Honor Magic Vs: The Thinner, Bigger, Lesser Foldable

[HONOR MAGIC VS INITIAL REVIEW]

Stop me if you've heard this one before: "great hardware, undone by under-done software."

If that sounds like a line straight out of a Huawei phone review from 2016, well, that tracks. Because Honor began its corporate life as a youth-focused sub-brand of that now-beleaguered behemoth, and even though Honor is now an independent phone maker shipping its first global foldable (Google apps and all) … well, a lot of its software still feels stuck in Shenzhen.

Still, it’s early software, and it’s a folding phone – from a brand that historically has competed on price. So the Honor Magic Vs might be an important step toward broader foldable adoption … if that price is right. From Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I'm Michael Fisher – and this is MrMobile's initial review!

(NOTE: MrMobile was informed late in the review process that the Honor Magic Vs software would receive an update before release. That update will address, among other things, the missing app drawer – though more details were not immediately available. If the Magic Vs user experience changes significantly in the time leading up to release, follow-up coverage may be warranted. Stay tuned!)

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[ABOUT MRMOBILE'S HONOR MAGIC VS FIRST-PASS REVIEW]

This video was produced following twelve days with an Honor Magic Vs review sample provided by Honor and tested on Tello Mobile and Google Fi, in the United States and Spain. The device received one software update during the review process, to MagicOS Build 7.1.0.62.

Honor provided travel, lodging and a daily meal stipend to members of the media to attend Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona – MrMobile included. However, MrMobile does not accept compensation from the manufacturers of the products he reviews in exchange for producing content. No payment was provided and no manufacturer or carrier was afforded a preview, editorial input or copy approval rights concerning this review.

[MUSIC]

"Scrappy" by Famous Cats [Soundstripe]:

"Boom Boom" by Adrian Walther [Soundstripe]:

"Our Lives" by Strength To Last [Soundstripe]:

[CHAPTERS]

00:00 Stop me if you've heard this before
01:22 A piece of work
05:35 The ups and downs of MagicOS
08:50 Camera slug-fest (featuring the Galaxy Fold 4)
11:06 Is the price right?

[SOCIALIZE]

[DISCLOSURES]

#honor #honormagicvs #honormagic #foldable #foldingphone #android #intothefold #honormagicv

[TheMrMobile]

NOTE: MrMobile was informed late in the review process that the Honor Magic Vs software would receive an update before release. That update will address, among other things, the missing app drawer – though more details were not immediately available.

If the Magic Vs user experience changes significantly in the time leading up to release, follow-up coverage may be warranted. Stay tuned!

EDIT: There was also confusion about how many years of platform updates Honor would commit to. The official word seems to be three years, as opposed to the two I quoted in the video. MrMobile regrets the error.

[deepcriedchicken]

Your videos are so well written. Not many tech youtubers have this amount of polish in their videos.

[trulsdirio]

Yep, an IR blaster is one of those things you don't think about until you need it. My Poco F3 has one after my last three phones didn't and just when I got it last year the remote for my Blu Ray player went missing while moving. That ten cent IR blaster is the difference between me having a movie night and me having e waste as I can't find a replacement online.

[HandheldAddict]

It takes guts to give this nuanced review while on the company dime. Hats off for that. Really looking forward to see if Honor improves the software experience

[Grabster]

Watching this on a Fold 4 and makes me so happy that Samsung's OneUI is as stable as a foldable software gets. I rarely ever have problems multitasking on it. I love my fold!

[SnakeActual]

Wanted to say thanks for, alongside the work put into the tech reviews, contextualizing the ads instead of simply reading copy from the company. It makes a world of difference in making them palatable, and as someone who typically hates adverts with a passion, the insight into why the sponsor was chosen from an actual user of the product makes me infinitely more inclined to listen to the pitch.

The brevity helps too.

[Alwynfu]

The quirk with Honor/Huawei OS is that tapping notification popups will open apps in windowed mode, while tapping them in the shade opens them in full screen. Nobody nails foldable software like Samung's One UI and that's why I went with the Fold 4.

[Reacher]

No matter how bad Samsung's crease is but their software is so much ironed out for foldables.

[CamboSpace]

I hope HONOR listen to what you've raised. All weaknesses in software could be a big problem in the international market. I'm also an HONOR fan, but since I moved to the iOS ecosystem I think that most android phone brands are still very young in software optimization.

[wtduwnt]

Enjoyed the review. I find it strange how common it is for reviewers to knock on colorful icons, and drawn illustrations in their devices as childish. Same goes with having more colorful or designs on the phone itself being labeled as toy-like. I need color and art in my life, that doesn’t make me a child. (My penchant for toys and children’s show does :V)

For the icons and font, it also helps people find things easier. An example is when Google changed a bunch of their icons to have similar colors. I’ve had a harder time finding gmail, drive, and meet when they did.

[cidsx]

Honestly your channel, even with over a million subscribers, is so underrated. I love your style and voice and your extremely detailed reviews. They are really calm to watch and imo you're the best reviewer out there.

[idhamsoeryadijaya]

The foldables competitors are getting better and better! As someone who purchased his first foldable from samsung, I'm so happy now there are more option to choose from!

[rufysufy]

I like how these foldables are maturing. I’m keeping an eye on them as my next phone may very well be a foldable. My iphone 11 pro max still has a year or two of life though.

[GFourGadget]

The hardware is okay, held back by the software which they can update and improve, if they intended to. The pricing is CRAZY, and would only worth it if the priced dropped 200-300 Euros.

[Achillias]

This foldable is priced ridiculously. Way to expensive.

[chrisinjapan]

This has to be the best review that you have ever done. It made me who was not interested in foldables at all, watch the whole thing and consider buying a foldable as my next phone. Job well done

[ah_dan]

I asked for this review on twitter and I'm so glad you looked at this model.

As is, even with the bugs and style issues, a custom launcher and some finger crossing for updates might have been enough for me to pull the trigger on this. But that price, oof. That's just far too high for a product that feels undercooked. At £12/1300, I would probably have caved. As it stands, I'll keep rocking my Poco F2 Pro for a while longer.

I always feel like your reviews are the "total package" - well produced, well written, and always deep enough without simply reading a spec sheet. Just wanted to say thank you.

[stevanb.]

I wish Android companies focused more on software details (not only foldables, any phone). Hardware reached the level where year to year difference is minimal, but constant chase for new processors, lenses often leads to software that's just not on pair with hardware of the device... Short periods between newest and upcoming models often result in "we fill fix it with updates, but hey, look what we prepared for our new device" halfbaked phones.

[tdata]

Also the Fold 4 has stylus support, and as a Note (now Ultra user) that's important to me. THOUGH, the Fold 4's "special S Pen" is weird. It's an eraser in most drawing apps. I found this out by using it, and also owning EMR pens that have a dedicated "eraser" on them, and taking said pens with a dedicated eraser on them to AT&T and using them with the fold 4 without issue. This becomes problematic since a lot of apps code for and with that optional pen feature in mind. Meaning drawing apps on the whole get made useless on the fold.

[Granturion]

So much useful information here. Thanks and yes, ... if the software would be fixed it CAN be worth this amount but hell... only 2 years of major updates is a bummer.