Honor Magic Vs review

Android 13 with Magic OS 7.1 on top

The Honor Magic Vs we have here runs an in-house MagicOS 7.1 on top of an Android 13 core. And it's a fully functional Android 13, including full support for the Google apps suite, unlike Huawei's software builds which are limited in one way or another.

You may note that Honor has renamed its Android overlay from UI to OS with this v7 in an attempt to break away from its Huawei EMUI roots. A lot has been shared over the years between Magic OS (or UI) and EMUI and traces of that common past remain so if you've used a moderately recent Huawei phone you'd be right at home, but differences do exist. Naturally, if and where the two differ, the Magic Vs is in line with Honor's own latest non-bendy models, even if they may still be on previous Magic versions.

Going from UI 6 to OS 7, we're seeing subtle changes here or there, but the overall look and feel of the Magic overlay remain the same. Iconography is largely unchanged, the task switcher and notification/quick settings are is the same too (and that's one area where the latest EMUI and its Control center differs), the Settings menu doesn't look one bit different either.

MagicOS 7 basics: Homescreen • Task Switcher • Notifications • Quick settings • Settings menu

Also available here is previously introduced functionality like large folders and the card bar that sits under app icons to indicate that the app supports cards (another name for the in-house widgets).

Speaking of widgets, some neat EMUI features are nowhere to be found on the Magic Vs' Magic OS like the widget stacking or the combined widgets.

A Yoyo suggestions card/widget lets you have the onboard assistant pitch apps that it things you might be inclined to use based on previous experience.

Large folders • Large folders • Large folders • Cards

Naturally, a host of customization options are there for you to explore as well. You've got a wide selection of themes, Always-on display styles, the lot. What's missing at this point is the option to enable an app drawer - all the newly installed apps get dumped on your homescreens.

Customization

There's split screen multi-window on the cover display, as well as pop-up window mode for some in-house and third-party apps. You can only have one pop-up app open at a time and subsequent ones end up in a separate task switcher.

Multi-tasking on the cover screen

You'd like be multi-windowing on the internal display more often than not, we reckon. You get a fairly narrow range of resizing options, but you do get to have a horizontal split as well, though Chrome for example doesn't support it.

Multi-tasking on the main screen

Weirdly enough, there's not a whole lot of foldable-related functionality. Sure, YouTube will switch to that interface where it shows the video in the top half and the comments on the bottom if you half-fold the Magic Vs, but that's about it - there are no clever camera UI tricks for waist level shooting or tripod mode.

There aren't a ton of settings either. Basically, you can choose whether the Magic will lock itself when you close it, or just move whatever you were doing to the cover display. It will remind you constantly that some apps may not function properly after the handoff and may need restarting, which is at least mildly annoying.

The other available setting is what aspect ratio apps will use - 16:9, 4:3, or the full screen. You can also set this in the initial seconds after you launch an app in the default pillarboxed state when you get a blue icon in the bottom right corner.

An app extender feature that lets you have two instances of the same app is also tucked into the 'Foldable phones' menu, but that's hardly a foldable-related feature.

Not a lot of foldable features

Performance and benchmarks

The Magic Vs' specsheet lists the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 at its heart. Sure, it's not the current Gen 2, but it's an easily powerful enough platform - it's the flagship chipset for 2022, after all.

Now, there's this peculiar detail in the specs when it comes to CPU clock frequency - Honor lists the numbers as 3.00GHz for the Cortex-X2 super-powerful core, 2.50GHz for the mid-tier cluster of 3x Cortex-A710s and 1.80GHz for the efficiency-oriented 4x Cortex-A510s.

If you're into the habit of remembering pointless numbers and you're following the smartphone industry, you'll note that the frequencies are the same as on the CPU of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (non-plus). And since the clock rates of the X2 and the A710 cores are among the key differences separating the plus from non-plus varieties of the SD 8 Gen 1, just how plus is the one in the Magic Vs?

Anyway, the international version of the Honor foldable comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. China also gets lesser 12GB/256GB and 8GB/256GB options.

Things are off to a slow start in the single-core portion of GeekBench 5 where the Vs' Cortex-X2 isn't living up to its full potential. The SD 8 Gen 1-equipped Magic4 Pro posts higher scores as do a bunch of other pluses and non-pluses. Somewhat noteworthy is the Galaxy Z Fold4's 30% advantage in this test.

