You may assume such a thin device would be fragile, but Honor was at pains to point out its durability, claiming its impact resistance is 40 times better than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and that the hinge is good for at least 500,000 folds. I can’t speak to the accuracy of those claims. The Magic V3 also scores an IPX8 rating, meaning it can be submerged but has no dust protection, like most folding phones. The whole phone feels solid enough. If I had to find fault, I’d say the plastic bezel around the inner screen gathers dirt and dust easily.

Speaking of the screens, the Magic V3 has a lovely bright 6.43-inch outer screen and opens to reveal a 7.92-inch inner screen. Both have a dynamic refresh rate that goes up to 120 Hz but drops when appropriate to save battery life. They are equally sharp and pleasant to read, play games, or watch videos on, though the inner screen is much dimmer, which can be a problem in direct sunlight. The fold is as subtle as they come, rarely visible when looking straight at the screen, but occasionally catches the light.

Photograph: Simon Hill

Honor mentions various innovations designed to reduce the potentially damaging impact of the screens on our eyes, but the one that caught mine was the AI Defocus Display technology. This feature uses AI to defocus the display and reduce the risk of transient myopia (nearsightedness), which is prevalent because we spend so much time staring at close-up displays. I couldn’t see much difference after toggling it on, but as an increasingly myopic old man, this is the kind of AI innovation I need.

One final plus for the design is the presence of a responsive fingerprint sensor in the power button. There is face unlock via both the front-facing cutout cameras on the external and internal displays, but the lack of a time-of-flight sensor in the Magic V3 means it cannot match the security or low light performance of the Honor Magic 6 Pro (akin to Apple’s Face ID). Honor has decided to retain the magic capsule (dynamic island), so the camera cutout extends to a lozenge shape that shows what you are listening to, with a tap to expand media controls. Any iPhone owners who can’t wait for Apple’s first foldable should feel right at home.

Photograph: Simon Hill

The AI features Honor showed off in the Magic 6 Pro are here. Magic Text lets you quickly extract text from an image. Magic Portal lets you drag content, such as a paragraph of text or a screenshot, over to the right to drop into another app, like Gmail or Notes. It works best for dropping addresses into Maps. I found the Pixel-like AI suggestions very handy, throwing up app shortcuts or quick settings for what the Magic V3 thinks you need at any given moment (it gets better as it learns).

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