Honor Magic V6 review: The fanciest of foldables

When it comes to the best folding phones, Honor has been at it for almost as long as Samsung. Indeed, the pair are at loggerheads with their respective Magic V and Galaxy Z Fold series.

Honor's latest – which arrives to worldwide markets mere weeks ahead of Samsung's anticipated next-gen product – also features a bolstered battery, aiming to set the benchmark of what such devices can achieve without compromise.

The Magic V6 also arrives with a tasty price cut for its on-sale date, notably at £1,499.99 in the UK (a £500 discount on its typical £1,999.99 RRP). That's a big attention grab in a competitive market that will certainly make people pay attention. As will the design.

My review model, dressed in red with gold embellishments, will no doubt divide the crowd. But there are other more mono options to suit the masses. So can Honor do just that – deliver a folding phone that's actually viable for a greater number of prospective buyers?

Price & Availability

As stated above, the Honor Magic V6 ought to cost you a penny shy of two grand. Its on-sale promo, at £1,499.99, brings it under even Samsung's Z Fold 7 (£1,799 at launch – albeit that was in 2025, as at the time of writing it's now much cheaper).

That's in the UK, where the phone is available from Honor.com. You won't be able to buy one in the USA or Australia – unless you unofficially import a model anyway. If you do, ensure it's the international version, as the Chinese model – which has an even larger battery capacity – has been available since March this year.

What's New?

• Front display marginally larger, at 6.52-inch (up from 6.42-inch)
• Larger battery – 6660mAh silicon-carbon (up from 5820mAh)
• Charging at 80W (up from 66W), wireless at 66W (was 50W)
• New-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor
• Greater ingress protection – IP68 + IP69
• New colour options

So just what is new for this generation? I've included a general summary of points above as, generally speaking, the Magic V6 isn't a gigantic overhaul beyond the previous Magic V5 model.

That's no bad place to start, mind, with the latest model really refining details such as the degree of bezel around the display and, of course, the battery scale. That's the real enhancement for this generation – you're going to get a foldable that outlasts its competition.

However, Honor's improvement to the IP rating isn't to be sniffed at. It's hugely complex to make a product of this type survive water jets and submersion – but that's exactly what the Magic V6 brings to the table. So kudos to the team for that update.

Design

• Colour options: Gold, Red, White, Black
• 8.75mm thin when folded

How you feel about the Honor's style, however, is going to be a personal matter. I don't prefer it to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, just as we said of the previous V5 model, given the large camera bump in an octagonal-shaped housing.

As you can see from these review photos, too, the Red finish isn't for those who the quieter side of life. This phone has been the spark of many a conversation since I've been using it full time – and not only because it's a foldable.

There's an included case in the box, which in this case is also a matching red colour, complete with shimmering texture throughout. Some will love it. Some will call it overkill. I certainly lean to the latter. But, in the same breath, it is lovely to receive something different – especially when you've tested hundreds of phones in your work life.

Key to the Magic V6's design is also its thickness – or thinness, more to the point. Unfolded and one side of the unit is a mere 4mm, which is about half what you'd expect from a normal flagship phone. The other side, with that camera protrusion, does add to the thickness – not that it feels unbalanced to use.

Layout and controls are otherwise pretty familiar: the on/off button and separate volume up/down key sit to the right side when facing the front display. The charge port and SIM try are down the bottom. Speaker/mic openings flank top and bottom. And the manual unfolding mechanism feels very natural.

Displays

• Front: 6.52-inch OLED
  • 1080 x 2420 resolution
  • 6000 nits brightness
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • No curved glass
• Internal: 7.59-inch AMOLED
  • 2172 x 2352 resolution
  • 5000 nits
  • 120Hz
• NanoCrystal Shield scratch-resistant coating

Display is inevitably a huge part of a folding phone's appeal. So for this generation, Honor has made all-important tweaks to ensure the Magic V6 has more to offer.

The front display, for example, is marginally bigger and brighter than before. But that's achieved in a footprint hardly different to its predecessor, by reducing the bezel scale.

There's also no curved glass to the front, which makes using this phone feel effortless – just like an everyday flagship, really.

Unfold to the main screen and you're presented with the same scale 7.95-inch interior panel. Again, the bezel is slighly reduced. But, importantly, Honor has further improved the presence of the 'crease' to the centre – reducing it by a significant percentage.

Can you still see the crease as a result of the fold? From the right angle, of course, just as you can in any folding phone. Even Oppo's Find N6 couldn't 100% eradicate this feature. Viewed head-on, however, I've rarely been affected by it negatively.

