Honor is once again putting its most fashionable foot forward with the release of the Magic V Flip 2. After a week with the company’s new foldable, I’m convinced it needs to reconsider giving this phone an international release.
Despite becoming one of the most prominent names in the book-style foldable space, most recently with the fresh-faced Honor Magic V5, the company only launched its first flip phone last year: the Magic V Flip.
Both the V Flip and its 2025 successor are worthy players on Honor’s home turf, arguably the most mature foldable market; with hot competition from the likes of local rivals such as Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and ZTE. That’s not to mention the overseas pressure of Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 muscling in too.
Even so, the new Honor Magic V Flip 2 is set up as a compelling option, besting even the Z Flip 7 in a few areas.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
If you’ve seen the original V Flip, the V Flip 2 doesn’t look all that different, with the most prominent change being the dual rear cameras, which now feature similarly sized surrounds (the ultra-wide on 2024’s flip was significantly smaller, while the main sensor’s housing was far larger than this year).
It makes for a cleaner, more balanced appearance, and also echoes the phone’s improved sensor setup. Unlike Motorola’s latest Razrs and the Galaxy Z Flip line, the cameras sit vertically, with the display wrapping all the way around.
From an engineering standpoint, the V Flip 2 doesn’t look or feel quite as cutting-edge
Although Honor is showing its engineering prowess in the book-style foldable space – with the new Magic V5 laying claim to the title of “world’s thinnest” in its category – from an engineering standpoint, the V Flip 2 doesn’t look or feel quite as cutting-edge.
This is mainly the Galaxy Z Flip 7’s fault, which itself served as a notable design improvement compared to its predecessor, offering up a thinner design and narrower bezel than anything seen in the clamshell foldable space to date. Based on the V Flip 2’s weight and dimensions, it’s closer in appearance to the likes of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE (although it is thinner).
To offset any perceived bulk, however, Honor has once again struck up a partnership with fashion legend Professor Jimmy Choo. Like last year’s Honor clamshell, the V Flip 2 comes in four colours: purple, white, grey and the limited edition Jimmy Choo variant (pictured), which also benefits from 16GB of RAM, instead of 12GB.
I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on the most extravagant colourway, which takes some bigger aesthetics swings than the other finishes, and is therefore more divisive (not to mention the potential issues that arise when it comes to pairing it with the right outfit).
The light blue metal frame is accented by a glittering silver-to-blue ombre back, which in Honor’s words “evokes crushed stardust scattered across a deep blue sea, unfolding a sparkling dream”. Make of that what you will.
There’s some nice detail work too, like the Clous de Paris patterning surrounding the main cameras, and the refractive geometric design set into the spine of the hinge when the V Flip 2 is closed (which comes accompanied by words ‘Prof. Jimmy Choo’ in a mirror-polish shine on top).
But for all the glitz that the Flip 2 serves up, I can’t help but feel it’s still a tad on the bulky side. It’s thicker than its predecessor when closed (15.5mm, up from 14.89mm), but thinner when open (6.9mm, down from 7.15mm); so long as you exclude the cover display, which juts out on the upper half of the phone when open. Plus, the move from its predecessor’s rounded edges, to flatter, more squared sides means it appears more brick-like.
On the other hand, the V Flip 2 seems incredibly well-made: a sturdy hinge that can be angled as far back as 45-degrees from fully open, one of the most unobtrusive display creases – in terms of both look and feel – not to mention IP58, as well as IP59-certified protection against dust and water ingress. That’s leaps and bounds ahead of the IP48-rated protection the Razr 60 Ultra and Z Flip 7 possess.
Some of the best photographic versatility in the clamshell space
Much like the Magic V5, Honor was clearly keen to mitigate battery concerns; not something the original Magic V Flip ever suffered from, but certainly an issue among flip phones in general.
How did it address this? By granting the Magic V Flip 2 the largest-capacity cell in a clamshell phone ever (at a whopping 5,500mAh) – that’s larger and more advanced than the battery inside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, and is likely made possible thanks to cutting-edge silicon-carbon (Si-C) battery tech.
To top it off, the Flip 2 also boasts the fastest charging of any clamshell foldable out there, at 80W (there’s also a compatible Honor SuperCharge adapter in-box and 50W wireless fast charging is supported too).
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
The camera system is another of the Flip 2’s key strengths, with significantly larger, higher-resolution sensors than before, giving the V Flip 2 some of the best photographic versatility among flip phones.
Last year’s 50Mp main and 12Mp ultra-wide have been replaced by a huge new 200Mp main (the 1/1.4-inch sensor size and ƒ/1.9 aperture lead me to suspect it’s the same Samsung ISOCELL HP3 sensor found inside Honor’s Magic 7 Pro), and a 50Mp ultra-wide (the Flip 2 also looks to use the same ƒ/2.0 50Mp in-display selfie snapper, as before).
Within the camera interface, you can move between 0.5x and sensor-cropped lossless 4x zoom shots, while the phone’s maximum 30x zoom is supported by Honor’s ever-improving AI Super Zoom upscaling, meaning impressive detail in shots taken throughout the phone’s full capture range.
Paired with that large, sharp 120Hz 4-inch outer cover screen (also among the brightest out there, with a peak 3,600-nit output), and you’ve got one of the best selfie snappers around. And there’s up to 4K 60fps video capture which, considering the ways you can prop the V Flip 2 half-folded at various angles, makes it great for content creators who tend to shoot solo.
On the subject of interfaces, while the Magic V Flip 2 I tested came with Chinese firmware, I was still able to download the Google Play Store on the MagicOS 9 user experience, running on top of Android 15.
There are a few quirks to MagicOS (check out our Honor Magic 7 Pro review for more insight there), but for the most part, it’s a rich user experience with powerful tools for everything from gaming performance optimisation to deep aesthetic customisation.
Of course, good software integration – especially with the outer screen – is essential if you want to reap the benefits of that clamshell form factor. Thankfully Honor’s put in a lot of work here too.
There are novel experiences, like a host of cute characters to choose from, which can react to hand gestures (and even voice… if you speak Mandarin), plus handy widgets for your calendar, weather and media controls. The company has also implemented a UI that allows for almost full app compatibility (it promises 99% compatibility with Chinese apps), without having to open the V Flip 2 up.
In testing, the phone didn’t have issues with any international app I threw at it either. Despite a warning when you move untested apps to the cover screen, neither Spotify, nor Netflix, nor even Call of Duty: Mobile faltered on the outer display; that’s a level of flexibility and ease of use that some clamshell phones simply don’t offer.
At the time of writing, Honor hasn’t yet revealed the price of the Honor Magic V Flip 2 but, if it’s anything like its predecessor, it’ll go some way to undercutting its hottest competition: the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.
Last year, the original Magic V Flip started at CNY 4,999, almost 40% cheaper than the equivalent Z Flip 6, and with Samsung keeping its Chinese pricing level with the Flip 7, I imagine Honor will do much the same, serving as a rival to the Galaxy (and clamshells from Honor’s fellow aforementioned Chinese rivals). The question now is: when will the Honor Magic V Flip 2 launch internationally? Because I feel it really should.
For our top recommendations for book-style and flip phones, see our round-up of the best foldables we’ve tested.
