honor-magic-v5-review-–-thin,-powerful-and-durable

Honor Magic V5 Review – Thin, Powerful and Durable

Royole Flexpai ushered in the era of foldable devices. Yes, this is Royole’s throne and not Samsung’s, but Samsung holds the majority of this segment because their devices are marketed to more countries. Because of convenience, Samsung devices don’t offer meaningful innovations every year. As a result, I see Chinese manufacturers who are more daring to try and this year the Honor Magic V5 is marketed as the world’s thinnest foldable device.But the Magic V5 doesn’t just hope for thinness, it brings some interesting features that will make it a device that can not only beat the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 but could possibly be among the best foldable devices of 2025. Here’s the full Honor Magic V5 review.SPECIFICATIONSHonor Magic V5External Screen – 6.43″ OLED, 120HzInside – 7.95″ OLED 120HzDolby Vision, HDR10+Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (3nm)2 X 4.32 GHz Oryon Phoenix L chip6 X 3.53 GHz Oryon Phoenix MAdreno 830 Graphics ChipRAM 16 Gigabyte LPDDR5xInternal Storage 512GB UFS 4.1Primary Camera 54 MP, f/1.6, OIS (Wide Angle)50 MP, f/2.0 (Ultra Wide Angle)64 MP, f/2.5, OIS (Telephoto) 3x Optical Zoom4K 60pFront Camera 20 MP f/2.2 (Front)29 MP f/2.2 (Inside)4K 60p5820 mAh batteryCharging wired 66WWireless charging 50WDual SIM/Nano/5G telephonyNFC YesInfrared NoWaterproof IP59Side-mounted fingerprint scannerSelling price RM6999 (16/512 GB)SCREENThe 6.43″ outer screen is from the OLED family with support for a 120Hz refresh rate. This outer screen is wide enough to make it easy to type. It is still longer than the candybar device screen but much better than the previous generation foldable device screen ratio. It is still the same as the previous V3. At the top of the screen there is a hole for the selfie camera and also a fairly thin bezel.On the inside, a 7.95″ OLED 120Hz screen is included. There is still a crease effect even though the hinge and screen layer have been updated by Honor. The screen looks bright with good color display. Fingerprint detection is also accurate but it still feels strange when the finger passes through the hinge.Both the outer and inner screens support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content. I was able to display HDR content from Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and YouTube without any issues. Honor Magic Pen stylus support also continues on the outer and inner screens. This is the most notable advantage of the Magic V5 this year as it was discontinued on the Z Fold7. The stylus has to be purchased separately.BIOMETRICSThe side-mounted fingerprint scanner used detects fingerprints quite well. It is fast, consistent and easy to use. My only disappointment so far is that only Vivo offers an under-screen fingerprint scanner. There is face scanning but it only works well in perfect lighting situations.DESIGNThe body design is now just 4.1mm thick compared to last year's 4.4mm when open and 8.8mm compared to 9.2mm when closed. It is still thinner than the 4.2mm and 8.9mm on the Z Fold7. This is an insignificant difference when the two devices are placed side by side.I'm not really comfortable saying that the Magic V5 and Z Fold7 are really as thin as a 50-cent ceiling because it only counts the thickness of the body without the camera bump. The Magic V5's camera bump is so big that it makes the device impossible to lay flat on a table. I also don't have a Vernier caliper to measure the thickness of the device if the bump is taken into account.The sides of the Magic V5 are thin but not completely flat with slightly curved sides to give the illusion that it is thinner than it really is. This brings up an issue that only exists on thin devices, namely the two doors of the Magic V5 are a little difficult to open. Too thin that there is no surface area to easily open the folding screen. The experience reminds me of the feeling of opening connected Lego blocks.I should mention here that this issue also exists on the Z Fold7 only on the Samsung device it is easier to open because the surface of the device is completely flat. But both of these devices are harder to open compared to the Z Fold6 which was my previous foldable device. I asked Amy Maizura about her experience using the Magic V3 and she said that this was the same issue last year. A thinner device may look more “handsome” but if it is too thin it becomes less practical.Flex ModeThe screen hinge is strong and durable. It is designed to be opened and closed for up to 13 years and can withstand a weight of up to 35 kilograms without breaking like Batman’s spine being slaughtered by Bane. Honor also says that the Magic V5 is durable enough to withstand the weight of a sofa hanging from it. I haven’t tried it myself but the device’s hinge does feel stronger than the Magic V2 that I reviewed two years ago.Frame with built-in stickBecause of this thin body, the Magic V5 loses the infrared emitter. The audio grille hole is also placed on a different screen door making the design look less symmetrical. The