Samsung rules the Android roost when it comes to market share but the competition is hotting up when it comes to folding phones. These new gadgets have displays that physically bend in the middle to close into a smaller form but open up to reveal a tablet-sized screen inside.
The first devices we saw of this kind were Samsung phones, and most recently Express.co.uk has been testing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, a book-style folding phone that left us slightly wanting more given it costs £1,799.
Thankfully there’s competition on the way this week from Honor, the Chinese Android brand that has risen from the ashes of Huawei. The phone maker, which used to be Huawei’s sub-brand but now has broken out on its own, has been teasing a big new foldable phone launch and we pretty much know what is coming.
This week marks the start of the annual IFA tech conference in Berlin where several big companies unveil new products. Honor has been less than secretive that it’s going to fully announce its Honor Magic V3 for the European market on Thursday 5th September, posting extensively on social media:
The phone firm is marketing this Magic V3 foldable on its thinness, and it looks very impressive. In this post on X, it is trying to show just how much slimmer the V3 is compared to the Z Fold from the last three years.
In case you’re unaware, part of the reason Honor is happy to share a lot of information on the device before its official Berlin launch is because the phone has already been released in China – back in July, in fact.
This often happens with Chinese phones, and means companies do a weird dance with European launches where they tease the release of a phone you can go online and find out all about. The main thing Honor is likely to keep secret until this Thursday is the pricing.
“Honor is holding a press conference at IFA 2024 in Berlin, Germany on September 5, where more details on the Magic V3’s arrival in Europe will be announced,” the company tells Express.co.uk. While it’s not one hundred percent confirmed, the phone is likely to come to the UK market. The phone is being promoted on the company’s official UK store website and there are videos aplenty on social media showing new AI software tools.
The phone is remarkably thin for a foldable and beats Samsung’s Z Fold after a session with the caliper. Unfolded, it’s a mere 4.35mm thick, and with its rounded corners should feel significantly more svelte than the 5.6mm Galaxy Z Fold 6.
An iPhone 15 is 7.6mm thick overall, and when folded shut the Magic V3 is 9.3mm, so we’re getting to the point where a phone that can unfold into a tablet is nearly at the same dimensions as a regular slab phone. On pure engineering achievement alone we are very excited to test out the V3.
The phone also has a large outer screen that is more similarly sized to a regular phone, inlike the Z Fold 6 which has a tall and narrow second screen. Inside the V3 is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset that you’ll find in its Samsung rival. The Honor phone is lighter at 226g vs 239g.
It could all depend on the price, which Honor will have to keep below the Z Fold’s £1,799 to tempt UK buyers away from the allure of Samsung. But it looks like Honor has a fighting chance this year with a head-turning design.