ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
88
out of 100
VS
96
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.85-inch ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6) that was released on October 15, 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.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus
- Comes with 2833 mAh larger battery capacity: 8400 vs 5567 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 185 Hz
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 60W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (4541K versus 3504K)
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Weighs 26 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
- 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4725 and 4102 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 | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.85 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1216 x 2688 pixels | 1320 x 2868 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 431 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 185 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1900 nits | 3000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 5000 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i | Ceramic Shield 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.5% | 91.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 inches) | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 76 mm (2.99 inches) | 78 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.75 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 223 g (7.87 oz) | 249 g (8.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Active fan | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue | 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) | 33108 | 55104 |
| Single-core score | 4102 | 4725 |
| Multi-core score | 13894 | 12575 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1586980 | 964766 |
| GPU | 1458511 | 1393271 |
| Memory | 579862 | 400483 |
| UX | 916272 | 745645 |
| Total score | 4541625 | 3504165 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#16th place)
Recent User Tests
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus
No benchmark results yet
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-04 (zsc) | Geekbench 7 CPU | 4047 / 11701 |
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 | Redmagic OS 12 | - |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 8400 mAh | 5567 mAh |
| Max charge power | 120 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 | 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 | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 4x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | 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: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 48 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.5 - 4.0 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV50E40 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/1.55" (≈ 0.65 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 48 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.8 |
| Focal length | - | 100 mm |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV50E40 | - |
| 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 |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | No | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 18 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 4896 x 3672 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | - | 20 mm |
| Sensor | - | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) 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 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | 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* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2026 | September 2026 |
| Release date | October 2026 | September 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $970 | $1299 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 120 W | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 4
