ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro vs Apple iPhone 16
74
out of 100
VS
80
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) that was released on November 23, 2023, against the Apple iPhone 16, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 9 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro
- Comes with 2939 mAh larger battery capacity: 6500 vs 3561 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Supports higher wattage charging (80W versus 30W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- 21% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2409K versus 1985K)
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Delivers 68% higher peak brightness (1692 against 1010 nits)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- 15% higher pixel density (460 vs 400 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1116 x 2480 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 400 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1600 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.1% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.5% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro
6.8″ (20:9 ratio) = 17.3 in2
iPhone 16
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~22% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164 mm (6.46 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 229 g (8.08 oz) | 170 g (6 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Active fan | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.8/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 3300 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4 |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 750 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 903-1000 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2774 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 14905 | 28010 |
| Single-core score | 2233 | 3431 |
| Multi-core score | 6869 | 8638 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 662661 | 621688 |
| GPU | 823958 | 592569 |
| Memory | 361209 | 184239 |
| UX | 561916 | 587104 |
| Total score | 2409744 | 1985600 |
| Samples | [5 tests] | [16 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 92% | 75% |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1727 | 1579 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 99% | - |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 26 FPS |
| Section 1 | 36 FPS | 31 FPS |
| Section 2 | 33 FPS | 26 FPS |
| Section 3 | 29 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | 8666 | 6781 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 90% | - |
| Graphics test | 30 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 5156 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 20450 | - |
| Video editing | 8590 | - |
| Photo editing | 50380 | - |
| Data manipulation | 14699 | - |
| Writing score | 26447 | - |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#162nd place)
Recent User Tests
ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-19 (mitchi) | AnTuTu 11 | 2432142 |
| 📘 2026-08-08 (PsIx0pAt) | AnTuTu 11 | 2320412 |
| 📘 2026-06-18 (Anonymous) | AnTuTu 11 | 2408843 |
| 📘 2026-05-01 (Shuller) | AnTuTu 11 | 2500131 |
| 📘 2026-04-06 (Vall) | AnTuTu 11 | 2409744 |
Apple iPhone 16
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-30 (Dddd) | AnTuTu 11 | 1905485 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 (vovachips) | AnTuTu 11 | 1842572 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3531 / 9122 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | AnTuTu 11 | 2045650 |
| 📘 2026-06-04 (Sepehr Naraghipour) | AnTuTu 11 | 2018367 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 4800 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| ROM | Redmagic OS 9 | - |
| OS size | 25 GB | 16 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 6500 mAh | 3561 mAh |
| Max charge power | 80 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (84% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:42 hr | 1:42 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 09:54 hr | 13:44 hr |
| Watching video | 21:54 hr | 18:09 hr |
| Gaming | 08:25 hr | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | 134 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (56th and 52nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 122° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN5 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | - | 116 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Omnivision OV16E1Q | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | 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 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 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 |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | November 2023 | September 2024 |
| Release date | November 2023 | September 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $649 | $799 |
| Successor | - ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | - | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.41 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 80 W | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16:
- The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 16. But if the display and battery life are more of a priority – go for the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8