Honor Magic V3 is official in China with global launch date confirmed

Honor has officially confirmed a global launch date of the Magic V3, and it’s happening soon.

If you’re wondering why Honor is releasing the next generation so soon after the Magic V2 launch, it was an older device than you might think. That phone was initially unveiled in China back in July 2023, meaning we had to wait several months for a global launch. The same, however, isn’t happening with the Magic V3.

But what exactly does this foldable phone offer? Here’s everything we know so far.

When will the Honor Magic V3 be released?

The Honor Magic V3 was first launched in China on 12 July 2024. The global launch was officially confirmed for 5 September 2024 at the IFA 2024 trade show in Berlin.

As a reminder, here’s when recent generations were released:

• Honor Magic V2 – July 2022 (China), January 2023 (Europe)
• Honor Magic Vs – November 2022 (China), February 2024 (Europe)

How much will the Honor Magic V3 cost?

There’s been no official word on the pricing for the Honor Magic V3 at the time of writing. For guidance, we can look to the previous models:

• Honor Magic V2 – £1,699.99/€1,999
• Honor Magic Vs – £1,399/€1,599

The Magic V2 comes with a higher price tag than its predecessor, but still costs less than key rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (from £1,799/$1,899) and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (from £1,749/$1,799).

It’s very difficult to predict how this might change on the next generation. Hopefully, Honor will be able to make the device slightly more affordable this time around. CNY 8,999 starting price in China converts to around £960/$1,250, but that’s unlikely to be accurate.

What specs and features will the Honor Magic V3 have?

Design

The Honor Magic V3 is one of the world’s thinnest foldable smartphones, measuring between 9.2mm and 9.3mm when folded and just 4.4mm when unfolded. Its dimensions are 156.6×145.3mm when unfolded and 156.6×74mm when folded.

The device is available in four colours: Green, White, Black and Red. The Red variant features a faux leather panel and a golden frame, giving it a luxurious aesthetic.

According to a leaker Arsène Lupin, the global version of the phones will be available in all but the White finish.

The device includes stereo speakers, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and a feature to prevent sound leakage during phone calls. It also boasts IPX8 water resistance, adding durability to its design.

Display

The Honor Magic V3 features a 7.92-inch OLED main display with a resolution of 2156×2344 pixels, a 120Hz refresh rate, a maximum brightness of 1800 nits and 3840Hz PWM dimming technology.

The cover display is a 6.43-inch OLED with a resolution of 1060×2376 pixels, a 120Hz refresh rate, a maximum brightness of 5000 nits and 4320Hz PWM dimming.

Performance

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, the Honor Magic V3 promises to offer top-tier performance.

It comes with either 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and provides storage options of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage, ensuring smooth multitasking and ample storage capacity.

Cameras

The camera setup on the Honor Magic V3 is impressive on paper, featuring an advanced triple-lens system. The main camera is a 50Mp sensor with an f/1.6 aperture and optical image stabilisation (OIS).

There’s also a 50Mp telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom and an f/3.0 aperture, and a 40Mp ultrawide lens with a 112° field of view and an f/2.2 aperture.

For selfies, the device has 20Mp cameras on both the internal and external displays, each with a 90° field of view and an f/2.2 aperture.

Battery & Charging

The Honor Magic V3 is equipped with a 5150mAh battery that supports 66W wired fast charging and 50W wireless charging.

That’s a slightly larger capacity than the Magic V2, which already offered excellent battery life. Charging speeds are unchanged.

Software

The phone runs on Android 14 with Honor’s MagicOS 8.0.1. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC and two-way satellite connectivity. It also has a USB 3.1 Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.2 support.

However, there are also plenty of AI features, including Google’s Circle to Search and Honor’s privacy-focused Parallel Space. The global version is likely to feature more that weren’t revealed during the Chinese launch.

That’s all we know about the Magic V3 so far. We’ll update this article once more information comes to light. In the meantime, be sure to check out our round-up of the best foldable phones.

Author: Artur Tomala, Mobile Writer, Tech Advisor