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00:00This is absolutely insane. There's barely enough room for the bloody USB port.
00:05Hey guys, I'm Sam with TechJab, and this is the new Honor Magic V3.
00:09And this is the thinnest, the lightest, the most comfortable, and dare I say, the best foldable I've ever used.
00:17I mean, between these two, I don't know which one I would go for.
00:24So a big thank you to Honor for sending the V3 out for me to have a little play with.
00:28And while this was announced back in China a few weeks ago, Honor are now officially launching this outside of China, including here in the UK.
00:38And they've basically taken everything that made last year's Magic V2 great, and just made it even better.
00:44In fact, here's one I made earlier. This is the Magic V2, this is the V3, I'll be doing some comparisons throughout this video, as well as versus the Fold 6.
00:52And when it launched last year, this was the thinnest foldable you could buy at 9.9mm when closed like this.
01:01But Honor thought, no, we can do better than that. So here we are with the V3, let me switch around because the new one should be on the right.
01:06And somehow they've shaved off over half a millimetre. This is now 9.2mm thick when closed, down from 9.9mm last year, and it is significantly thinner than the 12.1mm Fold 6.
01:19Open it up, and you're looking at 4.35mm. I just want to take a moment here to show you some sexy b-roll, just so we can all appreciate how unbelievably thin and darn right technically impressive this phone really is.
01:33Now, of course, one of the criticisms we had of last year's V2 was the lack of wireless charging.
01:46Honor said, well, if you want a phone this thin, a foldable this thin, well, there are some compromises, and we just simply can't fit that tech into a phone like this.
01:54Well, I'll tell you what, those crazy cats over at Honor HQ have only gone and bloody done it. They've added wireless charging to the V3, and not just your normal slow old wireless charging, 50 watt wireless charging with the V3 in a chassis that is thinner and lighter than last year, and we have a slightly bigger battery as well. That is nuts to me.
02:10And my other criticism, no official IP rating on the V2, IPX8. So still no dust resistance like we get on the Fold 6, but we do have full fat water resistance.
02:20So to answer your most burning question, yes, you can now bring it in the shower with you.
02:24We also have the fantastically named Honor Super Shield Steel Hinge, which apparently is the thinnest foldable hinge you can get.
02:31We have their anti-scratch nano crystal shield for the cover screen, their Honor Super Armor for the inner tablet screen.
02:37They have put a lot of effort into making this as durable as possible.
02:40Smooth rounded corners, we have this octagonal camera module giving that kind of cushioned diamond look we saw with the Honor Magic 6 Pro.
02:48It does add a fair bit of chonk to the overall design, but it does mean, unlike certain rivals, we don't get any wobble on the desk when using it folded like this.
02:58However, when you do open it up, unfortunately, we do get quite a bit of wobble.
03:04So the movie evens out. No wobble when folded. Yes, wobble when unfolded. You can't win.
03:10What I genuinely appreciate most though, especially next to Samsung's offering, is the size of this cover screen.
03:16Even with the Fold 6's whole 1mm wider screen, this is how it should be.
03:20The V3 gives us a 6.43 inch cover screen with a 20x9 aspect, so it is just like using a regular phone that also happens to be a foldable.
03:29And being this thin and light, it doesn't feel like a compromise to use it like this.
03:34And then whenever you want, you can open it up and use this big tablet screen inside.
03:38We're talking 7.92 inches with a 10x9 aspect, so it's basically a square.
03:44And actually, we are getting a fair bit bigger tablet screen even compared to the Fold 6.
03:48Although I must admit, I do quite like the slimmer bezels and the squared off corners look a touch classier from Samsung's offering.
03:54But certainly for a usability point of view, particularly the cover screen, points to Gryffindor. I mean, Honor.
03:59And also, look at the reflections.
04:01Obviously, with this aspect ratio, you're going to get pretty chunky black bars when you're watching your TV shows and movies.
