Last year, I reviewed the HONOR Magic V5 and gave it high marks for its affordability and powerful internals in comparison to its nearest rival, the Samsung Fold7. Now, HONOR is back with the Magic V6, which launched first in China and now back on June 10, globally.
Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: HONOR provided a sample without any review or pre-approval.
First up, let"s dive into the specs:
Introduction
First, a couple of notes about the specs: The Magic V6 is said to support a Stylus, but this is not included in the box, and sadly, it will only work with the HONOR Magic-Pen stylus which adds £79.99 or €99,00 (€149,90 in France) to the total price.
Looking at the specs on paper, this aligns with most of the top-tier flagships already released in the latter half of 2025, and so far in 2026 and probably even exceeds them in some areas, like the ample-sized battery and 80W (66W wireless) charging.
| Bands | |
|---|---|
| 2G: | B2 (1900), B3 (1800), B5 (850), B8 (900) |
| 3G: | HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 |
| 4G: | LTE |
| 5G: | SA / NSA |
For me, 2025 was my year of the foldables. I managed to secure a Magic V5, which I used as my daily for a couple of months, and I also had a hands-on with the Fold7, which I did not like. My first impressions of the Magic V6 are positive, and let me just cut straight to the chase, it"s all down to the hinge, which I will talk about later.
I"ll just say what others have already been saying online: yeah, the Magic V6 looks a lot (almost identical) to the Magic V5. Most of the improvements are in the internals, and yes, HONOR still managed to shave off a few millimeters here and there to make it even-thinner and lighter than its predecessor; but let"s be real for a moment... we"re at a stage where phones now receive incremental updates, the revolution of near bezel-less displays and ever thinner phones can only go so far. There"s a reason Samsung dropped the Galaxy Edge series after just one iteration: people didn"t care for it.
What"s in the box
- HONOR Magic V6
- USB Type-C Cable x 1
- Quick Start Guide x 1
- Eject Tool x 1
- Inner screen protective film (Attached to the phone before delivery) x 1
- External screen protective film (Attached to the phone before delivery) x 1
- Warranty Card x 1
- PU Case x 1
This time around I got to experience the full unboxing experience (the Magic V5 I reviewed was repurposed and did not come in the original box or include any accessories) and no I did not film the process, sorry.
Company claims
I"ll start off by adding some of the claims to fame that HONOR itself says about the Magic V6 that deserve a mention. Also, because AI is creeping into our lives more and more with each new tech gadget release.
Alongside the inclusion of Google Gemini, other highlighted AI features are:
- Call Translation
- AI Translation
- AI Writing
- Magic Portal
- AI Deepfake Detection
- Detects AI deepfake scams, safeguarding your personal security (in video chats).
- AI Meeting Agent
- AI Suggestions
Smart Features
- Multi-Flex
- Parallel Space
- Magic Capsule
- Sync to iOS
Syncing with Apple (and Windows)
A lot of effort has been made to make the Magic V6 work well with Apple devices. The company claims that HONOR Connect will enable two-way notification sync with an iPhone and iPad, while the Apple Watch will be able to display messages and notifications from both devices. Sort of what we expect from Phone Link to and from Android.
In addition, there are two apps: HONOR Connect for iPhone/iPad, which enables two-way notification sync, and HONOR WorkStation for Apple Mac and Windows PCs. However, the link for Windows PCs does not work, so I was unable to download it. HONOR WorkStation looks a bit like a cross-device implementation of Magic Ring, which I detailed in the Magic V5 review.
Back in February I mentioned that the download link wasn"t working, that has since been fixed, but sadly the app was not able to connect to the Magic V6, so I was unable to test it. Maybe someone within the Apple ecosystem has a better experience, after all, HONOR seems to prioritize seamless connection to and from Apple devices.
Design
The front screen is made up of HONOR"s own proprietary glass, which is called NanoCrystal Shield, and the sides are made up of an aluminum housing. The metal around the side and antenna lines is sort of iPhone-esque if you ask me. However, as I have always experienced with smartphones, it all ends up feeling like it will slip out of my hand without a case, as the back is quite slippery.
