I held 4 of the latest folding phones, and I learned something important

When shopping for a big-screen foldable today, there’s an increasing risk of becoming hyperfocused on the device’s dimensions. For a while, these devices have been fairly big and bulky compared to non-folding phones. Now, Honor is making a big deal out of its very thin new Magic V3 folding smartphone, which will rightly turn quite a few heads with its sleek look. Comparatively, a few months ago, Samsung made fractions of a millimeter and a few grams of weight reduction sound like an impressive step forward on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

However, having held them both together, along with a few other foldables, I’m not sure these numbers made any of them better than the other at all. Instead, what I learned was much more enlightening.

Thinner equals better?

The Honor Magic V3 is very thin for a folding smartphone, and it’s unquestionably a superb piece of design and engineering. It’s several millimeters thinner than even its closest rival, and when you hold the V3 alongside the competition, you genuinely notice a significant difference. It’s hard to immediately spot the differences between the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Z Fold 5, but you’ll never question what makes the Honor Magic v3’s hardware different from others.

Honor wants to make the thin body the big selling point of the Magic V3, and it’s right to trumpet the hard work it has undoubtedly undertaken to make the phone so thin. But is it a reason to buy it, and is a thin folding phone really that much better than one that’s a few millimeters thicker?

I don’t think it is. This isn’t taking anything away from Honor’s efforts, as every time I picked up the Magic V3, it consistently impressed me. But rather than becoming the benchmark in folding phone hardware, to me, it’s an additional and exciting choice to add to a growing and ever-more tempting list.

To explain why, I don’t want to talk about numbers; I want to talk about feel. The numbers obfuscate the point I want to illustrate, and in mobile tech, we’re highly conditioned to pay a lot of attention to them. More megapixels equals a better camera, a higher clock speed equals a better processor, and a 30-minute battery charge time is more life-changing than 50 minutes. While these are solid guidelines for technical features, using numbers to assess design is far less worthwhile, as I discovered.

More choice is better

The Honor Magic V3 looks and feels thin when you ignore the camera module, and when I put it in my pocket, I didn’t notice it any more than the Google Pixel 9 Pro in my other pocket. This is excellent and a definite plus. When I did the same with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it was slightly more obvious, and I can see how it would be annoying for some. I also did this pocket test with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and surprisingly found its dimensions were much more pocket-friendly, illustrating how Samsung has advanced the design.

The Honor Magic V3 has a “normal” aspect ratio cover screen, which is noticeable when you see it alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Digital Trends’ Mobile Editor Joe Maring said he finds it much easier to use with one hand than other, thicker folding phones. But I find it less appealing than the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s slightly pinched aspect ratio, which, for me, overrides the additional thickness of the phone when using it with one hand. Neither is the default best, and it’s Samsung pushing the boundaries in design by sticking with its unusual cover screen’s aspect ratio. I’m glad it is, too.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the OnePlus Open fit somewhere in between, and both are very special devices. But having handled them along with the Z Fold 6, I’m not convinced the Magic V3’s thin chassis makes the phone dramatically “better” than any of them. It’s certainly different, in the same way the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s thin cover screen is different, and it is more a question of what you prefer instead of just agreeing that “thin is best.” Having held all these four phones back-to-back, they all have their own identity and feel ever-so-slightly different from each other, but none stood out as being decidedly better than the other, no matter what the dimensions were.

A risky path

Here’s where the risk comes in. I don’t want the “thinner is better” message to be drummed into us so hard that we believe it without questioning it. If we all clamor for thinner folding phones because heavy marketing pushes us in that direction, that’s all we may get at the expense of other advancements. Longer-lasting battery life, higher-performance cameras, more reliable and feature-packed software, and increased durability may all be compromised if manufacturers believe all we want is a razor-thin foldable.

I know this because I’m already a victim. When I played with the Honor Magic V3 for a short while, I didn’t get the “this is it, no other foldable is worth my time” impression that I thought I was going to get, as I’d seen and heard enough of the hype to have already started to slightly believe it myself. What I got was the wonderful realization that now, more than ever before, we have a compelling range of choices when it comes to buying a big-screen foldable.

It would also be a shame to ignore any other folding phones because they have different (or, according to some, worse) dimensions. The differences are very small, and what you find acceptable may differ from what some manufacturers want you to prefer. Also, remember that the real joy of a big-screen folding phone is when it’s opened up, and they are all pretty thin at this point. Give them all a try if you can, and don’t accidentally encourage a new quest to make the thinnest everything like it’s all we want.

What a choice

I’m glad I held the Honor Magic V3 and discovered what makes it special, but I also learned that despite my initial belief and the hype surrounding it, it hasn’t made all the others feel awkward and outdated. The Honor Magic V3 is the thinnest, and if that’s your preference, you finally have a real option to consider. If not, I really like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and wholeheartedly recommend it. I’ve just started to use the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and the hardware is a huge leap forward over the Pixel Fold. The new red OnePlus Open is a design winner. The Vivo X Fold 6’s camera impressed me recently, too.

The Honor Magic V3 has succeeded in being different. It neatly takes its place in an incredibly exciting and surprisingly varied range of big foldables available this year, and all of them deserve your consideration.