Honor’s Magic9 Pro Max Bets on ARRI Cameras and a Bigger Battery
Honor's new flagship pairs two 200MP ARRI-tuned cameras with an 8,800mAh battery as the company readies a rollout beyond China.
Honor, the Chinese smartphone maker that was spun off from Huawei in 2020, is building its newest flagship phone around cinema-style video and battery life. The Magic9 Pro Max pairs two 200-megapixel cameras tuned with ARRI, the German maker of professional film cameras, with an 8,800mAh battery. The phone went on sale in China in late September, and Honor has said it will reach Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Southeast Asia, but it has not announced dates or prices for those markets.
A comparison published by Engadget on Saturday described the upgrade from last year’s Magic8 Pro as messier than a typical yearly refresh. Engadget said the new model still shows clearly where Honor has put its priorities: imaging, video tools and endurance. Specifications and prices were confirmed by Honor’s launch materials as reported by FoneArena and 9to5Google.
What is new
Honor has not released a phone called the Magic9 Pro. The Pro Max sits at the top of the Magic9 lineup, above the standard Magic9 and a cheaper Magic9 Super Edition. According to Engadget, it is the closest successor to the Magic8 Pro, and the changes cut both ways.
- Main camera: a 200MP sensor measuring 1/1.28 inches replaces the Magic8 Pro’s 50MP, 1/1.3-inch sensor.
- Telephoto: still 200MP, but optical zoom drops slightly, from 3.7x to 3.5x, Engadget reported.
- Battery: 8,800mAh, up from 7,200mAh on the Chinese Magic8 Pro, an increase of about 22%.
- Charging: wired charging falls from 120W to 100W, while 80W wireless charging carries over.
- Display: 6.8 inches, up from 6.71 inches, with a 1 to 120Hz refresh rate and a quoted peak brightness of 10,000 nits.
The phone runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, which Engadget said is built on a 2-nanometer process. It also uses Honor’s own H1 imaging chip to handle camera processing. It ships with MagicOS 11, Honor’s software layer built on Android 17. Engadget put the weight at 233 grams, slightly heavier than its predecessor.
The ARRI bet
The biggest selling point is Honor’s partnership with ARRI, which continues a collaboration that began with Honor’s earlier Robot Phone, 9to5Google reported. Both 200MP rear cameras carry ARRI co-branding, and the rear camera layout is styled after an ARRI cinema camera.
The phone adds tools usually found on professional cinema rigs, Engadget reported. These include recording in LogC3, a flat color profile that preserves detail for later editing, along with the ARRI Wide Gamut 3 color space, 10-bit capture and 14 preset ARRI Looks. An ARRI Cinema Mode records at up to 4K and 60 frames per second. FoneArena reported that Honor claims up to 14 stops of dynamic range.
David Bermbach, ARRI’s chief product officer, said the phone could help “introduce up-and-coming cinematographers to the ARRI brand,” according to Engadget. Honor also sells an optional Photography Master Kit with 200mm- and 500mm-equivalent teleconverter lenses and a camera grip. 9to5Google reported a separate video kit made with accessory maker SmallRig.
Price and availability
In China, the Magic9 Pro Max starts at 6,499 yuan for 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. That works out to roughly $968 to $974 depending on the exchange rate used; Engadget and FoneArena gave slightly different conversions. FoneArena listed the top configuration, with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage, at 8,499 yuan. The standard Magic9 starts at 4,999 yuan, and the Super Edition at 4,499 yuan.
Honor has said the Magic9 Pro Max will roll out in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Southeast Asia and other international markets. Engadget noted that the company has not confirmed whether overseas versions will keep the 8,800mAh battery. Battery sizes on Chinese phones often shrink abroad because of shipping and certification rules. 9to5Google said there was no reason to expect a US release.
Why it matters
Honor’s phones are largely absent from the United States. Even so, the Magic9 Pro Max shows where the high-end Android market is heading. Chinese brands are competing on large silicon-carbon batteries, a newer battery chemistry that packs more capacity into the same space, and on camera partnerships with established imaging names. The ARRI tie-up is Honor’s attempt to stand out in a crowded field. How far the phone travels depends on international pricing and specifications, which Honor has yet to announce.