04:06But I have found the V3 is a lot less reflective and therefore less distracting.
04:11And not only that, but the crease with the V3 feels like a generation ahead.
04:15You can barely see or feel it.
04:17And unlike most foldable phones, I can't say I ever noticed it in day-to-day use.
04:22Power button on the side doubles as a fingerprint reader.
04:24We have stereo speakers.
04:25Both the cover and the tablet screen support Honor's Magic Pen, which unfortunately, I don't actually have to test with me.
04:30But it does support it.
04:31We also have five cameras in total.
04:33Three in the back and two selfie cameras.
04:35Both of which get Honor's Magic Capsule.
04:37Which is maybe just a little bit similar to Apple's Dynamic Island, but it's still a handy little notification widget.
04:43As for the screens themselves, while Honor have boosted the brightness,
04:46the cover screen can now hit 5,000 nits of peak brightness and 1,600 nits for the main screen.
04:52Both are 120Hz refresh, OLED, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision.
04:56Both absolutely gorgeous screens, whatever you're watching or playing or browsing.
05:00But what I do want to highlight, because I think it really makes the V3 stand out,
05:03is the effort they've put into eye comfort.
05:06With their circadian night display, we have defocused eye care.
05:09We've got the blue light filtering from eye comfort mode.
05:12Even a black and white book reading mode.
05:14All that good stuff.
05:14But the V3 also offers incredibly fast PWM dimming.
05:18And what this does is help reduce eye strain, particularly at lower brightnesses.
05:22And given how much of the day we spend staring at our phones,
05:25particularly when you've got a foldable, this is actually a really big deal.
05:29So that is what's on the outside.
05:31But let's talk about the processor.
05:33We'll come back to the camera in a second.
05:35On the inside, we've got the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
05:37Same as you'd get on, say, the Fold 6.
05:39And that's paired with either 12 or 16 gigs of RAM, depending on the SKU.
05:43And also either 256, 512, or a terabyte of storage.
05:47In here I've got 512 gigs.
05:48And the 8 Gen 3 is a solid 25% or so faster than last year's 8 Gen 2.
05:53And performance is on par with the Fold 6.
05:55However, despite being thinner, the V3 actually throttles less,
05:59giving us better sustained performance.
06:01And if I swipe down here, it actually translates to a decent boost in framerate,
06:05especially at the low end.
06:06And it used a bit less battery, although it did get a touch hotter.
06:09But as you would expect, this will run anything and everything you throw at it,
06:13even with multiple apps open side by side.
06:17But I know what you're thinking.
06:18Tom, they've made it thinner and lighter,
06:19and they've put a more powerful chip in there.
06:21How the heck could they have made it last longer as well?
06:24Well, those crazy cats have.
06:25Because we actually have their third generation silicon carbon design battery.
06:30This is actually a really unique chemistry they're using
06:32to not only give us a big capacity of battery,
06:34we're talking 51, 50 million powers,
06:36versus a relatively paltry 4,400 on the thicker Fold 6.
06:42And after 10 hours of watching yours truly on YouTube,
06:45the Fold 6 was down to 25% of its battery versus 31% on the V3.
06:50And that's despite having bigger screens.
06:53So the battery on the V3 is actually very good.
06:55You'll easily get a day and a half out of this.
06:57And that's helped in part by the bigger cell,
06:59but also they're using dual E1 enhanced chips
07:02to make the battery even more efficient when using the phone.
07:04But also there's always something else.
07:06Because we have this silicon carbon design for the battery,
07:09not only do we get a big cell, but it also charges quickly.
07:12We're talking 66 watt supercharged wire charging
07:15and up to 50 watt wireless with reverse charging as well.
07:19So you can top up other devices.
07:21Can we talk about this camera?
07:23Because it's actually very good.
07:24We have a triple lens setup, 50 megapixel main,
07:2740 megapixel ultra wide and a 50 megapixel telephoto,
07:31giving us a 3.5 times optical zoom
07:33and goes all the way up to a ludicrous 100 times digital.
