Not too long after Samsung unpacked its Galaxy Z Fold 6, Honor released not one but two foldable smartphones – the Honor Magic V3 and VS3. These are the successors to the Honor Magic V2 which was launched in Malaysia early this year.
According to Honor CEO George Zhao, the launch of the Honor Magic V3 series sets a new benchmark for slimness in the foldable smartphone segment. The Honor V2 was already incredibly thin at 9.9mm when folded and they have taken slimness up a notch with the latest Magic foldables.
Honor Magic V3
The Honor Magic V3 is the brand’s slimmest large-screen foldable smartphone yet at only 9.2mm when folded (Unfolded: 4.35mm) and weighs just 226g. As a comparison, its previous generation Magic V2 is 9.9mm thick (Unfolded: 4.7mm) and weighs 231g. Meanwhile, the brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 12.1mm thick (Unfolded 5.6mm) and weighs 239g.
The display sizes remain unchanged with a 7.92″ 120Hz LTPO Full HD+ OLED display on the inside that boasts a PWM dimming of 3840Hz. Meanwhile, the cover gets a 6.43″ 120Hz Full HD+ OLED display that comes in a more practical display aspect ratio than the Galaxy Z Fold series. Under the hood, it runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor mated with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and storage options of up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
For taking pictures, the rear gets a triple-camera setup housed in a circular camera bump. It features a 50MP f/1.6 main camera, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens that offers 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom, and a 40MP ultra-angle camera. Meanwhile, the front cameras on both displays are using a 20MP shooter that supports 4K video recording.
To keep its larger screen powered for an extended period of time, the Magic V3 boasts a larger 5,150mAh Silicon-Carbon battery which supports both 66W fast wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
For the first time on an Honor foldable device, the Magic V3 now gets IPX8-rated water resistance which provides greater peace of mind against accidental splashes as it has been tested to withstand being submerged in water for up to 2.5 metres, up to 30 minutes.
Here’s the official pricing of the Honor Magic V3 in China:
- Honor Magic V3 12GB + 256GB – CNY8,999 (about RM5,801)
- Honor Magic V3 16GB + 512GB – CNY9,999 (about RM6,446)
- Honor Magic V3 16GB + 1TB – CNY10,999 (about RM7,091)
Honor Magic VS3
The Honor Magic VS3 is the brand’s slightly cheaper foldable smartphone and is seen as a refresh of the previous Honor Magic V2. It is slightly thicker at 9.8mm when folded and weighs 229g.
The displays on the VS3 look identical to the Magic V3 but it is powered by the previous generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The device can also be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
The camera setup is one step below the Magic V3 as it gets a 50MP f/1.9 main camera, an 8MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and a 40MP ultra-wide-angle shooter. For selfies, both displays get a 16MP front-facing camera.
Powering the device is a generous 5,000mAh battery and it also supports 66W fast wired charging and 50W fast wireless charging.
Here’s the official pricing of the Honor Magic VS3 in China:
- Honor Magic VS3 12GB + 256GB – CNY6,999 (about RM4,511)
- Honor Magic VS3 16GB + 512GB – CNY7,699 (about RM4,963)
- Honor Magic VS3 16GB + 1TB – CNY8,699 (about RM5,607)
The Honor Magic V3 and VS3 will be available for purchase in China starting 19th July 2024. According to Honor, both foldables will be made available for international markets later this year.
