What you need to know
- Honor just showed off a concept foldable that's designed to be carried as a purse.
- The Honor V Purse has always-on screens on the outside that mimic the design of a purse when closed.
- The foldable can be accessorized with interchangeable straps and various AOD styles.
Honor is doing all the right things with its foldables. The Magic V2 is a legitimate alternative to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, and unlike most Chinese manufacturers, Honor is selling the device in global markets.
But that's not all Honor showed off at IFA 2023; it also introduced a concept foldable that's unlike anything else you've seen before. Dubbed the Honor V Purse, the foldable is designed as a fashion accessory, and is meant to be carried as a purse — it even has slots on either end where interchangeable straps can be attached.
The defining characteristic of the Honor V Purse is the always-on outward screen; these can be customized with a variety of styles — to match your outfit or the straps — and the best part is that they use a combination of sensors to mimic activity.
So if you're walking while carrying the Honor V Purse, the elements on the outward screens will move accordingly. It also reacts to your touches, so if you're using an always-on style that has sequins, you can brush your hand across the screen and the elements will move.
Honor calls this design phy-gital, a portmanteau of physical and digital. The foldable basically features a wraparound panel that covers the entire outer surface, with the cameras located to one edge. We don't know a lot about the hardware, and that's because Honor doesn't intend to sell the V Purse to consumers — this is just a one-off device. That said, the tech looks highly intriguing, and it is possible we may see the always-on styles make their way to a consumer-facing product in the future.