On the rear, it looks textured, but it isn"t; it"s just a nice golden finish. The camera array consists of a triple camera setup: 50MP wide, 50MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto camera flanked by a slightly more circular outer ring, which looks quite nice, if you"re paying attention. The main camera is quite a bit less than the 200MP main camera on the Magic 8 Pro. Centered between the bottom two cameras is an LED flash. The camera array looks the same as on the Magic V5, although the Ultra Wide received a small update from f/2.0 to f/2.2 for an increased depth of field.
On the right side of the phone, you will find the volume rocker and a power key that doubles as a fingerprint reader and action button. The keys are almost flush with the frame. Both buttons are completely smooth.
On the left side, there are no openings at all, and what covers the hinge is completely smooth, although it looks textured.
On the bottom, from left to right, there"s the SIM tray, a USB Type-C charger port for the included 1 m USB Type-C-to-USB Type-C cable, and a speaker grill. On the outer display bottom there are two mic holes. Those white lines are antenna lines.
The top of the Magic V6 has another speaker grill and another mic hole. On the front of the device and in the camera cutout, you"ll find the 20 MP front-facing camera (also on the interior screen). There is no notification LED, though that"s arguably redundant thanks to full always-on-display (AOD) support.
I would have liked to have seen an under-display camera, at least on the interior display, but it is what it is.
It is thinner
HONOR managed to shave off 0.1mm while the phone is unfolded across all colors, now boasting just 4.1mm thickness on Black, Gold, Red, and 4.0mm in the White variant. When unfolded, the Magic V6 retains its overall 9.0mm thickness in the Black, Gold, and Red variants, while with the White version, HONOR managed to shave off another 0.05mm, now totaling 8.75mm, which is impressive given that the Magic V6 has a larger battery capacity than its predecessor. That weight also feels like it is distributed evenly across the phone, in spite of its relatively large camera hump that adds just over half a centimeter when the phone is lying on a flat surface.
Even when holding one-handed and unfolded, the weight feels uniform and not lopsided. I am right-handed, so I am typically holding the left half of the phone with my left hand, which means the camera hump is on the right side, and it still does not feel uneven.
Display
The LTPO 2.0 OLED 6.52-inch cover screen has a 1080 x 2420 screen resolution, with a 406 PPI pixel density, a 20:9 aspect ratio (up from LPTO OLED, 6.43 inches, 1060 x 2376 pixels, 404 ppi with 19.5:9 aspect ratio), up to 6000-nit peak brightness, and "NanoCrystal Shield" protection. The inner screen is mostly unchanged from last year and has a 2172 x 2352 resolution with a 403 PPI pixel density, a 4:3 aspect ratio, protected by HONOR Super Armored, and reaches up to 5000 nits of brightness.
Both displays support HDR content. I found the screen to be excellent, vibrant, and bright enough all the time I was using it in Adaptive refresh rate mode, which automatically adjusts the refresh rate between 1-120Hz depending on the app being used.
Stand
The Magic V6 also comes with a "PU Case" in the box, but really it"s a high-quality case with a sort of faux leather rear and stand that flanks the camera array; this can be swung out to prop up the phone. Aside from also featuring a complete hinge protection, which should increase durability, as it pretty much envelopes it, it results in a much more comfortable and less slippery grip.
Durability
Speaking of durability, HONOR states that the unfolded display is 33% more impact-resistant than Magic V5’s, and with a 44% reduction in crease depth, which is for most a pain point in foldables. Moving onto the internals, the Magic V6 boasts a 2800 MPa hinge tensile strength and was tested to 500,000 folds.
And this is where we come to the hinge test.
Personally, I think the hinge on the Magic V6 is wonderful. It takes very little effort to unfold, unlike my experience with the Magic V5, which I found tough to open with my large hands and fingers. There are no in-depth details shared about the hinge other than what I"ve already shared, but you can view the video above. There"s little to no resistance on unfolding. It"s still spring-loaded, so it will still snap shut. It"s kind of hard to explain. I hope the above video speaks more than I can put into words.
