Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra vs HONOR Magic V6 · Which fold to buy
Two folds within a tenth of a millimetre of each other, and then they part ways. The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is lighter, sharper and the better video phone; the Magic V6 carries a third more battery, charges at 80 W, takes a pen and is sealed to IP68 and IP69 where Samsung stops at IP48. At the one storage tier both sell, HONOR is €99 cheaper. Prices are the official German ones.
Published · prices checked
Which one to buy
- If battery life and charging speed decide it
- HONOR Magic V6
- A 6,660 mAh silicon-carbon cell against 5,000 mAh, charged at 80 W wired and 66 W wireless against 45 W and 20 W. Nothing Samsung sells in a fold comes close, and Samsung's own spec sheet does not pretend otherwise.
- If you shoot video
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra
- 8K at 30 fps, 4K slow motion at 120 fps and the APV codec against 4K at 60 fps on the V6. Stills go the other way: the V6 has a 64 MP periscope against the Ultra's 10 MP telephoto, and 20 MP selfie cameras against 10 MP. Samsung leads on main-sensor resolution and on video, not on the camera as a whole.
- If you want a pen, or the phone gets wet and dusty
- HONOR Magic V6
- The Magic-Pen works on both of the V6's screens; the Fold8 Ultra has no S Pen support at all. And IP68 plus IP69 means immersion and high-pressure hot jets, where the Ultra's IP48 covers immersion but not fine dust.
- If you want the lighter phone with the bigger, sharper screen
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra
- 215 g against 219 to 224 g, an 8.0-inch inner screen at 422 ppi against 7.95 inches at 403 ppi, and a 6.5-inch cover screen closer to a normal phone's proportions. The V6's panels are brighter, 5,000 and 6,000 nits against 3,000; the Ultra's are sharper and anti-reflective.
The thing neither spec sheet tells you
HONOR sells the Magic V6 in Europe in exactly one configuration, 16 GB with 512 GB at €2,299.90; Samsung sells the Fold8 Ultra in three, and its own 512 GB tier costs €2,399 with 12 GB of RAM. So at the only storage tier the two share, the HONOR is €99 cheaper and carries 4 GB more memory, while Samsung's €2,199 headline price buys 256 GB, a tier HONOR does not make. Neither maker's page puts the two ladders side by side.
Thickness and weight: a tenth of a millimetre, and Samsung wins the scales
Closed, the Fold8 Ultra is 8.9 mm and the Magic V6 8.75 mm in Ivory White or 9.0 mm in the other three colours; open, they are 4.1 mm and 4.0 mm (4.1 mm outside white). That is a difference at the level of manufacturing tolerance. Weight is not: at 215 g the Ultra is lighter than every V6 (219 g in white, 224 g in the rest) and 1.7 mm narrower closed, 72.8 mm against 74.5 mm. HONOR's figures are the more remarkable given the battery it carries, and its Super Steel Hinge is SGS-rated for 500,000 folds; Samsung publishes no fold count for its Armor FlexHinge.
Battery and charging: the widest gap on the sheet
The V6's 6,660 mAh silicon-carbon cell (921 Wh/l, 25 % silicon) holds 1,660 mAh more than the Ultra's 5,000 mAh dual cell, and it charges at 80 W wired and 66 W wireless against 45 W (67 % in about 30 minutes) and 20 W. Both offer reverse wireless charging for earbuds or a watch; HONOR adds 5 W reverse wired. Samsung quotes up to 27 hours of video playback, an EU energy label class A and at least 1,200 rated charge cycles; HONOR leans on a TÜV Rheinland 24-hour battery certification. Neither ships a charger in the European box.
Sealing: IP68 and IP69 against IP48
The Magic V6 is rated IP68 and IP69: immersion in 1.5 m of fresh water for 30 minutes, plus high-pressure, high-temperature jets, and sealed against dust. The Fold8 Ultra is IP48, immersion to 1.5 m for 30 minutes but only particles above 1 mm kept out. Foldables were the least water-resistant phones on the market for years, and the hinge is the way in. The V6 is the only fold in our catalog rated both IP68 and IP69; Samsung's whole Z line, the Fold8 and Flip8 included, shares the same IP48.
Cameras: a 64 MP periscope against a 200 MP main and 8K
HONOR leads on the lens that matters at a concert: a 64 MP periscope with 3× optical zoom, f/2.5, OIS and CIPA 6.5-stop stabilisation, beside a 50 MP main (f/1.6, 1/1.56″) and a 50 MP 122° ultra-wide with autofocus. Samsung leads on the main sensor and on video: a 200 MP main (f/1.7) with HDR at full resolution and a 2× optical-quality crop, a 50 MP ultra-wide, 8K at 30 fps through the APV codec and 4K slow motion at 120 fps. Its telephoto is the weak spot, a 10 MP 3× lens, modest at this price. Selfie cameras are 20 MP on both of the V6's screens against 10 MP on both of the Ultra's, and the V6 records 4K at 60 fps at most.
