I like the melodies of Samsung Galaxy Z Foldable 4. At first glance, the Honor Magic Vs just announced in China on Wednesday does not shine with its physical originality. But it promises more than one trick up its sleeve to undermine Korea’s dominance in the foldable smartphone segment.
Because this new version of the Chinese manufacturer has a much more international vocation. The Honor Magic Vs should appear in 2023 and open a wide ball of contenders for the crown of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4, with the Oppo Find N, the Vivo X Fold or Xiaomi’s next folding smartphone.
An elegant finish, a slim smartphone
Before its official arrival in France, we were able to take the Honor Vs in the morning and it has serious advantages to show for it. Starting with its design. If you take the tried-and-tested smartphone that folds out to become a tablet, it does it well and elegantly. It shows a closed format with a 6.45-inch 120 Hz Oled screen that occupies almost the entire exterior surface (21: 9 format nice for watching videos). Inside, there’s a fairly bright 7.9-inch Oled panel, but it only displays a 90Hz image refresh rate.
We like the adaptive technology that allows the screen to adjust its brightness and contrast based on the time of day to minimize eye strain. At night, it also uses the circadian rhythm to reduce blue light and improve sleep quality. The only drawback is the very responsive and good-quality screen – the groove is quite visible, especially on a light background, where Samsung and especially Motorola with its latest Razr 5G managed to make it much more discreet.
Everything is very thin when the Honor Vs is folded (12.9 mm) and even more open (6.1 mm). This is significantly less than the Galaxy Z Fold 4. It shines with its finesse, its slightly gritty and matte finish in the blue version we were able to carry in hand. The glossy black model has the flaw of beautifully capturing fingerprints on the back. The device is also very light for its size (between 261g for the orange leather model and 267g for the black glass version).
There’s no way to make it stay straight
The frame makes the hinge very inconspicuous from behind. The manufacturer explains that it has been redesigned with four construction elements instead of the 92 of the previous version. This made it lighter, but also freed up space for a larger battery that promises more than a day’s use, but means the device can’t stand in 90° flex mode like its competitors. Too bad, for example, to leave it and watch a video or be in a video conference.
On the back there is a triple photosensor with a 54 Mpx main sensor, a 50 Mpx ultra-wide angle and an 8 Mpx x3 telephoto lens (16 Mpx for the selfie camera). The device can also do macro photography and film in 4K/60fps. It also promises a lot of power thanks to the presence of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip that allows you to play demanding games, enjoy several applications at the same time (two can be opened in parallel on the screen), conserving battery life. It runs on Android 12 with a MagicOS 7 home interface.
Also, the Honor Magic Vs can be used with a Magic Pen which unfortunately doesn’t have a dedicated slot. But it allows for various uses, from drawing to photo editing, handwriting recognition, and use in multiple applications. In China it is sold as an option with this smartphone and included in the most powerful Honor Vs Ultimate version, but it should not reach Europe.
As for the absences, we point out that of compatibility with wireless or reverse charging, but no IP certification was announced either.
No price for Europe or proposed configuration has yet been communicated (The Honor Magic Vs exists with 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM, 256 or 512 GB of storage).
Source: BFM TV
