HONOR is one of the biggest headline-making brands at the Mobile World Congress 2023, which we are covering live in Barcelona, Spain.
(Update, June 9: The HONOR Magic5Pro has landed in the Philippines!)
(Update, May 2023: The HONOR Magic5 Pro is launching in the Philippines June 8!)
Not only did the former Huawei sub-brand debut its latest HONOR Magic5 flagship series on the global stage, it also took the wraps off the HONOR Magic Vs, the company’s big-screen foldable phone that launched in China at the end of 2022.
The Magic5 lineup is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform used in many 2023 flagships, including the Samsung Galaxy S23 range, OnePlus 11, Xiaomi 13, and Xiaomi 13 Pro. It likewise offers many of the features and luxuries that would be typically reserved for an ultra-premium Android handset.
Our quick hands-on of the HONOR Magic5 Pro at MWC 2023
As expected, the company showed off the HONOR Magic5 Lite 5G as well, which is essentially a rebranded HONOR X9a 5G for a global audience. You might recall that the X9a 5G made its way to the Philippines last month with a suggested retail price of P16,990 (around $309) for the 8GB/256GB storage model.
But the biggest story here — at least for us — is the HONOR Magic Vs. It’s one of the slimmest foldable smartphones launching in international markets this year, and we were told it will be sold in the Philippines sometime soon.
When folded, the Magic Vs comes in at just a smidge under 13mm. It weighs 264 grams, or a little less than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4.
SEE ALSO: HONOR Magic5 Pro tops camera, display rankings on Dxomark
In China, this foldable starts at ¥7,499 (around P59,758 or $1,082) for 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. It comes in a variety of colors to choose from, including one with an orange vegan-leather back and another with a gleaming, high-gloss gold finish with a raised groove texture.
As you can see, the HONOR Magic Vs uses a similar design as the Galaxy Z Fold4, with the company incorporating a 6.5-inch OLED cover display and a 7.9-inch large internal folding screen running at up to 120Hz and peaking its brightness as high as 1,200 nits for outdoor use. Both screens support stylus input, but if you want the bundled stylus, you’ll need to spend extra for the top-of-the-line variant with the most RAM and storage.
Our quick hands-on of the HONOR Magic Vs at MWC 2023
HONOR has designed the hinge to include only four moving parts — down from the HONOR Magic V’s 96 moving components, and there is pretty much no gap when the internal display is folded. The Magic Vs can also withstand 400,000 folds, which is double the amount of the previous generation.
At the back, the HONOR Magic Vs packs a 54-megapixel main camera with a Sony IMX800 image sensor joined by a 50-megapixel ultrawide option and an 8-megapixel telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom in an elegantly designed camera module. The front-facing camera is good for 16 megapixels.
Inside, the HONOR Magic Vs is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, so you don’t have to worry about multitasking or heavy gaming on the device. A Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip would have been nice, but then again, we’re not really complaining considering how powerful the last-gen processor is. You also get a 5,000mAh battery that supports fast charging over USB-C at up to 66 watts.
Here’s how much each model will cost in the European market:
- HONOR Magic5 Lite, 6GB/128GB: €379 (P22,195 or $402)
- HONOR Magic5, 8GB/256GB: €900 (P52,706 or $953)
- HONOR Magic5 Pro, 12GB/512GB: €1,200(P70,274 or $1,271)
- HONOR Magic Vs, 12GB/512GB: €1,600 (P93,705 or $1,695)
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