The HONOR Magic V6 serves as the brand’s latest book-style foldable and months after its appearance at MWC 2026, the handset has made its way to our shores. As the successor to last year’s Magic V5, one can expect some upgrades while retaining the core identity of the series.
As far as looks go, the V6 is almost completely identical to its predecessor. At a glance, it’s easy to mistake one for the other, as there aren’t many obvious distinguishing details. Placing the two side by side, though, you may notice that the new model has a slightly thinner camera bump. It lies a bit flatter on the table, but only just. The camera module remains quite large and still protrudes quite a bit from the phone’s body.
Beyond that, the V6 feels somewhat boxier compared to the V5. While the latter has a cover display that curves slightly at the edges, the former gets a flat outer screen. Moreover, the new model has a less tapered side, so it appears thicker. It may also actually be thicker, but the difference is so minor it’s probably not noticeable. In any case, HONOR does note that the phone’s thickness depends on the chosen colour, and like last year, the Ivory White variant is the slimmest of them all.
If pure white doesn’t strike your fancy, though, there are more visually striking options. This Ferghana Red version is the favourite child of the bunch. While “red” is in the name, the colour is much closer to brown or auburn. It’s also quite similar to last year’s Silk Brown. Other than that, the material is vegan leather, so you get a velvety textured surface. This will undoubtedly accumulate dirt quite easily, so that vibrant look likely won’t last unless you use a case.
Appearances aside, holding the V6 doesn’t feel much different from the V5. Handling it, though, is a whole other matter. The thicker side makes it easier to unfold, since you’re not struggling to get a good grip. Additionally, the phone opens more readily than its predecessor. On the flip side, it’s much harder to close.
Of course, with Qualcomm’s latest flagship chipset on board, the device handles the usual day-to-day tasks without any fanfare. Running multiple apps at once is hardly a problem either, which is to be expected. My only complaint would be the fact that the handset heats up pretty quickly, particularly during gaming. Though to be fair, this is not a problem unique to this phone.
On the imaging end, HONOR has largely left the hardware unchanged. Most of the changes come in the form of software tweaks, which do make for better results in most situations. Basically, you can expect to get crisp images with intense and vibrant colours. I did notice that the hues do lean more on the natural side, rather than having a more yellowish tint. This is particularly true for skin tones.
That said, the portrait mode does seem to struggle with separating the subject from the background at times. It’s especially noticeable with elements like stray locks of hair, which turn out looking like a blocky, splotchy mess.
Overall, the HONOR Magic V6 looks and feels a lot like its predecessor. While there are admittedly some changes that make it handle better than the older version, the V6 doesn’t really seem to offer enough to justify an upgrade.
