The Honor Magic VS is a new foldable smartphone from the former Huawei sub-brand that is actually slated for release outside of China. It uses a similar design to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices, combining a large 7.9-inch internal folding display with a smaller 6.45-inch cover display for use while the device is folded.
“The Honor Magic VS will be our first-ever foldable flagship to debut in overseas markets and we are confident that it will make tremendous strides and change the way people around the world use their smartphones,” said George Zhao, CEO of Honor. International pricing and detailed release information have yet to be announced, but in China the device will start at ¥7,499 (about $1,048) for the lowest spec model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, and will ship on November 30. Expect a worldwide release early next year.
On the hardware side, the big new addition with the Honor VS compared to the Magic V the company launched at the beginning of the year is stylus support, similar to what we’ve seen with Samsung’s S Pen stylus on its recent Galaxy Z Fold Devices. The folding mechanism is also said to be sturdier, with Honor claiming the Magic VS’s hinge can withstand 400,000 folds, double that of the original Magic V. This means the Magic VS should have a lifespan of up to 10 years. to have. if you unfold and fold it 10 times a day.
The US screen sizes are unchanged from its predecessor. The internal display is 7.9 inches with a refresh rate of 90 Hz and a resolution of 2272 x 1984, while the external display is 6.45 inches with a higher refresh rate of 120 Hz and a resolution of 2560 x 1080. However, it has a got small spec stumbles on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, while its predecessor used the non-Plus version.
In standard flagship fashion, the phone offers three rear cameras; a 54 megapixel main camera, a 50 megapixel ultrawide (which doubles as a macro camera) and an 8 megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom. For selfies, the foldable has a 16-megapixel sensor.
The phone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery (a slight improvement over the 4,750mAh battery in the Honor Magic V), which can be charged at the same 66W fast-charge speed. That’s powerful enough to charge the phone in 46 minutes. fully charged, says Honor. Available colors are orange, black and blue tinted cyan.
Although Samsung is now selling its fourth generation of foldable devices, it has faced relatively little competition in global markets. Other companies like Xiaomi and Oppo have more or less restricted their foldables to the Chinese market, while ongoing sanctions mean that Huawei’s internationally released foldables cannot ship with Google’s all-important apps and services. While the Honor Magic US is unlikely to ship in the US, Europeans may finally see some competition in the foldable market.
