Home Phone comparison ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max - Which is better?

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

80 out 100
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
VS
93 out 100
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus Manufactured in November, 2023, with display 6.8 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max, Manufactured in September, 2026 with chipsetApple A20 Pro. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
  • Lighter design: 229g vs 249g
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 5567mAh vs 5500mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.3
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 16/256 GB
- 16/512 GB
- 24/1024 GB		 - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB
- 12/2048 GB

Review

Key Specs ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
vs
iPhone 18 Pro Max

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.8 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1116x2480 pixels 1320x2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 400 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate n/a Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1600 nits 3000 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 960 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.1 % 91.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 164 mm (6.46 in) 163.4 mm (6.43 in)
Width 76.4 mm (3.01 in) 78 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 8.75 mm (0.34 in)
Weight 229 g (8.08 oz) 249 g (8.78 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Cooling system Active fan Vapor chamber
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Silver		 - Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Burgundy
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
89.1 %
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
91.6 %

Performance

Testing ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Apple A20 Pro
Max Frequency 3300 MHz 4930 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 2/2.27 (Cortex-A520)
- 2/2.96 (Cortex-A720)
- 3/3.15 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.3 (Cortex-X4)		 4/2.64 ()
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 2 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 750 n/a
GPU Cores 1536 n/a
GPU Frequency 903-1000 MHz n/a
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
2298
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
4725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
7247
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
12575
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)22984725
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)724712575
Sources: Geekbench v6 [ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus], [Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus
2290773
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
2935466
CPU516397882877
GPU9044921051925
Memory457734262172
UX412150738492
NanoReview Score22907732935466

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 16 GB
- 24 GB		 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz 4800 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 iOS 27
UI Skin Redmagic OS 9.5 n/a

Battery

Volume 5500 mAh 5567 mAh
Max Charging Power 165 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 7 min) Yes (50% in 15 min)
Full Charge Time 0:16 h n/a

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 8160x6120 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 4x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens n/a 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Macro: 2 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Telephoto: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Depth
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.88f/1.5 - 4.0
Focal lengthn/a24 mm
SensorSamsung GN1n/a
Sensor size1/1.31n/a
Pixel size1 μmn/a
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a48 MP
Aperturen/af/2.8
Focal lengthn/a100 mm
Sensor sizen/a1/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN1n/a
Sensor size1/2.761/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size0.64 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 18 MP
Photo resolution 4608x3456 pixels 4896x3672 pixels
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.9
Focal length n/a 20 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV16A1Q CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.06 n/a
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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 5.3 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 DP 1.2 Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*2n/a
SIM TypeNanoeSIM
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G Bandsn/aGSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G Bandsn/aUMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*n/aLTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B66/B71)
LTE category20n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack Yes No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced November, 2023 yr September, 2026 yr
Release Date November, 2023 yr September, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 945 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included Yes 165 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max the clear winner in this comparison.

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