As a tech enthusiast, I should be one of the early adopters to technology like foldable smartphones. I would, but only if it makes sense. So far, foldable smartphones are still too bulky and for the foldable phone market leader Samsung, their front display aspect ratio makes content appear even smaller, because the narrower width forces content to shrink to fit the width, and in some cases, they cut off a bit of the width to fit the height. What’s the point of carrying a foldable phone if it’s bulky yet its front display is not usable. And don’t get me started on the unfolded main display. The square form factor indeed makes text content larger, but it cuts off at the top, meaning you see less lines of text, and the square format does not work well with online shopping apps or social media. So for my use case, I rarely use the inner display except when I need to view something big or if I needed to multi-task with multiple windows for me to work on.
Among all the foldable brands, I still feel that Honor is ahead of the pack in terms of form and function. Their previous foldable model, the Honor Magic V2, is already the thinnest and lightest foldable during launch. They nailed some of the major pain points that should draw more existing smartphone owners to adopt the foldable form. What are the features that Honor get right in this new model?
Honor Magic V3 is Thin and Light
The overall size of the Honor Magic V3 is no different from a normal smartphone. When folded, it is only 9.2mm thin and weighs just 226 grams, which is comparable to a normal “Ultra”-tier smartphone. Magic V3 has achieved the accolade of being the thinnest and lightest foldable smartphone in the market.
The frame is slightly curved which further adds the illusion of a very slim device, unlike Samsung who goes for sharp edges. The casing is made up of 2 parts, the rear is a snap-on with artificial leather texture, while the front contains adhesive to attach to the phone, because it’s so thin that it won’t stay in place without some sticky help. During my review, I just installed the rear casing and did not stick the front one. A good thing with the rear case is that it comes with a sturdy kick stand that allows user to prop up the phone.
Front Display Aspect Ratio
I use the front display most of the time without issues. The Magic V3’s display dimensions is 2376 x 1060 which is quite close to FHD+ (2220 x 1080), so all the content appears just like a normal smartphone. I don’t feel handicapped when using the front display.
When I needed a larger view, I just unfold the phone and the content will re-appear on the large screen. Sometimes, the app will still appear in the portrait ratio because it needs to restart to display in the square aspect ratio.
Multi-Window Multi-Task
What I like about the Magic V3 is that it is very convenient to invoke multi-window view. There will be a short bar appearing on the top centre screen of every compatible app. Tap it and you will see three icons. First one is to view at full screen, second is to view side-by-side split-screen, third is to view as a floating window.
With this bar, I can easily resize my windows and change the views without going to the apps menu. At any time, I am able to load 4 apps on screen – 2 apps side-by-side and 2 floating apps.
If you minimise, a translucent icon will appear docked at the side. Tap it and you can see all the active windows that you can reopen on the screen.
100X Zoom Camera System
Honor has incorporated a capable triple camera system so that users do not feel compromised when opting for a foldable smartphone. It’s a 50MP f/1.6 main camera, 50MP f/3.0 3.5x optical zoom camera, 40MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and 20MP f/2.2 front cameras. I have used the Magic V3 to capture my 2-week Japan vacation and I have not been disappointed.
The smartphone’s IPX8 water resistance gives me the confidence of keep shooting even in wet weather. The camera handles brilliantly from the widest angle to the zoomiest situations. I rarely shoot at the extreme zoom-end because details are blotchy but sometimes the moment is eternal. And they are also useful when I needed to read a sign far away.
Having a 3.5x optical zoom system also means that shooting at 10 to 20x zoom can produce pretty good image quality, which is more than sufficient for general photography. The flexibility also means I can shoot a scene with different angles to get the best perspective.
I love the Portrait mode where the background bokeh is applied to give more visual depth on my images. I use this mode even for shooting non-human subjects and I was glad that the Magic V3 does not judge. But understandably there will be limitations in its bokeh processing and I sometimes have to try to capture a scene several times to get the satisfactory blur. I would also use Portrait mode sparingly when shooting selfies in dinner settings, because the camera will blur everything including the food on the table which is essential to our travelogue.
