The HONOR Magic V3 puts the Z Fold 6 to shame and it's going global in 2024

The HONOR Magic V2 made a big splash last year due to its ultra-thin design for a foldable phone, coming in at just 9.9mm. The Chinese manufacturer isn’t resting on its laurels, as it just announced the Magic V3.

HONOR’s new foldable phone measures just 9.2mm thin, according to the company. By contrast, Samsung touts the Galaxy Z Fold 6 as its thinnest Fold ever at 12.1mm. The device also weighs 226 grams, versus the Z Fold 6’s 239 grams. That also makes it lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra (232 grams). In saying so, these figures apply to the Velvet Black variant, while other variants offer a still svelte 9.3mm thickness and 230-gram weight.

HONOR also claims that its hinge is the thinnest to date, at 2.84mm. The company adds that the hinge can be folded up to 500,000 times, although we’re not sure about the folding screen itself. Expect an IPX8 rating too, which is a sorely needed upgrade as the Magic V2 lacked an IP rating altogether. In fact, the brand claims a rated depth of up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet).

Expect a 7.92-inch folding display (2,344 x 2,156, 9.78:9 aspect ratio) and a 6.43-inch cover screen (2,376 x 1,060, 20:9). HONOR claims 5,000 nits of peak brightness for HDR content but also touts an impressive 1,800 nits global peak brightness. It’s unclear if these figures apply to both screens or just the cover display. Speaking of the screens, the manufacturer asserts that the displays are wear- and impact-resistant.

Take a peek under the hood and you’ll find a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. The manufacturer also touts a larger vapor chamber cooling system, which should bode well for sustained workloads. Otherwise, the company also managed to squeeze a 5,150mAh silicon-based battery into the slim form factor. Expect 66W wired charging along with 50W wireless top-ups. The latter is a notable addition this year in light of the Magic V2 skipping wireless charging capabilities.

The HONOR Magic V3 also has a flexible triple rear camera system, consisting of a 50MP main camera (f/1.6), a 40MP ultrawide camera (f/2.2, autofocus, 112-degree field-of-view), and a 50MP 3.5x periscope lens (f/3.0). A 20MP camera on each screen handles selfies and video calls.

Expect to pay a starting price of 8,999 yuan (~$1,240) for the 12GB/256GB variant, all the way up to 10,999 yuan (~$1,515) for a 16GB/1TB model. HONOR previously told Android Authority that this launch event is a Chinese launch, though. Following the publication of this article, however, the company confirmed in a press release that the Magic V3 would launch in international markets later this year. That would already be a big improvement over the Magic V2, which launched globally over eight months after the Chinese launch.