The Honor Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold are book-style foldables on the prime of their sport, however how do they evaluate?
We’ve totally reviewed the Honor Magic V3 and we’ve gone hands-on with the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold forward of our full evaluate popping out very quickly, so it’s secure to say we’ve obtained a good suggestion of the real-world variations between the 2 foldable flagships.
It’s clear to see that Honor has the sting within the {hardware} division, with not solely the thinnest and lightest design of any book-style foldable, however improved sturdiness, a close to crease-less inner show, an enormous battery able to all-day use and speedy wired and wi-fi charging in addition.
That mentioned, Google seems to be to have the higher hand with regards to software program, with Group G’s foldable providing a holistic method to AI with parts like on-device assist for Google Gemini, computerized translation tech, the power to generate photos and way more. It permeates virtually each space of the OS, and with among the best software program guarantees round, that’ll solely proceed to get higher over time.
We’re not fairly able to ship our closing verdict simply but, however listed here are our preliminary impressions of how the Honor Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold evaluate.
Pricing
In the case of pricing, there’s one winner – and that’s Honor. Regardless of the spectacular {hardware} on provide, Honor’s Magic V3 prices £1,699 within the UK, with a £300 low cost for early birds that purchase the telephone from Honor straight. It’s additionally mentioned to be obtainable on EE and Vodafone on contract within the coming weeks.
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold, however, prices £100 extra within the UK at £1,799, and in contrast to Honor, there aren’t any money-off offers available proper now. It’s obtainable from a number of on-line retailers, and most UK carriers are stocking the foldable too.
The Honor Magic V3 is thinner and lighter
In the case of the general design of the book-style foldables, the Honor Magic V3 is the clear winner right here.
Honor’s newest foldable will not be solely thinner than the Pixel 9 Professional Fold at 9.9mm and 10.5mm respectively, however it’s truly the thinnest and lightest foldable in the marketplace total proper now – and that’ll make an enormous distinction to on a regular basis use, making it simpler to carry and use, even one-handed, whereas additionally slipping into pockets that little bit simpler than Google’s choice.
It makes all of the distinction in on a regular basis use too, with our reviewer noting that, for the primary few days, he’d attain for the telephone in his pocket and assume it was an everyday candybar telephone. We’ve but to say that about another foldable.
That’s additional complemented by the telephone’s curved edges and rounded corners. Sure, it won’t look as smooth and fashionable as some flat-edged options – together with the Pixel – however it does enhance the in-hand really feel.
That’s to not say that the Pixel 9 Professional Fold seems to be unappealing; we’re big followers of the redesigned look of the Pixel 9 Professional Fold brings it consistent with the remainder of the Pixel 9 assortment, full with the flat edges that appear to be all the trend on smartphones proper now, together with a redesigned digicam housing and a much-improved side ratio in comparison with the quick and squat Pixel Fold.
It’s additionally skinny and lightweight in its personal respect in comparison with a lot of the foldable competitors – it’s simply not fairly as skinny and lightweight as what you’ll get from Honor’s various.
The Honor Magic V3 has a a lot much less noticeable crease
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold has had a whole refresh of its display setup, swapping its quick, squat shows for one thing not too dissimilar to the OnePlus Open, sporting a 6.3-inch cowl display and an 8.03-inch inner display that’s one of many largest round, even in comparison with the Honor Magic V3.
It’s a fairly solidly specced inner show too, with key options together with an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh charge, 2K decision and peak brightness of 2700nits, however after we went hands-on, we realised it had an enormous drawback; the crease. Our reviewer notes that “Google, like Samsung, hasn’t managed to observe the lead of Xiaomi and OnePlus in eradicating the seen fold that runs down the center of the display”.
The Honor Magic V3, doesn’t have the identical drawback in anyway. There may be nonetheless a crease on the 7.92-inch OLED panel as a result of, , physics, however at simply 78um deep, it’s one of many shallowest creases we’ve seen thus far. It’s straightforward to overlook it when wanting straight on, and it’s solely considerably seen when wanting from excessive angles.
