Honor Magic 9 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
94
out of 100
VS
96
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Honor Magic 9 Pro Max (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6) that was released on September 28, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A20 Pro and came out 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max
- Comes with 3233 mAh larger battery capacity: 8800 vs 5567 mAh
- 58% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (5524K versus 3504K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.3)
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- Supports higher wattage charging (100W versus 60W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 8 wireless networks
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- 32% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4725 and 3590 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.
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1320 x 2868 pixels | 1320 x 2868 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 464 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 2000 nits | 3000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 10000 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | NanoCrystal Shield | Ceramic Shield 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.2% | 91.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 77 mm (3.03 inches) | 78 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.75 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 233 g (8.22 oz) | 249 g (8.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Green | Black, Silver, Blue, Burgundy |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Apple A20 Pro |
| Max clock | 5010 MHz | 4930 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 3 + 3) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 3.74 GHz: - 3 cores at 4.03 GHz: - 2 cores at 5.01 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 2.64 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.93 GHz: |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 2 nanometers | 2 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 850 | 7 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 1450 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~4454.4 GFLOPS | ~2903 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 31269 | 55104 |
| Single-core score | 3590 | 4725 |
| Multi-core score | 9929 | 12575 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1452764 | 964766 |
| GPU | 2081549 | 1393271 |
| Memory | 736389 | 400483 |
| UX | 1253485 | 745645 |
| Total score | 5524187 | 3504165 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#1st place)
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | - | 4800 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 3 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 17 | iOS 27 |
| ROM | MagicOS 11 | - |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 8800 mAh | 5567 mAh |
| Max charge power | 100 W | 60 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (80 W) | Yes (25 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (81% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 0:55 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 14:13 hr |
| Watching video | - | 22:52 hr |
| Gaming | - | 08:36 hr |
| Standby | - | 146 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#20th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 200 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3.5x | Optical, 4x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 122° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 200 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 48 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 200 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.5 - 4.0 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor size | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.2 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 200 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.6 | f/2.8 |
| Focal length | 85 mm | 100 mm |
| Sensor size | 1/1.4" (≈ 0.71 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.56 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 12 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor size | 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.61 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 55 megapixels | 18 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4896 x 3672 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 21 mm | 20 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| 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) | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 8 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be/bn) | 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 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | Yes |
| 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 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2026 | September 2026 |
| Release date | October 2026 | September 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $970 | $1299 |
| 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, 100 W | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the software and sound are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max. But if the battery life and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 11