At MWC 2023, we have been excited to see Honor launching the Magic Vs, its first foldable that shall be out there globally after its introduction in China in late November.
The Honor Magic Vs is the primary critical various to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 because it delivers a barely thinner and lighter kind issue with the same construct high quality and system {hardware}. The shows and cameras are additionally on par, whereas the battery is bigger and comes with a 66W quick charger within the field.
The Honor Magic Vs shall be out there with 12GB+512GB in Black and Cyan for €1599 in Europe. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 was priced at €1799 at launch.
There are not any plans for a U.S. launch the place the Z Fold4 was launched at $1799, which is just $99 lower than the transformed $1700 value (from €1599).
The Magic Vs just isn’t waterproof, one other draw back in comparison with the Z Fold4 which options an IPx8 ranking.
Design
The construct high quality is great, with a sublime shiny end on the again cowl.
Through the keynote occasion at MWC, Honor CEO George Zhao was proud to disclose that, not like the Z Fold4, the brand new Magic Vs is gapless as soon as folded, and at 12.9mm, is slimmer than its nemesis (15.8mm). At 261g, the Vs can also be a hair lighter than the 263g Galaxy Z Fold4.
The again cowl options curves on each lengthy edges, which convey a smoother really feel to the machine when in comparison with its competitor, the flat Z Fold4.
“SMOOTHER FEEL TO THE DEVICE WHEN COMPARED TO ITS COMPETITOR”
The hinge was an necessary a part of George Zhao’s presentation as it’s product of an aerospace-grade polymeric materials, and has considerably fewer elements than its predecessor. Their quantity was diminished from 94 to 4 to make room for a bigger 5000 mAh battery.
Honor claims that the brand new hinge can face up to as much as 400,000 folds, double of the 200,000 folds ranking of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4.
Folding Expertise
The foldable design encompasses a totally different expertise vs. traditional telephones, nonetheless, Honor, following within the footsteps of Samsung, along with the giant 7.9” inside display, gives a high-end 6.45” outer show that utterly covers the entrance of the machine when it’s folded.
When folded at about 120 levels and positioned vertically on a desk, you don’t want a stand to devour content material or learn emails on one aspect whereas watching a video or consulting one other app on the opposite aspect. It may be extraordinarily handy and is actually a pure tripod.
In contrast to the Galaxy Z Fold4, the 90-degree folded place works provided that you place the quilt with the digicam module on the desk, in any other case, it flips again open, most likely a trade-off of the lighter and extra sturdy hinge.
Show(s)
Each shows characteristic wonderful picture high quality, responsiveness and luxury, and convey a superior visible expertise for consuming content material typically.
The 7.9” OLED encompasses a 2272 x 1984 pixels decision in a ten.3:9 facet ratio (382ppi pixel density). The 90Hz refresh fee is under the 120Hz functionality of the Galaxy Z Fold4, the Combine Fold 2 or the Oppo Discover N2.
“AMAZING IMAGE QUALITY”
In all probability to reinforce the common telephone expertise over the “pill mode”, Honor determined to supply a better 120 Hz refresh fee and pixel density (431PPI vs. 381) to the 6.45” 2560 x 1080 pixels outer display.
The 1200 NITs peak brightness on the paper is just like the theoretical peak brightness of the Z Fold4, we nonetheless must measure the brightness to test the declare.
The crease is as seen as within the foldable telephones now we have performed with, such because the Galaxy Z Fold4 and the Z Flip4. I barely discover it, because the show high quality is excellent.
Sound High quality
The audio high quality is excellent, and the stereo twin audio system ship a strong and clear sound at most quantity. Nevertheless, when in comparison with the Galaxy S22 Extremely whose sound is sort of as glorious because the Galaxy S23 Extremely and the Apple Professional Max, I observed that the Magic Vs barely lacks bass.
Honor Magic Vs Digicam
The Honor Magic Vs brings the digicam efficiency shut the one discovered within the Galaxy S23 Plus and S23, and barely larger than the one of many Z Fold4.
On the again, there’s a triple-camera module:
- Main Digicam (Large)
- 27mm 54MP IMX800 Essential Digicam (f/1.9)
- Video: As much as 2160×3840 pixels
- Photograph: As much as 6144×8768 pixels
- Ultrawide & Macro digicam
- Telephoto digicam
- 94mm 8MP f/2.4 3X optical zoom + OIS
Within the inside show, there’s a selfie digicam:
Our algorithmic CAMERA HW rating ranks the Honor Magic Vs (rating=161) barely above the Galaxy Z Fold4 (rating=155) and nearer to the Galaxy S23+ and S23 (rating=166), an excellent rating as unbiased reviewers acknowledge the S23+/S23 as an excellent shooter within the premium phase.
The first large digicam is provided with a big 54MP IMX800 sensor that’s akin to the one discovered within the Galaxy Z Fold4, in response to our algorithm.
Each the ultrawide and telephoto lenses are a bit of higher than those within the Z Fold4. The Magic Vs optical “3X” zoom is healthier as a result of it encompasses a longer focal lens 94mm than the 62 mm of the Z Fold4.
Each telephones characteristic a high-resolution sensor for the first shooter. Nevertheless, not like the Samsung machine, the high-res picture seize is unavailable in auto mode. With the Magic Vs, you could drill down two sub-menus to search out it (digicam mode menu>extra>excessive res).
System Efficiency
As a result of it’s geared up with the identical Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 because the Samsung Z Fold4, the efficiency may be very a lot comparable. Our checks present the Z Fol4 has a small benefit within the Geekbench 5 CPU benchmark, but it surely’s one thing that customers would most likely not discover a lot in the actual world. We definitely didn’t.
From a graphics/gaming standpoint, the efficiency we measured is almost an identical, which isn’t shocking. In any case, the conclusion is that the Honor Magic Vs performs precisely like what we might anticipate from a big high-end, Foldable android smartphone.
Battery Life
Because of the brand new hinge, the Magic Vs encompasses a 5000 mAh battery, the most important on the foldable market. Non-foldable flagships equivalent to S23 Extremely or OnePlus 11 have the identical capability. 5000 mAh is commonly thought of to be the utmost sensible capability, however it’s notably difficult for a foldable design.
Moreover, when that you must replenish the battery, this smartphone can cost as much as 66W of energy, which is quicker than any of the rivals we’ve seen till now. For heavy vacationers, this can be a important benefit as you would cost 66% quicker earlier than boarding a flight or heading to your subsequent vacation spot.
Conclusion
The Honor Magic Vs is a formidable piece of expertise on the identical degree of system efficiency, design excellence, show high quality, and digicam efficiency because the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, its nemesis.
“AN IMPRESSIVE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY”
The slight distinction in our ranking is justified by the absence of water resistance which is necessary for any machine above $1500, and a greater consumer expertise for productiveness and multi-tasking discovered within the Samsung machine.
The Honor machine definitely feels thinner and extra agreeable to carry within the hand than the Z Fold4, with a greater digicam, for 200 euros much less.
Filed in . Learn extra about Editorspick, Honor, Honor Evaluations and Smartphones.
