Honor is preparing to launch its latest foldable device in the form of the Magic V2.
There’s not long to wait, but here’s what we know so far about this premium smartphone that will hopefully make it out of China.
When will the Honor Magic V2 be released?
It’s been officially announced that the Honor Magic V2 will launch on 12 July 2023.
During his keynote speech at MWC Shanghai, Honor CEO George Zhao confirmed rumours about the release date, although we don’t know yet whether that is China-only or the global date.
The original Honor Magic V never made it outside of its home territory, but the subsequent Honor Magic Vs had its initial November 2022 release in China followed by a global one in February 2023, albeit one that didn’t include North America.
If Honor keeps to this pattern, then we may see the Magic V2 in Europe in October, but hopefully sooner. A US launch is unlikely.
How much will the Honor Magic V2 cost?
There’s been no official word on the pricing for the Honor Magic V2 at the time of writing. For guidance we can look to the previous model. At launch, the Honor Magic Vs cost £1,399/€1,599 (approx $1,690), which makes it just a little more affordable than its main rivals the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 ($1,799/£1,649/€1,799), and the new Pixel Fold ($1,799/£1,749/€1,899).
Foldable prices don’t seem to be dropping that much, so we’d expect the Honor Magic V2 to have a similar price tag.
What features will we see in the Honor Magic V2?
Even with the release date so close, Honor is yet to announce any specs as it is presumably saving that for the event. We have seen some strong rumours coming out though, which gives us a clue to what might be in store.
GSMArena reports that the new device will come in two versions, giving buyers a choice between Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets, joined by up to 16GB of RAM and a maximum storage of 512GB. This would be in keeping with what we saw on the Honor Magic Vs, which arrived with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
As with all foldables, the display is an incredibly important part of the device. It’s good news then that Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station (via GizmoChina) has posted that the Magic V2 will come with a 2K LTPO panel that features high-frequency dimming. There’s no specifics on the size, or anything about the external panel, but if the form factor of the Magic V is maintained, then the folding screen should be 7.9in, while the outside of the phone will sport a 6.45in OLED panel running at a resolution of 2560 x 1080 and with a refresh rate of 120Hz.
How large the battery will be seems to be anyone’s guess. The Honor Magic V was fitted with a 4750mAh cell with support for up to 66W charging. Digital Chat Station has posted that the Magic V2 will bump that up to 5800mAh, while GizmoChina says that Honor will install a high-density dual-cell rated at 2840mAh and 2060mAh. Either way, it looks like users should have more energy reserves on hand with the new foldable.
Cameras are set to get some tweaks too. Several reports we’ve seen think that Honor will stick with the triple camera array that appeared on the Magic V, but the 50Mp main shooter could be upgraded to a 108Mp module instead, plus GizChina also posts that optical image stabilisation could be included to improve the sharpness of images and video.
This is all that we know so far, although with the release date so close, it won’t be long until we’ll know the full loadout of Honor’s new foldable. Until then, take a look at our guide to the best foldable phones so you’ll know what the Magic V2 has to beat.
