The Device: A Game-Changer in Smartphone Technology
One of the most exciting aspects of this device is its camera system, which boasts five cameras in total. On the inner display, there's a selfie camera that also appears on the outer display, providing users with an added layer of convenience and flexibility. The three cameras around back – wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto – work together to capture stunning images and videos. By default, the device functions like any standard smartphone, but when opened, the larger window provides a more expansive view for capturing images.
The outer display is one of the standout features of this device, allowing users to switch between modes seamlessly. When in video mode, the camera app takes up the entire screen, providing an unobstructed preview that makes it easier to frame shots and capture smooth footage. This feature is particularly useful for vloggers and content creators who need precise control over their footage. However, with the current software version, users have limited control over the outer display, requiring them to come around to adjust settings.
The device's design and engineering are noteworthy, with a thinner and lighter build that belies its powerful hardware. The larger capacity battery is also impressive, considering the device's compact size. Titanium construction and innovative battery design demonstrate a clear focus on delivering high-performance without sacrificing portability. The hinge mechanism is designed to be both strong and lightweight, making it an exemplary example of engineering prowess.
The camera performance is another area where this device shines, thanks to its advanced hardware capabilities. By utilizing multiple cameras in tandem, the device can capture exceptional images and videos that rival flagship smartphones. The camera's ability to seamlessly switch between modes, including portrait mode and video recording, further enhances its appeal.
In terms of usage, the device feels surprisingly intuitive, even for users unfamiliar with foldable technology. As a vlogger or content creator, this feature allows for more creative freedom and flexibility, making it an attractive option for those looking to upgrade their mobile photography experience.
A Note on Availability
At present, this device is only available in the Chinese market, pending a global launch. While its hardware design is undeniably impressive, the lack of availability holds back its full potential. If Honor can nail the software and finalize the feature set, they may finally have a compelling reason for users to switch from other smartphones.
Overall Impression
While initial impressions are promising, it's crucial to note that this device is still in prototype form, with the current software iteration not yet complete. Therefore, any assessments of its performance should be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, Honor has managed to create a truly exceptional smartphone experience that is sure to entice tech enthusiasts and content creators alike.
Honor's innovative approach to camera design, compact build, and user-friendly interface make this device an impressive contender in the market. The question now is whether they can refine their software to match the hardware's promise, which would cement its status as a top-tier smartphone.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This, my friends, is a devicethat I have wanted to getmy hands on for months.Look at how thin that is.When Honor reached out andasked to sponsor a videoon their brand new Magic V2that hasn't even seen a globalrelease, I couldn't say no.So, I did the video on thepredecessor to this device,the Honor Magic Vs, last year,and I was really impressedwith a lot of what Honorhad done with that.But this time around,they've taken it to anentirely different level.So I've been using theMagic for a little bitand I have some thoughts.One of the thingsthat is legitimatelycool is Parallel Space.So it shows up as an app and essentially,oh, don't look at my PIN.All right, it's my secret PIN.(dramatic music)One, two, three, four, five, six.So inside Parallel Space,essentially what you can dois you can run a separate copyof most apps on your phone.One of the cool thingsI've found you can dois you can play twogames at the same time.Why you'd wanna do that?Well, that's up to you.So with my game open,if I wanna open up thesplit screen option,so I'm gonna load up a secondcopy of the exact same game.Now, this one is loggedinto a different accountI can play at the same time.Graphically this is quite impressiveto be able to run two copies of the game,especially because this phone is so thinthat you would consider thatpushing this many pixelsin two full, complete copiesis is quite difficult.So as you can see, I have two accountsand two copies of the gamerunning at the same time.This is I would say mentally difficultbecause it's a lot of work touse your brain this much,but technically this is fully functional.Do you want top or bottom?- I'm normally on top.- Don't, okay. (laughs)So let's play side-by-side.So, this actually workssurprisingly well, though, honestly.Even though this is technically supported,it's not really meant to beused by two people I think,but the fact that I cando this fairly easily,and, I mean, it took like,what, two minutes to set up?Now, the only problemis this is not supportedon like all apps and all games,and it's definitely alittle bit more optimizedfor running two copies ofWhatsApp or whatever the case is,but Parallel Space allows youto essentially have anentire private little windowinto your apps, yourgames, whatever you wantthat can be separate fromthe outer sort of software.I'm legitimately impressed.Both copies of the gameare running at 60 FPS,and it even rotates smoothly too,so you can use it in either orientation.I wonder what happens if I close it?I don't think that's gonna work, right?Oh my god, it, what?Okay, that's kind of wild.It just shrinks everything down.I dunno why you'd wanna dothis on the outer display,but technically it worksand I can just open it up.Dude, that is so smoothat how that handles that.That's legitimately impressive.I didn't think that was gonna work.Boy oh boy, that's some(chimes tinkle)magic right there.I'm a big fan of foldables.I've been using a foldableas my primary devicefor over three years now, and I love iteven though there arecertainly some downsides,and really what Honor have done hereis try to eliminate asmany of those as possible.Essentially it is a fairlystandard looking device,both front and back,but when you open it up,you have the massive internal display.And because it is so thinand because it is incredibly light,it really does feel likewhen you have it closed up,you're just using astandard sized smartphone.It is using the latest