MWC 2023: Hands-on with the new Honor Magic Vs and Magic 5 Pro

Honor today launched three new smartphones globally. The first is the Magic 5 Lite with award-winning battery life, and the other two are the folding Magic Vs and the new flagship photography monster, the Magic 5 Pro.

I got my hands-on with the Magic Vs and Magic 5 Pro at a pre-briefing ahead of the launch event, and both of these phones are extremely impressive – with the Magic Vs being particularly amazing with its minimal parts that allows for a totally gap-free fold, as well as improved reliability.

Meanwhile, the Magic 5 Pro will take mobile photography another step-forward thanks to its latest camera tech with improved sensors, and Honor’s Image Engine – a comprehensive sensing and computational photography platform.

Honor Magic Vs

The Magic Vs is a lightweight foldable that is just 12.9mm thick and totally gapless, and the designers have reduced the folding components from 92 pieces to just four – with the new super light hinge rated for over 400,000 folds. This is thanks to aerospace grade materials.

The inner screen support structure is from titanium alloy, while the external screen support structure is from magnesium alloy.

Despite being slim, the Magic Vs still incorporates a 5,000mAh battery.

The external display is a 120Hz, 1200 nits peak brightness, 6.4-inch display with a 21:9 ratio. It’s as good as any flagship non-folder, and will probably be the chosen means of using the phone most of the time.

But when you need more screen real-estate, this is where the Magic Vs comes into its own. Especially useful for split-screen app usage, the internal screen can be unfolded to reveal the internal 7.9-inch 90Hz display with a still bright 800-nits display.

Honor has also developed a Circadian Night Display that adjusts brightness with dynamic dimming to help people get a better sleep. The phone also has 1920Hz PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) dimming to reduce eye strain and fatigue.

In the hand, the Magic Vs feels like any normal smartphone and the outer display is absolutely stunning – such that you really could have this as an alternative to a regular smartphone and not feel like it is adds unnecessary bulk.

Honor Magic 5 Pro

The Magic 5 Pro boasts an impressive DXOMARK rating of 152 – making it the current number one in the company ratings, with a number of new camera features to address issues with many devices today, such as Falcon Capture and AI Motion Sensing to capture fast-moving objects and reduce motion blur.

The ‘Ultra Fusion Computational Optics’ takes advantages of multiple lenses to get the best overall picture quality, while Super HDR uses an additional brightness calibration frame to get better dynamic range, and up to 500% more dynamic contrast. All three cameras on the rear, which follow the ‘Eye of Muse’ design-language seen on previous models, are 50-megapixel (wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto) with Ultra-Fusion Computational Optics improving image clarity beyond the 3.5x optical zoom to as high as 100x.

It isn’t just the cameras earning awards, as DXOMARK has also given the Magic 5 Pro a top rating for its 6.81-inch LTPO display – with a peak brightness of 1800 nits, and enhanced visual quality on moving images and video – thanks to its Discrete Display Chipset. Like the Magic Vs, the Circadian Night Display improves sleep quality, while the 2160Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming works even harder to reduce screen flickering.

Specification wise, the Magic 5 Pro uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 gen 2 SoC, with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. A new standalone antenna system boosts Wi-Fi performance by 200% and reduces latency by 30%.

Battery wise, the Magic 5 Pro has a 5,100mAh battery with 66W wired and 50W wireless fast-charging.

Pricing and Availability

Both models will be coming to the UK. Prices and availability to be confirmed. European pricing will be €1199 for the Magic 5 Pro (12GB+512GB) and €1599 for the Magic Vs (12GB+512GB).

The Magic 5 Pro will be available in a choice of colours, including black and meadow green. Devices will be available in May.

The Magic Vs will be available in a choice of colours, including cyan and black. Devices will be available in June.

More information

• Honor