Honor MagicPad 3 vs iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025)
Here we compared two tablets: the 13.3-inch Honor MagicPad 3 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) that was released on July 2, 2025, against the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025), which is powered by Apple M3 (iPad) 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 MagicPad 3
- Higher display refresh rate – 165 Hz
- Comes with 2110 mAh larger battery capacity: 12450 vs 10340 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 20W)
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Delivers 22% higher peak brightness (708 against 579 nits)
- Reverse charging feature
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025)
- Fingerprint scanner
- 18% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2764K versus 2333K)
- 40% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3044 and 2176 points
- 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 | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 13.3 inches | 13 inches |
| Resolution | 2136 x 3200 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 289 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 165 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | - | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1000 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89% | 86.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.7% | 99.9% |
| PWM | Not detected | Not detected |
| Response time | 20 ms | 36 ms |
| Contrast | 612:1 | 1214:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 293.9 mm (11.57 inches) | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) |
| Width | 201.4 mm (7.93 inches) | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.8 mm (0.23 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 595 g (20.99 oz) | 616 g (21.73 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gold, Gray | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 592 cm2 (91.8 inches2) | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.59/5) |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (40th and 30th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#28th place)
iPad Ranking (#8th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 3300 MHz | 4050 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) | 8 (4 + 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 2.75 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.05 GHz: |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 750 | Apple GPU 9-core |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1152 |
| GPU clock | 903-1000 MHz | 1380 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2774 GFLOPS | ~3179.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 16535 | 45545 |
| Single-core score | 2176 | 3044 |
| Multi-core score | 6707 | 11749 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 643259 | 770486 |
| GPU | 818824 | 1024172 |
| Memory | 348314 | 312462 |
| UX | 522888 | 657090 |
| Total score | 2333285 | 2764210 |
| Samples | [298 tests] | [4 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 70% |
| Graphics test | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2695 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 39 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 52 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 38 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 28 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 10356 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 6400 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | iPadOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| ROM | MagicOS 10 | - |
| OS size | - | 23 GB |
| OS updates | - | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 12450 mAh | 10340 mAh |
| Max charge power | 66 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (50% in 70 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 2:30 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | - | 09:17 hr |
| Watching video | - | 13:08 hr |
| Gaming | - | 07:13 hr |
| Standby | - | 170 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 13 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4160 x 3120 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | - | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 13 MP 2) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 9 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | - | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) 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 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 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | Yes |
| GPS | - | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Type of SIM card | No | eSIM |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | - | No |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 8.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | - | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | July 2025 | March 2025 |
| Release date | July 2025 | March 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $799 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 66 W | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025). But if the display is more of a priority – go for the Honor MagicPad 3.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 6