versionof the Qualcomm Snapdragon8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform,which is quite powerful.So I'm gonna put this side-by-sidewith a Z Fold as well as an iPhone.Look how much thinner it isthan something like the Z Fold.And also if I flip them over,look at how much wider the display is.While I do typically like aslightly more narrow device,this is too narrow.I mean, obviously everyone is different,and if you like somethingthat's like this,but just having boththese phones in my hand,not only just the widthof this feels nice,but like this is significantly lighter.It feels incredibly easy to hold.Like, I mean obviously thisis a very large outer display,but like I can balance itwith a couple of fingers quite easily.So let me fold it up and let'sget some weights on this.Now, Honor are claiming thatthis is going to be roughlyas sort of thin as wellas roughly the weightof like a traditional flagship device.So let's start off by puttingthe Magic V2 on the scale,and we're gonna get 236 grams.So for context, the Z Fold is256, so substantially lighter.How about we try the iPhone 14 Pro Max.250.So this is lighter than an iPhone.Mind you, this is the bigboy iPhone, but still,I mean, it makes a significant difference,especially when you open it up.Like, the weight is distributed acrossin a really nice sort ofway, so it's nicely balanced,which is not necessarily a huge surprise,but you've got a fairlysubstantial camera hereand yet it doesn't feellike it's kind of like rotated or tilting.I gotta say that's actually might beone of these smallestcreases I've ever seen.If you get in the lightjust right, you can see it.But, I mean, again, especially comparingto like what Samsung do, itis really, really minimal,and that's impressive becausethis hinge is very simple.So, from my understanding,the hinge is only a handful of pieces,but with that, it still will stay.So if I wanna set it up like this, right?Yeah, so it needs to be about,yeah, about 90 degrees or soand it'll stay in someof the smaller spots.When you put the Honorside-by-side with the Z Fold,one of the things that doesstand out is the battery specs.So the Honor has a larger battery.So this is a 5,000milliampere-hour batteryas opposed to 4,400 on the Z Fold 5,but it goes farther than that.The Z Fold only charges at 25 watts,whereas the Honor charges at 66 watts,and a big reason forthat is that the Honorhas a silicon carbon battery.That's a newer technologywhich essentially is more energy dense,meaning that even though theHonor is thinner and lighterand has a larger capacity battery,it is physically smallerand charges faster.Now, one of the benefits of this deviceis the fact that it's gotpretty much flagship levelhardware in the camera.So there are five cameras in total.So on the inner displaywe have a selfie camera.We also have that exact samecamera on the outer display,and then we have threecameras around back,wide, ultra wide and telephoto.So by default you can use itjust like a standard smartphone.However, where it really shinesis when you open up the device.So now you have a much largerwindow to capture your images,and on top of that, you canturn on the actual cover screen.So, if I want to switch overto video mode and hit record,I now have a very large previewto see myself on the displayso I can make sure I'm framing myself up.I don't have too much headroomor not enough headroom,and it's really quite nice for thisto be able to easily use itfor something likevlogging or what have you.Now, the only thing I will sayis that in this currentversion of the software,which I will say, again, is not final,I don't have a lot of controlson this outer display.So for a lot of that, I actuallydo need to come back aroundand control it from this side.So if I wanna go to the ultra wide,I would need to pick it up andthen use the ultra wide here.So, don't totally judge the image qualitybased on this early software,but the ability for me to have a devicewhich is this thin and this lightfor something like vlogging is nice,especially because this cover displayis absolutely massive toget my framing just right.Like, I mean, this looks nice.Now, if you're not just goingto vlog with the device,it does of course functionessentially as a little tripod.So what's nice is, is whenI have it in flex mode here,I have all of like my galleryand stuff on the bottomand my controls, and on top of that,I have a nice little preview hereso I can adjust the camera just right.And if I wanna flip over to photo mode,I can take a photo of Kenon the telephoto.Look at that.Boom.It's also nice too 'cause Ican immediately see down herea full screen shot of Ken,or as I'm taking a bunch of photos,so say if I take a burst or whatever,boom,boom,boom, and it shows up right down here.It's a really clever implementationof having all of this additionalsort of hardware spacewhen it comes to the screenreal estate that you've got.So I have a lot ofthoughts about this device,but to sum it up, this hardwareis absolutely terrific.I like the outer displayand the aspect ratio.I like the inner display.I like the performance.The cameras are decent,and especially consideringthat this is a larger format devicethat is legitimately thinner and lighterthan some of the bigboy flagships out thereis incredibly impressive.The amount of engineeringthat went into thingslike the hinge with it'smade out of titanium,and you think about the batteries,that they've entirelydesigned a new batteryto actually fit in here tostill have good capacity,there's a lot of stuff thatthey've done well here.Now, I will say that as of right now,this device is only availablein the Chinese market.So they have notannounced a global launch,and to me, I think thatthey really should.Like, I very much hopethat there is a globalversion of this phonebecause this hardware is terrific.Now, software-wise, it is verydifficult for me to evaluate,because again, this is notremotely final software.So if they had significantimprovements on that front,if they really finishedthe software, 'cause again,it's not the final, it'svery, very much a prototype,then I legitimately wouldprobably switch to this.Like, if the software is improved enough,like this hardware is the first timethat I have been legitimately temptedto move away from the Z Flipwhen it comes to that form factor.I love how small that device is,but considering that thisis quite thin, quite light,quite easy to carry in your pocket,unlike all these othergiant foldable devices,if they nail the software,man, this thing is an absolute home run.So again, thank you very much to Honorfor sponsoring this video.I know you guys are watching this thing,so please, get this softwarein a good sort of spotand give me a global launch.Like, I think that's all you need to do,because man, this might bethe best engineered hardwareof any smartphone I've ever seen.
