Foldable phone thinner than Samsung’s can be folded 400,000 times

For the past few years, Mobile World Congress has been the foldable phone show, with the likes of Samsung, Huawei, TCL, and now, Honor taking part in the innovative festivities. Today, Honor announced the global launch of its latest foldable, the Magic Vs, which first debuted in China back in December. 

Before you get overly excited about a new foldable coming to a carrier store near you, know that the global expansion starts in Europe for now, and likely won’t make a pit stop in the US anytime after. It’s a pattern that US consumers may want to become familiar with as more products launch at MWC.

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Like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Honor Magic Vs unfolds from a smaller 6.45-inch slab to a larger 7.9-inch tablet. It’s a form factor that phone manufacturers continue to push out to attract power users and those who want multitasking capabilities in the palm of their hands. 

While the outer cover display refreshes at 90Hz, the inner screen — where you’ll likely spend most of your interaction time — ramps up to 120Hz.

Where the Magic Vs beats the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, at least according to Honor, is in the design, durability, and price. Firstly, the foldable has no visible gap when closed shut (see comparison image below). 

Besides aesthetics, the main advantage here is that dust and debris — two primary sources of defects in thin, foldable glass — are less likely to seep into the internal screen of the phone. While Honor doesn’t claim an IP rating for the phone, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the gapless design is more protective than the Fold 4’s.

Honor also says the Magic Vs can withstand as much as 400,000 folds, double Samsung’s 200,000-fold rating for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. For perspective, that means the Magic Vs display should hold its structural integrity even if you fold it 100 times per day, every day, for the next 10 years.

Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Best foldable we’ve tested

The rest of the specs are what one would expect from a premium smartphone, let alone a foldable: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset (remember, this phone launched in December, when the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 wasn’t readily available yet), a 5,000-mAh battery with up to 66W fast-charging, and a triple camera array at the rear (54MP main, 50MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto).

The Honor Magic Vs will go on sale in a 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage configuration for €1599 (roughly $1,700) in select countries starting in Q2 of this year. We’ll update the phone’s availability as more information comes.