The Honor Magic V is foldable, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered and starts cheaper than rumored

Honor has made its inaugural foldable smartphone the Magic V official today (January 10, 2021). The premium device has a form-factor most like that of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3, although the OEM asserts that it has designed the world's latest flexible-display flagship to be more intuitively usable in everday life. 

Its 6.45-inch cover display has an aspect-ratio of 21:9, which is indeed much more typical than the 25:9 dimensions of the Z Fold3's 6.20-inch counterpart. This screen opens on a 7.9-inch, approximately 10:9 main display which, at a 2272x1984 resolution, has a higher pixel-density compared to Samsung's flagship foldable.

On the other hand, the Z Fold3 is rated for a peak brightness of 1200 nits, whereas the best Honor has managed is 800 nits. Honor has also settled for a 90Hz refresh rate in this OLED panel, whereas Samsung has achieved 120Hz in its third-gen foldable.

Then again, should a Magic V owner wish for this higher refresh rate, they need look no further than the cover display. This 1080p panel manages a 1,000-nit max brightness and, like the main screen, supports HDR10+ and 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

Both displays are affected by punch-holes; then again, Honor has furnished both with high-res 42MP selfie cameras. The OEM has not stinted on the unique, bubble-like rear camera hump: each sensor is 50MP, one of which is ultrawide and another of which has unique "color spectrum" functions.

This hardware has been conferred with Magic UI 6, Honor's latest Android 12-based ROM optimized for dual-screen operation in this case. It runs on 12GB as standard in the Magic V, and is sustained by a 4,750mAh battery with the OEM's 66W fast-charging technology built in.

Honor has announced that the Magic V will start at 9,999 yuan (~US$1,570) for a base model with 256GB of internal storage, or for 10,999 yuan ($1,725) for a 512GB top-end model. It can be ordered from January 18, 2022 in China only for now. The OEM has hinted that its success in that market might influence the likelihood of its launching internationally.

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