What you need to know
- Following Galaxy Unpacked, all eyes are on Samsung's foldables, and Honor is putting its Magic V6 against the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
- The company highlights its large 6,660mAh battery using silicon-carbon tech; however, Samsung has adopted this tech, but for a smaller 5,000mAh cell.
- Honor also highlights its device durability despite being quite thin, alongside faster charging speeds, and strong iOS, Mac, and Windows connectivity.
We're still trying to collect ourselves and regroup after Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked yesterday. However, Honor, like all of us, was watching, and it wants to go head-to-head: putting its Magic V6 against the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
Honor has a clear vision it wants to bring into reality with its foldables. In a press release, it told Android Central that "Foldables are evolving rapidly, and we believe side-by-side testing can provide consumers with the clearest picture of what matters..." There's a lot we can get overwhelmed with after Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra; however, one area my colleague Nicholas Sutrich and I are the most interested in is its battery.
Honor's Magic V6 features a 6,660mAh battery with 80W wired and 66W wireless charging capabilities. For comparison, the Fold 8 Ultra from Samsung only offers a 5,000mAh battery, a 600mAh improvement over the Fold 7 (which it succeeds). What's more, Samsung is still playing it "safe" (one could say), offering 45W wired and 20W wireless charging.
The company then highlights the technology it's incorporated into its foldable batteries, as this area is often a "major compromise," per its press release. Honor highlights the use of silicon batteries to solve this common issue.
Another area that Honor's side-by-side comparison stands a hair higher than the Fold 8 Ultra is its display. While the numbers are fairly close, Honor states the Magic V6 boasts a 1.5% "low reflectivity" screen. Moreover, its Pocket AI workstation incorporates seamless iOS, Mac, and Windows connectivity, and "one-tap" share for photos and more on iPhones and Macs.
This or that
While the choice is always up to the consumer on which device suits them, it's not all bad for Samsung. With its Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra, Samsung also uses silicon-carbon battery technology. This technology improves on what we already come to expect from batteries in our phones. Silicon-carbon tech packs more capacity into the same space. In short, you can have a larger cell without a thicker phone (and we know Samsung likes thin phones). The Fold 8 Ultra features a 5,000mAh battery, while the wider Fold 8 offers a 4,800mAh cell.
The good news is the devices are relatively thin. But what's interesting is how long it's taken Samsung to offer a boost to an area that matters. As Sutrich reminded me, Honor's Magic V3 from 2024 had a 5,080mAh battery. Those totals have only grown.
Durability is another area in which Honor highlights its strengths. The Magic V6 is thin, but it rocks durability like no other. Both sides have made great improvements to their hinge technology, so the choice is truly yours.
Android Central's Take
There are other areas where Honor's Magic V6 outperforms the Galaxy Z Fold 8. If you look at its selfie camera, the Magic V6 offers two 20MP lenses, while the Fold 8 settles for dual 10MP. However, the Fold 8's main camera is 200MP. Honor's is 60MP, but it beats its competitor's telephoto with 64MP. You can like both phones. I certainly do. Both foldables stand tall on their own in their own way.
