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iPhone Duo vs Honor Magic V6: Which Foldable Should You Buy?

By Alex Turner • Updated 10 October 2026

Apple’s first foldable costs £1,999. The Honor Magic V6, on sale in the UK since 2 July, has a list price of £1,999.99. That is where the similarity ends: on paper the Honor is lighter, thinner, has a much bigger battery and a proper zoom lens, while the Duo brings iOS, Apple’s video pipeline and a few Apple-only touches.

iPhone Duo vs Honor Magic V6: Full Specifications

Design and weight: Honor, clearly

The Duo weighs 254g against the Magic V6’s 219g in white, so the Apple is about 16% heavier. It is also 11.3mm thick folded against 8.75mm, roughly 29% more, and 5.2mm open against 4.0mm. Apple calls the Duo its thinnest iPhone ever when open, which is true, but it is not the thinnest foldable on sale.

If you will carry it in a trouser pocket all day, that gap is the single most noticeable difference between the two. Honor’s figures are for the white model; other colours differ slightly.

Durability: level, with Honor ahead on paper

Both are rated IP68 for water and dust. The Honor adds IP69, which covers high-pressure hot-water jets, though that matters less for a phone than the dust rating. Apple adds Ceramic Shield on the front and back and a titanium frame and hinge cover; Express & Star said Honor’s hinge is stronger than before.

Neither screen is crease-free. Apple says its nano-texture finish minimises creasing; Express & Star described the Honor’s crease as barely noticeable. We have not handled either phone, so treat both as claims until independent durability tests appear.

Screens: Honor is bigger on paper

The Honor has the larger inner screen, 7.95in against 7.6in, and a 6.52in cover screen that works like a normal phone when folded. The Duo’s cover screen is 5.4in, a noticeably smaller canvas. Honor quotes much higher peak brightness (5,000 and 6,000 nits against Apple’s 3,000), but peak figures are measured differently by each brand, so don’t read too much into the gap.

Cameras: Honor has the zoom, Apple has the video

This is the clearest split. The Honor has a 64MP 3x periscope; Tech Advisor called it possibly the best 3x telephoto on any foldable. The Duo has no telephoto at all and reaches 2x by cropping its main sensor.

Honor’s weak points, per Tech Advisor, are an ultrawide that struggles at night and video that lacks Dolby Vision and 4K at 120fps. Apple offers both on the Duo. We have no independent camera tests of the Duo yet, so we can’t say which produces better photos. Express & Star noted that a top conventional flagship would still outperform the Honor’s cameras.

Battery and charging: Honor, on paper

The Magic V6’s 6,660mAh silicon-carbon battery is far larger than the 4,800mAh in a Galaxy Z Fold 8. Tech Advisor got about a day and a half from it in most testing; Express & Star said two-day battery life is within reach. Tech Advisor also measured a flat-to-nearly-70% charge in about 30 minutes on the 80W charger, which Honor sells separately.

Apple doesn’t publish the capacity of the Duo’s two cells and its claims (up to 31 hours of video on the inner screen, 44 on the outer) are its own pre-production figures. There are no independent Duo battery tests yet. Apple’s box has a USB-C cable but no charger, and its 20-minute 50% claim needs a 60W-capable adapter.

Software and ecosystem: your current phone decides

This is where the Duo makes its case. iOS 27 brings Apple’s apps, iMessage and your existing purchases, with a Split View that Tom’s Guide reports runs two apps side by side. It is new, though, and Apple Pencil support is only promised for later this year.

The Honor runs MagicOS 10 on Android and has the stronger update promise on paper, seven years of OS and security updates, whereas Apple doesn’t publish a number. Its software is the criticism that comes up most: Tech Advisor said MagicOS can be frustrating at times, and Express & Star called it cluttered, with inconsistent multitasking.

Price and value

List prices are almost identical, but the Honor’s £1,999.99 buys 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, while £1,999 gets you the Duo’s 256GB; Apple’s 512GB costs £2,199. Honor has also discounted the V6 repeatedly: a £500 coupon ran to 8 August, and T3 reported a £1,399 price on Honor’s store in late July. We have not confirmed that any offer is running now, so check the live price. Apple’s UK store page lists trade-in credit and 30-month 0% APR finance.

Whichever you choose, price the repair cover first. Apple hasn’t published AppleCare+ pricing for the Duo on its UK store page, and inner-screen repair costs on any foldable can be steep.

The verdict

On hardware, the Magic V6 is the stronger foldable at the same list price: lighter, thinner, with a bigger screen, a far larger battery and a real telephoto. It has been out since July, so there are full reviews and the price has come down before. The iPhone Duo’s case is the ecosystem and the video quality, and we haven’t found full reviews of it yet, only hands-on impressions.

So, if you’re on an iPhone and want a foldable, the Duo is the one to wait for. If you’re not, get the Honor, but only at a discounted price. Still deciding? Our best foldable phones guide also covers the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Pixel 11 Pro Fold and Motorola Razr Fold. We compare the Duo with Google’s foldable in iPhone Duo vs Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

Where to buy

Check iPhone Duo availability on Amazon UK →

Check Honor Magic V6 price on Amazon UK →

iPhone Duo pre-order guide: what to do before 16 October • iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 • iPhone Duo: UK price, release date and the catches

RRP figures are manufacturer recommended prices, correct on 10 October 2026, and retail prices change frequently, so always check the live price before buying. iPhone Duo pre-orders open 16 October and it goes on sale 23 October. We have not independently tested these devices; review findings are attributed to the publications that recorded them, and battery and charging figures for the Duo are Apple’s own claims. Sources: Apple UK (product, specifications and store pages), Honor UK, Three UK device support, Tech Advisor, Express & Star, T3, GSMArena, Box.co.uk, Tom’s Guide. We may earn a commission from links on this page.