Certifications
While the Magic V5 featured IP58 and IP59 certification, the Magic V6 can now boast IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance ratings, which brings it in line with today’s leading flagship bar phones like the Magic8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy series. Basically, it has the same sort of resistance as most candybar flagship smartphones on the market, which is quite an achievement for a foldable that, in itself, has constantly moving mechanical parts, unlike the Magic 8 Pro.
Battery
HONOR has another claim to fame: it includes the largest-ever battery in a foldable. If you thought last year"s was impressive, look again. The Magic V6 has a whopping 6660mAh battery. For those keeping score, that"s 2,260mAh more than the Samsung Galaxy Fold7 at 4400mAh, and 1660mAh more than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
HONOR says that it managed to increase energy density by raising the silicon content to 25%, which supposedly far surpasses the 16% industry standard amongst competing flagship batteries. In addition, the Magic V6 supports up to 80W wired and 66W wireless fast charging, up from 66W wired and 50W wireless on the Magic V5.
At MWC, HONOR also showed off new innovations in battery density, claiming to achieve 32% silicon content and 900+ Wh/L. This will enable foldables to enter the 7000mAh era, a sign of things to come, perhaps a Magic V7, with a 7,000mAh rated battery?
Setup
The Magic V6 ships with MagicOS 10.0.0.156, which is based on Android 16, with (as of writing) the May 2026 Security Update. In terms of software updates and support, HONOR claims it will push Security updates once a month for the Magic series. My contact told me that in Europe, HONOR will provide seven years of software updates, including security patches and new features.
I wrote extensively about MagicOS the last time around with the Magic7 Pro; if you look around online, feelings are still mixed, with some calling it an iOS knockoff with a laggy and buggy experience. However, HONOR does appear to be listening. Developers have made several updates that please end users, such as letting users dismiss the draining battery alerts, which used to be permanent for apps that actually require to be always running in the background, like Weather alerts, the Health app, or Tailscale, for example.
Above you can see the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) Android setup, which also included pages of opt-in services along with an optional invite to "Enhanced Services" and enabling Location Services. By the way, although the phone supports dual SIM and dual eSIM, only two, in any combination, are ever supported.
Thankfully, the Magic V6 also employs the default gestures found in most Androids, so I was off to a great start on the Home screen. I found navigating through MagicOS to be a pleasant experience, and I experienced no lag despite having a number of apps open in the background.
Speaking of the Home screen, which uses HONOR Home by default, this is highly customizable. You can change just about everything; HONOR continues to tweak and improve the Home Launcher experience, showing that they do listen to feedback.
I was also pleased to see a highly customizable AOD, which Samsung could take note of here. In addition, with another change from previous MagicOS experiences, it is now possible to access the Home screen settings directly from the Home screen when pinching in to edit it.
Bloat?
HONOR includes a lot of its own apps (1) (2), but the experience is comparable to OneUI where Samsung does the same thing... as far as bloat goes, HONOR is not sideloading third-party apps, it just has its own flavor of Email, Calendar, Health, Docs, Files, Gaming-related apps, and more. In a change from MagicOS 9, several of the native apps have received icon updates as well.
Device Clone quirk
Yes, that is 13 pages of apps...
Aside from clean installing the Magic V6, I also used it as my daily when I was asked to update to the current version of MagicOS that ships with it in the middle of June. However, I was disappointed to see that Device Clone dumped hundreds of apps directly onto the Home Screen while I already had the setting to not show new apps on it. I have used Device Clone a few times with HONOR devices and this is the first time it happened, so I reckon it"s a bug with the latest version that I reported to my contact. There"s also no way to bulk delete app icons from the Home screen.
Bedtime mode quirks
First of all, I"m very happy the quick actions drop-down shade includes a single tap Bedtime mode toggle, yay! Samsung are you listening? There is a few things wrong with it, though. Above is a picture of devices on my night-stand in a pitch-black bedroom (the clock is an Echo Show 5). If you zoom in on the phone screen in the above image, you will see the message:
Bedtime mode is on
Screen stays dark and only important calls
can reach you until you stop charging
So... it stayed like this. The AoD did not turn off and the screen did not go dark, and although it isn"t all that apparent there, it was throwing off a lot of light. So much so that I decided after a few minutes to lay the phone flat on its screen. I am sure this is another bug because I cannot remember it doing that with an earlier version of MagicOS.
