PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR Review

We reviewed the HONOR Magic V2 last month, and we were thrilled to play with its luxury sibling, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition. Both devices are large foldable phones comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the OnePlus Open in size and performance. However, they offer a significantly thinner chassis than their competitors.

Designed in collaboration with PORSCHE, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR features a fiberglass body with an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield and a titanium hinge. Announced on January 11 in China, it comes with a premium PORSCHE DESIGN case and includes the HONOR Magic Pen.

Besides the NanoCrystal Shield on the external screen and the unique sports car design, the other differences with the Magic V2 are the 1 TB of storage, the stylus, and the two chargers included in the box.

Competition, Price & Availability

From a display quality and computing power point of view, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is on par with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, except for its lack of a waterproofing IP rating (the Fold 5 is IP X8), its thinner chassis, and its significantly faster charging speed.

The Magic V2 RSR ’s display and SoC (processor) are also similar to the thicker Oneplus Open, except for the camera performance.

Being a luxury device, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is the most expensive foldable to date. Launched at 15,999 yuan for the Chinese market (~$2,200), this smartphone was launched globally at MWC 2024 at 2699 Euros (converted to ~2,924 on Feb 25 2024) during the HONOR Global Launch we attended.

By comparison, the Magic V2 costs £1,699.99 in the UK, €1,999 in select E.U. countries (approximately $2,150).

Design

The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR stands out as one of the thinnest foldable phones available today, measuring just 4.7 mm thick when unfolded and weighing a mere 234g, lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra by 5 grams. It features an inward-folding design, making it the thinnest inward-foldable smartphone on the market. Available in Agate Grey, a color paying homage to Porsche luxury cars, its flyline design on the back draws inspiration from the sleek lines of a Porsche 911’s hood.

Enhanced with anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield, it offers exceptional durability, boasting ten times (10X) the protection against falls and scratches compared to regular glass, according to HONOR. The super-light Titanium Hinge ensures both lightness and durability.

Its Flyline Camera Module, inspired by Porsche cars, integrates a 3-lens camera framed by lightweight yet robust titanium, a material featured in many motorsport vehicles.

The package includes a beautiful case, the Magic Pen stylus with its magnetic case, and two 66W fast chargers. Both the internal and external displays of the device fully support stylus input.

Displays

Like the Magic V2, the Magic V2 RSR features an external 6.43-inch OLED display with 1060 x 2376 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits. Internally, it boasts a nearly square 7.92-inch display with 2156 x 2344 resolution, also with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a theoretical peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Both screens feature stylus support, so users can take notes or draw using the Magic Pen provided in the box.

HONOR emphasizes its 3840Hz PWM dimming tech, alleviating eye strain during prolonged phone use. In contrast to the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition features an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield display, tested by the HONOR lab to be ten times more scratch-resistant than regular glass.

For the Magic V2 RSR, HONOR partnered with Gameloft to introduce a modified version of the popular game “Asphalt 9: Legends”, specifically tailored for large foldable screens. The collaboration brings 120 FPS gameplay at a higher resolution for the foldable form factor, promising a top-notch gaming experience.

Camera

The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers the same typical triple rear camera as the Magic V2. The camera system a 50-megapixel main, a20-megapixel telephoto with a 2.5x optical zoom, and a50-megapixel ultrawide.There is a 16 MP punch-hole selfie camera on each screen, capable of shooting 4K video at 30 fps.The rear camera can shoot 4K video at 60 fps.

Watermark function

The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers a Watermark function with two customizable options for users to show that their images originate from a limited-edition smartphone camera. Accessible in the settings, users can choose between two watermark styles. The default option displays “PORSCHE DESIGN I HONOR Magic V2 RSR” in the lower-left corner of the photos. The HONOR frame option adds additional data to the lower right corner, including focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO level, and date and time.

Motion Sensing Capture Technology

The Motion Sensing Capture Technology leverages AI trained on a dataset of over 270,000 images. It accurately identifies scenarios and key moments, aiding automatic shot capture. Ideal for live events, the feature detects facial expressions such as smiles and body postures such as jumping, improving startup, focus, shutter, and imaging speed for swift scene capture within milliseconds.