It’s an enormous step ahead for foldable tech, particularly when it’s equally as tech-packed because the Professional Pixel, sporting a 120Hz LTPO refresh charge and a whopping 5000nits peak brightness. Our reviewer felt the show was “a pleasure” not just for utilizing big-screen apps, however for split-screen multitasking and studying through the Kindle app specifically.
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold has extra superior AI smarts
One of many most important causes to go for the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is its AI smarts.
Pixels have all the time been AI-infused, however the Pixel 9 assortment takes that up a notch with options like on-device assist for Google Gemini, a brand new function that’ll allow you to seek for data in screenshots dubbed Pixel Screenshots, picture era from Pixel Studio and far, way more.
Whereas we’ve not spent sufficient time with the Professional Fold particularly to touch upon its AI prowess, its providing matches the Pixel 9 Professional XL, which we have now reviewed extensively.
We praised the AI capabilities of the telephone, stating that it has a way more holistic method to AI than a lot of the competitors, permeating virtually each side of the telephone expertise. It’s the best implementation we’ve seen to date, and we’re anticipating the very same from the Professional Fold.
The Honor Magic V3 does have competing AI smarts, primarily within the type of Honor’s intention-based Magic Portal. The concept is straightforward; you may drag parts like addresses into apps like Google Maps and get the telephone to routinely seek for the situation, or seek for a picture of a product on eBay, and it really works with 150 apps on the time of writing.
That’s complemented by a lightweight smattering of AI options that allow you to take away topics from photos, and it will probably transcribe audio recordings too. Nevertheless, our reviewer famous that it will probably’t actually compete with the extra superior choices from the competitors, together with not solely Google however Samsung, which provide a wider vary of AI capabilities.
The Honor Magic V3 has a much bigger battery and quicker charging
Battery life is an space through which foldables have usually struggled, primarily as a result of it’s troublesome to suit a big battery right into a folding chassis. That implies that, whereas most smartphones provide one thing near 5000mAh, foldables are often left someplace between 3500 and 4500mAh. That’s true of virtually each Samsung foldable, in addition to the OnePlus Open.
Nevertheless, regardless of its skinny dimensions, Honor has managed to buck this pattern with a 5150mAh silicon-carbon battery that our reviewer discovered may final all day with out a lot difficulty, with round seven hours of screen-on time earlier than the telephone wanted a top-up. Even that’s a fairly speedy course of with 66W wired charging assist, getting a full cost in 59 minutes in our testing, and 50W wi-fi charging can be obtainable.
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold, however, sports activities a barely smaller 4650mAh battery that’s extra consistent with the overwhelming majority of the foldable assortment. We’re but to extensively check the battery life prowess of the Professional Fold, however we are able to’t see it outlasting Honor’s foldable. It’s additionally a lot slower to cost with 21W wired charging and 8W wi-fi charging.
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold has higher long-term assist
Lengthy-term software program assist on Android has steadily improved over the previous 5 years or so, with even mid-range smartphones getting a number of OS upgrades and multi-year safety patch assist, however it was Google that actually pushed the boat out with its prolonged seven OS upgrades.
It was first rolled out on the Pixel 8 vary, however it’s additionally true of the Pixel 9 assortment, which means it’ll proceed to get updates till Android 21. That’s matched solely by Samsung, with most different producers caught across the 3-5 yr mark.
Honor is without doubt one of the producers that fall into the latter class. Don’t get me flawed, a assured 4 OS upgrades and 5 years of safety patches is fairly stable, seeing the overwhelming majority of customers by way of the lifetime of their telephones, however it doesn’t provide fairly the identical enchantment because the Pixel 9 Professional Fold does for true long-term use.
Early Verdict
Whereas we’re not but able to ship our closing verdict on which foldable is best, early impressions recommend that the Honor Magic V3 may have the sting – with regards to foldable {hardware}, anyway. It’s thinner, lighter, and has a much less seen crease, in addition to a bigger battery and faster charging provisions than Google’s various.
Nevertheless, there’s nonetheless loads to love concerning the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, particularly within the software program division. That features a holistic method to AI that’s among the many most succesful we’ve seen thus far, and although we’re but to check the AI-powered digicam prowess, we’re quietly assured of its talents there too.