Honor comes out of the closet and confirms the existence of Magic V, its first foldable smartphone, but we still don’t know when it will arrive, where and at what price
Just a photo, to be precise a rendering, and a name: that’s enough for Honor to officially announce that its first foldable smartphone is coming: Honor Magic V. But that’s not all, because the announcement published by the Chinese company until a few months ago owned by Huawei tells us even more: it will be “flagship”.
A term that, in itself, does not mean anything except that the first foldable Honor will be a premium phone, we assume both in technical features and in price. All other official information about this model is postponed until a later date, as Honor hasn’t said when it plans to unveil the new Magic V nor, much less, on which markets it plans to sell it and starting when. Around that “flagship”, therefore, we have to turn to skim the most credible rumors from those less reliable.
Honor Magic V: how it will be made
The photo published by Honor hints that Magic V will be a device that folds inward, protecting the foldable display when closed.
From the proportions, though, we still can’t tell for sure if it will be a “clamshell” foldable, like the Samsung Z Flip3, to be clear, or a “booklet” foldable, like the Samsung Z Fold3. It seems, however, that it won’t close with the display exposed, as is the case with Huawei’s Mate X2.
The rumor that sees the new Honor Magic V equipped with an 8-inch internal panel (once opened) and a 6.5-inch external one seems credible. In this case it would be a foldable “booklet”.
Treating it as a smartphone “flagship”, as stated by the same Honor, it is safe to assume that the processor used will be the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, intended for the top of the range 2022. Also because Qualcomm itself has mentioned Honor among the brands that will use its chip.
Honor Magic V: pricing and availability
If “flagship” means “premium” it is impossible to expect an affordable price for Honor Magic V. But then again, none of the foldable smartphones currently on the market, not even those already mentioned, has a list price under a thousand euros.
The fact that Honor has come out of the closet announcing the name of its first foldable, however, suggests that the launch of the model is close, at least in China. Taking the next step, i.e. assuming a global market launch by the first part of 2022, however, seems far-fetched.