07:37And so across the entire range,
07:38from the 0.6 times ultra wide to the 3.5 times
07:42to a still very usable 10 times and beyond,
07:44the V3's camera is very versatile.
07:47It also incorporates their new AI portrait engine
07:49and borrows from the studio Harcourt collab they launched
07:52with the Honor 200 Pro just a few weeks back.
07:55You've got movie mode that lets you shoot in log
07:57with these handy LUT previews,
07:59which you can then later add in the edit
08:01for some very fancy cinematic shots.
08:03Honestly, I should make videos for a living.
08:05You've got the dedicated portrait and aperture modes.
08:08You've got pro mode if you want to tinker
08:10and loads more within the more tab.
08:12And of course, I couldn't make a video
08:13about a new Honor phone without jumping around
08:16and making myself look like a complete...
08:18Because yes, the V3 gets Honor's motion sensing capture
08:22and it uses AI with a high speed shutter to capture you
08:25or your fast moving kids and cats and dogs
08:28in surprisingly sharp focus.
08:30Now I found it doesn't work every time
08:32nor for every activity.
08:33Apparently cycling and skateboarding doesn't trigger it,
08:36but it is fun to play around with
08:37if only to get shots like this.
08:39Very mindful, very demure.
08:42I also took a few snaps with last year's V2
08:44and it's actually quite surprising
08:46how big of an upgrade the V3 is.
08:48I'm seeing much better dynamic range,
08:50particularly in tricky lighting
08:51and more natural white balance, much better zoom.
08:54Altogether, I'm absolutely loving the V3's camera.
08:57And of course, being a foldable,
08:59you have the benefit of the cover screen preview.
09:01So you can use the much higher quality main cameras
09:04for your selfies
09:04or for your subject to be able to see themselves.
09:06Say hi to cameraman Pete there.
09:08Plus you can prop it up in flex mode,
09:10effectively turning it into its own tripod
09:12for solo shooting.
09:14And then just a quick video test.
09:15This is being shot at 4K 60 on the V3.
09:18I can see the cover screen here.
09:19I'm using the main cameras
09:20essentially for a video selfie.
09:22So if you're going to use this for vlogging,
09:23this is very handy.
09:24I can frame the shot.
09:26I know exactly where I am,
09:27but I'm not using the low quality selfie cameras.
09:30I'm using the main one on the back.
09:32Now in terms of the actual software,
09:33I am running, let me see here,
09:35Magic OS 8.0.1.
09:37And I've actually had a couple of updates
09:39over the past few weeks I've been using this.
09:40And actually Magic OS has got a lot better
09:42over the last couple of years.
09:43It does lack some of the bells and whistles
09:45like Galaxy AI and 4 app multitasking
09:49that you get on the Fold 6.
09:50But in terms of the customization,
09:51how seamless it is going from the tablet
09:54to the cover screen and just general use,
09:56it is nice to use.
09:57And there isn't too much bloatware,
09:59although I do see AliExpress there.
10:02I have to get rid of that.
10:03Now it would be a crime to talk about a new phone
10:05without mentioning AI.
10:06And the truth of the battery is,
10:08we've already talked about it a lot.
10:09We've got AI motion sensing for the camera.
10:11We've got AI portrait engine.
10:12We've got AI optimizations for the battery,
10:15for the performance, for the ID focus.
10:17There's a bunch of AI smart stuff going in
10:19behind the scenes that you don't even need to worry about.
10:21But on top of that, we've got some nifty features,
10:24including Honor's Magic Portal.
10:26This lets you touch and drag whatever's on screen
10:28to a relevant app at the side of your screen.
10:30So you can drag an address and open up in Maps.
10:33You can drag a picture and do a Google search.
10:34This isn't new for the V3,
10:36but it is still a cool feature to play around with.
10:38We've also got some improvements to the Gallery app.
