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The title of "slimest smartphone in the world" isn't one that's easily slung around. Honor has captured the, ahem, honor of the title two years in a row now, first with the Magic V3 in 2024 and now with the vegan leather Magic V5 this year.
But that crown usually means tradeoffs that aren't always desirable. Thankfully, between impressive battery tech and class-leading camera AI, Honor is able to make an ultra-thin foldable phone that doesn't feel like using a big old collection of compromises.
I got the opportunity to further discuss this with Luo Wei, Chief Imaging Architect at Honor, and find out what makes the Honor Magic V5's cameras tick and how they can often be so much better than the competition.
Zoom in on that detail
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 might measure as thin as some Honor Magic V5 models, but its telephoto sensor is half the size of Honor's. Even the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold uses a smaller camera sensor that was common in flagship phones 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, the Honor Magic V5 uses a huge 1/2-inch 64MP sensor behind a 3.5x telephoto lens. Not only that, but Honor is using the Magic V5 to launch its new AiMAGE software backend. That gives it the clear advantage of physics, in addition to a tried-and-true AI-powered computational layer.
Wei explained AiMAGE this way: "Building on the imaging advancements of the HONOR Magic7 Pro and HONOR Magic V3, the HONOR Magic V5 delivers even finer detail through an AI RAW model powered by device-cloud synergy. Whether shooting on the main or telephoto camera, this intelligent model enhances texture and definition with striking precision."
The shot I took above perfectly illustrates what Wei was talking about when he said AiMAGE "enhances texture and definition with striking precision." The amount of texture in the Honor Magic V5's shot, especially compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, is simply unreal.
The use of physically larger sensors also ensures the Honor Magic V5's images come out looking more like images taken from a dedicated camera instead of a phone. This image I took of a blueberry bush at 3.5x from the standard photo mode perfectly showcases what a large sensor can do: incredible depth of field without the need to use software portrait mode calculations.
Ironically, Wei told me he believes "2025 marks a turning point where AI breakthroughs allow smartphones to overcome hardware limitations, making high-end photography easier and more accessible, even for entry-level users. With more direct and intuitive interactions, AI takes on the heavy lifting once reserved for professional photographers."
And that brings me right back to AI, of course. Honor launched AI Super Zoom with the Honor Magic 7 Pro earlier this year, but the Magic V5's implementation of it goes even further than on that phone. "It is the industry’s first solution to utilizes a powerful fusion of multi-frame super-resolution and generative reconstruction, powered by multiple transformer-based algorithms deployed in the cloud. This breakthrough allows HONOR to significantly enhance image clarity and fidelity, especially at extreme zoom levels."
I left AI Super Zoom off for all of the photos on this page except this one, where I very specifically tried to find a detailed subject at 100x zoom to see what it could do. The results didn't disappoint.
As a photographer, using generative AI to create photos feels a bit dirty. But I think there's room for AI enhancement where it makes sense, and that begins at extreme zoom levels from a smartphone camera sensor.
Wei agreed and built upon that, saying, "while generative AI tools like Midjourney are now commonly used for text-to-image, image-to-image, and even video generation, we believe photography is ultimately about being present in the moment. Fully AI-generated visuals can often feel impersonal and lack emotional depth. That’s why we believe real-world capture, combined with AI-powered enhancement, offers the most meaningful results."
A lot of this hybrid AI approach plays out behind the scenes, even in functions you might not expect. "On-device AI is responsible for time-sensitive tasks such as focus tracking, exposure adjustment, real-time semantic segmentation, and initial enhancement, ensuring instant feedback with low power consumption," Wei told me.
The Magic V5 automatically captured the photo you see above. I didn't press the shutter button at all, just pointed the camera where I knew my son would jump, and I ended up with a fantastic photo.
That ensures that your data stays local when you want it to, yet can still benefit from brilliant AI-powered tricks like automatic motion capture. The photo you see above, for instance, was automatically captured by the Magic V5. I didn't press the shutter button at all, just pointed the camera where I knew my son would jump, and I ended up with a fantastic photo.
The other two photos were taken manually from a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. They turned out just fine, but you'll notice the Honor Magic V5 did a better job with both movement clarity and exposure of the subject. Google's photo has pixel-by-pixel movement artifacts, while Samsung's image is a bit on the dark side.
And, when you want that enhanced zoom detail beyond 30x, you can toggle the AI Super Zoom button that appears in the viewfinder to utilize cloud processing. "Cloud-based AI supports post-processing functions like advanced denoising, detail enhancement, and stylization, enabled via HONOR’s collaboration with Google Cloud and self-developed large vision models."
Honor's partnership with Google Cloud for its AI-driven tasks helps reduce some of the uncertainty brought about by the nebulous concept of cloud computing.
Wei added that "this approach allows users to enjoy professional-level results without compromising speed or privacy," and that "Honor is committed to protecting user privacy and has implemented a comprehensive and industry-leading information security system. As a global company, we ensure our product solutions fully comply with local laws and regulations in every market where we operate."
Honor's partnership with Google Cloud for its AI-driven tasks helps reduce some of the uncertainty brought about by the nebulous concept of cloud computing.
Of course, you still need at least decent hardware in a smartphone to achieve good results, even if AI is helping enhance the image, and that's not easy in a phone that's 4.1mm thin. You'll notice the camera bump on the back of the Magic V5 is larger than the competition, despite the phone being thinner, and that was a purposeful decision on Honor's behalf.
The Magic V5's telephoto sensor is nearly twice as large as the Galaxy Z Fold 7's, and that makes a massive difference in real-world zoom quality.
"A 64MP sensor with 1/2-inch size and f/2.5 aperture strikes the ideal balance for telephoto photography, enabling 3x optical and up to 100x digital zoom, with enhanced clarity and fidelity - especially when paired with our AI Super Zoom," Wei said.
The Magic V5's telephoto sensor is nearly twice as large as the Galaxy Z Fold 7's, and that makes a massive difference in real-world zoom quality, even at more reasonable zoom levels like 10x. One look at the gorgeous depth of field on the Magic V5's shot below compared to the extremely flat-looking shot from the Z Fold 7 and you'll start to understand why sensor size matters a lot.
So where does this take smartphone-based AI in the future? Wei says he believes that "on-device AI can empower consumers by conducting all processing directly on their smartphones or personal devices, ensuring that data remains secure and is not exposed to external threats," but that there's still plenty of room for more powerful cloud computing to take over when the user wants it.
"We believe that smartphone photography is entering the era of intent-driven imaging, where users express creative goals and the device interprets and executes them. AI will play a central role, not only in scene capture but also in pre-shot guidance, real-time correction, and intelligent editing."
We're seeing some of this play out on other phones, where AI is being used to help coach users on how to take better shots using the live scene data gathered from the smartphone's camera.
"We foresee seamless integration of generative models, volumetric capture, and adaptive aesthetics that personalize imagery based on mood or purpose, while keeping user control and authenticity at the core," Wei told me. "HONOR is investing deeply in this direction, aiming to turn smartphones into both lenses and storytellers."
If there's any one place I can get behind AI, it's when it helps a human do a better job rather than doing the job for the person. The fact that Honor seems to be pushing this avenue is encouraging to me, and it makes me feel great about using a generative approach to enhance certain imagery rather than making up for bad hardware with hallucinating AI agents.
