The foldable smartphone market is heating up, and two of the latest contenders are from China that bring cutting-edge tech and design. Honor and Vivo have already announced their latest flagship foldable (1,2) in their home market. With the global release for both the Honor Magic V5 and Vivo X Fold 5 being right around the corner, here’s a quick comparison between these two models.
1. Vivo X Fold 5 vs Honor Magic V5: Design
Foldable smartphones are known for their heft and bulk, but Chinese brands have made great progress in this regard. The Honor Magic V5 is the best example of this since it is the world’s thinnest foldable phone yet, measuring just 8.8mm thick (4.1mm unfolded). Despite having a bigger battery and two screens, it is also lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, weighing around 217 grams.
While this is all quite impressive, Vivo isn’t too far behind either. The Vivo X Fold 5 also launched with a thin 9.2mm body (4.3mm unfolded) and weighs around 217 grams for the titanium version. In the past, foldable phones didn’t offer robust Ingress protection, but this has been changed in the latest flagships. Both devices offer up to an IP59 rating for water and dust protection. So the Magic V5 is the winner here by a hair’s margin, literally.
2. Performance
These are ultra premium smartphones, and you can expect top-tier performance from the duo. However, the Honor Magic V5 is equipped with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, which has a notable bump in performance compared to last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that powers the Vivo X Fold 5. The X Fold 5 Pro would likely offer the latest chip, but the base variant here falls behind in terms of raw horsepower.
3. Camera
Photography is another area where foldable phones haven’t been the best when compared to typical flagship devices. However, the Vivo X Fold 5 offers a solid selection of cameras that are tuned by Zeiss. All three rear sensors are 50MP shooters with a 20MP selfie shooter on both the primary and secondary screens. The cameras are basically the same as the ones found on the Vivo X200 and offer top notch photography experience.
Honor’s Magic V5 is no slouch in this regard either, with a 50MP (Main) + 50MP (Ultra Wide) + 50MP (Periscope Telephoto) setup on the back and a 20MP selfie shooter on both screens. But Vivo has established itself as a consistent performer in the photography department with the Zeiss collaboration offering additional customizability when taking pictures. So, Vivo has an edge in the overall photography experience.
4. Battery & Charging
The Vivo X Fold 5 and Honor Magic V5 are nearly evenly matched in the battery and charging side as well. The former has a 6000mAh battery pack, which supports 80W wired fast charging, 40W wireless fast charging, and reverse wireless charging support.
On the other hand, the latter has a 6,100mAh battery on the 1TB variant and a 5,820mAh cell on the other configurations that supports 66W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging, wireless reverse charging. On paper, the Vivo has a better package, but the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite could offer a longer battery life.
5. Pricing
Honor Magic V5 starts from 8,999 yuan (roughly 1,255 US Dollars) for the base 12GB + 256GB variant, which makes it nearly 300 US Dollars more expensive than the Vivo X Fold 5. For the same storage option, Vivo’s flagship foldable costs just 6,999 yuan (roughly 975 US Dollars). In other words, the Vivo X Fold 5 could be a better deal if you can forego the latest chipset and slightly slimmer design. The Magic V5 is a top tier offering for its price, but it will likely compete with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 at this price range.
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