In addition, I have been testing the HONOR Watch 6 with the Magic V6, and the Bedtime mode does not sync between the two devices.
Accessibility shortcuts
The power button and volume down keys can be mapped to launch a few tools like the camera, torch, Recorder, Timer and Calculator. After setting your keys, a double-press launches your preferred function. MagicOS 10 also includes settings for the "AI Button" in the HONOR Magic V6, but the phone does not have an AI button, so the setting doesn"t actually do anything. I would think it would be best not to include it at all if it can"t be used, but here we are.
I wrote about MagicRing extensively last year with the Magic V5, and this works exactly the same, so if you want to find out more about that you can check out the dedicated piece about it here.
Cameras
As I have said in previous smartphone reviews I"ve done, I am no camera buff. I"m a point-and-shoot kind of guy, but it does not take a professional to see that HONOR has had to make some decisions here with the camera array. The triple camera setup, and even the selfie camera, are quite a bit weaker than the Magic8 Pro (20MP selfie camera instead of 50MP, and 64MP vs 200MP on the rear). So I"ll save you a lot of trouble right away by saying that this will not replace a dedicated digital camera, that is, of course, if you are expecting to take professional-style shots on it. If you"re happy with "preserving the moment," then you"ll be satisfied.
On the rear, the Magic V6 comprises a 50MP wide, 50MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto camera, making up the triple array. Optical image stabilization (OIS) and PDAF (phase detection auto focus), which is a high-speed automatic focus technology, are also included.
As you can see in the above photos, I managed to snap pictures in both bright and overcast days as well as some interior shots; the scene images came out rather well. The first three pictures were used to take advantage of the AI Super Zoom functionality, with one picture using the maximum zoom of 100x of a daylight moon.
Pictures before the car taillight and front headlight were taken on a previous MagicOS 10 version that ships with the phone to consumers, and if you ask me the daylight pics on the new build came out a little overexposed, perhaps indicating HONOR"s commitment to improve nighttime photography now creeping into daylight shots.
Zoom has also improved since February, in all shots I made of the moon using 100X I was able to get the moon centered in the shot, where before I found it near impossible to do while holding the phone. 10X zoom using auto-focus has also improved in that area.
To me, the zoom is a bit of a gimmicky feature. You need real steady hands or a tripod to really make use of it, but also remember that most of the time you"ll be stuck in the Digital Zoom mode when you go over 30X zoom. This will definitely affect the outcome of pictures, which is why I said earlier that you shouldn"t expect to be able to replace your dedicated digital camera with this setup.
Again, with nighttime image captures, scenes performed the best, and props to HONOR here as it seems they have tweaked the camera settings for nighttime scenes. The result is a far better picture, making better use of the available light than we saw on the HONOR Magic7 Pro, when I reviewed it a year and a half ago; although street lamps, and basically any lighting are still overexposed.
Performance and Battery Life
The phone offers up to 80W charging speed (wired) and 66W wireless; however, as I previously mentioned, and is required by the EU, HONOR does not include a SuperCharger in the box. I purchased an HONOR SuperCharger and connected it to a PC with USB4/Thunderbolt 4, but was disappointed to learn that it maxes out at 27W; over wired charging I never saw it go above 65W.
I found it often lasts a full day with heavy mixed usage and provides 10+ hours of screen-on time. It charges very quickly, reaching over 90% in about 40 minutes with its 66W supercharging technology. For average users, it can last for about two days on a single charge with Performance mode disabled, which, as I previously stated, is the default setting.
Benchmarks
For those who love benchmarks, I used AnTuTu v11, Geekbench v6, 3DMark, and PCMark. A few of the results are in the gallery below. But an important note to add here is that by default, HONOR decides users do not need to utilize the full capacity of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU, which results in very low scores. Unhelpfully, this is not something that is shown to the user either. One has to "discover" that the phone is not in "Performance mode" (which for most other Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships is the "default" mode), so below there are benchmarks for what you"ll get "by default" and another set of benchmarks for when you manually toggle Performance mode on.
