Honor's svelte Android phone-tablet has been given a glow-up for its sixth version, offering a great alternative to Samsung for a fancy foldable with a red suede-like back framed in gold. The Magic V6 costs £1,500 initially, rising to £2,000 after August due to rising RAM costs. It is one of the thinnest and lightest foldable tablets on the market, with an IP68 water resistance rating and a reliable fingerprint scanner in the power button.
The device features a crisp and smooth OLED display both externally and internally, though the crease in the middle is slightly more noticeable than some rivals, and the screen film attracts fingerprints. It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, delivering top performance, but a default 'balanced' battery mode limits power significantly. Switching to 'performance' mode boosts speed but increases heat and reduces battery life.
Battery life is a strong point, with a large cell lasting almost two full days of mixed usage, including browsing, messaging, and media consumption. Even heavy gaming should last more than a day. The triple camera setup includes 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, and 64MP 3x telephoto lenses, housed in a large circular bump on the back.
The phone runs MagicOS 10 based on Android 16, which is a version behind some rivals. Honor promises seven years of updates for European models. Software features include excellent three-app split-screen and various AI tools like Google Gemini accessed by flexing the tablet. However, the phone suffers from multiple software bugs: the AI button on the power key does not work, Chrome cannot open in split-screen, Honor's App Market conflicts with Google Play, there is no separate home screen layout for internal and external displays, and WhatsApp often opens as a floating window.
These niggles would be excusable on a cheaper device, but at £1,500 to £2,000, they are unacceptable. The Magic V6 offers excellent hardware—performance, battery, cameras, and durability—but is let down by unpolished software, preventing it from being the definitive foldable king.
