The Honor Magic V5 is the company’s flagship foldable and one of the first Honor devices available in Australia alongside the Honor 400 Pro.
As a high-end premium device, the Magic V5 aims to have the best of each feature – impressive cameras, a powerful chipset, and one of the thinnest foldable designs on the market.
It has a 6.43-inch external screen paired with a 7.95-inch internal screen, a long-lasting 5820mAh battery, and a focus on durability that other foldables have lacked.
The biggest downsides currently are the unpolished quirks in the operating system and the surprising amount of personal data its AI wants to harvest.
Overall, the Honor Magic V5 provides a very premium hardware experience that’s a little let down by the software.
Rating
Overall: 4 / 5
Pros
- Great looking screen
- Excellent performance and battery
- Incredibly thin
Cons
- A little uncomfortable to hold
- Unpolished UI/UX
- Intrusive AI features
$2599 | A good choice for those seeking an alternative to the big brand flagships
Setup & First Impressions
The first thing you’ll notice about the Honor Magic V5 after unboxing it is how thin it is. Even when closed, the Magic V5 is about the same thickness as most other devices – as long as you don’t count the camera bump.
Once you open it, you’re holding a device that begs the question – how did they manage to pack all of the hardware inside? When unfolded, the chassis measures just about 4.4mm.
Setup was easy with guided instructions throughout the process. There are a few unfamiliar services pushed by Honor, but overall it was easy to get through the installation process and it tells you exactly what data you’re agreeing to share.
The device has several apps preinstalled including Facebook, TikTok, Booking.com, LinkedIn and Instagram. It also has a multitude of AI apps that are all hungry for your personal data permissions, but most can be safely ignored if you prefer.
The internal display is nearly square with a 0.92:1 aspect ratio, slightly taller than it is wide, and very similar to two side-by-side phone screens.
Design & Aesthetics
In terms of design, the large camera bump on the reverse is easily the most eyecatching element of the Magic V5. It unfortunately also means that the safest way to place it on a table is face down, otherwise it’s unbalanced.
The device comes in four colours – Dawn Gold (the one we have), Ivory White, Black, or Reddish Brown. All of these colours are trimmed with gold around the edges of the device and the camera bump.
The triangle-cut design on the hinge is an attractive element that breaks up what would otherwise be a bit of a boring strip of metal.
On the inside, the screen seam is not too distracting but under certain light and at side viewing angles it’s definitely noticeable. In normal use this shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Life with the Honor Magic V5
I’ve been using the Magic V5 daily for two weeks taking photos, playing games, and browsing content, and for the most part it’s been a delight to interact with.
Positives
If there was only one thing to mention in this section, it would be the battery life. I’ve been very impressed with how long the device lasts on standby, and even while in use the battery drain is not too significant.
The Magic V5 comfortably lasts the whole day with typical usage. Your phone habits will ultimately determine the battery life but it’s safe to say the Magic V5 is up to the task for the vast majority of users.
Apps that are able to take advantage of the big screen are outstanding. My current favourite mobile game offers increased field of view on the big screen and is a more immersive experience overall.
Not every app supports switching on-the-fly, so you may have to relaunch an app if you’ve started it on the external screen. I mainly noticed this when switching between displays with a game open, where the aspect ratio would simply stretch to fit rather than changing resolution.
For increased productivity and flexibility, you can use two different apps side by side, like messaging on one and browsing on the other to easily link and view content you’re discussing. It’s a lot faster than tabbing between apps to interact across platforms.
Call quality is very good and I didn’t notice any dropouts or garbled speech. Connectivity to local towers in Brisbane has been solid and the phone supports international bands for roaming.
Negatives
If I had one complaint to mention, it would be the rough edges on the user experience. Overall, MagicOS 10 is not too bad but there are some odd quirks like the weird clipboard interface and some settings toggles being pretty unclear or outright confusing.
For the price you might expect a bit more polish in the systems you’re going to be interacting with on a daily basis.
The inbuilt speakers aren’t very good. In portrait mode you barely get any stereo separation, and in landscape mode it’s very easy to block the left side speaker if you’re holding the phone.