Screens: brighter and pen-ready, or bigger, sharper and anti-reflective
The Ultra opens to 8.0 inches at 2504 × 2256 and 422 ppi, the largest a Galaxy Fold has had, with an anti-reflective coating; its 6.5-inch cover screen matches the 422 ppi. The V6 opens to 7.95 inches at 2352 × 2172 and 403 ppi, but peaks at 5,000 nits in HDR against 3,000, its 6.52-inch cover screen at 6,000 nits, and both panels dim with 4,320 Hz PWM. Only the HONOR takes a stylus: the Magic-Pen (sold separately) works on either V6 screen, while the Fold8 Ultra does not support the S Pen. HONOR's crease is SGS-certified as imperceptible and 44 % shallower than the V5's; Samsung publishes no crease figure and relies on its Flex Titanium plate to reduce visibility over time.
Price, memory and where you can buy one
In Europe HONOR sells a single V6 configuration, 16 GB with 512 GB, at €2,299.90 list; its German launch bundle in July brought the effective price to about €1,699.90, and France offered a €300 voucher. Samsung's ladder runs €2,199 (12 GB + 256 GB), €2,399 (512 GB) and €2,799 (16 GB + 1 TB), from $2,099.99 in the US. Both promise seven years of OS and security updates, Samsung to July 2033 and HONOR under its ALPHA PLAN for the EU; the V6 ships on MagicOS 10 over Android 16, the Ultra on One UI 9 over Android 17. HONOR does not sell phones in the US, so for an American buyer the comparison is academic.
Where they actually differ
| HONOR Magic V6 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions (folded) | 156.7 × 74.5 × 8.75 mm (White) / 9.0 mm | Height158.4 mmWidth72.8 mmThickness8.9 mm |
| Dimensions (unfolded) | 156.7 × 145.6 × 4.0 mm (White) / 4.1 mm | Height158.4 mmWidth143.2 mmThickness4.1 mm |
| Weight | 219 g (White) / 224 g | 215 g |
| Hinge | SGSHONOR Super Steel Hinge, 2800 MPa, 500 000× | Armor FlexHinge · Flex Titanium |
| Ingress protection | IP68 + IP69 | IP48 |
| Main display | 7.95″ LTPO OLED, 1–120 Hz | 8.0″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1–120 Hz · anti-reflective coating |
| Main resolution | 403 ppi2352 × 2172 | 2504 × 2256 (QXGA+), 422 ppi |
| Cover display | 6.52″ LTPO OLED, 1–120 Hz | 6.5″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1–120 Hz |
| Cover resolution | 406 ppi2420 × 1080 | 2520 × 1080 (FHD+), 422 ppi |
| Peak brightness | main5000 nitscover, HDR peak6000 nits | peak3000 nits |
| Stylus | HONOR Magic-Pen✓ | – |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5process node3 nm | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxyprocess node3 nm |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5X | 256 GB / 512 GB12 GB1 TB16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB / 1 TB UFS 4.1 | 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB |
| Operating system | MagicOS 10 · Android 16 | Android 17 · One UI 9 |
| Software support | EU7 × OS + security | to Jul 20337 × OS + security |
| Main camera | 50 MP, f/1.6, 1/1.56″, OIS | 200 MP, f/1.7, Quad Pixel AF, OIS · 2× optical-quality |
| Telephoto | 64 MP periscope, 3× optical, f/2.5, OIS | 10 MP, f/2.4, OIS · 3× optical · 30× digital |
| Ultra-wide | 50 MP, f/2.2, 122°, AF | 50 MP, f/1.9, Quad Pixel AF, 120° |
| Cover camera | 20 MP, f/2.2 | 10 MP, f/2.2 |
| Inner camera | 20 MP, f/2.2 | 10 MP, f/2.2, 100° |
| Video | rear4K@60front4K@30 | 8K@30 · 4K slow-mo 120 fps · APV codec |
| Battery | 6660 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Battery technology | Si/C (silicon-carbon), 921 Wh/l | EU energy label A · ≥ 1200 cycles |
| Wired charging | 80 W SuperCharge | 67 % in 30 min45 W dual-path |
| Wireless charging | 66 W Wireless SuperCharge | 20 W |
| Reverse charging | Reverse wireless · 5 W reverse wired | Wireless PowerShare |
| SIM | 2× nano-SIM / nano-SIM + eSIM / 2× eSIM | nano-SIM + eSIM / 2× eSIM |
| EU price | 16 GB + 512 GB€2,299.90 | 256 GB€2,199512 GB€2,3991 TB€2,799 |
| US price | – | 256 GBfrom $2,099.99 |
Sources
- HONOR Magic V6 – official global specifications
- HONOR – official global launch press release
- HONOR – 7 years of Android OS and security updates for the Magic series
- Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra – official specifications (Samsung UK)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Fold8 and Flip8 – official announcement with pricing (Samsung Newsroom)