Experience of Honor Magic V5: Extremely lightweight and thin, amazingly impressive, but there's a price to pay.

In 2021, out of curiosity, I purchased the most "maverick" foldable phone at that time - the OPPO Find N, which features a "stubby" design. The reason I chose this short and stout little device instead of the mainstream large - screen foldable phones was related to my view of foldable phones at that time. The experience when the foldable phone is folded is just as important as that when it's unfolded. And the OPPO Find N was the only option on the market that met this requirement of mine at that time.

However, after using it for a year, I decided to replace this phone. Its folded thickness reached 15.8mm, and its weight was an astonishing 275g. It felt like it was "pulling down my pants" even when I put it in my pocket.

Because I was once "put off" by the thickness and weight of foldable phones, when I saw the Honor Magic V5 released on July 2, 2025, I was extremely interested in this foldable phone that claims to be "the thinnest on the planet".

Image source: Lei Technology

So, what's the experience of this "currently the thinnest and lightest (horizontally - foldable) foldable phone on the market" like?

A large - foldable phone without sacrificing design and feel

Although I had some knowledge about the Honor Magic V5 before, I was still surprised by its thickness when I actually held it in my hand. The Honor Magic V5 we got from Lei Technology is the Dawn Gold version. As a "full - size foldable phone", the Honor Magic V5 has successfully controlled its body thickness to 4.2mm when unfolded, and it's only 9mm when folded, which is not much thicker than the non - foldable phone (7.85mm) I'm currently using.

Image source: Lei Technology

However, the 8.8mm folded thickness is just the limit in terms of the "engineering" of the Honor Magic V5. Thanks to its ingenious design, the "perceived thickness" of the Honor Magic V5 in hand is even thinner than the official figure of 9mm.

To put it simply, the middle frame of the Honor Magic V5 adopts a "floating" design. The 7.95 - inch 2K - resolution LTPO adaptive - refresh - rate inner screen and the back panel protrude from the middle frame in a "2.5D" form, which "steals" a lot of thickness from the 9mm body thickness. In terms of the "perceived thickness" when in contact with the palm and thumb, the feeling of holding the Honor Magic V5 is even comparable to that of a 7mm - level thin and light flagship phone.

Image source: Lei Technology

After talking about its thinness, let's talk about its lightness. To reduce weight, the Honor Magic V5 has made some compromises in the choice of phone materials. Its back cover is made of composite fiber, and the inner screen doesn't use the mature UTG (Ultra - Thin Glass). But from Honor's perspective, breaking the convention also means more options.

The Dawn Gold version of the Honor Magic V5 we got this time weighs 222g. Its back cover is woven from high - toughness fibers such as aramid fiber, S - grade glass fiber, and PBO fiber, which are widely used in flight suits. This not only reduces the weight of the phone but also provides excellent body strength. In addition, the composite - fiber back cover also gives Honor more space for back - cover design. The curved woven pattern of the Dawn Gold version looks quite delicate in the sun.

Image source: Lei Technology

Of course, limited by materials science, it's still difficult for the composite - fiber back cover to reproduce the cold and firm touch of metal, glass, or ceramic back covers, and there is still a certain gap compared with non - foldable flagship phones.

As for the screen, to compensate for the change in the strength of the inner screen due to the absence of UTG, the Honor Magic V5 uses a reinforced carbon - fiber liner. This material, which is widely used in the racing field, has proven its high strength and light weight with an excellent reputation. In fact, since there is a plastic film on the inner screen (which is also a common practice for large - foldable screens in the industry), not using the UTG screen has not significantly affected the sliding touch of the inner screen of the Honor Magic V5.

If I have to mention something, not using UTG may cause the phone screen to develop creases earlier. However, during my hands - on experience, the creases have not been a problem for me. In addition, Honor also provides a one - year accidental - damage insurance for the inner screen with the Honor Magic V5, so there's no need to be overly worried without the UTG inner screen.

