ARRI cinema cameras and a wild 11,000 mAh battery: Honor unveils its flagship Magic 9 lineup

Honor has officially unveiled its flagship Magic 9 smartphone series in China. This year the company ditched the template approach of releasing identical devices in different sizes, splitting the lineup into three phones with completely different philosophies. The Pro Max targets professional mobile video shooting, the base model offers a rare take on a powerful compact, and the experimental Super Edition sets battery life records.

The star of the show was the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max. The phone features a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display (1–120Hz) and the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, built on an advanced 2-nanometer process. A 8,800 mAh battery handles battery life, supporting 100W wired and 80W wireless charging.

The main focus, however, is on the optics. As 9to5Google reports, Honor has deepened its partnership with legendary cinema camera maker ARRI. The rear panel houses two 200-megapixel modules (a main camera with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor and a periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom), plus a 50MP ultra-wide lens. The device supports the ARRI LogC3 profile, 10-bit color, and ARRI CINEMA Mode recording at up to 4K at 60 frames per second. For professionals, the company will also release external G200 and G500 teleconverters.

A powerful compact and the Super Edition’s record-breaking capacity

The base Honor Magic 9 breaks the stereotype that small phones run out of juice quickly. With a 6.37-inch display, engineers managed to fit an 8,000 mAh battery inside. The phone runs on last-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, but keeps the flagship camera system, including a 200-megapixel main sensor and a 200MP telephoto tuned by ARRI.

The most intriguing device in the series is the Magic 9 Super Edition. In an official Honor press release, the company claims unprecedented specs: an 11,000 mAh battery integrated into a body just 8.1mm thick. That energy density is made possible by advances in silicon-carbon technology, which Honor has been actively adopting for the past few years.

To keep the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor from overheating under heavy loads, the Super Edition gets an active cooling system with a built-in fan spinning up to 30,000 rpm. Those specs came at the cost of the cinema optics: the phone has a 6.81-inch display and a basic 200MP camera without ARRI algorithms.

Pricing and global launch

According to FoneArena, pricing for the new devices in China breaks down as follows:

• Magic 9 Super Edition — from 4,499 yuan (around $670);
• Magic 9 — from 4,999 yuan (around $745);
• Magic 9 Pro Max — from 6,499 yuan (around $970).

Honor representatives have already confirmed that the top-end Magic 9 Pro Max will definitely come to the global market, including Europe and the Middle East. The base compact Magic 9 and the battery-life champion Super Edition, however, are so far announced only for its home market in China.