Honor’s New Folding Phone Doubles as a Purse. Sort Of

Phone-makers have long attempted to appeal to the stylish set by churning out innovative phone designs complete with unique colors and funky cases. But Honor has a different take.

Enter the Honor V Purse, a concept folding phone that doubles as a purse. Sort of. You can’t actually put anything inside it, the way you can with a real purse. It’s essentially a phone that’s designed to be worn like a handbag. But it also throws customisable wallpaper and detachable straps (so you can wear it over your shoulder or carry it) into the mix. Honor is hoping it will “herald the beginning of electronic devices being seen as an entirely new category of fashionable consumer goods.”

Here’s where the V Purse gets more fashionable. It lets you swap out the always-on-display wallpaper on both sides of the phone to match your outfit of the day. You can add chain-link straps and pearl handles, among other designs that attach to the phone. Some of those wallpapers are interactive, such as the furry one Honor showed off that responds to your touch by moving across the screen.

There’s also another bracelet wallpaper with charms that are actually interactive elements. For example, if you touch the camera charm it will serve up the camera app, while the music note charm will direct you to the default music player. I have to give it up to the team at Honor for their creativity. These are definitely fun features, but I worry it could also drain your battery faster than you can say “phygital” since it has an always-on display, which you’d presumably leave on for most of the day to show off the wallpapers.