Hover Photography

Using the self-timer found in the camera settings, users can exploit the folding capabilities to capture photos akin to using a tripod. Simply fold the phone at a 90-degree angle and position it on a table or any suitable surface for stable shooting.

Camera Performance

The Honor Magic V2 and Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition have an identical camera setup, and it shows. The PORSCHE Edition performs similarly to its twin, as highlighted in our Magic V2 Review. It is generally a good camera, but its performance is exceptional in relation to how thin the chassis is.

The thinner the chassis is, the harder it is to fit quality electro-optics components. That’s why the hardware quality of the Honor Magic V2 family is so impressive from a technology standpoint. The ultra-thin chassis is a huge design and overall usability advantage, but it’s also an obstacle to having powerful lenses.

This choice is more a matter of taste rather than quality, and most people have strong opinions one way or the other, so you’ll have to choose which you like better. That aside, the Magic V2 series photos are agreeable to share.

The 2.5X Zoom is appropriate for portrait photography, but not optimized for very long zoom “sniper” shots similar to what 10X optical zoom cameras can capture. And that makes sense since it is extremely difficult to include a periscope lens in this edgy design.

At night, the rear camera does a good job of preserving the general mood of the scene, but other cameras can capture more details, such as material Textures (bricks, wood, asphalt, etc..).

Still, the Honor Magic V2 series (including this Porsche Edition) performs closest to the Google Pixel Fold. In most situations, the biggest difference people will see when compared to other high-end foldables is the photo aesthetic of the Honor camera, which is very bright (some would say over-exposed) and more saturated than what your eyes see.

Performance

The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR houses last year’s Qualcomm flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage. In daily usage, including 3D gaming, performance remains fluid.

Measured performance

Since the hardware is the same, the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition delivers the same performance as the Magic V2.

As you can see from the charts, despite its remarkable thinness, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR demonstrates excellent performance within the realm of foldable phones. This achievement is attributed mainly to HONOR’’s implementation of an advanced cooling system known as the Ultra-thin Bionic Cooling System. According to the company, this new cooling technology integrates an ultra-thin vapor chamber, ultra-high thermal conductivity graphite, thermal conductivity gel, and copper foil.

The device ranks among the top performers in terms of CPU performance, enabling swift app loading and faster completion of tasks. Additionally, its graphics performance scores notably high, rendering it proficient not only in general graphics processing (GPU performance) but also in gaming.

However, it’s important to note that extended gaming sessions may lead to heat accumulation. Consequently, dedicated gaming systems typically feature thicker designs with enhanced cooling mechanisms.

Battery

Despite its ultrathin chassis measuring 4.7 mm, the Magic V2 RSR impressively integrates a 5000 mAh dual Silicon carbon battery (the highest capacity for a foldable).

The battery lasted for three days during my review conducted solely on Wi-Fi, excluding 5G usage and involving intermittent activity. However, it’s important to note that battery performance can significantly fluctuate based on usage patterns. Under typical usage scenarios, utilizing both 5G and Wi-Fi connections, the Magic V2 RSR should last a full day or a little more on a single charge.

Tasks like browsing and email typically impose minimal strain compared to more demanding activities such as intense photo shooting, video streaming, or 3D gaming. As always, the battery capacity, measured in mAh (milliampere-hours), serves as the most reliable indicator of potential battery longevity.

Charging speed

The Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition charges 75% of its 5000 mAh battery in 30 minutes with the provided 66W charger. This is similar to the OnePlus Open charging time of 79% in 30 minutes for its 4805 mAh battery (with the included OnePlus 67W fast-charger). By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 charges 49% in 30 minutes with its optional 50W Samsung charger.

Conclusion

Besides its unique luxurious design, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers impressive build and display quality and is the thinnest and lightest large foldable phone on the market.

This important trait should convince people who are reluctant to carry thicker and heavier smartphones for their daily usage. It feels like a normal phone when folded.

Built on the same hardware as the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition boasts a refined design reminiscent of the sleek lines found in the PORSCHE 911, a unique touch that HONOR and PORSCHE fans might not be able to resist.

People who want to travel in style should consider switching to the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition, as it can also be used as a tablet for productivity and entertainment during flights. In my opinion, foldables are awesome for frequent travelers.

Although the camera performance is slightly below those in competitive devices, it is excellent for such a thin chassis.