Honor set to launch in Australia with ultra-thin foldable

Chinese smartphone brand Honor seems set to launch in Australia, having invited media to a product event in mid-November. The manufacturer also has a local subdomain set up on its website - honor.com/au - with a number of products, but no pricing or availability. 

Honor's latest foldable phone - the Magic V5 (pictured above) - was explicitly called out in the event invite, making it a safe bet for a local launch. The book-style foldable's key selling point is its thin design, measuring in at 4.1mm when unfolded. Despite this, it has a 5,820mAh battery.

For comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 is 4.2mm at its thinnest point when unfolded, but the battery has a 4,400mAh capacity. 

Other phones listed on Honor's Australian subdomain include the Magic 7 and Magic 7 Pro, the brand's more traditional flagship devices. These are joined by the Honor X9C and Honor 400 Pro. The Honor X9C is more mid-tier, while the Honor 400 Pro sits in the "semi-premium" category in terms of specs.

Honor was originally founded as a Huawei sub-brand, but was sold off in November 2020 following the US government ban that prevented Huawei from using Google apps and services. Since Honor is no longer a sub-brand of Huawei, its phones once again have Google apps. 

If Honor is indeed launching in Australia, it will be hot on the heels of rival Xiaomi. While Xiaomi previously had distributors in Australia, the company itself set up shop locally last month. 

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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