The actual sound signature of the speakers is very treble-focused and it’s hard to detect much bass at all. However, the speakers are more than adequate for speakerphone voice calls or the occasional YouTube video. For any extensive use you’re going to want headphones.
There hasn’t been a ton of annoying notifications, but the first time you interact with apps the phone will ask your permission to activate features. For example, when going to search for an app on the phone, it requested permission to activate Honor Search – an enhanced app search feature. I can’t really figure out why I can’t search the apps without giving away data.
There are a multitude of these requests, from Honor AI Space to My Honor to Honor ID – each with a range of features and requesting permissions like device information, network information, usage analytics, and reporting.
It’s a lot of data to hand over, and some of these features are necessary requirements for basic functions like search. You’ve also got the option to use your preferred apps rather than Honor’s inbuilt ones in most cases, but the few that don’t are problematic.
Honor has gone all-in on the artificial intelligence bandwagon, meaning many features are “AI Enhanced” from photography to predictive text. Each also requires a jaw-dropping amount of permissions, including all your contact information, all your app information, system usage information, app usage information, and any text you select while using the app.
There’s no on-device processing, meaning all of this data is sent off to a foreign computer and it’s a bit of a privacy nightmare.
Noteworthy
When I set up the device I was not able to use an eSIM from Vodafone MVNO Felix. The phone says it supports eSIM, but compatibility varies between telcos, so if this is an important feature to you, it’s something to check before you commit to a purchase.
Performance & Reliability
Performance is as great as you’d expect from a modern flagship and I ran into no issues running demanding mobile games like Arknights Endfield, nor did I have any issues multitasking apps side-by-side.
In particularly demanding apps, the phone gets noticeably hot to the touch, and for me it was even a little uncomfortable after a few minutes of running around in Endfield.
It’s hard to comment on reliability after spending a short time with a device, but as far as the hardware goes, it feels solid. The hinge is smooth and the magnets hold the Magic V5 securely shut. Honor has tested the phone up to 500,000 folds and it offers IP58/IP59 water and dust resistance.
It also uses a silicon-carbon battery that should provide better longevity than conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Camera Performance
The camera on the Honor Magic V5 is outstanding. It consistently delivers detailed, realistic photographs that don’t feel overly edited.
It’s easy to use and fast, providing a top notch photography experience. Whether you’re using it like a point-and-shoot or diving into the manual controls, the camera app is a delight.
The lenses include a 50 megapixel main sensor with wide f/1.6 aperture and optical image stabilisation, a 50 megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 64 megapixel periscope telephoto with optical image stabilisation and 3X optical zoom. The front-facing camera is a 20 megapixel unit.
The camera app provides a few extra options including simulated macro and up to 100X digital zoom, but these are a significant downgrade in quality compared to photos from the optical lens lengths.
Practical Considerations
Honor is a new competitor in local stores but the company has promised seven years of support updates in European markets. There has been no official word on whether this is also offered in Australia, but it seems likely that it would apply here too.
Like most Android releases, Honor’s MagicOS 10 has its own set of quirks, but over time you’ll be able to customise it to your liking and set it up in a way that works for you.
The customisation offered is very in-depth, with myriad battery optimisation and app launcher settings. This is the secret behind its long battery life, but if you are too aggressive with battery optimisation you might end up missing notifications from particular apps.
The issues currently present in the system are likely to be ironed out over time, but it’s unclear what the timeline on updates is.
Value & Alternatives
If you’re looking for something closer to vanilla Android then you’re probably better off with another device like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
Additionally, if you’re on the fence about the extra screen real estate a foldable offers, you’re likely to get better value from a phone with a conventional slab form factor – for example, the S25 Ultra is several hundred dollars cheaper with the same chipset.
However, if you can put up with a few quirks, the Honor Magic V5 is a competitive foldable option at its price point.
Would I buy it with my own money?
Yes. If I was in the market for a foldable phone, the Honor Magic V5 is a fine choice. It offers a big screen experience, surprisingly thin chassis, impressive camera performance, and ultimately feels quite premium.
The software issues are likely to be ironed out over time and the intrusive AI features can be turned off, leaving behind an attractive, premium phone that more than keeps up with heavy day-to-day usage.
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