If you have been thinking that the iPhone in your pocket is too thick and heavy but you also wish it unfolded into a larger device, you might be tempted by the latest folding phone from Honor.

The Chinese firm has just lifted the lid on the Honor Magic V6, a cutting-edge foldable smartphone that opens up to reveal a huge 7.95-inch inner screen for when you want to watch films, luxuriate your web browsing or really dig into that spreadsheet on the train home (maybe not that one).

The problem with many early folding phones we’ve seen since the launch of the original Samsung Galaxy Fold in 2019 has been that they are very thick when closed. But tech moves fast, and Honor has shrunk the dimensions of the V6 even more impressively than it did on the Magic V5 I reviewed last year.

It means that even when folded shut, the Magic V6 is just 8.75mm thick – which makes it a hair thinner than the 8.8mm iPhone 17 Pro.

The outer 6.52-inch screen has similar dimensions to a regular slab phone, and Honor says it has also worked to up the ante around the back by beefing up the cameras – not that you’d miss the cameras given they are marooned on a large camera island back there, with a main 50MP lens flanked by a 50MP ultrawide and a 64MP 3x optical telephoto lens.

The V6 is also the first ever folding phone to come with IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance certifications, beating the Google Pixel 10 Fold’s IP68. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is technically much more susceptible to dust and sand particles with its inferior IP48 rating, so the Magic V6 is one to add to the shopping list if you want the most robust foldable out there.

That said, Honor is remaining tight-lipped on a UK price and release date – we don’t know either yet. The firm said the V6 will launch soon in China, but if it comes to these shores at all, it will probably be in several months.

You also get the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset here, so there is no expense spared. For comparison, Motorola just announced its first book-style Razr Fold at £1,799, with the less powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.

I reviewed the Magic V5 just last August, and was suitably impressed, but just like every book-style foldable I’ve had the pleasure of testing, it’s still difficult to recommend at £1,699.

But with camera and hardware improvements, Honor seems committed to proving you don’t have to compromise on the core smartphone experience of great cameras and waterproofing in order to have a bendy device.

It’s also gone hell for leather with the battery specs, increasing the cell to 6,660mAh over the V5’s 5,820 despite thinning the V6 down. With Honor’s use of more energy efficient silicon-carbon, I’ll be very interested to see how long it lasts for, if I ever get my hands on a review sample.

You’ll be able to charge the V6 at 80W wired or 66W wirelessly – both speeds faster than the 60W wired speeds Samsung offers on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra.