I’ve been hands-on with the Honor Magic V5, officially the world’s thinnest foldable phone – a title the Chinese manufacturer expects the phone to retain throughout 2025.
But while it is the thinnest foldable around, it’s also oddly thicker in one key way than its predecessor the Magic V3 (a former world’s thinnest foldable itself) and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold I had in my pocket.
And if you’re looking for the very thinnest offering, there’s a certain color of the Magic V5 you need to choose. Confused? Don’t worry, I’ll explain.
Color me confused
Honor isn’t lying, the Magic V5 really is as thin as it says, and it looks like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 won’t be able to beat it when it launches on July 9.
I’ve already spent some time with the Magic V5 and I’m seriously impressed with the hardware Honor is offering. It’s slim, premium and surprisingly durable.
But those measurements have a caveat – the Magic V5 is 8.8mm at its thinnest point when folded, and 4.1mm when it’s unfolded – at least it is if you opt for the ‘Ivory White’ finish. And this is our first caveat.
The Magic V5 comes in four different colors, but only the white version can claim the dimensions mentioned above, and the title of the world’s thinnest foldable.
The three other shades (Black, Dawn Gold and Reddish Brown) officially measure 9mm folded and 4.2mm unfolded. It means this trio of colors aren’t as thin as the Oppo Find N5 – the phone the V5 topples for the world’s thinnest tile. Still impressive, but not quite as impossibly thin.
But what about it being thicker than the Magic V3 it’s replacing?
Bountiful bump
The majority of the handset is as thin as the measurements above, but then there’s the camera bump.
Camera bumps aren’t anything new, with every manufacturer struggling to balance a slim profile with powerful photography hardware.
Honor says it didn’t want to compromise a high-end camera offering – which is why we have a sizable bump on the rear of the phone.
And sizable it certainly is. It protrudes more than its predecessor (the V3) and the result, when measured at its thickest section, is it’s deeper than the Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Honor isn’t trying to hoodwink anyone here – every phone manufacturer does the same thing when measuring the thickness of a device. It reminds me of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc from 2011 which measured 8.7mm at its thinnest point – a real marvel at the time.
While this doesn’t dramatically affect how the Magic V5 operates, place the phone on a desk and it sits at a rather dramatic angle.
Its sleek profile means it’ll slip into your jean pocket, but you might find the bump catches on the opening if you’re sliding it in the base first.
All that said, the Honor Magic V5 moves the needle for foldable design once again. It is the slimmest foldable phone in the world, so long as you pick the right color and ignore the significant bulge.
