In a market flooded with premium devices, finding a smartphone that stands out is not easy. Yet, HONOR has managed to do just that with their latest release, the HONOR Magic V3. We managed to get our hands on this foldable wonder, so without further ado, let’s dive into what makes this smartphone truly MAGICal.
▲Thumbnail photo
Design
The first thing you’ll notice about the Magic V3 is its ultra-slim design. We all knew how bulky foldable smartphones are, and it's just nowhere near a bar phone experience, but on the Magic V3, it’s a totally different case. The dimensions during folded and unfolded state are 156.6 x 74.0 x 9.2 mm and 156.6 x 145.3 x 4.35 mm respectively. Compared to the Magic V2 which debuted as the first foldable smartphone to achieve a folded thickness below 10mm, the improvement on the Magic V3 is significant with a reduction of 0.7mm. It weighs as light as 226g, and both the ultra-slim profile and lightweight combine to give you a near bar phone experience. When folded, it’s compact enough to lie comfortably in your hand and slips into your pocket without creating that awkward bulge. Unfolded, it transforms into a tablet-like device with a stunning display that screams premium quality.
▲Unfolded Thickness
▲Folded Thickness
The hinge mechanism is one of the smoothest I’ve ever encountered, as you can hardly notice any stiffness when unfolding. The durability of the build also deserves a shoutout. The Second Gen HONOR Super Steel Hinge is the strongest and slimmest hinge material in the industry. The body, on the other hand, uses special fiber aerospace material which surpasses Kevlar and carbon fiber to give the Magic V3 its strength and lightweight.
▲Second Gen HONOR Super Steel Hinge
The interior screen uses HONOR Super Armored Inner Screen, whereas the outer screen is protected by HONOR Anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield that provides 10 times drop and scratch resistance. All these combined to give the Magic V3 a top-tier durability from every angle. While I wouldn’t recommend you doing extreme hardcore drop tests, you can be rest assured that it is sturdy enough to survive the occasional clumsy moments in your daily lives. In fact, HONOR is so confident on their screen that they offer a 365 Days Screen Protection for any cracks.
▲HONOR Super Armored Inner Screen
The Magic V3 also comes with IPX8 water resistant, which protects your phone efficiently against light rain and accidental spills. The phone can still function properly even after being submerged in water at a maximum depth of 2.5m, though that doesn't mean you should be swimming or diving with the phone, but definitely your phone would be safe in most watery scenarios
▲IPX8 Water Resistance
One thing that I found a little annoying is the fingerprint sensor which is side-mounted together with the unlock button. In most cases we would only register our thumbs as that is how we positioned our fingers when we’re using the phone. But I found my index finger often triggering the sensor when I’m picking up the phone from the table. Aside from that, the fingerprint sensor also doesn't seem to pick up my thumb fingerprint accurately enough, to the extent that I lost count of how many times the fingerprint ID got suspended. At this point I can only suspect that the reason being my large fingers not being friendly with the small sensor, but ultimately that would be you to find out yourself
▲Fingerprint sensor
Display
The Magic V3 displays are equally a feast for the eyes. The inner main display features a 7.92-inch LTPO AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2344 x 2156 pixels and a peak brightness of 1600 nits, perfect for binge-watching your favourite dramas or working through your tasks for hours on end.
▲7.92-inch inner screen
On the other side, the outer cover display features a 6.43-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2376 x 1060 pixels and an even higher peak brightness of 5000 nits. Even under the scorching sun, which is generally the case in Malaysia, the brightness just holds up perfectly so no more squinting while trying to do a quick WhatsApp reply or checking your emails out there.
▲6.43-inch outer screen
The colours are vibrant, the blacks are deep, and the 120Hz refresh rate ensures everything looks smooth as butter. Obviously HONOR didn’t skimp on quality here, making sure both screens deliver top-notch visual experiences. One thing I like the most about the Magic V3 is that the exterior screen fits quite close to the 9:16 aspect ratio, which is the most popular video format out there so it just gives a viewing experience closer to bar phones when you’re using it folded.
▲Vertical video playback on Magic V3 outer screen VS on normal bar phone
Both displays utilises HONOR Eye Comfort Display with PWM Flicker Free Dimming, 3840Hz for the inner display and 4320Hz for the outer display. It is also worth mentioning that HONOR has added AI Defocus Eyecare to their display, which simulates the defocus lens principle to relieve eye strain, and coupled with all the TÜV Rheinland certifications, that just bring eye protection to the next level.
▲HONOR Eye Comfort Display with AI Defocus
Both displays also support the HONOR Magic-Pen which is designed specially for HONOR foldable devices. The stylus gives a paper-like and lag-free handwriting experience on both screens, perfect for those who need upgraded productivity or unleash their artistic creativity.
▲Stylus support
Camera
Now, let’s talk about the camera. The Magic V3 packs a triple-camera setup with a 50 MP main lens, a 40 MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50 MP periscope telephoto lens, housed in a rounded octagonal module. Personally I feel the overall design looks aesthetically more pleasing compared to the rectangular module at the corner on the predecessor.
▲Triple-camera setup
The 50 MP main camera captures vibrant and detailed shots and even in low light scenarios, the Magic V3 still performs admirably, thanks to its AI-enhanced night mode, ensuring crisp and clear photos of the night city landscape.
▲Photo Samples during Day and Night
The 40 MP ultra-wide camera is great for group photos and wide shots, ensuring nothing gets left out. The 50 MP periscope telephoto lens supports up to 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom, so distant objects can be captured with maximum details and clarity. While both front facing cameras feature a 20 MP lens, that would be very sufficient for video calls purposes as you can always use the better rear camera for selfie purposes.
