The Honor Magic VS is a new foldable smartphone from the former Huawei sub-brand that is actually slated for release outside of China. It uses a similar design to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices, combining a large 7.9-inch internal folding display with a smaller 6.45-inch cover for use while the device is folded.
“Honor Magic VS will be our first foldable flagship to debut in overseas markets, and we are confident that it will bring tremendous progress, transforming the way people around the world use their smartphones,” said Honor CEO George Zhao. International pricing and launch details have yet to be announced, but in China the device will start at ¥7,499 (about $1,048) for the lowest-spec model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, and will ship on November 30. Honor says it expects a global release early next year.
Honor Magic VS folded and unfolded. Photo by John Porter/The Verge and Photo by John Porter/The Verge
I had a chance to use Magic VS before its official release to get a feel for the hardware. Since the phone doesn’t run on final software, Honor asked that I not test any software features, including its multi-window modes, app expander, or camera. An ongoing problem with recent foldables is that app support for Android tablets remains weak, and it’s unclear at this point whether Honor’s first international foldable will be able to fix that.
What I can talk about is how the Magic VS feels in the hand and how its folding screen and hinge perform. Honor claims its folding mechanism is stronger this time around and is rated to withstand 400,000 folds, double that of the original Magic V. That translates to up to 10 years of life if you unfold and fold it 10 times a day.
Granted, I only managed to fold and unfold the phone a few dozen times in my limited time with the device, but so far the mechanism feels as sturdy as any other foldable I’ve used. There is no creaking or crunching as I open and fold it, and once unfolded it feels very firm. Honor claims that the display is “crease-free” when unfolded, which is simply not true, as you can see from the photo above, but like other foldable devices, I expect you won’t notice it much in normal use.
The back of Magic VS.
Honor Magic VS folded in half.
VS’s screen dimensions are unchanged from its predecessor. Its internal display is 7.9 inches with a 90Hz refresh rate, 2272 x 1984 resolution and 800 nits peak brightness, while the external display is 6.45 inches with a higher 120Hz refresh rate, 2560 x 1080 resolution. and a peak brightness of 1200 nits. However, it got a slight upgrade in specs over Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, while its predecessor used the non-Plus version.
Folded, the Honor Magic VS feels like a slightly heavy, slightly thick and slightly long smartphone due to its 21:9 curved display. The phone weighs 261g and is 12.9mm deep when folded, which is heavier and thicker than my personal iPhone 14 Pro at 206g and 7.85mm thick. But that’s less than Samsung’s Z Fold 4, which weighs 263g and measures 15.8mm at its thickest point when folded. Although the external screen is a bit narrow, I found it usable enough during my time with the phone.
Unfolded, the phone feels like a relatively small tablet with an almost square aspect ratio. The usefulness of that screen real estate will ultimately come down to software support, but that’s still very much an open question at this point. Both displays are OLED and look suitably rich in contrast and colorful as a result.
The big new addition with the Honor VS compared to the Magic V that the company released earlier this year is stylus support, similar to what we saw with Samsung’s S Pen stylus on recent Galaxy Z Fold devices. I didn’t get to try out the phone’s stylus support during my time with the device.
There is almost no gap when the phone is folded.
In the hand, the Magic VS feels a lot like a regular non-folding smartphone.
In the standard flagship model, the phone offers three rear cameras; A 54-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide (which also doubles as a macro camera), and an 8-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom. For selfies, the foldable has a 16-megapixel sensor. The camera performance of Honor’s recent smartphones like the Magic4 Pro didn’t really impress me, but I wasn’t able to test the Magic VS’s camera.
Powering the Magic VS is a 5,000mAh battery (a slight upgrade from the 4,750mAh battery found in the Honor Magic V) that can be charged at the same 66W fast charge speed. That’s powerful enough to fully charge the phone in 46 minutes, Honor says. Available colors include orange, black and cyan with a blue tint, which is the model pictured on this page.
Although Samsung is now selling its fourth generation of foldable devices, it faces relatively little competition in global markets. Other companies like Xiaomi and Oppo have more or less limited their foldables to the Chinese market, while ongoing sanctions have meant that Huawei’s internationally launched foldables haven’t been able to ship with all the important Google apps and services. While the Honor Magic VS is unlikely to ship to the US, Europeans may finally see some competition in the foldable market.
Photo by John Porter/The Verge
Update November 23, 7:50 a.m. ET: Updated with hands-on impressions of the phone’s hardware.
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