body passes the IP59 standard in Malaysia which is good news as it is again better than the IP48 on the Z Fold7.The large hump on the back is made of a metal block that feels solid when tapped with a large glass panel covering the three main camera lenses. Honor has included a 54+50+64 MP sensor combination in the hump complete with a telephoto zoom system. The two selfie cameras are also 20MP. The camera specifications included do not disappoint.The back surface of the device is neatly made of a metal-like material that does not collect dirt easily. I am sure it is not metal because the Magic V5 supports wireless charging.The battery is also 5820 mAh which is very large for a foldable device. It is MUCH larger than the Z Fold7 and 220 mAh larger than the Oppo Find N5. Wired charging is 66W and wireless is 50 mAh. It is surprising that Honor and the Chinese manufacturer are now offering larger batteries on foldable devices compared to Samsung and Apple's candybar devices.SOFTWARE AND USAGE EXPERIENCEThe device we received uses MagicOS 9 based on Android 15. A little disappointing that it is still Android 15 while Android 16 was launched a month ago. The status of the first device launched with Android 16 is held by the Z Fold7. This operating system comes with various features that make it easy to use. The usage experience is smooth and more importantly does not cause any issues.In tablet mode, there is a quick shortcut bar of frequently used applications along with the last three applications opened for quick switching. This bar can be opened by scrolling up from the bottom of the screen slowly. If more than 2 applications want to be opened, just drag the icon from the bar up. MagicOS 9 only allows two applications to be opened simultaneously compared to One UI 8 which supports up to three.But there is a multitasking mode of MagicOS 9 that allows 3 applications to be opened side by side simultaneously. I find this feature more useful for multitasking processes than Samsung's implementation. I just hope that the Taskbar system provided on Samsung, Google and Oppo foldable devices is brought to MagicOS as soon as possible. It is more like a desktop operating system that makes switching applications faster. Why it is not on the Magic V5 I do not know.What is provided is support for sending files across the Android, iOS, HarmonyOS and Windows operating systems. The trend of Chinese manufacturers supporting the Apple and Huawei ecosystems is very attractive for those who are agnostic to the operating system. It is a liberation from having to use only one ecosystem. Chinese companies were early to provide this option which makes them more in line with the DMA requirements set by the European Union (EU).AI features are not left behind because we are now living in the post-self-employment era and relying on AI instead. Honor AI offers Magic Text, Magic Portal, AI Translate, Call Translation, AI Writing, AI Deepfake Detection and more. Even the feature of making animations from pictures is also brought back after being the talk of the town on the Honor 400 series a few months ago.The performance of Honor AI features is comparable to that offered by other Android devices and several hundred steps ahead of Apple Intelligence. For fans of the Google ecosystem, there is a Gemini call feature with the power button and Google Circle to Search built-in.Honor promises support for four Android version updates and five years of security patches. This is not as good as Google and Samsung which offer seven Android version updates and seven years of security patches.BENCHMARKAs a flagship foldable device with Snapdragon 8 Elite, I compare the Magic V5 with the devices below. I'm including a score for the Oppo Find N5 as it's the only foldable device with the flagship chip launched in Malaysia so far.Snapdragon 8 Elite ( 7 Cores) – Oppp Find N5Snapdragon 8 Elite – Xiaomi 15 UltraSnapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy – Samsung Galaxy S25 UltraDimensity 9400 – Oppo Find X8 ProApple A18 Pro – Apple iPhone 16 Pro MaxTensor G4 – Google Pixel 9 Pro XLAnTuTu 3DChip ScoreHonor Magic V5 1,732,200Oppo Find N5 2,157,718Xiaomi 15 Ultra 2,341,598Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 1,946,864Oppo Find X8 Pro 2,629,017Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 1,720,751Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 1,016,712Geekbench 6Single Core Multi Core ChipHonor Magic V5 1286 4926Oppo Find N5 2866 7987Xiaomi 15 Ultra 2918 8917Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 2957 9435Oppo Fin X8 Pro 2663 8959Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 3359 8129Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 1916 46443DMark Wildlife ExtremeChip ScoreHonor Magic V5 6025Oppo Find N5 5507Xiaomi 15 Ultra Can'tSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 6135Oppo Find X8 Pro 6251Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 4560Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 2567The scores recorded in the Antutu 3D and Geekbench 6 tests are very strange because they are more than