Honor Magic 8 Pro Air vs Apple iPhone Air
87
out of 100
VS
84
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.31-inch Honor Magic 8 Pro Air (with MediaTek Dimensity 9500) that was released on January 19, 2026, against the Apple iPhone Air, which is powered by Apple A19 Pro and came out 4 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
- The rear camera has a 3.2x optical zoom
- Comes with 2351 mAh larger battery capacity: 5500 vs 3149 mAh
- 72% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (4430K versus 2568K)
- Supports higher wattage charging (80W versus 30W)
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Stereo speakers
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone Air
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- 20% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4044 and 3366 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.31 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1216 x 2640 pixels | 1260 x 2736 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 461 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1800 nits | 3000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 6000 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Ceramic Shield 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 90.4% | 88.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 99.8% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 150.5 mm (5.93 inches) | 156.2 mm (6.15 inches) |
| Width | 71.9 mm (2.83 inches) | 74.7 mm (2.94 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) | 5.6 mm (0.22 inches) |
| Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | 165 g (5.82 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | - | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gold, Orange | White, Black, Gold, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.85/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Very good (B) · 180 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9500 | Apple A19 Pro |
| Max clock | 4210 MHz | 4260 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.7 GHz: C1-Pro - 3 cores at 3.5 GHz: C1-Premium - 1 core at 4.21 GHz: C1-Ultra |
- 4 cores at 2.6 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.26 GHz: |
| L3 cache | 16 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | MediaTek NPU 990 | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G1 Ultra MP12 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1716 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~5271.5 GFLOPS | ~2488.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 24660 | 37743 |
| Single-core score | 3366 | 4044 |
| Multi-core score | 10603 | 11101 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1302546 | 1060952 |
| GPU | 1820346 | 645582 |
| Memory | 457631 | 312956 |
| UX | 849732 | 549219 |
| Total score | 4430255 | 2568709 |
| Samples | [2 tests] | Less than 3 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#6th place)
Recent User Tests
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-31 (Miklos) | AnTuTu | 3617298 |
| 📘 2026-03-02 (gaerly) | AnTuTu | 4430255 |
Apple iPhone Air
No benchmark results yet
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | - | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| ROM | MagicOS 10 | - |
| OS size | - | 27 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5500 mAh | 3149 mAh |
| Max charge power | 80 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (50 W) | Yes (20 W) |
| Reverse charging | - | Yes |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 1:33 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | - | 07:48 hr |
| Watching video | - | 17:33 hr |
| Gaming | - | 05:28 hr |
| Standby | - | 96 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3.2x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 112° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 64 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX904 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.2 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 64 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.6 | - |
| Focal length | 74 mm | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 16 mm | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 165 |
| Zoom | - | 109 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone Air from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 50 megapixels | 18 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 4896 x 3672 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 21 mm | 20 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX914 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.93" (≈ 0.34 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.6 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2026 | September 2025 |
| Release date | January 2026 | September 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | - | $999 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 80 W | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the gaming, battery life, and design are more important to you, then choose the Honor Magic 8 Pro Air. But if the software and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone Air.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 148