▲1x zoom, 3.5x zoom and 10x zoom
It is also worth mentioning that HONOR has brought over the Harcourt Portrait to the latest foldable flagship as well so that makes the Magic V3 even more all-rounded as you can take studio level portraits right out of the fold.
▲Harcourt Portrait
Performance
Under the hood, the Magic V3 is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and another 12 GB of dynamic HONOR RAM Turbo. This combination ensures that the phone can handle anything you throw at it, from gaming to multitasking. The 512GB internal storage also provides sufficient space for all your photos, documents and gaming applications
▲Hardware information
With esports gaining so much popularity it’s just a must for a phone to be able to handle gaming. I did some actual testing with popular games, like Genshin Impact and Honor of Kings, and the performance is flawless. No frame drops, no stutters—just pure gaming pleasure. For Honor of Kings, the frame rate is consistently at around 120 FPS almost 99% of the time, which shows that the Magic V3 is still capable of handling your gaming needs.
▲Genshin Impact at best settings
Moreover, certain games like Honor of Kings even support the Super Split Screen feature to provide a console-like gaming experience. You would be able to break free from your fingers blocking part of the screen, but of course it would take some time to get used to it. For now there is not much game being supported as this somehow still depends on the game developers but I believe that with this feature gaining more popularity, many will start to further join in the foldable gaming experience.
▲Honor of Kings under Game mode, Ultimate FPS, HD Graphics, supports Super Split Screen
Battery
Foldable phones often come with battery life compromises, but HONOR has managed to strike a decent balance with the Magic V3. The 5150mAh 3rd Generation Silicon-carbon battery would easily get through a full day of use while delivering optimal performance. Whether you’re browsing social media, watching YouTube, or enjoying your favourite games, the Magic V3 won’t leave you hanging. Actual battery test done with an hour 4K YouTube video playback at 50% volume consumed 19% of power whereas an hour of intense Honor of Kings session under Game mode, Ultimate FPS and HD Graphics consumed 22% of power.
▲1 hour 4K YouTube video playback at 50% volume, 19% battery used
▲1 hour HONOR of Kings 4K, Game mode, Ultimate FPS and HD Graphics, 22% battery used
For heavier users, you will still not need to worry as the 66W HONOR SuperCharge is a lifesaver. A quick 15-minutes charge would replenish nearly half of the battery, whereas 30-minute charge gets you back to 78% and only 50 minutes to fully charged, so even if you’re in a rush, you’ll still have enough juice to get through the rest of your day. The Magic V3 also comes with 50W Wireless HONOR SuperCharge for the first time while maintaining the reversed charging feature to provide even more flexibility on your charging options.
▲ 66W HONOR SuperCharge
▲Start from 1%, 15 minutes to 47%, 30 minutes to 78%, 50 minutes to full
If the charging speed fall short of what you are expecting, the system does prompt to unfold the phone completely flat for optimal charging so that’s something users would need to take note of. Also while smart charge and smart battery capacity is activated, you might see the charging get a bit slower once it exceeds 80% and close to its peak capacity, which I think are pretty good features to extend the battery’s lifespan.
Software
The Magic V3 comes with plenty of new features to bring the ultimate big screen AI-experience to its users. HONOR AI has worked with Google Cloud to integrate AI into the Magic V3 in some really clever ways, while enhancing existing features. The Magic Portal has been a proud feature of all HONOR phones, and now it just gets better. The Circle To Do More is like a combination of the Circle to Search and Magic Portal, which makes it even more functional now.
▲ Circle To Do More
Users might have been familiar with the Face to Face Translation but there is some slight difference with the Magic V3. HONOR is being so considerate to add in Bahasa Melayu to cater for the multilingual culture in Malaysia. For now the language options are still limited to 10 and we still do not see Japanese and Korean on the list so hopefully HONOR would be adding them in soon.
▲Face to Face Translation
Another neat feature is the AI HONOR notes where you can transcribe or translate the recordings into notes. The voice to text is surprisingly accurate and what further surprises me is it is able to recognize every speakers’ voice. A small setback here would be the notes would end up in the selected language so it might pose a slight inconvenience if you want to further translate it or revert back to the original
▲AI HONOR Notes
The AI Magic Eraser is also available on the Magic V3 to cater for your editing needs. We all know how annoying it is to find the perfect photo timing at crowded spots, or worse to have our perfect shots being photobombed by strangers or objects.
▲AI Magic Eraser
The Parallel Space feature acts like a second phone and works independently from the main screen, which is perfect for people who do a lot of multitasking or just want some peaceful privacy time.
▲Parallel Space
Last but not least, there is this Gallery Comparison feature that works like magic and users who found themselves having a hard time to determine the best among similar shots would absolutely love it.
▲Gallery Comparison
Verdict
In conclusion, the HONOR Magic V3 is a stellar device that delivers on almost every front. While keeping the phone sleek and stylish, HONOR has done a commendable job in bringing the Magic V3 to a whole new level by packing in features that make it a joy to use. It’s clear that HONOR has put a lot of thought into these AI features, and they genuinely enhance the overall user experience.
While the price tag of RM 6999 is on the pricier side, the Magic V3 offers value that justifies the investment, especially for those looking to explore the world of foldable smartphones but would still love to retain some bar phone experience. Whether you’re a highly productive individual, or just a passionate photography lover, or anything in between, the HONOR Magic V3 is a smartphone that will not only meet but exceed your expectations.
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