HONOR Magic V2 Unboxing, First Impressions, and Camera Samples

HONOR has introduced its first foldable for the PH market and we got our hands on it. Below are our initial thoughts and first camera samples.

HONOR Magic V2's slim yet strong hinge!

The global version of the new HONOR Magic V2 comes with a 120Hz 6.43-inch LTPO cover screen, a 120Hz 7.92-inch Foldable LTPO screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 16GB RAM, 512GB internal storage, and a 5,000mAh Silicon Carbon Battery with a 66W fast wired HONOR SuperCharge.

At the back of the foldable are the 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 20MP telephoto camera. It has two 16MP selfie cameras found on the outer and inner screens.

Its main selling point is that it is razor thin at 4.7 mm when unfolded and 9.9 mm when folded.

The is priced at PHP 79,999 in the Philippines.

Let's dive in.

Unboxing/Accessories

HONOR Magic V2's packaging

It comes in a large black box with the HONOR Magic branding. Around the box are the key specs, features, and regulatory information.

Magic V2's box inclusions

Inside the box is the HONOR Magic V2 with a plastic screen protector (cover screen), documentation, bumper case, SIM ejector tool, USB-A to USB Type-C cable, and the 66W wall charger.

There are no included earphones inside the box.

Build Quality/Design

Stunning design

The frame and the hinge are made of metal while the front cover screen is made of NanoCrystal Glass 2.0.

HONOR Magic V2 is a foldable designed to last!

The key attraction of the Magic V2 is its super slim design. This was made possible by the advancements in the folding screen and the titanium alloy hinge. What impressed us is that despite its slim profile it managed to pass the 400,000 fold internal testing. HONOR had to engineer a slim but tough hinge to give its durability and the folding screen’s resistance and give.

Generally, the phone's design is immediately eye-catching for its elegant purple color, size, and thinness. It boggles our mind how it managed to pack all of that including a 5,000mAh Silicon-Carbon battery inside that thin body.

HONOR Magic V2's outer screen

The exterior features a curved 6.43-inch LTPO screen with a 2,376 x 1,060 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 2,500nits peak brightness, and a 91.2 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Around the panel are slim bezels that are nearly symmetrical. On the upper part of the panel is the punch hole.

Inner folding screen

The interior screen is a 7.92-inch foldable LTPO screen with a 2,344 x 2,156 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 1,600 nits peak brightness. 

The panels also feature 3,840Hz PWM Dimming with TUV Rheinland Flicker Free certification, Dynamic Dimming, and Circadian Night Display with TUV Rheinland Circadian-friendly certification.

Top and bottom view

On top of the phone are the 1st set of speakers, antenna lines, and a microphone port. On the bottom are the 2nd set of speakers, USB-C, microphone port, and the SIM tray.

Outer side and hinge

On the left outer frame is the metal volume rocker while on the right outer frame is the fingerprint scanner that doubles as the power button. Around both outer frames are more antenna lines. The hinge has a deep purple color with a matte texture just like the rear panel.

SIM tray with rubber gasket

The SIM tray can carry up to two nano-SIM cards. It has a red rubber gasket that indicates a form of water and dust resistance.

Rear camera module

At the back of the phone are the 50MP f/1.9 main camera with OIS, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide camera, and a 20MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS and an LED flash.

The stock camera app's modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Pro, Night, Aperture, Movie, Slow-Mo, Panorama, Time-lapse, Watermark, Super Macro, Dual-View, High-Res, Scan Document, and Story.

The Pro mode allows for controls of ISO (50-6400), Shutter Speed (30-1/6,400 sec), EV (+-4), Focus, and White Balance. Users can also switch between ultra-wide, 1x, 2.5x, and 10x digital zoom.

First Camera Samples

Rear camera daylight 1x

Rear camera daylight 2.5x

Rear camera daylight 10x

Rear camera daylight ultra-wide

The image taken with the 1x main camera is noticeably the sharpest. The 2.5x has a minor loss in sharpness. While the ultra-wide was noticeably less sharp. This is more likely because of the 50MP main camera in contrast with the 20MP telephoto.

The 10x digital zoom needs to be more active and it has a hard time keeping subjects still. 

All images from the rear cameras are noticeably saturated which could be a concern for some. Otherwise, we love the contrast in all images.

Rear camera portrait mode

The rear camera's portrait mode can shoot with 1x, 2x and 2.5x. We prefer the 1x for the environmental portraits. The edge detection was impressive as it was able to detect the subject well. It did struggle with fine fibres but the transition between the in-focus and the out-of-focus is smooth enough.

Selfie camera daylight - Strong winds

Selfie camera portrait - Strong winds

The foldable has a 16MP f/2.2 on the outer screen and on the inner screen.

The selfies produced are sharp, detailed, and with deep contrast. The colors are mostly good but struggled with skin tone accuracy.

As of now, the cameras take good images but could use tweaking to be great.

Inside is the 5,000mAh super slim Silicon-Carbon Battery with an included 66W HONOR SuperCharge wall charger.

Other key features of the phone include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, face unlock, Dual SIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 BLE, Wraparound antenna, 5G, LTE, LDAC, AptX, AptX HD, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, DP1.2, NFC, and eSIM.

What impressed us is how thin it is considering the components and the large 5,000mAh battery.

Running the show is MagicOS 7.2-based Android 13. Like recent versions of MagicOS from recent smartphones, it could still use some polish. So if you want great hardware with great software, you may want to stay away for a while.

Especially if you want a software experience comparable to the ones from the OPPO Find N3 or the Galaxy Z Fold5.

HONOR Magic V2 Specs

Display: 7.92-inch NanoCrystal Glass 2.0 protected LTPO AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 3840Hz PWM dimming, FHD+ 2344 x 2156 at 402 ppi, 6.43-inch NanoCrystal Glass 2.0 protected OLED screen w/ 2376 x 1060 resolution at 402 ppi

CPU: 3.19GHz 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno

RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X

ROM: 256GB/512GB/1TB

Back Camera:  50MP f/1.9 main camera + 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide shooter + 20MP f/2.4 telephoto camera + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.2

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 66W HONOR SuperCharge

OS: Android 13 w/ MagicOS 7.2

Connectivity: WiFi 7, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.3LE,  OTG, NFC, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic, pressure

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, alert slider, stereo speakers, DTSX Ultra Algorithm, USB-C, Colors: Black, Gold, Purple

Dimensions: 156.7 x 145.4 x 9.9 mm (folded) or 4.77 mm (unfolded)

Weight: 237 g

Price: PHP 79,999

As of the moment

Inner screen web surfing experience

Out of the box, we have to commend HONOR for producing a mind-bogglingly thin form factor foldable. This may help push brands to go further instead of sticking to the same form factor for years.

The thinness was made possible because of the super slim 5,000mAh Silicon Carbon battery with 66W SuperCharge. Not to mention it's lightweight despite having metal and glass.

Aside from its 4.9/9.9mm thinness, we also loved the curved outer screen with the curved metal frame. It competes with other flagships with premium build material and design.

Depending on the price, last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 could be either a great or bad move. However, let's not forget how great its performance was with other phones.

There was no mention of official water and dust resistance but we are glad there is a rubber gasket on the dual nano-SIM tray.

Both screens are LTPO with super bright peak brightness and high resolution that produce sharp and vibrant images with crisp text.

What surprised us was the inclusion of Wraparound Antenna, stereo speakers, and NFC.  These are usually omitted from other similarly priced phones.

Stay tuned.