Look out, Samsung! Honor’s wafer-thin Honor Magic V2 foldable finally goes global

Say hello (again) to the world’s thinnest foldable smartphone

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At long last, theHonor Magic V2is available to pre-order in the UK and Europe – and rival foldable phone manufacturers should sit up and take notice.

Havingdebuted in China last year, the Honor Magic V2 remains, at the time of writing, the world’s thinnest inward-folding smartphone, measuring just 9.9mm thick when folded and 4.7mm when unfolded. For reference, theGoogle Pixel Fold,Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5andOnePlus Openmeasure 5.8mm, 6.1mm and 5.8 mm at their thinnest points, respectively, so for Honor to undercut the competition by more than a millimeter is seriously impressive.

The Honor Magic V2 is thinner than its big-name competitors when folded, too, with that 9.9mm figure almost a millimeter smaller than the next-thinnest mobile phone, the OnePlus Open (which measures 11.7mm when closed). For our early thoughts on the V2’s design, head over to our hands-onHonor Magic V2 review, which we’ll be updating with a more comprehensive verdict in due course.

Beyond its impressive thickness (or lack thereof), the Honor Magic V2 boasts a 7.92-inch foldableOLEDdisplay (2156 x 2344 pixels), which itself offers a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. The phone’s second screen is a 6.43-inch, 120Hz OLED cover display (1060 x 2376 pixels), which Honor says is protected by “drop-resistant nanocrystal glass.”

Under the hood, Honor’s latest foldable phone is powered by Qualcomm’sSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset– that’s the same chipset as you’ll find inside theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraand theOnePlus 11– and it ships in a single memory configuration: 512GB (with 16GB RAM). The phone packs a 5,000mAh dual silicon-carbon battery, which enables 66W fast charging via Honor’s included SuperCharge cable.

On the photography front, the Magic V2 boasts three rear lenses: a 50MP (f/1.9) main, a 50MP (f/2.0) ultra-wide, and a 20MP f/2.4 telephoto, with the latter offering 2.5x optical zoom. The main and telephoto cameras also have optical image stabilization (OIS), and there’s a 16MP punch-hole front camera on each screen, too.

Other specs and features include a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 5G support, stereo speakers and Android 13 software, overlaid with the company’s MagicOS UI.

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All told, the Magic V2 has the makings of a class-leading foldable phone – however, as with other Honor products, it won’t be available in the US. UK shoppers canpre-order the phone nowfor an eye-watering £1,699.99, but that figure isn’t so shocking when you consider that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 starts at an even higher $1,799.99 / £1,749 / AU$2,599 (the V2 does, however, cost €1,999 in Europe).

Honor is throwing a fair few freebies into the mix, too. If you pre-order the phone viaHonor directly, you’ll get a pair of Bang and Olufsen headphones (worth £459) included with your purchase, as well as six months of screen protection and a 66W Honor SuperCharge Power Adapter. An early-bird voucher – which shaves £200 off the phone’s price if activated before March 1 – is also available (use code AV2PR200 at checkout). Similar freebie-based promotions are available atAmazon, Very, Argos and Currys, and the Magic V2 will also be available to purchase from Three on February 2.

In addition to the regular Magic V2, Honor teased a Porsche Design version of the Magic V2 – the Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR – at its Leipzig-based launch event. This special edition model will boast a Porsche 911-style rear design, scratch-resistant glass and a refined palm grip, though Honor is keeping price and release details under wraps for now.

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Axel is TechRadar’s UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site’s Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion. 

Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

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