HONOR Just Outslimmed Samsung and Everyone Else — Meet the Magic V5

HONOR has just trumped Samsung when it comes to a thin foldable smartphone launch. Granted, it’s a China launch, but still. The HONOR Magic V5 just became official, and it’s a direct competitor to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Yes, it will launch in a lot more markets at a later date.

HONOR just launched the world’s thinnest foldable smartphone, the Magic V5

With that being said, HONOR has once again claimed the crown when it comes to announcing the thinnest foldable on the market. The HONOR Magic V5 trumps even the OPPO Find N5 in that regard, barely, but still.

The HONOR Magic V5 measures 156.8 x 145.9 x 4.1mm when unfolded, and 156.8 x 74.3 x 8.8mm when folded. Well, granted, some color options are a bit thicker at 4.2mm when unfolded, and 9mm when folded.

One model is thinner and lighter than others

The model with vegan leather on the back (Ivory White) is the thinnest, while the Black, Dawn Gold, and Reddish Brown models are slightly thicker. They have glass panels on the back. Do note that the colors may differ once the phone launches globally.

The HONOR Magic V5 weighs 217 grams, well, the Ivory White model does. All the other weigh 222 grams. It is IP58 and IP59 certified.

Qualcomm’s most powerful SoC is used, along with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC fuels this smartphone. It comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. A 5,820mAh battery is also included, a silicon-carbon battery. 66W wired charging is supported, as is 50W wireless charging.

There are two extremely compelling OLED displays on offer too

A 7.95-inch main display is used here, that’s the foldable display. It’s an OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate (adaptive), an LTPO panel. The resolution is 2352 x 2172, while the peak brightness is 5,000 nits. It comes with the HONOR Super Armored Inner Screen protection.

The cover display measures 6.43 inches, and it’s an LTPO OLED panel too. The resolution is 2376 x 1060, while the peak brightness is the same as on the main display. This display is protected by the HONOR Anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield.

You’ll find three compelling cameras on the back

There are three cameras on the back. A 50-megapixel main camera (f/1.6 aperture, OIS) is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (f/2.0 aperture). The third camera on the back is a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (f/2.5 aperture, OIS). There are also two 20-megapixel selfie cameras, one on each of the phone’s displays.

The price has not been announced just yet, but it’ll differ for global markets either way, quite a bit. So we’ll have to wait and see. It will take HONOR a couple of months to launch a global model, it could drop at IFA 2025 in Berlin.