When the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 launched, there were plenty of changes to admire in the company’s vastly upgraded device and one of the best foldable phones. But it’s arrival also changed something else — people’s perception of a rival foldable that had been claiming to be the thinnest of the two.
Earlier in July, the Honor Magic V5 launched, proclaiming that it was the world’s thinnest foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 then launched later in the month, officially measuring slightly thicker and thus allowing Honor to keep the title.
But then, users like tech leaker Ice Universe got their hands on both phones and started measuring. And they found different numbers to the published ones, numbers that seemed to prove the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is actually the thinner phone.
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With Honor trying to reassert its claim, and Samsung happily accepting that it’s accidentally made the world’s thinnest foldable phone, it’s hard to know what to believe.
So in the interest of trying to settle the matter, I’ve spoken to both Honor and Samsung, and taken my own measurements with my own samples of the two phones in question.
A measured response
As a baseline, let’s look at the official claims for the thickness of these two phones when folded. The unfolded measurements are not under dispute here, and are arguably less important anyway since you won’t be carrying a foldable around while unfolded the vast majority of the time.
Also note that these measurements revolve around specifically the Ivory White Magic V5. The other colors of the Magic V5 are thicker due to slightly different back panel designs.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Honor Magic V5 (White)
Official thickness when folded
8.9mm
8.8mm
Ice Universe’s measurements
8.79mm
8.95mm
Compare those to Ice Universe’s measurements in the same table: the Magic V5 is 0.15mm thicker according to his calipers, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is 0.11mm thinner than claimed. Obviously, something is amiss here, and Honor was quick to respond with possible explanations.
As part of its statement to me and other tech outlets, Honor noted that even mass-produced products like smartphones can have small manufacturing variances. But this isn’t a unique problem to Honor, and could even work in its favor as well as against it.
So let’s instead focus on the two other reasons why the official numbers and Ice Universe’s may not match.
An image of the Magic V5 being measured at 8.8mm, provided by Honor. (Image credit: Honor)
The first is that Honor’s official measurements come from a Magic V5 device with no screen protector. The Magic V5, like all of Honor’s phones, ships with a pre-applied plastic film on its outer screen. This courtesy puts Honor at a thickness disadvantage compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which has no pre-applied protector. It’s hard to see in IU’s images if the Magic V5 has a screen protector on or not, but I made sure to take the film off of my device before measuring.
The second issue is the precise way in which Honor took its measurement. In documentation I’ve seen, the recommended measurement method involves placing the calipers over the phone from the hinged side to cover the Honor logo, and with “appropriate thumb pressure” on the bottom jaw.
I don’t know if there’s some secret advantage gained by measuring at this point, but having a nice flat canvas for the calipers to grip is certainly helpful. What’s more confusing is how the images Honor has published of its lab testing do not show this method being used.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
So with those facts in mind, I got measuring. I’ll state up front that my calipers, while from the reputable brand iFixit, are perhaps not as accurate as more expensive models, such as the ones phone companies like Honor use for their official specs measurements.
Nonetheless, from other measurements I’ve made with these calipers, I am confident that they are at least 99% accurate, and are at the very least capable of showing a size difference between our two foldables.
In the thick of it
I measured the two phones with the method given by Honor — it’s only fair, after all. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 doesn’t have a logo on the back to help judge its midpoint, but I made the best approximation I could, given its similar height and width to the Magic V5.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Honor Magic V5
TG’s measurement of thickness when folded
8.88mm
9.3mm
My numbers are 0.08mm off the official figures for Samsung, and 0.5mm off for the Honor, making the Galaxy Z Fold 7 the thinner phone.
I don’t know what “appropriate thumb pressure” means precisely in Honor’s statement, but it’s an important detail. Putting pressure on the calipers allows you to get a smaller measurement as the object you’re measuring flexes slightly, which applies all the more with foldable phones as there are two halves of the phone, plus the hinge, that can be squeezed tighter.
Honor’s official images of its size test don’t appear to show the calipers under strain, with them only being held by one hand from the bottom of the ruler section. But given that calipers can be locked into place with the small screw on top of the display, we can’t know for certain if there was any squeezing or not pre-photo.
Annoyingly, I don’t have any method of measuring or double-checking how much force I placed on the calipers to get the following measurements. The best I can do is describe the amount of force I applied, which I would call a press firm enough to leave a clean fingerprint in a thin piece of putty, or push open a door with just one thumb.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Honor Magic V5
TG’s measurement of thickness when folded (with pressure)
8.6mm
8.78mm
Here, we finally hit Honor’s promised 8.8mm figure, with a final last-minute measurement in fact going past the promised figure (though sadly off-camera). But any celebrations that Honor may now be planning will be cut short, as doing the same on the Samsung makes it sleeker yet again, a whole 0.3mm thinner than the official specs and 0.18mm thinner than the Magic V5.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
As we discussed before, these results could be due purely to the construction of the Magic V5 unit I had, but I suspect if it’s happened to both my and Ice Universe’s devices, it’ll happen to many others.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Before putting the phones away, I contacted Samsung, both to ask for its stance on the situation and for its official measuring standards for its devices, so we might compare the two foldables’ size on its terms too. The company declined to comment.
Splitting hairs
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Despite the apparently conclusive evidence that the Magic V5 is not actually the thinnest book-style folding phone around, Honor seems to be sticking to its guns, and its official measurements. But now that I’ve seen the proof for myself that this claim is either inaccurate or comes with big caveats, I don’t know why Honor’s trying to power through like this.
A device’s thinness is an impressive and easy-to-grasp number, so I get why companies of all kinds like to talk about it in their marketing. But we are talking about the difference of about 40 micrometers – literally a couple hairs’ thickness.
There is so much more that Honor could sell the Magic V5 to people with beyond thinness. For instance, the V5’s higher-res 50MP main and ultrawide cameras, its 64MP 3x telephoto camera, its huge 5,580 mAh battery or the faster 66W wired and 50W wireless charging standards. And if we’re talking about deal breakers, the fact Honor doesn’t sell in countries like the U.S. is going to be much more of a problem than its possibly imprecise measurements.
As the global launch of the Magic V5 approaches, and we get closer to being able to fully review the phone, my anticipation isn’t diminished by seeing it’s slightly larger than the equivalent Samsung.
As long as Honor doesn’t make any other uncertain claims about the Magic V5’s capabilities, it still stands a chance of making one of the best foldable phones around, and in ways that a rival phone maker can’t just replicate or better immediately after.
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