As was to be expected, the Magic V6 performs alongside most flagships on the market, thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU and Adreno 840 GPU, resulting in the below scores:
AnTuTu v11
- Default: Overall 1,790,353 CPU: 339,067 GPU: 741,348 Memory: 337,222 UX: 372,716
- Performance: Overall 2,684,894 CPU: 782,567 GPU: 956,268 Memory: 361,287 UX: 584,772
For some additional context, AnTuTu"s Memory score also accounts for the UFS storage speeds on the phone, and the UX score weighs various real-world tasks like image and video editing/processing, document processing, and a bit of data analysis, among others.
My Magic V6 finished under everything in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series in Default mode, including the FE in the AnTuTu v11 rankings. As noted before, this seems to point to the Magic V6 being underclocked in order to preserve battery life for its two screens rather than being configured for raw performance.
In Performance mode, it"s a different story with all of the scores doing better than the Galaxy S25.
- Default: GPU: OpenCL 15,313 Vulkan 18,425
- Performance: GPU: OpenCL 23,404
Geekbench 6, which returned a score of 3,576, is 546 points higher than the 3,030 recorded on the Magic V5 in Single-Core mode. In Multi-Core mode, the Magic V6 bests the V5 at almost 700 points, recording 9,700 versus 9,011. On the GPU front, the Magic V6 scored 18,733, which puts it just under the HONOR Magic8 Pro"s best recorded score of 23,524.
If you are wondering, Geekbench ran a series of short tests which measured things like web browsing, document rendering, text processing, code compilation, various photo editing and processing tasks, and more.
3DMark (Default mode)
- Solar Bay Extreme: 815 (avg fps 5.70)
- Solar Bay Extreme Stress Test: Best Loop 958 Worst Loop 620
- Steel Nomad Light: 2,436 (avg fps 18.05)
- Steel Nomad Light Stress Test: Best Loop 2,256 Worst Loop 1,323
- Wildlife Extreme: 5,997 (avg fps 35.91)
- Wildlife Extreme Stress Test: Best Loop 5,986 Worst Loop 3,545
Despite being in the Default (Balanced) mode, Steel Nomad Light managed to beat 100% of all Google Pixel 8 Pro devices, and the Solar Bay Extreme test result was better than 80% of all other devices.
3DMark (Performance mode)
- Solar Bay Extreme: 1,261 (avg fps 8.82)
- Solar Bay Extreme Stress Test: Best Loop 1,185 Worst Loop 638
- Steel Nomad Light: 2,485 (avg fps 18.41)
- Steel Nomad Light Stress Test: Best Loop 2,432 Worst Loop 1,391
- Wildlife Extreme: 6,087 (avg fps 36.45)
- Wildlife Extreme Stress Test: Best Loop 6,265 Worst Loop 3,592
In Performance mode, the scores bettered 100% of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra devices, as well as being 61% better than all other devices.
Also, in case you are wondering, Solar Bay measures the ray tracing capabilities of a graphics chip, while Steel Nomad tests rasterization. Meanwhile, the Wild Life benchmark also measures rasterization, though to a lesser scale.
Lastly, I ran PCMark, even though you cannot download it from the Google Play anymore (just like AnTuTu, for some reason), it is still a valid test to find out details about the battery life and performance.
PCMark (Default mode)
- Work 3.0: 19,240
- Battery Life: 21,488 taking 12h26m (86 passes)
As can be seen above, the entire Battery Life test took just under 12.5 hours, generating an average performance score of 21,488 after 86 passes. However, when running the Work 3.0 Performance test after recharging the battery back to 100% and letting the phone cool down, that score dropped to 19,240. Please do note that I do not have a luminance meter, so I was not able to calibrate the screen brightness first. So in this test, the performance score makes more sense.
PCMark (Performance mode)
Work 3.0: 22,258
Battery Life: 22,461 taking 12h26m (86 passes)
With Performance mode enabled, incredibly it ran for the same exact amount of time down to the second with a higher average score of 22,461. One pass of the Work 3.0 performance score also resulted in a slightly lower snapshot of 22,258, but higher than the default mode"s 19,240 score.
