If you’re approaching upgrade time and have always been curious about folding devices, the Honor Magic V5 is a good place to start. It’s got some software quirks, but they’re easy to forgive when you weigh up the complete package – flagship-level specs, great displays, decent cameras, and a formidable battery system. At the time of writing, it’s also priced exceedingly well.
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Design
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Performance
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Battery
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Camera
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Value
Magic V5 is Honor’s newest folio-style folding device to launch in South Africa. It follows the Magic V2 (the Magic V3 skipped SA), which arrived here a little late, in March last year. The Magic V5 didn’t receive much fanfare this time around and is only officially available on contract through Vodacom. Not exactly a huge local release for the Chinese company’s flagship folding device.
However, none of that really affects how this device performs, and that’s what we’re concerned with. Thankfully, as you’d expect from a flagship device, it’s pretty damn good – let’s get into how.
The full package
As far as hardware goes, the Magic V5 is up with the best. It rocks the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of non-expandable storage. Pretty standard specs for a flagship device these days and, frankly, anything less would be weird.
Unsurprisingly, for a device less than half a centimetre thick, you might notice performance throttling during long stints of heavy use. Conversely, we found no performance issues during day-to-day use, even when multitasking with three apps open at once. Switching between them was buttery smooth.
Its displays are also flagship-appropriate. The LTPO OLED cover display measures 6.43in with a 1,060 x 2,376px resolution and peak brightness of 5,000 nits, while the LTPO OLED inner display measures 7.95in with a 2,172×2,352px resolution and the same 5,000 nits of peak brightness.
Is that a big brightness number? Yes. Can either display reach that figure reliably? No. Does it matter? Also no. They might not technically hit 5,000 nits in all scenarios and under all conditions, but both still get bright enough that you’ll only really struggle under extreme conditions. The inner display even has a coating to mitigate direct reflections.
Snapping pics
One look at that rear camera module is all you need to know that the Magic V5 churns out great social media-ready images. Whether you’re using the 50MP f/1.6 main camera, the 64MP f/2.5 periscope telephoto shooter, or the 50MP f/2.0 122° ultrawide sensor, most shots will impress.
We were especially impressed with the amount of detail on offer from the rather large 1/2.0in telephoto sensor. Honor’s approach to colour science leans toward brighter, oversaturated shots. That’s true of images from the Magic V5, but not necessarily a bad thing.
There’s a bit of beautifying, or over-smoothing, going on at times, even when the feature is disabled and especially when you’re zooming in past 15x, which triggers the AI Super Zoom feature. Thankfully, that can be disabled if you’d prefer.
If it is to be said, so it be, so it is
If we had to find something to complain about, the selfie cameras are just okay. They’ll do fine for a quick video call with the family, and there are two sensors – one on each screen – if you want to multitask on the inner display instead of the cover screen. When you want to take selfie stills, you’re far better off flipping the unfolded device around and using the rear camera sensors with the cover display as your viewfinder.
Speaking of unfolded, this was at one point the thinnest folding smartphone of its type in the world. It might still be, if only on a technicality. We went straight from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 to the Honor Magic V5 and, try as we might, we couldn’t feel the 0.1mm difference. You won’t either, unless you have callipers for hands.
That said, Honor has done a great job with the design of the Magic V5. It might come off as a bit too gaudy, but the hinge feels suitably sturdy (it’s rated for 500,000 flexes), you can open it easily, and it snaps shut with a satisfying thud. One thing we did notice between the Magic V5 and the Galaxy Fold 7 is that the latter’s hinge allows for a wider angle before it will try to close itself.
The Fold 7’s hinge might edge out the Magic V5’s, but battery capacity, longevity, and charging speed are all found in the latter’s favour. Despite being as thin and light as it is, it still houses a 5,820mAh battery that will get you through a heavy day’s use (we’re talking seven to eight hours of screen-on-time) with plenty to spare. On lighter days, we found it managed to last two, sometimes three days before needing a top-up. When you do get to charging it, the included 66W charger will fill it in no time. 50W wireless charging is also supported.
Progress has been made
In our Magic V2 review, we said Honor still had work to do on the software front if its foldables were to be contenders. We’re happy to report that good progress has been made. The Magic V5 shipped with MagicOS 9 (based on Android 15) but was updated to MagicOS 10 (based on Android 16) during the review period.
Compared to MagicOS 7, which powered the Magic V2, MagicOS 9 had already fixed some of the gripes we had – we weren’t hassled as much by the software that some apps were draining the battery too quickly – and the update to MagicOS 10 fixed even more.
The close resemblance to Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language is fine (and seems to be the new norm), and Honor is doing interesting things as far as the options to customise your device are concerned, that we haven’t seen from other OEMs.
That said, MagicOS still has some weird quirks that might take getting used to – swiping notifications away, for example, can only be done smoothly from one direction. Try from the other, and you’re forced to go through a few more taps. Weird, but not a dealbreaker.
Honor Magic V5 verdict
If you’re shopping around for a new foldable, the Honor Magic V5 should definitely be on your shortlist. The company has made its ambitions in South Africa clear and, earlier this year, upped its software and security updates promise to seven years. That goes a long way in building trust.
While there are still a few software quirks, the hardware is more than up to the task. Flagship-level specs, a pair of fantastic displays, three versatile rear cameras, and an ample battery system mean the Magic V5 can compete with the very best devices.
Even its R38,000 launch price (which has already been reduced to R33,000) manages to be competitive, especially among competition that seems reluctant to change too much too quickly.
