Yesterday Honor unveiled its next-gen foldable, the Magic V2. It is a horizontal foldable and the first of its kind to measure under 10mm thick when closed. Honor believes that this marks a turning point and that soon bar phones will start to decline in popularity in favor of foldables like the V2, at least in the premium segment. However, despite having three foldables under its belt now, Honor still doesn’t have a flip phone.
The company is actively considering the form factor, but it doesn’t want to launch an also-ran – it wants a flip foldable that stands out in the market, similar to the Magic V2.
A close-up of the Honor Magic V2 hinge
That’s all the info we’re getting for now, though we can imagine that the advances made on the V2 hinge design can also be translated to flip phones as well. The Honor engineers created a gearless unibody hinge mechanism with a 3D-printed titanium alloy cover, which made the hinge both stronger and lighter.
On the topic of the hinge’s longevity, Honor has done its internal testing but thinks that letting the media and consumers at large experience the durability of the hinge for themselves will be far more effective than running ads.
There is a related form factor, rollable phones. When we asked about it, Honor made an interesting point – we’ve seen a couple of manufacturers demo prototypes, but they probably have no intention of making a retail device.
The reasoning is that companies keep the products they plan to launch a secret and thus they will be a lot less keen on showing them off before they are ready.
