ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
73
out of 100
VS
83
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) that was released on November 23, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A17 Pro and came out 2 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 ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
- Supports higher wattage charging (165W versus 23W)
- 80% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2647K versus 1467K)
- Has 2x more RAM: 16GB versus 8GB
- Comes with 1059 mAh larger battery capacity: 5500 vs 4441 mAh
- Fingerprint scanner
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- 15% higher pixel density (460 vs 400 PPI)
- Reverse charging feature
- 29% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2974 and 2298 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
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 | 6.8 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1116 x 2480 pixels | 1290 x 2796 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 400 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1600 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 960 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.1% | 89.8% |
| 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 | 164 mm (6.46 inches) | 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 229 g (8.08 oz) | 221 g (7.8 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Active fan | - |
| Rear material | - | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver | White, Black, Silver, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Apple A17 Pro |
| Max clock | 3300 MHz | 3780 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4 |
- 4 cores at 2.11 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.78 GHz: Everest |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 750 | 6 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 903-1000 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2774 GFLOPS | ~2147.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 28374 |
| Single-core score | 2298 | 2974 |
| Multi-core score | 7247 | 7533 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 789344 | 374357 |
| GPU | 788877 | 463612 |
| Memory | 465807 | 184670 |
| UX | 603450 | 444831 |
| Total score | 2647478 | 1467470 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [7 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 71% |
| Graphics test | - | 10 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1391 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 73% |
| Graphics test | - | 23 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 29 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 23 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 16 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 6089 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 63% |
| Graphics test | - | 21 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3655 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#135th place)
Recent User Tests
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
No benchmark results yet
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-23 (podsolnuh) | AnTuTu 11 | 1357765 |
| 📘 2026-09-11 (Zabza) | AnTuTu 11 | 1599694 |
| 📘 2026-09-10 (elio) | AnTuTu 11 | 1445771 |
| 📘 2026-07-26 (Desss) | AnTuTu 11 | 1323415 |
| 📘 2026-06-11 (Zabza) | AnTuTu 11 | 1605482 |
Memory
| RAM size | 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 4800 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| ROM | Redmagic OS 9.5 | - |
| OS size | - | 17.6 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5500 mAh | 4441 mAh |
| Max charge power | 165 W | 23 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 7 min) | Yes (46% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:16 hr | 1:49 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 12:36 hr |
| Watching video | - | 22:07 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:58 hr |
| Standby | - | 139 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#32nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | 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 | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.88 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN1 | Sony IMX803 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) | 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/1.78 - 2.8 |
| Focal length | - | 120 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX913 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KJN1 | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC02M1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.75 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 86 |
| Zoom | - | 142 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Omnivision OV16A1Q | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 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 |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 145 |
| Video | - | 156 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| 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 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| 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 | 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 | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | - | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | November 2023 | September 2023 |
| Release date | November 2023 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $945 | $1199 |
| Successor | - ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro Plus | - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| 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, 165 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 15 Pro Max is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 511