Honor Magic Vs foldable launch: Specifications, price, details, availability

Chinese smartphone maker Honor launched its foldable phone globally on Sunday, as it looks to rival Apple and Samsung in the premium segment of the market.

Honor Magic Vs was first launched in China in November. Now the company is bringing the device to a number of markets abroad, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and countries in Latin America.

It represents the Chinese company’s ambition to expand into its latest smartphone technology – foldable – at the higher end of the market, where it will compete with companies like Apple and Samsung.

Honor has split from Huawei, after a slew of US sanctions cut off the Chinese telecom giant from important chips and access to Google’s Android mobile operating system, devastating its smartphone business. As a separate entity, Honor has access to Android and the components it needs for its high-end devices.

Huawei sold Honor to a consortium of buyers that includes the Shenzhen city government. Honor was the budget brand under Huawei, but has been looking to market itself as a premium player since its independence, filling a void that Huawei had done before.

Honor launched its first smartphone overseas at the end of 2021 and has since moved aggressively to bring more models to countries outside of China.

The company is trying to distance itself from Huawei and establish itself independently.

“Although Honor operates as a completely independent entity, it still has to explain regularly that it is not part of Huawei. Over time this has become less of an issue, but it is still a challenge to face,” said Ben Wood, Head of Research at CCS. Insight, to CNBC via email.

Honor Magic Vs is the so-called foldable smartphone. These are devices that have a screen that can bend. Honor said it tested the device by folding and unfolding it up to 400,000 times without any issue.

The Honor smartphone runs on Android and has a 7.9 inch screen when fully opened. The phone also has a second display on the outside of the device when folded, which is 6.45 inches.

Magic Vs will be offered at €1,599 ($1,690) in the European market. And it will compete with foldable devices from Samsung and the Chinese company Oppo on the global stage.

But the foldable phone category, which Samsung pioneered, is still in its infancy. Foldable devices accounted for just 1.1% of all smartphone shipments in 2022, according to IDC, and that percentage is expected to rise to just 2.8% in 2026.

The Magic Vs are one of the first foldable devices to be available on the market outside of China, as Honor tries to get ahead in the fledgling smartphone segment.

While Honor has emerged as one of the biggest smartphone players in China, it hasn’t had similar success abroad. It hopes its premium hardware will help attract users abroad.

At its peak in 2020, Huawei managed to become the number one smartphone player in the world, overtaking Samsung and Apple by launching premium devices, equipped with some of the latest technology. Since the smartphone business was crippled, there was a huge gap left that companies like Samsung, Apple and other players like Xiaomi have taken advantage of.

Honor hopes to win back some of those users.

“I was impressed by the products Honor unveiled, and some of the DNA ingrained in its roots as an official part of Huawei is evident in the quality of the products. Huawei was exploding in the wake of Samsung when it was stopped in its tracks by the US administration and was setting the benchmark among Chinese smartphone makers.” “.

Honor now needs to assert its independence and embark on the long road of establishing its brand in Western markets in a similar way to other Chinese phone makers. This has taken Huawei nearly a decade, so there is an important journey ahead for all those companies seeking to compete with Samsung and Apple”.