Home Phone comparison ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro and Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max - Which is better?

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

84 out 100
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
VS
n/a out 100
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro Manufactured in July, 2024, with display 6.8 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, Manufactured in September, 2025 with chipsetApple A19 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 9S Pro
  • Higher battery capacity: 6500mAh vs 4729mAh
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 458ppi
  • Lighter design: 221g vs 229g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro and Apple iPhone 17 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 9S Pro
vs
iPhone 17 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 458 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1600 nits n/a
HDR support Yes HDR10 Yes Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 960 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.1 % 92.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
1058 nits
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
n/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 164 mm (6.46 in) 163 mm (6.42 in)
Width 76.4 mm (3.01 in) 77.4 mm (3.05 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 8.2 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 229 g (8.08 oz) 221 g (7.8 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Cooling system Active fan n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Silver		 - White
- Black
- Silver
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
89.1 %
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
92.6 %

Performance

Testing ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro and Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Apple A19 Pro
Max Frequency 3400 MHz 4300 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) n/a
Architecture - 2/2.27 (Cortex-A520)
- 2/2.96 (Cortex-A720)
- 3/3.15 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.3 (Cortex-X4)		 n/a
Process TSMC n/a
Transistor Size 4 nm n/a
Neural Processor Hexagon n/a
Graphics Adreno 750 n/a
GPU Cores 1536 n/a
GPU Frequency 1000 MHz n/a
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
2311
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
3780
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
7337
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
10772
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)23113780
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)733710772
Geekbench Compute (GPU)16416n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
2087925
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
2112459
CPU456515510033
GPU962086791934
Memory338175367847
UX331149442645
NanoReview Score20879252112459

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 12 GB
- 16 GB		 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz n/a
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 iOS 26
UI Skin Redmagic OS 9.5 n/a

Battery

Volume 6500 mAh 4729 mAh
Max Charging Power 80 W 30 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes
Fast Charging Yes (85% in 30 min) Yes
Full Charge Time 0:41 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro
28:42
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
n/a
Web Browsing10:09 hn/a
Video Playback20:20 hn/a
Games08:04 hn/a
Standby Mode132 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 8160x6120 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 5x
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
Depth: 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/1.6
SensorSamsung GN5n/a
Sensor size1/1.571/1.28
Pixel size1 μm1.22 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a48 MP
Aperturen/af/2.8
Focal lengthn/a120 mm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN1n/a
Sensor size1/2.76n/a
Pixel size0.64 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 24 MP
Photo resolution 4608x3456 pixels n/a
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.9
Sensor Omnivision OV16A1Q n/a
Sensor size 1/2.8 n/a
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1.12 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 5.4
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 Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
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 July, 2024 yr September, 2025 yr
Release Date July, 2024 yr September, 2025 yr
Launch Price ($) 649 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1199
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 80 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9S Pro the clear winner in this comparison.

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