Honor recently unveiled the highly-anticipated Honor Magic 7 Pro. Here’s how it compares to Apple’s current large flagship phone, the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Keep reading to discover how these two smartphones compare when it comes to their prices, screens, cameras, performance and features, and battery life.
Price
The Honor Magic 7 Pro was announced on January 15 2025. Prices for the phone start at $999/£1099 for 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. However, you can shop before January 21st to bag the phone for £899.99 with Honor’s Early Bird Benefits discount.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was released in September 2024, five months before the Honor Magic 7 Pro. The phone starts at a slightly higher $1199/£1199 for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro has a brighter display
When it comes to their displays, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a slightly larger 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. This screen has a 2868 x 1320 resolution and an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 2000 nits.
The iPhone also takes advantage of Always-On display technology and features Apple’s unique Dynamic Island feature which transforms the previously obstructive notch at the top of the screen into a place to display certain alerts and notifications.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro, on the other hand, features a slightly smaller 6.8-inch OLED screen with a lower 1280 x 2800 resolution. Like the iPhone, the Magic 7 Pro takes advantage of a 120Hz variable refresh rate but features a much higher peak brightness of 5000 nits with HDR.
The Magic 7 Pro also includes an Always-On display and features a more standard horizontal notch.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max can record 4K/120fps video
Both the Honor Magic 7 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max take advantage of advanced triple camera arrays.
For the Honor Magic 7 Pro, this consists of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera with a 122-degree FOV and a huge 200-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom for highly detailed shots.
The phone can also record 4K video at up to 60p and snap 50-megapixel selfies.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is led by a 48-megapixel main camera, followed by a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree FOV and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with support for up to 5x optical zoom, which should get you even closer to your subject than the Magic 7 Pro’s 3x zoom.
When it comes to video, the iPhone supports 4K Dolby Vision recording at up to 120fps and Log video recording, making this the more capable choice for recording video content. The phone can also capture 12-megapixel selfies using its front camera.
When it comes to comparing results, you’ll need to wait for us to get our hands on the Honor Magic 7 Pro to put the camera phone to the test in the real world.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max supports Apple Intelligence
Both the Honor Magic 7 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are powered by high-end flagship chipsets.
The Magic 7 Pro is kitted with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the iPhone includes Apple’s own A18 Pro SoC. These are set to be two of the biggest chips to beat in 2025, though you’ll have to wait for our full review of the Honor Magic 7 Pro to hear how they compare during our experience.
One of the main advantages of the A18 Pro is its support for Apple’s new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18. This includes advanced AI features like Writing Tools to summarise and rephrase text, Image Playground and Genmoji image generation and ChatGPT-integrated voice assistance for a smarter Siri.
Of course, the Magic 7 Pro takes advantage of its own share of Honor AI features. These include the Magic Portal to easily access information, AI Deepfake Detection, AI photo editing and Google Gemini voice assistance.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro supports faster charging
When it comes to battery life, the Honor Magic 7 Pro is the clear winner – at least on paper.
The Android phone packs a large-capacity 5270 mAh battery and supports faster charging than its Apple rival, including 100W Honor SuperCharge and 80W Wireless Honor SuperCharge.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, meanwhile, features a 4685 mAh battery, along with support for 30W wireless charging and 30W wireless charging with MagSafe accessories or up to 7.5W with Qi wireless chargers.
We found the battery life on the iPhone to be exceptional, however the Honor Magic 7 Pro looks set to beat it. You’ll have to wait for our full review to read how the two smartphones compare both in endurance and charging speed.
Early verdict
The Honor Magic 7 Pro and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max seem quite evenly matched on paper, with both offering their strengths and weaknesses.
We’ll be updating this guide once we’ve tested the Magic 7 Pro to reflect our final thoughts on how these two large and powerful smartphones compare.
