Honor V Purse Concept: Would you pay for a smartphone purse?

Trade shows are where companies usually showcase the next-generation smartphone or new concepts that they are thinking of bringing to market. During the recent IFA 2023 in Berlin, Honor was on centre stage where they unveiled a new smartphone concept to the world – the Honor V Purse.

Quoting Honor:

“The HONOR V Purse seamlessly transforms the foldable smartphone into the ultimate phy-gital fashion statement, thanks to a series of customizable always-on displays (AODs) that mimic a handbag design, including design elements such as chains, feathers and tassels that react and sway with the smartphone as it moves.”

Not enough to copy the looks of a high-end purse, Honor actually created a selection of interchangeable chains that clips to the hinge to truly turn the Honor V Purse into, well, a purse. With the chains, users can sling the phone over the shoulder like an ordinary purse or handbag and making it into a fashion statement.

While the phone may look fancy, it is made sustainably. Honor said that the straps are made from vegan leather which is sustainably sourced. We can assume that many other components in the Honor V Purse are also sustainably obtained.

It has to be mentioned that the Honor V Purse looks strikingly familiar – it shares similar design ques as the Huawei Mate Xs 2, with its outward-folding screen. Honor did not share any specifications of the Honor V Purse as it is still a concept phone.

As a testament to Honor’s open-collaboration brand spirit, they have partnered with top designers including the creative director from BURBERRY menswear Bram Van Diepen, contemporary artist Yunuene Esparza, professor of the China Academy of Art Yuan Youmin and crossover artist Xiao Hui Wang, to design a series of custom Always On Displays (AODs) for the device. The AODs will be customizable and should easily match any outfit of the day.

Honor did not say when the V Purse will be available for sale, or if it is even going into production. They are however inviting people from around the world to share their designs for the AODs, as well as opening up the API interface to allow designers to use the built-in sensors like gyroscopes, touch or ambient light sensor with their AOD designs.

I don’t know if I would pay for the Honor V Purse – the outward-folding screen could easily pick up scratches and smudges every time you hold it in the hands. Plus, if this is a rehash of the Huawei Mate Xs 2, the specs may just leave it dead on arrival, unless Honor will update it with the latest chipset.

That is, if this phone makes it into production.