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The HONOR Magic6 Pro is the company’s latest and greatest smartphone. It launched at this year’s MWC 2024, and in this article, we’ll pit it against the very best of Apple. This is a comparison between the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro. Both of these are very large smartphones and very powerful ones at the same time. They are also quite a bit different, in many ways.
Their designs are quite a bit different, to start things off with, and those differences do spread to specs and other sections. Speaking of which, we’ll first list their specifications, and will then compare them across a number of other categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Let’s get to it.
Specs
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits)
6.8-inch LTPO OLED display (curved, 120Hz LTPO, HDR, 5,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
2796 x 1290
2800 x 1280
– SoC:
Apple A17 Pro
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
8GB
12GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (wide, f/1.4-f/2.0 aperture, OIS, PDAF, Laser AF, 23mm lens), 50MP (ultrawide, f/2.0 aperture, 122-degree FoV, 13mm lens), 180MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.6 aperture, 2.5x optical zoom, OIS, PDAF)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth
50MP (f/2.0 aperture, 22mm lens), ToF 3D camera
– Battery:
4,422mAh
5,600mAh
– Charging:
20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe & Qi2), 7.5W wireless (Qi), reverse wired charging (charger not included)
80W wired, 66W wireless, reverse wireless, reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm
162.5 x 75.8 x 8.9mm
– Weight:
221 grams
225/229 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
3D facial scanning
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) & 3D facial scanning
– OS:
iOS 17
Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0
– Price:
$1,199
€1,299+
– Buy:
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (Apple)
HONOR Magic6 Pro (HONOR)
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Design
Both of these phones do use metal for their frames, but they use different materials. The iPhone 15 Pro Max opted for titanium, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro uses aluminum. Both phones have glass panels on the back, but the HONOR Magic6 Pro also comes in a vegan leather (silicone polymer) variant. That model is considerably more grippy than the one with glass on the back. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is very slippery in general.
Having said that, both smartphones have very thin bezels around the display, and uniform ones at the same time. The thing is, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a flat display, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro has a curved one. You will also spot a pill-shaped cutout on both of those displays, but the one on the iPhone 15 Pro Max is noticeably larger. Both devices pack in tech for 3D facial scanning in there, in addition to a front-facing camera.
Both phones have flat sides, but they’re still different. The ones on the iPhone 15 Pro Max do curve towards the sides, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro sides come with chamfered edges. The iPhone 15 Pro Max backplate is flat, while the one on the HONOR Magic6 Pro is curved. Their camera islands on the back are also quite different. Both have three cameras which sit in a triangle shape, but they look very different. Their placement is also quite different, as you can see. The ones on the iPhone 15 Pro Max are in the top-left corner, while the HONOR Magic6 Pro’s are centered.
The HONOR Magic6 Pro is taller, narrower, and slightly thicker than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. HONOR’s smartphone is also ever so slightly heavier, but the difference is under 10 grams, and that includes both HONOR Magic6 Pro variants. Both smartphones offer an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Both are more pleasant to hold and use than their predecessor, but the easiest of them to navigate is the vegan leather variant of the HONOR Magic6 Pro. That backplate is soft, and it does add grip to the experience, which is much needed.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Display
The iPhone 15 Pro Max features a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED panel. That display is flat, and it has an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. Dolby Vision is supported here, while this display also has HDR10 support. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display goes up to 2,000 nits when it comes to brightness, and it has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The Ceramic Shield glass protects this panel from scratches and drops.
The HONOR Magic6 Pro, on the flip side, includes a 6.8-inch 2800 x 1280 LTPO OLED display. This panel is flat, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It also has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and HDR content is supported here. The theoretical max brightness of this panel is 5,000 nits. The display aspect ratio is 19.5:9, and the HONOR Magic6 Pro display is protected by Jurhino glass.
