As a tech obsessed tragic, a large part of the time I'm not writing articles about gadgets, I spend reading articles about gadgets.
So it's always a bit frustrating when I see something cool being launched somewhere else in the world if it doesn't end up being sold here.
I get it. With a population of fewer than 6 million, the whole of New Zealand is a smaller market than most major cities.
And we're far.
Still, if we don't have access to more than one or two brands of a certain product, we can easily be held hostage, price-wise.
So I was surprised, fascinated and excited to see HONOR set up shop here a couple of weeks ago.
At the Auckland launch event, HONOR confirmed two phones, a tablet, a smartwatch and earbuds would all be hitting kiwi shelves in plenty of time for Christmas, but of course, it was the Magic V5 that really caught my attention.
In fact, whether it's Black, Ivory White or Dawn Gold - like my review unit - it's pretty safe to assume you'll get most people's attention when you pull the Magic V5 out of your pocket, firstly because at just 8.8mm, it's the world's slimmest folding phone.
That's not including its significant, octagonal camera module on the light-catching back panel of course - but even with that taken into account, the most striking thing about this full-sized foldable is how light and thin it feels - perhaps even more so than some other non-folding flagships.
Thin, light but in no way flimsy. Quite the opposite. HONOR's Mortise and Tenon Dampening Hinge feels as solid as any other I've tried - if not more so. In fact, it's rated to last for at least half a million folds.
I don't think I'm rated for that many folds.
I certainly shouldn't be trusted to handle a device like this because I've already dropped it onto a hard floor at least once already. Luckily, the Magic V5 is tough enough to take that kind of mistreatment.
HONOR has really focussed on strengthening the area around the hinge and it shows. The 7.95-inch folding inner display is actually reinforced with carbon fibre, making it around 40 times more drop-proof than standard glass.
This philosophy of durability extends to the 6.43-inch external screen. HONOR's "Anti-Scratch NanoCrystal Shield" purports to be scratch resistant, drop resistant and just plain wear resistant. The Magic V5 has both IP58 and IP59 water and dust resistance ratings too - making it splash-proof and the first foldable I've reviewed that I've felt comfortable jamming in my pocket when I'm out in the garden getting hot, dirty and sweaty.
It even comes with its own case in the box - and not just a token, cheapo one either. Its ombré effect looks really classy and the shiny camera surround isn't just for show - it folds out to serve as a kickstand for either folded or unfolded viewing.
But none of that matters without the performance to back it up.
Where should we start? How about everyone's most basic phone complaint; battery life? The Magic V5 has a 5820mAh lithium polymer battery, which is large, and in tandem with the market-leading Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile CPU, runs the phone more efficiently (and cooler) than many other high-performance handsets.
Admittedly, the MagicOS 9.0.1 U.I. (with Android 15 underneath) is particularly aggressive when it comes to battery "optimisation". As an interface, MagicOS is pretty similar to most other Android-based systems, although it did take me a little while to find the exact setting that would keep my home security apps running in the background so I would receive timely notifications from my cameras and video doorbell.
All that aside, by the time I put the Magic V5 on to charge at night, I'm seldom below 50% - even on work days when I get up at 2:50AM.
This phone will accept fast wired charging at up to 66W and incredibly, with the right charger, you can juice up wirelessly at 50W. Compare that to other flagships out there.
Like every other phone, HONOR serves up its fair share of AI tools - and like every Android phone, it's hard to tell where the native AI stops and Google's Gemini takes over. Rest assured though, tasks like photo and video editing are easy and you can quickly touch up your shots to make them postable - something that's a lot more user-friendly on the phablet-sized internal display.
There are some more niche little AI tricks too - the Magic V5 can alert you if you're being deep-faked on a video chat and even has a method to help prevent motion sickness if you're using your phone in a moving vehicle.
For such a premium device, it's nice to see it endowed with a genuine flagship camera setup - which hasn't always been the case with foldables in the past. Referring to "Front" and "Rear" cameras doesn't make much sense on a device like this - after all, you can take selfies with the main camera and that external display can even play eye-catching cartoons to get kids laughing in the right direction.
Instead, I'm going to call the little punch-hole selfie cameras (one on the edge of each screen) "selfie-cams" and the big kahuna in the gold octagon "the primary shooter". The selfie-cams are the same - which makes sense - 20MP wide lenses, capable of 4K video and can be used for face unlock. Which is the main thing I use them for because as I just said, why wouldn't you just use the awesome power of the primary shooter for selfies?
A 50MP wide lens is teamed with a 50MP ultra wide and - wait for it - a 64MP telephoto lens. That's a lot of zoom power - 3x optical and 100x digital - and this is where the AI really starts to pay off; even those 100x long-shots will look nice and clear once our robot slave has cleaned them up for us.
Nighttime photography is fabulous, image stabilisation makes shooting action videos a breeze - even the document scanner works fast and accurately.
It's simply a great phone. I think, because it's just so usable.
Swapping from external to internal screens and back again is smooth and seamless - as it should be. You can share files, photos and video to other devices easily - even to Macs and iPhones - as you should be able to. Little things like fingerprint-free surfaces, front and back, make holding the phone... well... nice. The Magic V5 even knows if there's any large bit of grit or debris caught inside when you close it and will notify you that you're risking damage to the screen if you don't clear it off.
Sadly, although it charges wirelessly, it's not magnetic, so it can't snap into place on a MagSafe charger. However, because of the position of the camera module on the back panel, I've found it sits quite securely on my chargers anyway - so even that works out.
What's more, it's HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper than the competing handset with the same storage here in New Zealand - and the Magic V5 has more RAM.
Yes, I'm excited about this phone. I'm just excited HONOR decided to honour us with its presence. And I can't wait to share more thoughts on the HONOR Choice earbuds and HONOR Watch 4 in the weeks to come. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
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