Forget the Google Pixel Fold, this folding phone suddenly looks more appealing

Google I/O saw the search giant announce its first foldable phone, the Pixel Fold. Pixel devices have a reputation for competitive pricing, but Google seems to have almost forgotten that. At a whopping £1749/$1799 the Pixel Fold is the most expensive foldable on the market. Luckily Honor has something that won’t stretch your budget as much – and you can get it from next week.

The Honor Magic V is the first foldable from the firm to make its way out of China –and judging by the specs, we’re very glad it has. Available from the 19th of May, if you buy it direct from Honor’s website before the 26th of the month, you can pick it up for £1,199. The regular price will be £1,399, making it a full £350 less than the Pixel Fold when that arrives. For a traditional phone that’s a fair whack, but for one of the best folding phones it’s very tempting. 

It stands up to the Pixel Fold on specs too, with a 54MP main camera compared to Google’s 48MP effort, albeit lacking the superb Pixel camera software. Under the hood, the Honor boasts a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset – which should see it compete with the Fold’s G2 Tensor setup.

Of course, the main draw of any foldable is the screen – and if bigger is better for you then the Honor is the way to go. A massive 7.9-inch internal display when fully unfolded is a little more than the Pixel’s 7.6-inch effort. 

This, of course, brings with it added bulk – but the Magic V is actually only a fraction wider when folded, at 12.9mm versus the 12.1mm Pixel Fold. Both devices have managed to include a 5000mAh battery into their sleek designs, too, which is up there with the best phones on the market.

Using Honor’s own MagicOS, based on Android 13, the Magic V won’t boast all of the latest Pixel features just yet. Hopefully, once Android 14 arrives, it will be competing with Google’s own device, as at a more reasonable price it's clearly a tempting prospect for any foldable fan.