Honor Magic V6 Foldable Review: Refinement Meets Value

Bottom line: a premium foldable that makes sense

The Honor Magic V6 is a book-style foldable smartphone with a 7.95-inch internal OLED display, a 6.52-inch external OLED screen, flagship-level performance, and a focus on durability and value compared with other premium foldable phones. This Honor Magic V6 review finds a device that earns a place among the best foldable phones by fixing two of the format’s biggest pain points: fragility and daily usability. You get IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance, a tougher hinge, brighter displays, and a near-zero visible crease, all wrapped in a thin chassis that still fits a larger battery than its predecessor. At a price of $2,999 (approx. RM13,800) with 512GB storage, it is not cheap, but it undercuts many rivals while matching or beating them on core hardware, making it one of the strongest premium foldable value plays right now.

Design, durability and everyday usability

Honor has refined rather than reinvented the Magic V6’s design, keeping the same slim book-style silhouette while adding IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance for better protection than the previous model. The new Super Steel Hinge is reinforced by an AI-assisted bionic cushioning system to absorb impact and distribute it evenly if you drop the phone, contributing to what has been described as market-leading durability. Color options include Black with a fibreglass back, a Red/Gold model with soft-touch vegan leather, and a thinner White version using a special fibre weave, all sharing the same height and width. The white variant measures 4.0mm unfolded and 8.75mm folded, while the black and red are 4.1mm unfolded and 9mm folded, making the Magic V6 one of the thinner large-format foldables you can buy. Small touches help it feel practical: a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers arranged diagonally when open, an IR blaster for remote control duties, and a bundled shell case that covers the hinge and adds a handy kickstand ring.

Displays and crease: where refinements really show

Honor keeps the 7.95-inch LTPO OLED inner display but enlarges the external panel to 6.52 inches and increases the resolution on both for higher pixel density. The new outer screen also gets serious brightness: 6000 nits HDR peak and 2000 nits global peak brightness, which makes it far easier to read in direct sunlight than many earlier foldables. In daily use, that translates to a phone you can treat like a normal slab when closed and a small tablet when open, without constantly fighting glare. The inner display uses UTG flexible glass, and Honor claims a near-zero crease visual experience. In practice, the crease is now essentially imperceptible unless you go hunting for it, at which point you can still find it by eye or touch, but it fades into the background during regular use. The outer display is protected by an Anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield with 5,600 layers of silicon nitride; after weeks in a pocket with keys and other items, the external panel remained free of noticeable marks, backing up Honor’s durability claims.

Performance, battery life and software trade-offs

Under the hood, the Magic V6 runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and there are no performance issues: apps and games load quickly and multitasking feels effortless even with several windows open. A performance mode in the battery settings allows the phone to run at full tilt and was used for GeekBench and 3DMark tests, confirming its flagship-level capability. According to one reviewer, “the battery life is solid, allowing a full day of use which can extend into a second day – but you’ll be looking for a charger after that.” That endurance is respectable for a large foldable, especially given the brighter screens. However, there are real downsides. The phone ships without a charger in the box, and almost a year after its broader launch there are still no official wired or wireless chargers for sale in some markets, which makes the omission sting more. Software is another compromise: the Magic V6 comes preloaded with many of the same apps as Honor’s other phones, including unwanted bloatware you will likely uninstall or hide.

How it stacks up against other premium foldables

The Magic V6 arrives in a stacked foldable market that already includes the OPPO Find N6, which reduced crease visibility, Motorola’s Razr Fold as a first book-style attempt, Samsung’s passport-inspired Fold8 and taller Fold8 Ultra, and an expected Pixel 11 Pro Fold. What sets Honor’s foldable apart is that you no longer have to pay the highest price to get top-tier durability, bright screens, and high-end performance in one package. The Magic V6 carries a more premium price tag than the Magic V5 at $2,999 (approx. RM13,800) for 512GB, but undercuts several rivals while offering a more complete combination of hardware features and durability. Its improvements over the V5, from stronger dust and water protection to a larger, brighter outer screen and refined crease handling, make it a worthy successor that feels more like a reliable everyday device than a fragile tech demo. For buyers comparing premium foldable value, the Magic V6 deserves to be on the same shortlist as the most established names and is easily worthy of being considered one of the best foldable phones today.

Buy if / Skip if

• Buy the Honor Magic V6 if you want one of the best foldable phones with market-leading durability and water resistance for daily use.
• Skip the Honor Magic V6 if you dislike pre-installed apps and bloatware and prefer a cleaner software experience out of the box.
• Buy the Honor Magic V6 if you value bright, nearly crease-free displays and plan to use the outer screen heavily outdoors.
• Skip the Honor Magic V6 if you expect a charger in the box or rely on official-brand chargers that may not be available in your region.
• Buy the Honor Magic V6 if you want premium foldable value with 512GB of storage and performance that rivals or beats more expensive competitors.
• Skip the Honor Magic V6 if you are on a tighter budget and can sacrifice cutting-edge foldable hardware for a more affordable non-folding flagship.