Honor's improved Magic VS foldable will go on sale outside China in 2023
The VS has a similar spec sheet to its predecessor, but with a better focus on reliability.
Honor’s second foldable, and the first destined for the west, has been unveiled today in China as the Honor Magic VS 5G. The VS is a follow-up to the Magic V, but you’ll spend a while playing spot the difference between the two handset’s spec sheets. This new model keeps the same measurements, display resolutions and connectivity options, but gets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 paired with a bigger 5,000mAh battery.
Instead, the biggest difference is the focus on reliability, with Honor talking up its new gear-free hinge, reducing the complexity of the mechanism inside. The company says that the handset will withstand up to 400,000 folds despite the parts count falling from 92 (in the Magic V) to 4 in the VS. Sadly, there’s no word on water and ingress protection, meaning it may still lag behind the competition in terms of getting dirt trapped where it shouldn’t be.
The Magic V was no slouch, imaging-wise, but the VS is packing a 54-megapixel primary camera tied to Sony’s IMX800 sensor, same as found on the Honor 70. That’s paired with a 50-megapixel wide and macro lens, as well as an 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens. The company says that its computational photography know-how will ensure the handset offers “best in class” capabilities.
Imaging-wise, the handset has a 54-megapixel primary camera tied to Sony’s IMX800 sensor, the same one found on Honor’s 70 series. That’s paired with a 50-megapixel Wide and Macro lens, as well as an 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens. The company says that its computational photography know-how will ensure that the handset offers “best in class” capabilities.
At the same time, the company is launching the Honor 80 and 80 Pro, a pair of cameras designed for mobile vlogging. These handsets boast of an AI setup to judge scenes intelligently and tweak the lighting and color to suit the environment at the time. And you’ll be shooting with a 160-megapixel primary camera — although that headline figure will probably be binned down quite hard when processed. And we’ve already put Honor’s claims about using its products for videography to the test when we reviewed the Magic 4 Pro.
Pre-orders for the Magic VS will first open in China on November 23rd, in a choice of Orange, Cyan or Black colorways. It’ll be priced at 7,499 RMB (roughly $1,048), with its arrival in worldwide markets expected to happen through the first quarter of 2023, although pricing information isn’t yet available.