Image source: Lei Technology

By the way, if there is dust or foreign matter on the inner screen when folding, the Honor Magic V5 will actively send a notification to the phone, prompting to check for foreign matter on the inner screen, thus actively extending the overall lifespan.

However, from the experience, this inner - screen detection seems to be a bit too sensitive. Just after I wiped the phone clean and was about to take a photo, the Honor Magic V5 prompted that there might be foreign matter on the inner screen. Also, after I folded the phone and put it in my bag, the phone immediately popped up a notification. When I took it out, I found it was a false alarm from the intelligent detection. This kind of experience is really "annoying".

Good performance and configuration, but the camera lacks a memorable feature

In terms of performance, the Honor Magic V5 is equipped with the full - blooded Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition processor. The one we got is the 16GB + 512GB version, so there's no need to say much about its performance. The same goes for the camera performance of the Honor Magic V5.

However, I don't think this is a good thing.

Image source: Lei Technology

Let's start with the good part. The Honor Magic V5 is equipped with a rear - camera combination of a 50MP main camera (23mm), a 50MP ultra - wide - angle camera (13mm), and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera (70mm).

Image source: Lei Technology

Image source: Lei Technology

With the help of Honor AI, the Honor Magic V5 has quite good image sharpness and dynamic range. Even if the highlight part of the camera's viewfinder interface is severely overexposed, the photo will automatically be optimized to a high - dynamic - range look after staying in the album for two or three seconds.

Image source: Lei Technology

Image source: Lei Technology

However, in my opinion, the camera of the Honor Magic V5 still lacks some memorable features. Except for the Elegant Portrait mode, the Honor Magic V5 fails to provide an excellent, memorable, and shareable tone style like other mainstream flagship phones. In 2025, when tone has become a must - have for imaging flagships, the tone performance of the Honor Magic V5 really lacks the ability to "stand out".

Is it worth it for the Honor Magic V5 to reduce the thickness by "1mm"?

Here, let me first summarize the impression the Honor Magic V5 left on me according to Lei Technology's standard template:

Advantages:

1. A thin and light body comparable to non - foldable phones;

2. Good flagship performance;

3. Ultra - high camera dynamic range thanks to AI.

Disadvantages:

1. The "double black edges" of the inner screen are quite obvious.

As you can see, whether it's the advantages or disadvantages in my evaluation of the Honor Magic V5, they are all related to its thin and light body and the "compromises" behind it. And this performance has once again brought the often - discussed theory to the forefront - If a foldable phone is too thin and light, users will have less perception of the "thinning".

Image source: Lei Technology

From my personal experience of being "put off" by foldable phones, making foldable phones lighter and thinner definitely has a positive meaning. Four years ago, holding a foldable phone was like holding an extra power bank, and it was not practical at all. But four years later, mainstream foldable phones have become very thin and light, leaving behind the old stereotype of being "big, heavy, and clumsy".

I don't mean that "striving for the last 1mm" is meaningless. But in my opinion, users' perception of this last 1mm is not as obvious as the improvement in other aspects. Take the Honor Magic V5 as an example. Honor has used the "floating middle frame" to bring an excellent feel comparable to non - foldable phones. Since Honor can optimize the feel through design, it can handle other aspects in a less radical way.

Image source: Lei Technology

Some time ago, Lei Technology had an in - depth discussion on the topic of "thin and light foldable phones". In that article, we mentioned:

Foldable phones don't need to overly pursue thinness. Just pursuing lightness is enough. Thin but not light is meaningless. Based on Lei Technology's years of review experience, light weight + large battery may be more popular.

Taking today's protagonist, the Honor Magic V5, as an example, I'm glad that Honor can continuously challenge itself on the path of thinness and lightness. I'm even more pleased to see that while being thin and light, the Honor Magic V5 is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition flagship processor and a 5820mAh battery (6100mAh for the 16GB + 1TB version). If the Honor Magic V5 can further narrow the screen black edges and optimize its overall performance while maintaining its extreme thinness and lightness, I believe it can achieve greater success.