the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra equipped with the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. In fact, the score is also lower than the Oppo Find N5 with Snapdragon 8 Elite 7 cores. In other tests, the scores are more consistent and equal. Why? Maybe the power is limited at the software level to prevent damage because the device is too thin.Various applications can be run without any issues because of the flagship chip, the size of 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM is very large and the fast UFS 4.1 memory. Installing and launching applications is very fast, especially if you have an ultra-fast internet connection.Various processes can also be run at the highest level. I only noticed that the device became a little warm when compared to other Snapdragon 8 Elite candybar devices. Is it because the body is too thin that the temperature rises to around 43 degrees Celsius and can be felt more significantly? But there is no reduction in performance with stable frame rates no matter what game I run.CAMERATriple main camera 50MP wide-angle with OIS, 50MP ultra-wide-angle and 64MP telephoto with OIS. Meanwhile, outside the 20MP camera, another 20MP camera is used placed on the foldable screen. There are various standard modes such as portrait, night and panorama that can be accessed by users.The quality of the pictures taken is very good in bright situations. The color reproduction is a little warm compared to the real situation. It looks a little yellowish. The selfie mode is also very satisfactory on both cameras. The color reproduction is also encouraging with the pictures looking lively. The HDR system is able to balance the bright light well.In slightly dark lighting situations, the pictures become a little dark too. Honor's algorithm is still not as good as Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi which can produce brighter pictures in the dark.The portrait mode is quite good with the background image being separated from the subject. The Harcourt studio mode returns with a special monochrome effect that I feel wants to compete with the Leica monochrome mode. I prefer the Leica monochrome pictures because they are more diverse but the quality of the Harcourt Studio is also really bearable.The ultra wide-angle lens is paired with a 50MP sensor but the pictures taken still look soft if the hand is not steady. The absence of the OIS system affects the sharpness, especially in indoor areas such as in the shopping mall below.These are the camera shots in 1x, 3X, 6X, 10x, 30x and 100X zoom modes. The shots are quite good up to 10X because there is an OIS system. At the 30X setting, the picture starts to look a little strange because of the AI Zoom system used by Honor. At the 100X setting, it looks like a watercolor painting. The AI system sharpens some areas of the picture, erases car plates without being asked and the rear tire of the car is drawn up the cliff. AI Zoom can be turned off if you don't want the picture to look weird.BATTERYThis huge 5820 mAh battery ensures that the phone can last all day. A big achievement because before that I only enjoyed it with the Oppo Find N5. SOT up to 10-11 hours is normal in moderate use. When asked by the kids to play Roblox using the big screen, SOT around 4.5 hours can be achieved which is very good for a foldable phone.When the battery runs out, the 66W charger can recharge this giant battery in just 70 minutes. Not the fastest, but with a battery capacity of almost 6000 mAh, it's impressive. There is support for 50W wireless charging. A 66W charger with a USB-A head is given with every purchase.AUDIOThe physical speaker volume is just satisfactory with as I mentioned a few paragraphs above being unbalanced. One side speaker on top and another on the bottom. When held, one of the audio grilles will be covered by the hand. Honor's speaker design choice is strange.IN THE BOXHere's what's included in the box.1x Honor Magic V51x Plastic frame1x 66W USB-A charger1x USB-A to USB-C charging cable1x Manual1x SIM pinCONCLUSIONThe Honor Magic V5 is the thinnest, most durable foldable phone, has a satisfying camera and a long-lasting battery. This is everything I feel a typical smartphone user wants. Until now, these features have not been seen on a foldable device but Honor has managed to do it. At RM6999 (16/512GB) it is indeed quite expensive but cheaper than the Z Fold7 (RM8399) and Find N5 (RM7999) with the same RAM/storage configuration.The downside is that it still uses Android 15 and the audio system is less than satisfactory. Also because the body is too thin, the process of opening the screen becomes quite difficult. Like picking up Lego.ProsThe thinnest foldable screen. Comfortable to hold and lighter.High specification Snapdragon 8 Eliite, 16GB RAM memory and fast UFS 4.1 storage.Satisfactory camera performance.Large 5820 mAh battery lasts long with 66W fast charging.IP59 waterproof and dustproof.Support for 4 versions of Android and 5 years of security patches.ConsStill Android 15.Hard to open because the sides are too thin.Unbalanced speaker audio.No more infrared emitter.