Honor has officially launched the Magic V5, touting it as the world’s thinnest foldable phone. However, this claim comes with a few important asterisks: it only applies to the white version and requires you to overlook the pronounced camera module. The phone is available in China starting today, with an international release promised “soon.”
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At 8.8mm thick when folded, the Magic V5 is indeed impressively slim, narrowly beating the Oppo Find N5 by 0.1mm. While this difference is practically imperceptible, a slight curvature on the Honor device contributes to its slightly thinner feel. It’s crucial to note that this “thinnest” title only holds for the “Ivory White” model, which features a “special fibre” finish. Other colour variants, with their fibre and vegan leather finishes, are marginally thicker at 9mm.
The “thinnest” claim becomes even more debatable when considering the camera module. The Magic V5’s triple rear camera setup protrudes significantly, almost twice as high as the Oppo’s, making the phone feel thicker overall. While the superior camera specs, including higher resolution sensors and faster apertures, might justify the added bulk, it does detract from the “world’s thinnest” bragging rights.
When unfolded, the Magic V5 measures 4.1mm, again just edging out the Oppo’s 4.2mm. However, neither matches the extreme thinness of Huawei’s trifold Mate XT, which reaches 3.6mm at its thinnest point, notably where it omits the USB-C port.
This pursuit of fractional thinness is familiar territory for Honor; their Magic V3 held the “thinnest” title before the Oppo Find N5’s release earlier this year. Next week, Samsung is expected to reveal a significantly thinner Galaxy Z Fold 7, though it’s likely to be slightly thicker than Honor’s offering. Honor hasn’t actively promoted it, but the Magic V5 also appears to be among the lightest foldables, or at least shares that distinction with Vivo’s X Fold 5 (announced last week), with both weighing 217g.
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While the constant battle over millimetres and grams might seem like quibbling, it highlights a broader trend. As one reviewer noted with the Oppo Find N5, we might be seeing the “start of diminishing returns” for foldable phone thinness. Without sacrificing essential features like the USB-C port or adopting asymmetric designs, there’s little room for these phones to get meaningfully thinner. This suggests foldable manufacturers will need to find new ways to generate excitement for future launches.
Fortunately for Honor, the Magic V5 still boasts strong enough specs to impress. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, coupled with up to 16GB of RAM and a substantial 5,820mAh battery. Both screens are 120Hz LTPO OLED panels, and the phone supports wireless charging. Additionally, it comes with IP58 and IP59 ratings for dust- and water-resistance, approaching the durability of many non-foldable phones.
