ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus vs Xiaomi 18 Pro Max
88
out of 100
VS
94
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 Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, which is powered by the same chip 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 ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus
- Higher display refresh rate – 185 Hz
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 100W)
- 9% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4102 and 3762 points
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max
- The rear camera has a 3.2x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
- 10% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (5001K versus 4541K)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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 | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.85 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1216 x 2688 pixels | 1208 x 2624 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 431 ppi | 419 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 185 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1900 nits | 1200 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 5000 nits | 4000 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | - | 300 Hz |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i | Dragon Crystal Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.5% | 92.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
Design and build
| Height | 163 mm (6.42 inches) | 163.39 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 76 mm (2.99 inches) | 77.6 mm (3.06 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.39 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 223 g (7.87 oz) | 235 g (8.29 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Active fan | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue | White, Black, Blue, Red, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 |
| Max clock | 5010 MHz | 5010 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 3 + 3) | 8 (2 + 3 + 3) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 3.74 GHz: - 3 cores at 4.03 GHz: - 2 cores at 5.01 GHz: |
- 3 cores at 3.74 GHz: - 3 cores at 4.03 GHz: - 2 cores at 5.01 GHz: |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 2 nanometers | 2 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 850 | Adreno 850 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 1450 MHz | 1450 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~4454.4 GFLOPS | ~4454.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 33108 | 29825 |
| Single-core score | 4102 | 3762 |
| Multi-core score | 13894 | 11459 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1586980 | 1431500 |
| GPU | 1458511 | 1947800 |
| Memory | 579862 | 500900 |
| UX | 916272 | 1121034 |
| Total score | 4541625 | 5001234 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (16th and 6th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.1 | UFS 4.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 17 | Android 17 |
| ROM | Redmagic OS 12 | HyperOS 4 |
| OS updates | - | 6 years |
| Security updates | - | 6 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 8400 mAh | 8500 mAh |
| Max charge power | 120 W | 100 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (80 W) | Yes (50 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 200 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | - |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 3.2x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 1920 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 122° | 102° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 200 MP 2) Telephoto: 200 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 200 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV50E40 | Smartsens SCC90XS 960 LightHunter |
| Sensor size | 1/1.55" (≈ 0.65 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.61 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 200 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 75 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung ISOCELL HP5 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.8 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 17 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV50E40 | Omnivision OV51D |
| Sensor size | 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) | 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.61 micron | 0.61 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | No | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 21 mm |
| Sensor | - | Omnivision OV51D |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/2.88" (≈ 0.35 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.61 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
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 | Yes |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | 2.1 |
| 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 - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 120 W | Yes, 100 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera and software are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max. But if the sound is more of a priority – go for the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 12 Pro Plus.
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