Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: What's the best foldable?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: Design and panels

Samsung made considerable tweaks to the design of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the result is a foldable that's noticeably thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The Fold 7 is just 4.2mm thick while unfolded, and 8.9mm while folded, making it thinner than most regular phones. And at 215g, it is lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a sizeable achievement in its own right.

Of course, the Fold 7 doesn't have a big battery, and the 4,400mAh unit is the same size as last year. Still, Samsung deserves credit for shaving the weight and bulk of the foldable, and the Fold 7 has great in-hand feel. It still has flat sides, but they're not uncomfortable to use in the least, and the 6.5-inch cover panel is wider than last year — this is no longer a limitation.

Honor hasn't changed the design too much with the Magic V5, but it didn't have to; the Magic V3 was already one of the best-looking devices in this category, and the Magic V5 continues that trend. It's just a little thicker than the Z Fold 7, and that's a huge deal when you consider it has a 5,820mAh battery.

Image 1 of 5

The Magic V5 has a sizeable camera island at the back, and it protrudes from the chassis to such an extent that it nearly doubles the thickness of the device. It's quite unwieldy as well, but only when used on a table. Other than those quibbles, I don't have any issues with the Magic V5. It has a smoother hinge articulation and a crease that isn't quite as visible as the Fold 7, and the gold model is exquisite.

You also get better ingress protection on the Magic V5; the foldable has IP58 and IP59 dust and water resistance, with the Fold 7 getting IP48. I didn't see any issues in the month I used either foldable in India's monsoon season, but the Magic V5 has a definite edge when it comes to resilience.

There's no question that Honor handily when it comes to panel tech. The Magic V5 has a 6.43-inch outer OLED panel and 7.95-inch inner OLED panel, with both touting 120Hz refresh, 4,320Hz PWM dimming, and the best eye-care protection available today. Samsung still doesn't do enough in this area, with the Fold 7 limited to 480Hz PWM dimming; if you routinely get headaches while using your phone, you'll want to switch to Honor's foldable — you'll see an immediate difference.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: Hardware

There isn't much to differentiate either device when it comes to the internals; both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Magic V5 use the same Qualcomm silicon, and they hold up just as well in daily use. Both phones hold up just as well at gaming, and while they tend to throttle earlier than regular phones, it isn't to an extent where it's noticeable.

Outside of that, there isn't much to talk about. The Magic V5 is sold in a 16GB/512GB configuration globally, and the Fold 7 is available with 12GB/256GB. Both devices feature UFS 4.0 storage modules and the latest connectivity modem, with the Magic V5 also touting Bluetooth 6.0.

Battery life is an area where the Magic V5 is dominant; the silicon-carbon 5,820mAh battery easily manages to last a day even with heavy use, and that outshines the Fold 7's 4,400mAh unit. Honor is in the lead when it comes to charging tech as well, with the Magic V5 hitting 66W, while the Fold 7 is limited to 25W.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: Cameras

Samsung now uses the same 200MP camera from the S25 Ultra in the Z Fold 7, and that allows the foldable to stand out considerably in this area. The phone takes much better photos than its predecessors, and the difference is noticeable in low-light imagery. The wide-angle and tele lenses aren't quite as good, but they hold up in decent lighting.

Honor clearly has better auxiliary cameras, and the main 50MP camera takes standout photos. That said, I still prefer Samsung's color tuning to what Honor, and at least with the main camera, the Z Fold 7 does a better job.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: Software

Samsung has a clear advantage when it comes to the software; the Fold 7 runs Android 16 out of the box, and it combines familiar features with new additions to Galaxy AI. The interface is clean, there's a decent amount of customizability, and you get all the AI features you need — and then some.

Honor is doing good things with MagicOS, but the UI still doesn't look as polished as its rivals, and there isn't much in the way of cohesion. While you get a decent set of AI features as well, the phone misses out on Android 16, instead coming with the older Android 15. Honor guarantees seven years of software updates — same as Samsung — but as the Magic V5 doesn't come with Android 16, it won't get as many platform updates as the Fold 7.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Honor Magic V5: Which should you buy?

I like what Samsung did this year; the Fold 7 has noticeable upgrades and is a good choice if you want to switch to a foldable. Software continues to be the defining factor in this category, and Samsung's Galaxy AI suite combined with One UI 8 based on Android 16 give the Fold 7 an edge.

If you're a Samsung user and want familiar software with all the benefits of a foldable, you should get the Fold 7. As much as I like the Magic V5, Honor's reluctance to modernize the software means it is severely lagging behind in this area, and that's a limiting factor. At the end of the day, you don't want any shortcomings on a device this costly, and that's why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 continues to be my recommendation.