New ‘thinnest’ Android phone beats Samsung’s Galaxy - for now

Samsung is all set to launch its next generation of folding phones including the expected Galaxy Z Fold 7 on July 9, with rumours pointing to a much slimmer design compared to the Z Fold 6 from 2024. But Samsung has been beaten to the punch by one of its Android rivals, who has just lifted the lid on a Z Fold competitor that it’s claimed is the thinnest in the world.

Honor has launched the Honor Magic V5, a book-style folding phone that the firm claims is the thinnest foldable in the world. The svelte device is currently only for the Chinese market, but Honor says an international release, including for the UK, is coming soon, with no specific timeframe confirmed yet.

When folded closed, the new Magic V5 is 8.8mm thick, which is 0.1mm thinner than the Oppo Find N5, a folding phone that is not available in the UK. And yes, 0.1mm is barely perceptible in terms of a difference.

But 8.8mm is noticeably thinner than the 12.1mm thickness of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6, a phone that’s 5.6mm at its thinnest point when unfolded. The V5 is 4.1mm

According to The Verge, only the white model of the Magic V5 is this thickness, with the other colours 9mm thick when folded as they have different fibre and vegan leather finishes.

All this talk of thinness does not include the enormous-looking camera bump on the back of the V5, which you can see somewhat in the above supplied image. Foldable phones have evolved quickly since the first Galaxy Fold from 2019, to the point where Android firms are competing on thinness to market their expensive gadgets.

The Magic V5 costs from 8,999 Chinese yuan, which is £920, but the phone is likely to cost a lot more when it comes to the UK. Last year’s Magic V3 cost £1,699, though since has been discounted to about £1,200.

The V5 improves its specs compared to the V3, a phone I reviewed and named the best book-style foldable. The V5 has the newest and most powerful Qualcomm chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.

Its inner screen is a 7.95-inch folding OLED with refresh rate up to 120Hz and 5,000 nits peak brightness. The outer screen, if anything like the V3’s, could be the phone’s secret weapon as its dimensions should be that of a normal phone’s, meaning no compromise when the phone is shut. The Z Fold 6’s outer screen is narrower than a regular phone’s.

Elsewhere, the large camera bump on the V5 houses a 50MP main camera, plus a 64MP periscope telephoto lens and 50MP ultra-wide. Honor still opts for dual selfie camera on the outside screen, both of which are 20MP.

Fingers crossed that battery life should be excellent with a 5,820mAh cell on board, plus the IP58/IP59 dust and water resistance is among the best on any folding phone, implying it could survive accidental submersion.

If you really care about folding phone thickness then the Honor Magic V5 could be your best option when it launches in the UK - unless Samsung goes even thinner with its Z Fold 7 next week.