Honor’s first foldable is the Magic V – and it promises the impossible

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor is officially launching its first foldable smartphone, the Honor Magic V, as it looks to firmly step out of the shadow of former parent company Huawei by promising to do the seemingly impossible.

The Honor Magic V features high-end specs across the board, including 5G connectivity, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor backed by 12GB of RAM, a trio of 50-megapixel rear cameras, and two 42-megapixel selfie cams – one on the outer display when folder, and one on an inner screen.

Arguably its biggest selling point, however, is its design. Honor is really bigging up the “advanced waterdrop hinge technology” the Magic V foldable features, which it says allows the device to unfold to a extra-wide 7.9-inch creaseless display with a resolution of 2272 x 1984 pixels (10:9 aspect ratio) and a 90Hz refresh rate.

Having not seen the handset, we’re intrigued to say the least by how it manages to achieve a ‘creaseless’ design when folding would seem to exclude such a possibility – but we’re prepared to be amazed.

When folded, the Magic V’s external screen is billed as a curved OLED display measuring in at 6.45 inches, with a resolution of 2560 x 1080 pixels (21:9 aspect ratio) and a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s 14.3mm thick when shut, or 6.7mm in girth when unfolded.

The device is set to go on sale on January 18 with pricing starting at ¥9,999 for a 256GB model in orange, silver or black. That works out at around £1,150 or $1,570, which is where we’re obliged to mention that international rollout hasn’t been confirmed – though there’s a listing for Saudi Arabia on the Honor website, too.

• More foldable delights: read our Samsung Galaxy Fold review