The Honor Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold are book-style foldables at the top of their game, but how do they compare?
We’ve fully reviewed the Honor Magic V3 and we’ve gone hands-on with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold ahead of our full review coming out very soon, so it’s safe to say we’ve got a good idea of the real-world differences between the two foldable flagships.
It’s clear to see that Honor has the edge in the hardware department, with not only the thinnest and lightest design of any book-style foldable, but improved durability, a near crease-less internal display, a huge battery capable of all-day use and rapid wired and wireless charging to boot.
That said, Google looks to have the upper hand when it comes to software, with Team G’s foldable offering a holistic approach to AI with elements like on-device support for Google Gemini, automatic translation tech, the ability to generate images and much more. It permeates practically every area of the OS, and with one of the best software promises around, that’ll only continue to get better over time.
We’re not quite ready to deliver our final verdict just yet, but here are our initial impressions of how the Honor Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold compare.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, there’s one winner – and that’s Honor. Despite the impressive hardware on offer, Honor’s Magic V3 costs £1,699 in the UK, with a £300 discount for early birds that buy the phone from Honor directly. It’s also said to be available on EE and Vodafone on contract in the coming weeks.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, on the other hand, costs £100 more in the UK at £1,799, and unlike Honor, there aren’t any money-off deals to be had right now. It’s available from several online retailers, and most UK carriers are stocking the foldable too.
The Honor Magic V3 is thinner and lighter
When it comes to the overall design of the book-style foldables, the Honor Magic V3 is the clear winner here.
Honor’s latest foldable is not only thinner than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at 9.9mm and 10.5mm respectively, but it’s actually the thinnest and lightest foldable on the market overall right now – and that’ll make a big difference to everyday use, making it easier to hold and use, even one-handed, while also slipping into pockets that little bit easier than Google’s option.
It makes all the difference in everyday use too, with our reviewer noting that, for the first few days, he’d reach for the phone in his pocket and assume it was a regular candybar phone. We’ve yet to say that about any other foldable.
That’s further complemented by the phone’s curved edges and rounded corners. Yes, it might not look as sleek and modern as some flat-edged alternatives – including the Pixel – but it does improve the in-hand feel.
That’s not to say that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold looks unappealing; we’re huge fans of the redesigned look of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold brings it in line with the rest of the Pixel 9 collection, complete with the flat edges that seem to be all the rage on smartphones right now, along with a redesigned camera housing and a much-improved aspect ratio compared to the short and squat Pixel Fold.
It’s also thin and light in its own respect compared to much of the foldable competition – it’s just not quite as thin and light as what you’ll get from Honor’s alternative.
The Honor Magic V3 has a much less noticeable crease
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has had a complete refresh of its screen setup, swapping its short, squat displays for something not too dissimilar to the OnePlus Open, sporting a 6.3-inch cover screen and an 8.03-inch internal screen that’s one of the largest around, even compared to the Honor Magic V3.
It’s a pretty solidly specced internal display too, with key features including an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate, 2K resolution and peak brightness of 2700nits, but when we went hands-on, we realised it had a big problem; the crease. Our reviewer notes that “Google, like Samsung, hasn’t managed to follow the lead of Xiaomi and OnePlus in eradicating the visible fold that runs down the middle of the screen”.
The Honor Magic V3, doesn’t have the same problem whatsoever. There is still a crease on the 7.92-inch OLED panel because, you know, physics, but at just 78um deep, it’s one of the shallowest creases we’ve seen to date. It’s easy to miss it when looking straight on, and it’s only somewhat visible when looking from extreme angles.
It’s a huge step forward for foldable tech, especially when it’s equally as tech-packed as the Pro Pixel, sporting a 120Hz LTPO refresh rate and a whopping 5000nits peak brightness. Our reviewer felt the display was “a joy” not only for using big-screen apps, but for split-screen multitasking and reading via the Kindle app in particular.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has more advanced AI smarts
One of the main reasons to opt for the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is its AI smarts.
Pixels have always been AI-infused, but the Pixel 9 collection takes that up a notch with features like on-device support for Google Gemini, a new feature that’ll let you search for information in screenshots dubbed Pixel Screenshots, image generation from Pixel Studio and much, much more.
While we’ve not spent enough time with the Pro Fold specifically to comment on its AI prowess, its offering matches the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which we have reviewed extensively.
We praised the AI capabilities of the phone, stating that it has a much more holistic approach to AI than much of the competition, permeating practically every aspect of the phone experience. It’s the handiest implementation we’ve seen so far, and we’re expecting the exact same from the Pro Fold.
The Honor Magic V3 does have competing AI smarts, mainly in the form of Honor’s intention-based Magic Portal. The idea is simple; you can drag elements like addresses into apps like Google Maps and get the phone to automatically search for the location, or search for an image of a product on eBay, and it works with 150 apps at the time of writing.
That’s complemented by a light smattering of AI features that let you remove subjects from images, and it can transcribe audio recordings too. However, our reviewer noted that it can’t really compete with the more advanced offerings from the competition, including not only Google but Samsung, which offer a wider range of AI capabilities.
The Honor Magic V3 has a bigger battery and faster charging
Battery life is an area in which foldables have typically struggled, mainly because it’s difficult to fit a large battery into a folding chassis. That means that, while most smartphones offer something close to 5000mAh, foldables are usually left somewhere between 3500 and 4500mAh. That’s true of practically every Samsung foldable, as well as the OnePlus Open.
However, despite its thin dimensions, Honor has managed to buck this trend with a 5150mAh silicon-carbon battery that our reviewer found could last all day without much issue, with around seven hours of screen-on time before the phone needed a top-up. Even that’s a pretty speedy process with 66W wired charging support, getting a full charge in 59 minutes in our testing, and 50W wireless charging is also available.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, on the other hand, sports a slightly smaller 4650mAh battery that’s more in line with the vast majority of the foldable collection. We’re yet to extensively test the battery life prowess of the Pro Fold, but we can’t see it outlasting Honor’s foldable. It’s also much slower to charge with 21W wired charging and 8W wireless charging.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has better long-term support
Long-term software support on Android has steadily improved over the past five years or so, with even mid-range smartphones getting multiple OS upgrades and multi-year security patch support, but it was Google that really pushed the boat out with its extended seven OS upgrades.
It was first rolled out on the Pixel 8 range, but it’s also true of the Pixel 9 collection, meaning it’ll continue to get updates until Android 21. That’s matched only by Samsung, with most other manufacturers stuck around the 3-5 year mark.
Honor is one of the manufacturers that fall into the latter category. Don’t get me wrong, a guaranteed four OS upgrades and five years of security patches is pretty solid, seeing the vast majority of users through the life of their phones, but it doesn’t offer quite the same appeal as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does for true long-term use.
Early Verdict
While we’re not yet ready to deliver our final verdict on which foldable is better, early impressions suggest that the Honor Magic V3 could have the edge – when it comes to foldable hardware, anyway. It’s thinner, lighter, and has a less visible crease, as well as a larger battery and quicker charging provisions than Google’s alternative.
However, there’s still a lot to like about the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, especially in the software department. That includes a holistic approach to AI that’s among the most capable we’ve seen to date, and though we’re yet to test the AI-powered camera prowess, we’re quietly confident of its abilities there too.