Just as we said of the previous Magic V5's displays, the Magic V6's solution takes that success and makes it better still. These increments are harder to achieve generation on generation, so for the V6 to progress is testament to its quality.

Performance & Software

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 5) processor
  • 12GB/16GB RAM variants
• UFS 4.1 storage (256GB / 512GB / 1TB variants)
• Google Android 16 with Honor MagicOS 10
• Upgraded vapour chamber for cooling

Living with a foldable has the potential to bring its share of downsides. After all, there's a lot of processor power stuffed into a slender body that's surrounded almost entirely by heat-producing displays.

Fortunately, the Magic V6 has invested in an upgraded vapour chamber system for cooling, marking it out as better than its V5 predecessor. I've not found this model to overheat in particular – and I've been gaming on it daily, just as I would with any phone.

Indeed, the V6's hardware armoury is choc-full of high-end choices. There's the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon flagship processor. Buy a larger storage variant and you'll get 16GB RAM, too.

That can be bolstered by Honor's RAM Turbo feature, utilising a further 16GB of storage. It's not active by default, but toggling it on and, following a phone restart, it's easy to activate – and I certainly recommend that every owner does this.

But while the Magic V6 has all the right physical hardware in place, it's not always the greatest joy to use in every way. That's down to the brand's MagicOS software, which continues to deliver some oddities.

Those used to stock Google Android and similar systems, like Samsung's One UI, may find the dual left/right downward swipe and lack of swipe up for search mechanisms to be peculiar. I've got used to them, but often find various admin tasks seem elongated due to the process of engaging with this system.

Furthermore, not every app runs perfectly. I've had issues with credit card apps timing out on repeat, for example, while various frugal battery-preserving settings can see others not function exactly as you'd expect. Plus there are a bunch of pre-installs that, for me, aren't of interest (and now deleted).

Battery Life

• Silicon-carbon battery type
• 6660mAh (non-China version)
• 80W wired charging, 66W wireless

Since using the Honor Magic V6 – as I have been for over a fortnight now – I've never once had battery anxiety. From a folding phone that's a rare thing indeed.

It's down to Honor's investment in silicon-carbon, which can deliver higher density in a smaller surface area. It's a newer technology that many of the big names are still trialling rather than putting into their devices.

Even over longer working days I've not made it to the red, with near to 25% remaining after a 16 hour day. That includes all of the usual – browsing and messaging, videos and gaming – across a split of work and personal use.

I've found no need to cap my usage. Even GPS tracking in Strava for at least an hour per day adds no dramas, aside from the sometime software bothers with some apps as mentioned above.

In short: the Honor Magic V6's battery life might be the single most positive reason to buy this phone. It blows Samsung's effort clean out of the water in this regard.

Cameras

• Main (triple):
  • 50-megapixel, f/1.6 aperture, optical stabilisation (OIS)
  • 64MP 3x optical zoom (70mm equivalent), f/2.5, OIS
  • 50MP ultrawide, f/2.2
• Front:
  • Both: 20MP, f/2.2

I shan't dwell on the camera aspect of this phone, as it's 99% the same as its predecessor. What is clear, however, is that Honor commits to its camera setup for its flagship foldable – as the large protrusion to the rear makes clear.

In that octagon you'll find a set of high-resolution sensors, from a 50MP main and 50MP ultra-wide, to the (rare in this market) 3x zoom lens at 64MP resolution. That's a lot of capability for a foldable device.

These cameras are competent in daylight conditions, offering great colours and accurate results. Having both an ultra-wide and zoom on hand I've found to be particularly useful – just don't push things too hard, as that zoom has its limitations.

Even low-light results are pretty solid (bar the ultrawide), there's a suite of modes for enhancements, and the overall collection is a great offering. It's also a great big lump on the rear of a phone that's otherwise so thin. Perhaps the gold trim of this review model only highlights its presence yet further.

Honor Magic V6 review: Verdict

Whether or not you like the aesthetic of my red and gold review model, there's no denying that the Honor Magic V6 is a very impressive folding phone.

It's slim and lightweight without compromise to performance – and the battery life on offer here is second to none. That alone is reason enough to buy this foldable over any other.

However, the software throws up its share of oddities, the camera unit to the rear is pretty huge, and there's no doubting the design will be too outlandish for some. That's where Samsung's alternative will edge its way in.

All in all, however, Honor has refined the folding phone experience yet further – and with an introductory price that's hard to ignore, too. That only enhances the magic appeal of the Magic V6.

Also Consider

While the price is appealing, there's no shortage of folding phones to select from right now. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 will cost you a little less, doesn't have the mega camera bump, and while the battery isn't as impressive overall, the software experience is just more streamlined.