Last year Honor’s Magic V3 foldable phone impressed, offering mature software, a thin and robust design and more powerful hardware. This year, thanks to the unlucky reputation of the number four in China, we’ve gone up two to the Magic .

The new phone follows industry trends in offering a slimmer design, a bigger battery, improved cameras, a larger internal screen and more powerful internals – including Snapdragon’s 8 Elite processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

But do these upgrades offer a meaningful upgrade over the 2024 model, given that the price has climbed to a massive £1699, a big ask even for this ultra-premium category? Or are you better off sticking with something a few generations older at something like half the price?

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The Magic V5 is a tad more reserved in its colour selection than its reddish brown or green predecessors. Instead, it’s black, ivory white and the stylish dawn gold – the pick I’d personally go with. Our sample came in black.

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