Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 is facing stiff competition this year thanks to the launch of a number of foldable phones. The former king of foldable phones will have to contend with a new rival, the Honor Magic V2.

The Honor Magic V2, the follow-up to last year's Honor Magic V and Honor Magic Vs, will go on sale in China on July 12. Samsung is expected to launch its next foldable devices, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, later that month. So not only will Samsung be competing with another book-type foldable, it will be the first to be announced.

Of course, the July 12 launch event is not an international release, but a Chinese launch of the Honor Magic V2. However, Honor Magic Vs was released internationally, and it is quite possible that V2 will be as well.

Unfortunately, it took several months for that to actually happen. This means that Honor is not likely to beat Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 to market, but even so, Honor's mere presence may be enough to draw buyers away from Samsung.

Furthermore, even if the phone is not officially introduced to the U.S. market, it will not be unavailable. And given that Honor split from Huawei several years ago, it means that people can still enjoy Google's apps and services, including the Google Play store.

Honor has not revealed any details about the Magic V2, no doubt holding them back for the July 12 launch event. However, rumors point to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, 5,000 mAh battery, 66W fast charging, and 50W wireless charging, along with a 2K foldable LTPO display.

These all sound like the specs needed to go head-to-head with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Let's hope the camera lives up to the challenge