Honor’s Magic V6 doesn’t have a new rabbit to pull out of its hat

Honor launched the in August 2025 and yet its successor was only announced seven months later. Talk to Honor reps and you can hint that it’s racing to push the boundaries of both its actual competitor (Samsung) and its expected competitor (Apple). With such a short time between launches, you won’t be surprised to learn that not much has changed. The only other real reason this device launched so quickly is that it will help Honor retain the title of the world’s thinnest foldable manufacturer. I’ll let you decide if you think that’s a good enough reason to release a brand new smartphone so soon.

Last year, just one of the four Magic V5 colorways measured 8.8mm folded and 4.1mm opened, while the others measured 9mm and 4.2mm respectively. This year, Honor is doing its homework in a similarly generous spirit, with the white version of the Magic V6 measuring 8.75mm folded and 4.0mm opened. The black, gold and red colorways will have to settle for the indignity of measuring 9mm folded and 4.1mm opened. Now, I appreciate the engineering know-how required to make such a thin device, but this push toward finer needs to stop. Last year’s Magic V5 crossed the millimeter-wide rubicon, going from thin to delicateto the point that, while holding it, I was worried about its durability. After all, foldable devices are regularly subjected to mechanical stresses that regular phones never face in normal service.

Honor says the phone is well-built to withstand the rigors of normal life, including a scratch-resistant screen cover. The screen is impact resistant, there’s a much stronger hinge, and it’s rated for IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance. Claims that I’m sure will be tested to their limits by skeptical reviewers when the device goes on sale. The company has also reduced the weight of the V6, with the white model weighing 219 grams, while the other three colors weigh 224 grams. That’s lighter than an iPhone 17 Pro Max (233 grams), and you can be sure that Honor has mentioned this fact several times during its press briefings.

Honor also saw fit to make massive changes to the design of the V6’s interior to reduce many of its components. This redesigned internal structure includes a new antenna, speaker chamber, vibration motor, NFC module, SIM card slot and USB-C enclosure. All the space vacated by these components has been filled by a new 6,660 mAh battery containing 25% silicon. Honor says you should expect to be able to play a video on the main screen for 24 hours with this powerful battery.

It’s worth noting that only the international version comes with this 6,660mAh cell, while the China-only variant gets an even better model. Honor said its domestic edition will feature a CATL-made battery with 32% silicon content and a rated capacity of over 7,000mAh.

“And when Alexander saw the extent of his domain, he wept, seeing that he had no more worlds to conquer.” The quote comes from Die hard – although this is a film that invented the phrase entirely – but the sentiment applies to much of the rest of this device. The rest of the spec sheet is more or less the same as the Magic V5, which itself was a modest revision of its predecessor. Essentially, there aren’t many worlds left to conquer, even with the most high-end smartphone components, so grab your tissues for tears.

Dab the corners of your eyes when you see that the cameras are more or less identical in the main configuration and for selfies. There are two 50-megapixel lenses paired with a 64-megapixel telephoto lens, and on the front, on the lid and on the internal display, there’s a 20-megapixel f/2.2 selfie lens.

You’ll find a similarly meager price in the list of screen changes, since the main screen remains the same size and resolution as before. The cover screen’s bezels have been cut, so it now measures 6.52 inches, compared to 6.43 inches on the V5. But for most other important aspects, you’ll find that it’s business as usual here.

The V5 came with a Snapdragon 8 Elite, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, which was fast enough. The V6 can boast of being the first foldable to come with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (paired with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage). Although it is an upgrade to the old SoC, it is not transformative. Let’s be honest, it’s hard not to see that Honor’s desire to release a new phone with certain marketing claims comes at the expense of any meaningful substance.

On the software side, it’s business as usual, although one thing caught my attention enough to merit comment. At several points in Honor’s briefing, the company emphasized that its devices work wonderfully with Apple’s. If you install Honor Connect on your iPhone and Mac, you will be able to share files, extend your desktop, and even control your AirPods. This is something the company has been championing for a while now, but it surprised me how much it was brought up here.

On the one hand, it makes sense that any potential challenger to Apple would offer a friendly path to die-hard iPhone fans. Tell them that your Android handset will integrate with your existing devices and then hope to show them what you have to offer. On the other hand, if you’re so eager to integrate your equipment into another company’s ecosystem, that doesn’t suggest much confidence in yours. Especially when you market your ultra-premium and expensive foldable flagship as “an ideal macOS companion” in your own marketing materials. Still, being able to use the V6 as an extended display for your Mac is a good idea, regardless of the larger narrative.

At first glance, Honor’s Magic V6 looks like a phone that exists to satisfy a marketing request rather than out of necessity. (I’m sure someone will point out that this is the case for a lot of new phones these days, but I’m sure you understand what I mean.) To stay ahead of its rivals, it’s pinched and tucked every corner of this phone to within an inch of its life, and the end result is more or less the same handset we saw less than a year ago. That’s not to say it’s a bad phone, the V5 was a nice piece of kit, but I can’t help but wonder if holding off on this device until Honor had more significant improvements wouldn’t have been better.

At the time of publishing, Honor has not shared pricing and availability information, which we will update here when it is announced.