The Honor Magic V3 has officially launched in the UK and other Western markets, competing head-on with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open. While other super-slim foldables like the Huawei Mate X5 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 have only launched in China, Honor is following up its impressive world's-thinnest Magic V2 with a much more camera-focused package further afield.
The phone's super-thin 9.2mm folded, 4.35mm unfolded profile doesn't take the camera bump into account, which is probably a good thing, as within the fine-looking octagonal camera module is a triple camera setup that includes a periscope zoom.
The most notable updates for the newly announced version of the Magic V3 for global markets are the return of Honor's partnership with Parisian photography studio Studio Harcourt and some new interface enhancements.
Costing £1,699 (roughly $2,235 and AU$3,320), the Magic V3 may be expensive, but it undercuts both the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 despite a more impressive spec roster.
Honor Magic V3 camera explained
The Honor Magic V3's camera is a tale of two halves, hardware and software. The phone's main camera mix consists of a wide, ultra-wide and telephoto camera, and there are two selfie cameras, one within the cover screen and the other on the right side of the main display.
Wide camera
The 50MP wide camera on the Honor Magic V3 has a 1/1.56-inch sensor, PDAF and OIS, as well as a wide f/1.6 aperture. The sensor size might sound small for a phone of the V3's price, but it's on the larger side for a foldable, with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold's main camera sensor measuring in at just 1/2 inch.
Ultra-wide camera
The Honor Magic V3's ultra-wide camera dials down the resolution slightly, with a 40MP sensor. It bests the ultra-wide of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by including autofocus, so it can capture close-up shots, and matched with an f/2.2 aperture, for objects that are 10cm or less from the lens, pulls out decent depth blur.
Telephoto camera
Where the Magic V3's camera really pulls ahead of Samsung is zoom, with the 50MP periscope module packing five times more pixels than the Z Fold 6's tele camera, and featuring a larger 1/2.51-inch sensor, as well as a slightly further optical reach of 3.5x.
Selfie cameras
Both of the Magic V3's selfie cameras are 20MP sensor, f/2.2 lens combinations, though one great feature of foldables is the fact you can take selfies using the primary camera by opening the phone and using the cover screen as a viewfinder. The Magic V3 supports this feature, and in our tests, is great for vlogging too.
Studio Harcourt and camera software
Honor introduced its partnership with Studio Harcourt at the Paris launch of its upper-midrange Honor 200 Series. With three capture modes, Harcourt Classic, Harcourt Vibrant and Harcourt Colour, the Magic V3 can shoot full-color or monochrome portraits that pack a unique style while also offering control over dynamic range and artificial bokey.
While some reviewers wrote these modes off as filters, the Harcourt Classic mode in particular rekindled our love of black and white portraits and reminded us they are a great way to get the most from smartphones' modestly sized sensors when we tested the 200 Pro.
Honor's camera system also excels at stopping time with its Motion-sensing Capture featuure, the Magic V3 gets Honor's AI zoom which it showcased on the Magic 6 Pro, and the phone captures 4K video at up to 60fps across all three rear cameras.
Honor Magic V3 features and specs
Another aspect of the Magic V3 that's been upgraded for its global launch is the interface. Unlike the Magic V2, Honor has loaded up a taskbar on the inner display for speedier unfolded navigation.
A new feature called Magic Portal allows for quick sharing across up to five supported apps with a drag and a drop, and this works on both the cover and main display.
Honor's bringing back the magic capsule for the V3 - an Apple Dynamic Island by a different name - and the phone also supports a part-folded hover mode with third-party apps. This means you can part-fold the phone like a laptop, and the bottom half of the display turns into a touchpad.
While the new software is newsworthy, given the global overhaul, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate the Honor Magic V3's hardware. Measuring just 9.2mm when closed and weighing 226g, it's thinner and lighter than some non-folding phones, and alongside the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, it feels lifted straight out of the future.
Despite its slimline profile, the Magic V3's screens are larger than those of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. On the front, its 6.43-inch display packs a wider aspect ratio than Samsung's foldable for more comfortable typing, while the inner display is 7.92 inches, also significantly larger than the Z Fold 6.
As thin and light as it is, the Magic V3 is also powerful with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset matched with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. It also has a larger battery than the main competition with a 5150 mAh silicon-carbon cell, and with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, it powers quickly too.
We're testing out the Magic V3 now, so check back for our full Honor Magic V3 review, and to see what the foldable competition looks like, check out our guide to the best flip and fold phones of 2024.
The Honor Magic V3 can currently be bought with an £300 early bird discount, for £1,399.99