This really goes to show how HONOR has improved the Default (Balanced) mode in the device. Generally speaking, you won"t lose a whole lot leaving it at Default, but you can gain a few extra horsepower by enabling Performance mode. And according to our testing you won"t suffer significant battery loss.
Yes, this includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, launched in September last year. The benchmark results, although important, should be taken into consideration with other findings, especially in this case, as a result of underclocking by default (for better battery performance) or other reasons.
Conclusion
As I said before, you may be wondering where all the details about the use of the inner screen is at. In all honesty I used it a lot when I first got it, but as time went on I found myself just using the cover screen for quick messaging, Slack, emails, completing orders, doom-scrolling, and what-not. I only opened it up when I wanted to view media, which is obviously very good. I thought I would be put off by the camera cutout on the inner screen, but watching YouTube videos in full screen cuts off the content left and right anyway, so most of the time I am viewing media with top and bottom black bars, meaning the camera cutout is not noticeable at all.
The foldable screen is a "nice thing to have," in my opinion, but this also means that more attention should be placed on the cover screen. I really love my daily Galaxy Ultra S26"s 6.9-inch screen. If only the Magic V6 had that too, it would make it a perfect phone! So it all ends up being a little too narrow, and looking like the screens we saw on the flagship phones of yesteryear before they went all "edgy," as in, edge-to-edge and curvy.
I have to give props to HONOR about the hinge though, it is vastly improved over my experience with the Magic V5. All in all it is easier to open and requires less force, as shown in the video up above.
One thing that I loved about the Magic 8 Pro was the face unlock. The Magic V5 uses 2D Face Unlock, which is not quite as good as the former. Sometimes it is really quick, but it needs a well-lit room for it to work, so I am left mostly using the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which took some time to get used to coming off a phone with an under-display one. With the Magic8 Pro, I did not even have to think about it. I brought my phone up in front of me, and it got unlocked every time.
There"s a lot to love about this phone. For one, it weighs around the same as the mainstream flagships (Luna White is 219g vs S26 Ultra 214g), and it"s only 1.1 mm thicker (folded), and you get a big screen to view your media content on.
In the past, I never considered transitioning to a foldable, mainly due to the cumbersomeness of them being too thick, with a narrow cover screen, which, in my opinion, would be the bulk of usage. If you"re not happy with the outer screen, it can destroy the whole experience, but the Magic V6 has made strides here, I feel. I like it, and I am interested to see where they go next with the V7. Personally, I"d prefer an outer screen that is just as good as the S26 Ultra.
| Case stand | Perfect for viewing! |
|---|---|
Another thing I love about the Magic V6 is the case stand that is included in the box, not only does it look great but it is very handy too, the stand tucks away around the camera array and when you pull it out you can use it as a stand for the phone so you can watch media hands free. It"s a really creative use of the large camera hump and blends seamlessly with the design of the phone.
Ecosystem
Finally, as I said already, I am coming off a Samsung phone, and I am already heavily invested in that ecosystem with a Galaxy Watch7, a Galaxy Ring, and one of my TVs is also a Samsung. Therefore, I am kind of "stuck." I no longer have the premium features of device inter-connectivity unless I go buy an HONOR smartwatch; there"s also no ring wearable yet. I feel like if those things start to become available, it can be a much easier choice to make. I"ll just say it, yes there"s a learning curve; if you"re open to something new, then HONOR has you covered with its premium-grade foldable.
Where to buy
The HONOR Magic V6 is available now to buy, and although it has an RRP of £1,999.99 it is currently being discounted by £500 which puts it at £1,499.99. For that price you will also get free gifts with purchase value of £549.97; these include the HONOR Choice Projector Air Pro (£249.99), HONOR Choice Headphones Max (£149.99), and an HONOR Choice Watch 2 Epic (£149.99). Not bad!
- HONOR Magic V6 16+512GB for £1,499.99 —25% off + Gifts value at £549.97
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