Honor is ready to release the Magic V2, their next foldable tablet.
There isn’t much time to wait, but here’s everything we know so far about this high-end smartphone that will hopefully find its way outside of China.
When will the Honor Magic V2 be released?
The Honor Magic V2 will be available for purchase on July 12, 2023.
Honor CEO George Zhao confirmed rumors regarding the release date during his keynote speech at MWC Shanghai, however we don’t yet know if it is a China-only or worldwide date.
The original Honor Magic V was never released outside of China, however the succeeding Honor Magic Vs were released in November 2022 in China, followed by a global release in February 2023, but without North America.
If Honor continues on this path, the Magic V2 might arrive in Europe in October, if not sooner. A launch in the United States is improbable.
How much will the Honor Magic V2 cost?
At the time of writing, there was no official announcement on price for the Honor Magic V2. We can refer to the prior model for advice. The Honor Magic Vs costs £1,399/€1,599 (about $1,690) at launch, making it somewhat less expensive than its major competitors, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 ($1,799/£1,649/€1,799) and the Google Pixel Fold ($1,799/£1,749/€1,899).
Prices for foldable phones don’t appear to be decreasing all that much, so we’d anticipate the Honor Magic V2 to be around the same.
What features will we see in the Honor Magic V2?
Even though the release date is so close, Honor has yet to reveal any specifications, probably to save them for the event. We have heard some strong rumors, though, which gives us an idea of what is to come.
According to GSMArena, the new smartphone will be available in two variants, with consumers able to choose between Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets, as well as up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. This is consistent with what we witnessed on the Honor Magic Vs, which was equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor.
The display, like with all foldables, is a critical component of the device. It’s thus wonderful news that Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station (via GizmoChina) has revealed that the Magic V2 will include a 2K LTPO screen with high-frequency dimming. There are no details on the size or the exterior display, but assuming the Magic V’s form factor is retained, the folding screen should be 7.9in, with the outside of the phone sporting a 6.45in OLED panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1080 and a refresh rate of 120Hz.
Anyone’s guess as to how big the battery will be. The Honor Magic V has a 4750mAh battery that supports up to 66W charging. According to Digital Chat Station, the Magic V2 will have a battery capacity of 5800mAh, while GizmoChina reports that Honor would use a high-density dual-cell battery with capacities of 2840mAh and 2060mAh. In any case, the new foldable appears to provide customers with larger energy reserves.
Cameras will be improved as well. Several reports suggest that Honor will stick with the triple camera array seen on the Magic V, but the 50Mp main shooter could be upgraded to a 108Mp module instead, and GizChina speculates that optical image stabilisation could be included to improve image and video sharpness.
This is all we know for now, but with the release date so close, it won’t be long until we get the entire loadout of Honor’s upcoming foldable.
