Another new foldable phone has entered the market, this time in the form of the Honor Magic V. And while it appears to mimic the design of Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3, it may end up improving on the best foldable phone we've reviewed.

At first glance, the Honor Magic V appears to sandwich two flagship-sized phones together, a different approach than the one Oppo offered with its recent Oppo Find N foldable. However, what the Honor phone lacks in originality, it makes up for in several areas where it could outperform the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

At 6.3 x 2.7 x 0.56 inches, the Honor Magic V is overall thinner when folded, despite being wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 3. This is good news, as it means less bulk in your pocket or purse and more screen space.

The Honor Magic V has a larger display than the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Honor's internal screen is 7.9 inches while Samsung's foldable is 7.6 inches. The external screen, on the other hand, is 6.35 inches for the Magic V and 6.2 inches for the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Magic V loses in refresh rate, offering only 90 Hz while the Fold 3's refresh rate is 120 Hz.

The Magic V also benefits from a 4,750 mAh battery compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 3's 4,400 mAh pack; with Honor's 66W SuperCharging technology, the Magic V charges faster than Samsung's flagship foldable 25W charging charges faster than a cell phone.

The Honor Magic V is powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, an upgrade over the Galaxy Fold 3's Snapdragon 888. [This is an upgrade over the Snapdragon 888 in the Galaxy Fold 3. But having extra power on tap is not a bad thing, especially when it comes to multitasking; the Magic V has 12GB of RAM and a choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage.

The trio's rear camera sensors are all 50MP, and the Magic V could beat the 12MP camera on the back of the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Honor's foldable phone eliminates the telephoto camera and has a "Spectrum Enhanced" camera. Honor has not explained what this camera does, but it may be able to capture a wider range of colors. In any case, the Magic V is the early winner in terms of megapixels.

The same goes for the selfie camera, with the Magic V having one 42 megapixel camera on the outside and one on the inside of the display. Neither camera is a below-display camera, so even if the quality of images taken with the below-display camera is inferior, the Fold 3 may have the edge when it comes to innovation.

Raw specs and how megapixels are used are another story. Samsung is getting better at computational photography, whereas Honor's phone is lagging behind. However, if the Magic V can offer decent photography capabilities at a price below the Fold 3's $1,700, it may be rather compelling.

The Honor Magic V will be available in China on January 18, starting at ¥9,999 (roughly $1,500); it is unclear if the Magic V will be available in the U.S. or U.K. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 starts at $1,799, $300 more.

Other specs of the Magic V include getting Android 12 right out of the box and Honor's Magic UI 6.0. The foldable phone comes in three color variations: titanium silver, black, and burnt orange.

Overall, the Honor Magic V could present a compelling case for other folding phone manufacturers to consider how they can improve on the design pioneered by Samsung on a global scale. That could mean more devices vying for a spot on our Best Foldable Phones list.