Review: Honor Magic V5

The Honor Magic V5 is now available in South Africa, and a direct competitor to the Samsung Z Fold 7. The Honor Magic V7 launched at R37 999 on Vodacom, and is currently listed at R32 899 (as of 11 December 2025), whereas the Fold 7 is R42 199.

When you’re buying into foldables, you’re accepting a trade-off: carry something bigger and bulkier in your pocket in exchange for more screen and a futuristic piece of tech. But, despite it being ‘bulky’, they’re more portable than a laptop and that’s key to anyone considering this device. I see it as more of a laptop replacement; then suddenly, it’s not so bulky.

Honor Magic V5 Quick Look

• 7.95″ main display; 6.43″ cover display
• Snapdragon 8 Elite; Adreno 830 GPU
• 16GB of RAM; 512GB storage
• 64MP/50MP/50MP rear camera
• 20MP front camera; 20MP in-screen camera
• 5820mAh battery

Honor Magic V5 Design 

The Honor Magic V5 I have on test is in the shade “dawn gold”, which means it’s 4.2mm open and 9mm folded, but weighs 222g.

It’s being punted as 8.9mm folded and 4.1mm open but 217g, slimmer than the Z Fold 7, which is only true for the “ivory white” colour. That said, it’s as thin as USB-C allows it to be, which is a marvel itself.

It has a thick back camera that makes the phone a bit chunky and creates an imbalance when placed on a table. While this is the case for most phones today, the Magic V5’s is more pronounced and almost the same thickness as the phone itself.

It’s not a device you just fit in your pocket, well not if you’re wearing women’s jeans, so you’d have to carry it around in a bag, with some form of protection. Thankfully, it has a cover in the box, which I’m a bit torn about the design.

It has a protection flap or lip that goes over the fold of it, but when it’s open, it just looks awkward. Plus there’s a metal ring that goes around the lenses that acts like a kickstand but sits wobbly and not straight. So perhaps it should not be used for this purpose.

I’ve not been using the cover with the phone because I don’t like the design. I do recommend getting a front screen protector instead if you can find one, so when you place the phone on a flat surface, you can place it screen down instead of it not being flat from the camera side.

The Honor Magic V5 supports a stylus, but you have to buy it separately.

Screens that pop: inside and out

The cover screen is 6.43-inches, while the inside screen is 7.95-inches. It’s a balance between using a smartphone like experience when closed and a tablet or PC like experience when opened.

Both are OLED displays that have HDR support with the external screen having a 2376×1060 resolution and the inner one having a 2352×2172 resolution.

It has a 120Hz display, which means scrolling, swiping, multitasking and gaming feels fluid. The displays itself are bright with rich colours. The first time I opened YouTube, it prompted me to turn the vivid screen mode on to make videos look better, which I did. Normal mode has a warm feel to it, even under “neutral” settings.

And then there’s the crease or fold. Most people who don’t own folding phones usually bring this up as a reason that it will bother them but the reality is, as I’ve found with all foldables, you eventually don’t notice it. You are too busy concentrating on what’s your screen. But only if you’re looking for it, under certain angles, does it peek through.

The main display when open is big enough to get work done from anywhere. I can even update my website from it. The front one is more for your smartphone-like experience.

Performance that keeps up

The Honor Magic V5 is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is more powerful than most chips in the market right now, and what you’d expect for a 2025 model.

I didn’t experience any lag on this device. When testing, one usually opens a bunch of windows and it’s so easily forgotten that you have a bunch of apps running in the background. You no longer have to kill it to keep it going.

Whether I was launching apps, using the three window multitasking option – two side-by-side with one floating window, editing documents on Microsoft 365, streaming or browsing, the phone remained snappy and responsive, regardless of using WiFi or mobile data.

It’s the split screen mode that makes it a PC substitute or productivity machine, going beyond what a regular smartphone and tablet can offer due to portability. For journalists, travellers or content creators, juggling tasks on-the-go is seamless.

Cameras and battery: solid, but not perfect

The trio of rear cameras are a 50MP main shooter; 50MP ultra-wide and 64MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. As far as foldables go, I’ve most often said, nobody is buying a foldable for the camera.