10:40So if I open up the tablet here, a bit easier to use.
10:43Let's say one of my photos, blah, blah, blah, blah.
10:47Let's go with this one here.
10:49So I've got this lovely picture of a castle.
10:52It's technically a moat entrance keep thing.
10:55Anyway, these people are ruining the photo.
10:56So if I go to edit down here, tap on AI eraser,
11:00I can then do a little smart selection around these guys,
11:04blah, blah, blah, blah, like so.
11:07And it should get rid of them.
11:09Back to the future style.
11:11That's not bad.
11:12She's left a charred remain, which is a shame.
11:14But before, actually, that's the shadow of her bag.
11:16So these things always struggle with shadows.
11:18But just for a quick live demo there,
11:20that's not bad at all.
11:21It's continued the chain.
11:23Obviously, we've seen similar features on Pixels
11:25and Samsung with the Galaxy AI as well.
11:27But it's really helpful to have this built
11:29into Honor's Gallery as well.
11:31Let's do another example here.
11:32Get rid of Pete.
11:34Sorry, Pete.
11:35That did a really good job, actually.
11:39So this is the new face-to-face translation tool.
11:43Good morning, how are you?
11:45I think that's accurate for my secondary school French.
11:48So you have live translations.
11:49These are the different languages.
11:51Arguably, I find it a little bit easier using this
11:53face-to-face mode where it splits the screen.
11:55But this is a pretty cool use of the foldable form factor,
11:58being able to use the cover screen and the tablet screen
12:01for these live face-to-face translation conversations.
12:15Easy for you to say.
12:16I also have to show you this.
12:18This is Honor's Magic Ring.
12:20And you can see here, if I zoom out a little bit,
12:22I've got the Honor Magic Pad 2.
12:25This little guy.
12:25I'm actually going to make a full video on this,
12:28their laptop, the phone, and the whole ecosystem.
12:30So stay tuned for that.
12:32But Magic Ring is actually a really cool and very simple UI
12:35for basically showing the ecosystem,
12:37what you can do with the different products.
12:39So for example, if I tap on the V3 here,
12:41I can then tether my tablet.
12:45If I had a SIM card in here, which currently I don't.
12:47Although you can see I'm running Wi-Fi 7.
12:50Share my screen.
12:51That's probably a bit more interesting.
12:52So I've dragged that down here.
12:54This is such a cool UI for just, at a glance,
12:57showing you what devices you have,
13:00what features are on offer.
13:02And you can see here, I'm now sharing my tablet screen,
13:05which means I can actually control the phone
13:07from my tablet screen.
13:08And this would also work with Honor's laptops as well.
13:10So I'm going to show this off in greater detail
13:12in a separate video,
13:13but Magic Ring is definitely worth having a play with
13:16if you do invest in the Honor ecosystem.
13:18This is just two devices,
13:20but you can have your AirPods, your laptops,
13:21your smartwatches within this little universe.
13:24Very nice.
13:25I'm also happy to report that Honor promised
13:27four years of full OS upgrades
13:29with a fifth year of security,
13:31which will take us to, I suppose, Android 19?
13:3418 or 19?
13:35Because we're currently running 14.
13:3715 should come a little bit later in the year.
13:39And so that is the Honor Magic V3.
13:42What do we think?
13:42If you've got any questions at all about this,
13:44let me know in the comments below.
13:46I'll also pin file pricing, availability,
13:48and also a link if you fancy checking this out
13:51for yourself in the description below.
13:54They've basically taken everything
13:55that was great about the V2,
13:57made it even better,
13:58and addressed pretty much every criticism
14:00I had of this guy.
14:01As with any phone, it's not perfect,
14:03but you can't deny what an incredible piece
14:05of hardware this is.
14:06And right now, it's the one to beat.
14:08This is my favorite foldable phone.
14:10Thank you so much for watching, guys,
14:11and I'll see you next time right here
14:13on the Tech Channel.