.43-inch LTPO OLED (120Hz, 5,000 nits)
– Display resolution (main):
2076 x 2152
2156 x 2344
– Display resolution (cover):
2424 x 1080
2376 x 1060
– SoC:
Google Tensor G4
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
16GB (LPDDR5X)
12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB (UFS 3.1)
256GB/512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.7 aperture, OIS), 10.8MP (ultrawide, 127-degree FoV), 10.5MP (telephoto, 5x optical zoom, OIS)
50MP (wide, f/1.6 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor size, OIS, PDAF), 40MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 112-degree FoV), 50MP (periscope telephoto, 1/2.51-inch sensor size, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
10MP (main display, f/2.2 aperture), 10MP (cover display, f/2.2 aperture)
20MP (main display, f/2.2 aperture), 32MP (cover display, f/2.4 aperture)
– Battery:
4,650mAh
5,150mAh
– Charging:
21W wired, 7.5W wireless (no charger)
66W wired, 50W wireless, 5W reverse wired (charger included)
– Dimensions (unfolded):
155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1 mm
156.6 x 145.3 x 4.35 mm or 4.4 mm
– Dimensions (folded):
155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5 mm
156.6 x 74.0 x 9.2 mm or 9.3 mm
– Weight:
257 grams
226/230 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
– OS:
Android 14
Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0.1
– Price:
$1,799+
€1,999
– Buy:
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (Best Buy)
HONOR Magic V3 (HONOR)

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3: Design

Both of these smartphones are made out of metal and glass. The Magic V3 does come in a variant with a vegan leather backplate too, though. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s design seems like it was inspired by the OnePlus Open, at least to a degree. It is flat on the front and back, and even its sides are flat. The HONOR Magic V3’s back is mostly flat, but it has rounded corners. The phone kind of curves into the sides a bit, which makes it feel even thinner.

Speaking of which, the HONOR Magic V3 is noticeably thinner and lighter than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It measures 4.35-4.4mm when unfolded (depending on the variant), and 9.2-9.3mm when unfolded. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold measures 5.1mm when unfolded, and 10.5mm when folded. HONOR’s smartphone weighs 226 or 230 grams, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold weighs 257 grams. The difference in weight is especially pronounced, but you’ll feel both the added weight and thickness in comparison.

The HONOR Magic V3 is slightly taller and considerably narrower than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. HONOR’s phone has a larger cover display and a slightly smaller main display. Both phones have a display camera hole on both their cover displays and main displays. The location on the main displays is different, though. Their rear camera islands are also different. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s is pill-shaped and horizontal. The HONOR Magic V3 has a camera oreo on the back, which is centered.

Both devices also come with an IPX8 certification for water resistance. The HONOR Magic V3 also supports a stylus, unlike the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These are two completely different approaches to design. The HONOR Magic V3 does feel a lot more like a regular phone when folded, though.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3: Display

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has an 8-inch Foldable LTPO OLED main panel. That display offers a refresh rate of up to 120Hz (1-120Hz), and it supports HDR10+ content. The peak brightness here is 2,700 nits. The display offers a 2076 x 2152 resolution. Its cover display measures 6.3 inches, and it’s an OLED panel. It offers a 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR content is supported. The Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection is also a part of the package, while the resolution here is 2424 x 1080. The peak brightness is also 2,700 nits.

The HONOR Magic V3, on the flip side, has a 7.92-inch Foldable LTPO AMOLED main display. That panel can project up to 1 billion colors, and HDR10+ content is supported. Dolby Vision is also supported here, and the display offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz (1-120Hz). The peak brightness here is 1,800 nits. The resolution it offers is 2156 x 2344. The cover display measures 6.43 inches, and it offers a resolution of 2376 x 1060. That is an LTPO OLED panel that can project up to 1 billion colors and offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz (1-120Hz). Dolby Vision is also supported, and the peak brightness here is 5,000 nits. This display is protected by nanocrystal glass 2.0.