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  1537
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  1490
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  1374
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  1337
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1324
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  1277
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  1207
• OnePlus 11
  1150
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  1127
• Oppo Find N2
  1057
• Honor Magic Vs
  1033
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  975
• Huawei Mate X2
  956
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  884

The Magic does level things off with the Galaxy in the multi-core test, so not all is lost. It's looking a lot more competitive overall here as well - not SD 8 Gen 2 level, but more in line with what you'd expect from the chip inside it.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  5087
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  4927
• OnePlus 11
  4899
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  4368
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  4300
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  3981
• Honor Magic Vs
  3971
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  3839
• Oppo Find N2
  3670
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  3512
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  3447
• Huawei Mate X2
  3389
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  3189
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  3131

But then comes Antutu to put a stop on that momentum, placing the Magic Vs at the bottom of the pack.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  1281666
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  1241531
• OnePlus 11
  1140661
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  1050139
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1039412
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  980755
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  979921
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  964530
• Oppo Find N2
  962082
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  886248
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  884923
• Honor Magic Vs
  831175
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  641608

There are no surprises in offscreen benchmarks, where the Magic Vs posts numbers on par with the other similarly equipped devices in the class. If anything, it leads the SD 8(+) Gen 1, though the differences are minimal.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  12241
• Honor Magic Vs
  10561
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  10533
• Oppo Find N2
  10517
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  10468
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  10382
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  10289
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  10183
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  9610
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  8670
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  5830
• Huawei Mate X2
  5693

3DMark Wild Life Extreme (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  3790
• OnePlus 11
  3594
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  2939
• Oppo Find N2
  2823
• Honor Magic Vs
  2801
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  2753

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  61
• OnePlus 11
  61
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  59
• Honor Magic Vs
  46
• Oppo Find N2
  46
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  46
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  45
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  45
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  45
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  43
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  40
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  35
• Huawei Mate X2
  29
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  28

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  69
• OnePlus 11
  68
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  67
• Honor Magic Vs
  51
• Oppo Find N2
  51
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  51
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  50
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  50
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  48
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  42
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  32
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  31
• Huawei Mate X2
  31

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  127
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  126
• OnePlus 11
  126
• Oppo Find N2
  104
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  104
• Honor Magic Vs
  103
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  102
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  101
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  101
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  97
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  80
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  72
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  72
• Huawei Mate X2
  61

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  222
• OnePlus 11
  220
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  212
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  182
• Honor Magic Vs
  180
• Oppo Find N2
  180
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  178
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  178
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  175
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  174
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  121
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  117
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  114
• Huawei Mate X2
  100

The onscreen tests introduce actual rendering resolution as a variable between devices and the Magic Vs has the highest-res screen of the foldables, so it's once again dropping towards the bottom of the charts.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  54
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  52
• Oppo Find N2
  49
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  49
• OnePlus 11
  49
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  46
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  43
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  40
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  40
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  38
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  37
• Honor Magic Vs
  36
• Huawei Mate X2
  20
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  19

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  60
• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  55
• OnePlus 11
  53
• Oppo Find N2
  52
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  52
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  45
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  45
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  42
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  41
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  41
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  39
• Honor Magic Vs
  38
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  21
• Huawei Mate X2
  12

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  68
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  67
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  64
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  59
• Oppo Find N2
  59
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  59
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  58
• OnePlus 11
  57
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  52
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Honor Magic Vs
  50
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  48
• Huawei Mate X2
  29
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  28

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 50 Pro
  113
• Galaxy S23 Ultra
  112
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  105
• Xiaomi 13 Pro
  103
• Honor Magic4 Pro
  100
• Galaxy Z Fold4
  93
• Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
  93
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  91
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  89
• Honor Magic Vs
  82
• Oppo Find N2
  60
• OnePlus 11
  60
• Huawei Mate Xs 2 (Unfolded)
  45
• Huawei Mate X2
  40

Sustained performance is actually pretty great on the Magic Vs. In the hour-long run of the CPU throttling test, the Honor settled at around 85% of peak performance, a level it seemed to be able to maintain indefinitely.

In the Wild Life Stress test it did drop to 55% of initial performance but it did so with a rather unusual curve, where it was only the last loop of the benchmark that was this low. Otherwise it kept things at around 70% of peak performance for about 15 minute. Not a groundbreaking result but solid overall.

CPU throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test