I held the thinnest foldable phone at MWC 2026, and it sets a satisfying new standard

The Honor Magic V6 packs a massive battery and razor-thin profile into a foldable that feels like a regular phone. Here's what stood out during my first hands-on.

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Tech

Smartphones

I held the most ambitious foldable phone at MWC 2026, and it's full of new records

The Honor Magic V6 packs a massive battery and razor-thin profile into a foldable that feels like a regular phone. But there's so much more to it.

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Written by
Jason Howell, Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer
March 1, 2026 at 10:19 a.m. PT

[Honor Magic V6 unfolded]

Kerry Wan/ZDNET*

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The Honor Magic V6 is undoubtedly the thinnest book-style foldable I have ever held. At just 4.0mm unfolded and 8.75mm when closed, this phone has pushed foldable design to a point where the frame housing the USB-C port is barely thicker than the port itself. It really is a sight to behold.

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Honor sent me the Magic V6 ahead of its Mobile World Congress 2026 unveiling, and after unboxing and exploring the hardware, I'm very impressed.

A foldable that doesn't feel like one

I received the red model, and the finish immediately stood out with a satiny texture and a fabric-like softness. You can't move the material around, but depending on how the light hits it, you can see swirls of individual threads spiraling in different directions. The camera bump has a diamond-cut, high-polish finish that catches light as well.

The red is paired with a gold metallic framing, and the two contrasting materials work surprisingly well together. Honor also offers the V6 in Gold with a multi-layer composite finish, along with White and Black options.

Putting the Magic V6 side by side with my Pixel 10 Pro, it is, of course, slightly thicker when folded, but only barely. HONOR points out that the 8.75mm folded thickness matches the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and at 224g, this red model actually weighs less. In my pocket, the V6 really feels like a regular everyday smartphone, with none of the brick-like quality I'm used to from a book-style foldable.

[Honor Magic V6 unfolded in hand]

Jason Howell/ZDNET*

The hinge feels sturdy with solid resistance, and there's a satisfying little snap when you close it. I can set it at almost any angle, and it stays put. One-handed opening is possible but takes practice and, truthfully, makes me nervous when trying, while closing one-handed is no problem.

The crease inside is incredibly shallow, and while I don't have a Magic V5 to compare against, I have used the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in recent months, and I'd put them on a similar stage in this category. Even in bright light, I just don't notice the crease much, though it's there if you look hard enough.

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The 6.52-inch outer screen peaks at 6,000 nits, while the 7.95-inch inner display peaks at 5,000 nits. I tested both in direct sunlight with zero readability issues. I noticed that the colors are punchy, and the detail between them is very sharp. In fact, both panels feature LTPO 2.0 AMOLED with adaptive refresh rates from 1 to 120Hz, so the V6 offers an excellent viewing experience.

As I tend to do with most book-style foldables, I use the outer display most of the time. The beauty of the V6 is that it's as much a normal phone when folded as any other, yet it can offer a little extra when you need more. That's when I pop it open, maybe for a video or a spreadsheet, and that internal tablet-like canvas is expansive and ready.

Impressive specs across the board

The Magic V6 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, making it the first foldable with Qualcomm's latest 3nm chipset, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage.

The battery is impressive at 6,660mAh capacity, which Honor says is the largest ever in a foldable. It uses silicon-carbon technology with 25% silicon content, well above the roughly 16% industry average. Honor says it's TÜV Rheinland-certified for 24-hour battery life on the inner display, though I haven't had enough time to validate that claim. Charging tops out at 80W wired and 66W wireless, with reverse wireless charging also supported.

[Honor Magic V6 at MWC 2026]

Kerry Wan/ZDNET*

Honor is touting the V6's durability, testing the hinge with 500,000 folds, and the device's IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust- and water-resistance. The outer display uses a silicon nitride coating, which Honor says dramatically improves scratch and drop resistance. I can appreciate that, considering the war zone my Pixel 10 Pro display has become, thanks to my pockets. The inner display also gets a durability upgrade with reinforced flexible glass.

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The Magic V6 has a triple rear camera system with a 50MP main shooter with f/1.6 aperture and OIS, a 64MP periscope telephoto with 3x optical zoom and a 1/2-inch sensor, and a 50MP ultra-wide. The periscope lens is definitely a standout inclusion for a foldable, particularly one as thin as the V6. There are also dual 20MP front cameras, one on each display.

Software and AI first impressions

The Magic V6 runs MagicOS 10, which has a fluid, polished feel. There's a liquid glass-like transparency in the notification shade and quick settings that takes clear cues from both iOS and Pixel OS. On the inner display, a bottom row of pinned icons includes a dynamic area for recently used apps, and a multitasking button lets you run up to three apps simultaneously on the larger canvas.

Google Gemini is set as the default AI assistant out of the box, summoned by a long press on the power button. One AI feature that caught my eye is a three-finger swipe gesture that captures whatever is on screen and saves its content and context to an AI Memories section. It's a quick way to save things, regardless of what you're doing, and I like its multimodal nature.

[Honor Magic V6 at MWC 2026]

Kerry Wan/ZDNET*

Honor's AI Meeting Agent also sounds promising. Beyond basic transcription and summaries, it supports custom keyword alerts. You set a specific keyword, and when something in a meeting matches up, it automatically flags and sends it to your phone, headphones, or watch.

One big differentiator is how Apple-friendly the Magic V6 is. It supports notification sharing with iPhone and Apple Watch, one-tap file sharing with iPhone at up to 60 MB/s, and even Apple AirPods with noise control, conversational awareness, and Find My support.

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Honor says the phone can open iCloud files and photos and edit documents using the iWork suite. I don't have Apple devices on hand to verify these features, but if they deliver as described, it's a big pitch to users who might juggle both ecosystems.

Honor is making a credible case that the Magic V6 belongs among the best foldables available. Considering how easy it is to hide in my pocket, I'm looking forward to spending more time with it. Now if only it sold in the US.

*Follow my latest tech reviews and projects across social media. You'll find me on YouTube at YouTube.com/@JasonHowell, on X (formerly Twitter) at @JasonHowell, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/thatjasonhowell.*

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