Honor is preparing to launch its latest foldable device in the form of the Magic V2.
We don’t have long to wait, but here’s what we know so far about this premium smartphone that will hopefully come from China.
When will the Honor Magic V2 be released?
It has been officially announced that the Honor Magic V2 will be launched July 12, 2023.
During his keynote address at MWC Shanghai, Honor CEO George Zhao confirmed release date rumors, though we don’t yet know if that’s just for China or the global date.
The original Honor Magic V never made it outside its home territory, but subsequent Honor Magic Vs were first released in China in November 2022, followed by a global release in February 2023, albeit one that didn’t include North America.
If Honor sticks to this pattern, we may see the Magic V2 in Europe in October, but hopefully sooner. A US launch is unlikely.
How much does the Honor Magic V2 cost?
There is no official word on the pricing for the Honor Magic V2 at the time of writing. For guidance, we can look at the previous model. At launch, the Honor Magic Vs cost £1,399 / €1,599 (around $1,690), making it just a bit 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 all that much, so we’d expect the Honor Magic V2 to have a similar price tag.
What features do we see in the Honor Magic V2?
Even with the release date so close, Honor hasn’t announced any specs as it’s presumably saving those for the event. We’ve seen some strong rumours, though, which gives us an idea of what’s to come.
GSMArena reports that the new device will come in two versions, allowing buyers to choose between Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets accompanied by up to 16 GB of RAM and a maximum storage of 512 GB. This would be in line with what we saw on the Honor Magic Vs, which arrived with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
As with all foldable devices, 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 comes with a 2K LTPO panel with high-frequency dimming. There are no details on the size or anything about the external panel, but if the Magic V’s form factor is maintained, the folding screen should be 7.9in, while the outside of the phone will have a 6.45in OLED panel will have that running at a resolution of 2560 x 1080 and with a refresh rate of 120Hz.
How big the battery will be seems anyone’s guess. The Honor Magic V was equipped with a 4750 mAh cell with support for up to 66W charging. Digital Chat Station has posted that the Magic V2 will boost that to 5800 mAh, while GizmoChina says Honor will have a high-density dual-cell with a capacity of 2840 mAh and 2060 mAh will install. Anyway, it seems that users should have more energy reserves on hand with the new foldable.
Cameras will also get some tweaks. Several reports we’ve seen think Honor is sticking with the triple camera array that appeared on the Magic V, but the 50Mp main shooter could be upgraded to a 108Mp module instead, and GizChina also reports that optical image stabilization could be are included to improve the sharpness of images and video.
That’s all we know so far, although with the release date so close it won’t be long before we get to know the full loadout of Honor’s new foldable. Until then, check out our guide to the best foldable phones so you know what the Magic V2 has to offer.