7 ways the Honor Magic V5 totally outshines Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7

• 1 Battery capacity
• 2 Water and dust resistance
• 3 Screen flicker
• 4 Charging speeds
• 5 Pen support
• 6 Telephoto resolution
• 7 Display glare

Summary

• The Honor Magic V5 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 are competing book-style foldable phone flagships.
• Both handsets feature a similar physical design and internal specifications, but the Honor Magic V5 offers some additional perks.
• Here are seven ways in which the V5 outfolds its Z Fold 7 contemporary.

As far as book-style foldable phones go, Honor’s Magic V5 and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 are among the current cream of the crop. With both having been released in a global capacity in proximity to one another, one-for-one product comparisons are an inevitability.

The V5 and the Z Fold 7 share a lot of commonalities, including roughly identical footprints and thicknesses, similar amounts of computational horsepower, and analogous suites of multitasking features within their respective software packages.

The Honor Magic V5 isn’t being sold in an official capacity within North America, though it can be imported from abroad (£1,699.99 or €1,999 (roughly $2,335 USD)) and is compatible with some (but not all) cellular bands within the US. Voice, text, and data performance may vary based on carrier.

However, the two devices also diverge in a number of other areas, particularly with respect to hardware. Despite not being available for purchase directly within the United States, Honor’s Magic V5 is arguably the more impressive foldable package on the whole.

Here are seven ways in which the V5 outshines its Galaxy-branded rival, while also managing to undercut Samsung when it comes to pricing within certain markets.

• Brand

  Honor

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Elite

  RAM

  12GB, 16GB

  Storage

  256GB, 512GB, 1TB

  Battery

  5,820mAh

  Display

  6.43-inch 120Hz 1060 x 2376 LTPO OLED cover display, 7.95-inch 120Hz 2172 x 2352 LTPO OLED main display

  The Honor Magic V5 is a flagship book-style foldable phone with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, a 5,820mAh battery, and a 4.1mm thickness when unfolded.

• 

  Brand

  Samsung

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Elite

  RAM

  12GB

  Storage

  256GB, 512GB, 1TB

  Battery

  4,400mAh

  Display

  6.5-inch 120Hz 2520 x 1080 Dynamic AMOLED 2X Cover Display, 8-inch 120Hz 2184 x 1968 Dynamic OLED 2X Main Display

  Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy Z Fold 7 is its thinnest and lightest foldable yet, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and IP48 water and dust resistance.

1 Battery capacity

Silicon-carbon packs a punch

With the Magic V5, Honor is embracing a relatively new technology that makes use of silicon-carbon battery chemistry as opposed to a more traditional lithium-ion one. The addition of silicon-carbon allows for more densely packed energy, which equates to more mAh capacity within a smaller physical battery cell.

The result of this is that even though both foldables are roughly identical in terms of thickness, the V5 ships with a massive 5,820mAh battery capacity in comparison to the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s 4,400mAh capacity. Of course, battery life is a subjective measurement that fluctuates based on the user’s power load, and the verdict is still out whether the V5 genuinely outlasts the Z Fold 7 in the real world.

2 Water and dust resistance

The foldable IP certification arms race rages on

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen phone makers make significant strides when it comes to the ingress protection ratings of their foldable devices. Most recently, Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold set a new bar with its IP68 water and dust resistance metric (immersible up to 4.92 feet (1.5m) for 30 minutes, and entirely sealed from dust).

As for the Magic V5, Honor has achieved both IP58 and IP59 certifications, which equates to protection for being submerged in up to 3.28 feet (1 meter) of fresh water for 30 minutes, in addition to protection against high-pressure water jets and ‘limited dust ingress.’ By contrast, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is IP48 rated — meaning it can be submerged in up to 4.92 feet (1.5m) for 30 minutes, but that it isn’t impervious to dust particles smaller than 0.04 inches (1mm) in size.

3 Screen flicker

Honor takes eye comfort to a whole new level

With how much of our days we spend staring at displays, eye comfort technologies are becoming ever-more appreciated and recognized. Honor has been at the top of its game for some time now when it comes to its suite of display settings intended to reduce eye fatigue, including with Defocus Eyecare, Circadian Night Display, and Natural Tone modes. Thankfully, with the Magic V5, Honor maintains this commitment to eye strain relief.

Most notably, the V5’s inner panel features a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) of 4,320Hz, which should result in less headaches and eye discomfort for those who are sensitive to displays with lower PWMs. PWM can be roughly described as a sort of flicker that takes place to influence the perceived brightness of a display panel, and the effect is most pronounced on OLED-style screens when at lower brightness levels. By contrast, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 features a far less impressive PWM rate of 460Hz, making it an objectively less eye-friendly digital canvas to interact with on the daily.

4 Charging speeds

Samsung’s conservative approach to fast charging isn’t surprising

Considering Samsung’s explosive history when it comes to smartphone batteries and their thermal management, it’s no surprise that the company takes a conservative approach to charging speeds of both the wired and wireless variety. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is capable of 25W of wired and 15W of wireless charging, which is roughly in line with the likes of Apple and Google, but far below the speeds we’ve seen on most contemporary phones from Chinese OEMs.

Predictably, Honor’s V5 has stepped onto the foldable scene with guns blazing, supporting up to 66W of wired and 50W of wireless charging. Of course, you’ll need compatible (and sold separately) Honor SuperCharge power bricks and inductive charging pads to unlock these speedy top-ups, and they rely on proprietary technology as opposed to the universal Power Delivery (PD) outlined by the USB Implementors Forum. In other words, you win some, you lose some.

5 Pen support

One company ditches inking while the other embraces it

In its quest to slim down the frame of its next-generation book-style flagship, Samsung opted to nix support for its S Pen digital stylus altogether. The additional digitizer hardware needed below the display takes up precious internal space, though Kang Min-seok, executive director of Samsung’s MX business division, has confirmed in a statement to ETNews that the company is looking into ways to slim down the technology for potential re-introduction in a future Z Fold.

With its Magic V5, Honor has managed to retain support for digital inking via its Magic Pen, seemingly without compromising on unit thinness. I can’t speak to the in-hand feel or inking quality of either company’s stylus, as I haven’t used either in person, but the V5’s support for the feature is an added bonus that Galaxy Z Fold 7 users simply won’t have access to this time around.

6 Telephoto resolution

More pixels to work with when zooming in on subjects

Both the Honor Magic V5 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 ship with impressive triple rear camera setups, complete with wide angle, ultra-wide angle, and telephoto zoom sensors for flexible access to various focal lengths. Where the V5 has a leg up over the Z Fold 7 is in terms of its optical zoom capability.

To start off, the V5’s zoom lens uses a much higher resolution 64-megapixel sensor than the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s 10-megapixel lens. Megapixels aren’t everything, of course, but the added resolution is a great perk when it comes to punching in on subjects from a distance. Both devices are capable of up to 3x optical zoom performance, but the V5’s f2.5 aperture lets in slightly more light than the Z Fold 7’s f/2.4 equivalent.

7 Display glare

The less inner display reflectivity, the better

Last but not least, the Honor Magic V5 bests the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in the anti-reflective department. As with every other foldable on the market, both devices feature glossy, highly glare-prone inner displays, though Honor’s anti-reflective coating is a slight step above that of Samsung’s implementation. Neither is foolproof, and if you live in a particularly sunny part of the world then outdoor visibility will prove a challenge, but the V5’s peak brightness of 5,000 nits might just swoop in to save the day versus the Z Fold 7’s 2,600 nits at peak.