That being said, both of these smartphones have fantastic displays. They are not only plenty sharp and very vivid, but they also have great viewing angles. The touch response on both displays is very good. If PWM dimming plays a part for you, the HONOR Magic6 Pro is much better in that regard. The bottom line is, both of these displays are fantastic, just keep the PWM dimming difference in mind when making your decision, everything else is good enough on both.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Performance
Apple’s flagship comes with the Apple A17 Pro processor. That is Apple’s 3nm chip. The phone also packs in 8GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. The HONOR Magic6 Pro, on the flip side, is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, Qualcomm’s most powerful chip. That is a 4nm chip, by the way. The global variant of the phone comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and it utilizes UFS 4.0 flash storage.
These two devices run different operating systems, iOS and Android, respectively. Still, HONOR’s MagicOS 8.0 does include a lot of iOS aspects to it, it’s kind of a blend between Android and iOS. That being said, both devices offer outstanding performance. Both have great animations and are very fluid in day-to-day tasks. Lag was not a part of the experience on either phone for us.
They both did a great job when it came to day-to-day tasks, such as browsing, messaging, opening apps, multitasking, taking pictures, and so on. None of that was any problem. Even when it comes to gaming, both phones are up to the task. They can run any title from their respective stores on high details. They do get quite warm after longer gaming sessions, but the performance does not get affected by that, nor do they get too warm.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Battery
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 4,441mAh battery on the inside. The HONOR Magic6 Pro, on the other hand, includes a 5,600mAh unit. Apple’s iPhones usually have smaller battery packs compared to their Android counterparts, as iOS handles battery differently. In any case, both of these battery packs are more than enough for these two smartphones. Both of them offer great battery life.
We’ve been able to cross the 8-hour screen-on-time mark on both of these smartphones. Even the 9-hour mark seemed reachable on both of them at times, it all depends on what you use them for. Do note that gaming was not a part of the ordeal on days that we reached such battery life highs, though. Also, your mileage may vary, of course. You’ll not only use your phone differently, but have different apps installed, and have different signal strengths too. If you’re moving a lot during the day, and enter lower signal areas, that will have an impact too.
When it comes to charging, the HONOR Magic6 Pro completely obliterates the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The HONOR Magic6 Pro supports 80W wired, 66W wireless, reverse wireless, and 5W reverse wired charging. The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers support for 20W wired, 15W Qi2 and MagSafe wireless charging, 7.5W Qi wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. Do note that neither of the two devices comes with a charger in the box, though.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs HONOR Magic6 Pro: Cameras
Apple’s flagship has a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The HONOR Magic6 Pro, on the flip side, includes a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (122-degree FoV), and a 180-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (2.5x optical zoom), 100x digital zoom).
Both of these smartphones are excellent performers but do offer noticeably different results. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is trying to keep things closer to real life, while the Magic6 Pro does tend to process images to… well, pop. In some instances, we preferred results from the former, in others, from the latter. Their main cameras are outstanding, basically. We did, however, tend to prefer HDR results from the Magic6 Pro more often than not, but that was also not the rule.
Ultrawide cameras did a great job of keeping the same color profile as the main ones, and the same goes for periscope telephoto shooters. I’d say that the HONOR Magic6 Pro’s periscope telephoto camera is more versatile, and covers the 2.5x-10x range better, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max does a better job if we only look at the 5x-10x range.
Low light performance is great on both devices. The iPhone 15 Pro Max does prefer to keep images slightly darker, and thus more realistic, but both phones do a great job of balancing those photos out. Even their secondary cameras are not bad in low light, not at all. We preferred the results from the HONOR Magic6 Pro’s periscope telephoto unit, and from the iPhone’s ultrawide camera in such conditions.
Audio
Both of these phones do include stereo speakers. The ones on the the iPhone 15 Pro Max sit at the bottom and under the earpiece. The ones on the HONOR Magic6 Pro are placed at the bottom, and at the top. Both sets of speakers are loud enough, and similar in that regard. They’re also well-balanced.
You will not find an audio jack on either of the two phones. They both include Type-C ports at the bottom, so you can use those to connect your headphones. Alternatively, both smartphones do support Bluetooth 5.3.