Here are some sample shots. Click to enlarge.

The Magic V5 camera is a great set-up from spec alone, however sometime pictures indoors can be hit or miss, without natural lighting. And if I consider all the pics I’ve taken on the Magic V5, some of them were slightly out of focus from the subject.

I love the macro shot here, the plant and little insect are really tiny but you’ll never say; the night mode was alright here and then the last shot is portrait mode.

It’s not a top of the range camera and you will get more sharper images on a flagship but for a foldable, it goes a good job, making it suitable for social media, travel pics or everyday photography.

The cameras offer built-in filters, which I’m personally not a fan of. Both 20MP selfie-cams are great but you are better off using the rear camera on a foldable as that is the most powerful one. The form factor is also favourable as you can turn the cover screen preview on and see what you’re shooting, even for selfies.

Video mode can shoot in 4K with 60fps. There are options for HDR video, super night mode and adding filters to the video – like if you want to shoot in black & white.

The battery life on the Magic V5 is great; with a large 5820mAh silicon carbon battery. I love Honor’s battery technology, it keeps the phone slim but packs in more energy for its size. And it definitely beats the Z Fold 7 here on capacity alone.

The AI power management is an example of good use of AI if you don’t want to worry about running out of power by the end of the day. You can multi-task, stream or watch offline content and browse social media with video content without worrying about running of out battery. You really don’t need to worry about carrying a power bank.

I love that Honor gives you a 66W power brick with the device, plus it supports 50W wireless charging. If you are coming from a flagship with a similar sized battery, the gain may not feel revolutionary.

Software experience and extras

The Magic V5 runs on Android 16 with MagicOS 10. While Honor announced 7 year OS support for Europe, they have not mentioned if it also applies to the South African market.

It comes preloaded with the Google Suite of apps and there are some duplicates from Honor for its own stuff. Some apps are optimised for the folding screen like YouTube but it does not have Flex Mode, like the Fold 7. One gripe I have is that there is no app drawer. All your apps are just on the home screen.

As mentioned earlier, it can do split screen mode, and you can have some apps minimised to the side. You can also have two or three apps opened side by side with scrolling between them. I found it intuitive to switch between the windows, from a regular single app to multitasking using gestures.

The phone of course has AI features built-in with quick access to Google’s Gemini. Even if you’re in split-screen mode, you can long press the power button to pull up Gemini from anywhere.

There’s also an “Honor AI Space” to connect to devices in your network. Another Honor AI feature is its deepfake detection for video calls, though, realistically, not sure how useful that will be in South Africa.

While I’ve not tested it, MagicOS supports an external display for a desktop like experience, similar to Samsung’s DeX mode. you can also use a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Other hardware

The Magic V5 has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, which is not expandable. It has an IP58&IP59 durability rating. Honor says it’s not “professionally water resistant”, but rather splash-proof, water-resistant and dust-proof under normal use. The phone comes with a 66W SuperCharge plug and USB-C cable in the box and supports 50W wireless charging.

Connectivity includes 5G support, dual SIM through eSIM or 2 physical SIM slots; NFC for Tap to Pay; WiFi 7; Bluetooth 6; and Infrared Remote Control.

Final Thoughts

The Magic V5 is a great contender to the Z Fold 7, and being the less expensive option of the two, it would appeal to more folks who are looking for a folding tablet style devices, versus a flip phone.

It lets you be productive on the go, whether you’re editing on the fly, catching up with emails or watching TV series during transit. And buying a phone with eSIM support if you’rea traveller is non-negotiable. Don’t expect a flagship level camera though, but its offering is good for the package, but battery life and performance are excellent.

The Z Fold 7 has other reasons to buy it, like a more solid ecosystem with other devices, better sound and design. The camera bump on the Magic V5 is noticeable when compared to the Samsung, which feels more balanced. That said, when closed, it feels like a regular smartphone.

The reasons to go for the Magic V5 come down to price point when compared to its competitor. If you want a portable PC in your pocket that will also double us as your smartphone, this is the phone to buy.