When HONOR Magic V3 was launched last year, the company touted that model as the world’s thinnest foldable at just 9.2mm. One year later and we have the Magic V5 foldable, and it is once again breaking the record with a folded thickness just 8.8mm thick. But how is it like to hold and feel? Here’s our first impressions.
HONOR Magic V5: Unboxing
Inside this large black box is the HONOR Magic V5 in unfolded form that you’ll see as soon as you lift the cover open, and below it there are two compartments: one for the cable and charger (some other brands don’t bother include them these days), and the other for accessories including a case, documentation, and a SIM ejector pin. We don’t know the price of this foldable yet, but whatever you’ll be paying for one of these – you don’t have to spend extra for related accessories.
First Impressions
The color scheme of this Magic V5 is clearly going for the luxury and premium route, with gold accents surrounding the Ivory White color on the back of the foldable (note that there are other color options as well). We can’t talk about detailed specs just yet – that’s for the full review – but we can at least talk about its appearance, and one thing stands out (literally): the camera bump.
In terms of the camera bump’s size, it’s pretty much the classic big circular bump commonly seen in Chinese-branded smartphones these days; but thanks to the ultra-thin profile of this foldable in its unfolded form, there’s very little space to actually house the cameras inside. The result? A camera bump that protrudes so far it’s visibly thicker than the foldable’s unfolded thickness.
That’s probably a slight inconvenience that you’ll have to live with, but hey, you do get an included case if you want to protect that camera bump from scratches – which doubles up as a phone stand, though its mostly redundant as the Magic V5’s hinge already allows it to be propped up at any angle.
I have to say though, you could really use Magic V5 as a regular candybar smartphone with how little it differs from those in terms of its size and weight. Most flagship smartphones today tips the scale at around 200g (give or take), and thickness usually hovers between 7-8mm; as such, it pretty much behaves like one with the added bonus of a giant screen when you open up the inner display. It honestly felt like this smartphone is a physical cheat code at times.
When HONOR invited the media for a preview last week, one of the key selling points they’re presenting is the durability of the Magic V5. They’re very confident in the foldable’s hinge, with demonstrations that features a single unit lifting a 35kg dumbbell, along with a sofa that weighs around 75kg lifted in the air by a trio of Magic V5s. On ingress protection, the company boasts IP58/IP59 rating, and there’s even a layer of non-Newtonian fluid beneath the display to help with drop resistance.
You’ll know a lot more when HONOR officially launches this smartphone very soon, and we’ll have our review ready to go when that happens. Until then, stay tuned on Pokde.NET and watch this space!