Under low light conditions, the images generally looks good with balanced exposure without pixel-peeping. The camera basically tries to capture the scene within 1 second handheld at the expense of higher ISO, resulting in more noise compared to Pixel phones. For twilight sky with clouds, it looks patchy. Shooting at maximum 50MP resolution setting does not render better images since it is limited by exposure time and sensor size.
My shoot setting is always to enable AI Photography and Auto HDR modes as I want to put the camera algorithm to the test. So far, they do not disappoint only in some situations, and it works great most of the time. The speed of the camera capture is also generally fast and it rarely slows down my shooting pace. If I find the exposure is not right, I just tap and drag the on-screen brightness indicator.
In terms of camera specs, the Honor Magic6 Pro has better optics, though it lacks the Harcourt Portrait colour mode. Honestly, I do not miss the Magic6 Pro even though it has a better camera system, because while the hardware specs are indeed better, the Magic V3 camera system versatility is enough for my usage demands.
Honor MagicOS UI
Some users have different opinions about the Magic OS, but I am one who likes the UI. Running on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the phone is smooth, responsive and fast, in navigation, in biometric unlock. The homescreen folders can be resized such that you can access the apps quicker without having to expand the folder. Features like Magic Portal allows you to drag content to another app, Magic Capsule floats around the front camera to show real-time information for music player, recorder, timer. In the Gallery app, you can select up to 4 images and perform synchronised zoom-in to do comparison, and easily generate video montages based on detected locations.
The Magic Ring feature is very useful if you have multiple Honor devices such that you can easily share and access content remotely among the connected devices. More importantly, the phone comes with an IR-blaster which allows me to remote control my home appliances.
In the AI area, Honor Magic V3 supports the Google Circle-to-Search, AI Eraser to remove subjects, Honor Notes to transcribe voice recordings as well as real-time translate to text (currently supporting 9 languages).
Some Observations
Here are a few other observations when using the Honor Magic V3:
- When running the Phone Clone from a normal Honor phone to the Magic V3 phone, the homescreen settings do not get migrated over.
- Some apps do not run automatic background notifications properly. I had to manually disable the “App Launch” option for those apps so that I can receive timely notifications.
- It’s not easy to unfold the phone. I need to dig my fingers to split open the panels before I can pry open with some force. There is a risk that I might slip the grip and drop the phone, and this activity is a common risk to all foldable phones.
- Some apps don’t seem to behave well. For instance, DBS PayLah constantly auto-closes within a second of opening, but after a while, this problem went away. Once a while, when I press the home button, the active app got stuck on the homescreen, and I had to turn off the screen and on again for the problem to go away. I find such app issues occurring more often on this Honor phone than previous Honor models I have reviewed, but the issues do not replicate consistently, so it is hard to determine the cause of the bugs. Despite, I feel it is a minor inconvenience against the larger positive experience with the smartphone.
Verdict
I have reviewed the new-generation Honor smartphones for two years already. They have consistently impressed me with their UI, camera quality, battery, product build. I thoroughly enjoy using their phones as my primary device.
The Honor Magic V3 may not be the best Android smartphone, but it is definitely the best foldable smartphone to own. It handles like a normal smartphone without the bulk, and quickly “transforms” into a productivity powerhouse when unfolding the main display, thanks to the ease of performing split-window, multi-window apps.
This is the golden era for consumers, a period where a smartphone brand tries very hard to win new consumers to gain market share by delivering high quality performing products with high competitive pricing. Honor Magic V3 retails at only S$1999, the lowest-priced foldable smartphone running on 2024 flagship processors. The company is offering 365-day screen protection warranty, and offers one of the strongest and durable hinges.
There is never a better time to get a foldable smartphone like Honor Magic V3 if you are a heavy multi-tasker, especially when the size is not much bigger than a normal smartphone, and is even cheaper than a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (retail price S$2128).
