Honor Magic V6 is the brand's most powerful foldable phone

Honor Magic V6 foldable phone.
Introductory offers are available at honor.com and amazon.co.uk

(Image credit: Honor)

You’d be forgiven for not rushing to acquire a folding smartphone. While the form factor does have its fans, no manufacturer has yet made a convincing case for the doubled-up screen size, added weight, complexity, delicacy and cost that comes with these pocket tablets.

Like Samsung and Google, Honor has stuck to its guns and kept the dream of the functional foldable alive. Through excellent devices like the Magic V2, as well as the more practical but even less common flip-sized Magic V Flip2, the Chinese manufacturer has kept itself at the forefront of the tech, iterating, improving and refining with each generation.

The new Honor Magic V6 is the current state of the art. A companion for the brand’s latest Watch 6, it represents the current peak of this ever-evolving technology. For a start, the Magic V6 is 8.75mm when folded, barely more than, say, a Google Pixel 10 Pro (8.6 mm).

The large 6,660mAh battery is the largest offered in any foldable – usually an area of compromise with all the space taken up by the screens (for comparison, the Pixel 10 Pro has a 4,870 mAh battery and the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers 4,823 mAh). All in all, it weighs in at 219g.

Durability – the Achilles’ heel of the foldable – has also been improved, with IP68/IP69 dust- and water-resistance ratings. The Honor ‘Super Steel Hinge’ forms the core of the mechanism, specially designed to absorb impact when dropped and maintain the phone’s structural integrity. The processor is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform.

The other obvious drawback in foldable design is the visual crease down the centre of the main display. A special flexible glass minimises this like ever before, with both inner 7.95-inch display and 6.52-inch outer display offering high refresh rates and what Honor describes as ‘advanced eye-comfort technologies’ to salve the eyes of the addicted.

Honor Magic V6

Honor’s MagicOS 10 is more of an acquired taste. Out in the wild for nearly six months, this new version of the in-house operating system is very AI-heavy, with dedicated agents for photos, settings and general contextual queries. Google Gemini is bundled in, along with a three-month trial of Google’s AI Pro. The over-reliance on cartoonish avatars is also a little grating.

The UI adopts (some might say copies) some of the transparent design details from Apple’s iOS26 Liquid Glass aesthetic. Once you’ve become adept at manoeuvring between the various split screen options, a foldable phone becomes a very effective piece of multi-tasking kit.

Can it replace a laptop? Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, it can come close, although as we know all too well, adding more and more tech to our lives rarely results in simplification.

These days, there are more and more alternatives, both new and on the second hand market, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, although one detects a certain ennui in the way in which these flagship devices are being sold; they simply don’t offer enough advantages.

There has even been the adventure of the triple-screen foldable, which turns out to be perhaps a screen too far. The very limited availability and take-up of the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold and the Huawei Mate XT hasn’t encouraged a flood of imitators.

Finally, there’s the looming spectre of the iPhone Fold, as yet unsighted but much rumoured and certain to upend the desirability and reach of foldable tech should it ever actually appear. Unlike Apple, Google and even Samsung, Honor is unafraid to ramp up the bling and the sparkle when it comes to marketing its phones, with collaborations with Porsche Design and Jimmy Choo. The white, red and gold trim of the Magic V6 certainly stands out, for better or for worse.

Honor Magic V6, £1999.99 as one of several packages with other Honor tech (or £1499.99 until 31 July 2026, with Honor’s on-site discount) Honor.com, Community.Honor.com, @HonorGlobal

Until 5 August 2026, those purchasing the Magic V6 from some mobile providers (including O2) and Amazon.co.uk, have the chance to claim a bundle of additional Honor tech worth £549 post-purchase, including the Choice Projector Air Pro, Choice Headphones Max and Choice Watch 2 Epic

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.