All four of these displays are great, actually. They’re vivid, have great viewing angles, and are more than sharp enough. They also get bright enough under all conditions, basically, even though there are some differences. It’s worth noting that the HONOR Magic V3 does have the advantage of having a less visible crease, even though Google did improve in that aspect compared to the Pixel Fold. The HONOR Magic V3’s main panel also supports a stylus input.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3: Performance

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is fueled by the Google Tensor G4 processor. The company also includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM here, and UFS 3.1 flash storage too. The HONOR Magic V3, on the flip side, is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. It includes up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Do note that the storage is not expandable on either phone.

The Magic V3 does have a more powerful processor and faster storage. The Tensor G4 is not about sheer power, though, and it’s well-optimized to work with Pixel phones, it’s also a flagship chip. With that being said, both smartphones work really well on a day-to-day basis. Regular tasks are a piece of cake for both phones, and there’s no lag to talk about here, none at all. That may change over time, of course, and create some differences between the two phones. At the moment, however, you’ll be happy with the performance they both offer.

The HONOR Magic V3 does have the upper hand when it comes to gaming, though. It can play the most demanding titles from the Play Store without a problem, at the highest graphical settings. Games like Genshin Impact, for example. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold can do the same, but the experience is not as good. You’ll have to tone down the graphical settings a bit in order to get the very top performance. Any other game, however, that is not a top graphical title, will play great on either phone. Neither phone ended up overheating for us.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3: Battery

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold includes a 4,650mAh battery. HONOR’s foldable, on the flip side, has a 5,150mAh battery on the inside. HONOR is using a silicon-carbon battery, unlike Google, which allowed the company to fit a lot more capacity in a smaller space. The thing is, however, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold did offer better battery life overall, at least during our testing. The difference was not huge, but still, it’s there. Google manages to pull out more battery juice from a smaller battery in this case.

Granted, getting to really high screen-on-time levels with both phones is possible. That will largely depend on your usage, but if you’re not utilizing processor-intensive tasks, such as gaming, getting over 7 hours of screen-on-time on both phones is possible. That will also depend on how much you use their main displays compared to cover displays, and many other factors. What I’m trying to say is, your mileage may vary. Both phones offered really, really good battery life during our usage.

When the charging is concerned, however, the HONOR Magic V3 completely destroys the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google’s handset supports 21W wired and 7.5W wireless charging. The HONOR Magic V3, on the other hand, supports 66W wired, 50W wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging. It charges much faster both via a wire and wirelessly, it’s not even close. It also comes with a charger in the box, which is not something we can say for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs HONOR Magic V3: Cameras

Both of these phones have three cameras on the back, but their setups are different. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a 48-megapixel main camera (1/2.0-inch sensor, OIS), a 10.5-megapixel ultrawide unit (127-degree FoV), and a 10.8-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/3.2-inch sensor, 5x optical zoom). The HONOR Magic V3 includes a 50-megapixel main camera (1/1.56-inch sensor, a 40-megapixel ultrawide unit (112-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/2.51-inch sensor, 3.5x optical zoom).

The HONOR Magic V3 does have the advantage when it comes to camera hardware. Its sensor sizes are bigger, and that does show in the final results. If you take a closer look at the images, you’ll see the difference. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is not on the same level as its Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL flagships in terms of camera prowess, unfortunately. Google attempted to save space and this is what we got.

Don’t get me wrong, the pictures look great, but it’s also at the same time obvious that they’re not on the same level as the ones provided by its siblings, not even close. The HONOR Magic V3 did win this comparison for us. Overall it took better pictures, even though the Pixel 9 Pro XL did swing back at times. In low light the Magic V3 offered superior performance, even though Google’s image processing made sure that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is not that far behind. Both phones offer vivid images, with emphasized colors. Neither is aiming to bee too realistic, as both phones are trying to make images look appealing via processing. Also, it’s worth noting that the Magic V3 offers a lot better camera performance than the Magic V2.

Audio

There are stereo speakers included on both of these phones. This is where the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a huge advantage, actually. Its speakers are notably louder than the ones from the Magic V3, it’s not even close. The sound quality is good from both sets, but the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does have the edge in that regard too.

Neither hone comes with an audio jack, though. You can plug in your headphones into their Type-C ports if you need a wired connection, though. If not, Bluetooth 5.3 is on offer on both smartphones.