Honor Unveils Smartphone with Advanced Camera Features and ARRI Partnership

A new smartphone from Honor, the Chinese technology firm, has been unveiled this week with a unique feature that allows users to create cinematic-style videos on their device. The Honor Magic 9 Pro Max boasts advanced camera capabilities, including a partnership with ARRI, the renowned movie camera company.

One of the standout features of the phone is its ability to capture high-quality video footage using a special cinema mode created by ARRI. This feature allows users to mimic the look and feel of classic Hollywood films, complete with subtle nuances in color grading that give the video an authentic retro aesthetic.

The Honor Magic 9 Pro Max's camera capabilities are not limited to just this one feature, as it also offers a range of color configurations inspired by ARRI's cinema cameras. These include the Nostalgia look, which can add a distinctively vintage flair to video footage, and other options that cater to different artistic visions.

In addition to its advanced camera features, the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max has an impressive design that closely resembles the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The phone's unibody metal construction and two-tone back glass give it a premium look and feel, with color options including moss green, shadow black, and glacier silver.

The release of the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max underscores the growing trend of smartphone use in professional studio environments, where high-quality video production is increasingly being done on mobile devices. With its partnership with ARRI and advanced camera capabilities, the phone aims to stand out from other smartphones that also offer cinematic-style video features.

The collaboration between Honor's Magic 9 Pro Max and ARRI brings a new level of cinematic experience to smartphone users. While ARRI is known for its high-end cameras used in film production, such as those featured in Everything Everywhere All at Once and Dark Passage, their technology has never been more accessible.

ARRI's advanced color technology is now integrated into the Magic 9 Pro Max camera app, offering a range of features that cater to cinema enthusiasts. This includes ARRI Cinema mode, which utilizes the phone's dual 200-megapixel cameras to capture wide-screen video with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, similar to theatrical releases.

Film aficionados will appreciate the access to ARRI's Look Library within the Cinema mode. The library contains preloaded Looks and LUT files that can be used to record video in various cinema-inspired styles. Users can also download additional LUT files from Honor's and ARRI's websites to further expand their creative options.

These advanced color settings allow users to achieve a range of cinematic looks, including those closely mimicking the renowned ARRI Alexa camera. This means that smartphone videographers can now capture footage with the same level of depth and nuance as professional filmmakers.

During a demonstration at ARRI's Los Angeles facility, both an Alexa camera and the Magic 9 Pro Max were used to record two film sets under identical conditions. The resulting footage showed remarkably similar color shading and detail, highlighting the capabilities of the phone's advanced cameras.

However, upon closer inspection, even with ideal lighting, the Alexa camera still demonstrated a slight edge in capturing fine details, such as the shadows on a bookshelf.

The Magic 9 Pro Max's camera capabilities are not limited to its ARRI Cinema mode. When filming a scene featuring dark green walls and a brown set, I experimented with different settings, including various options from the ARRI Looks library. This feature allows users to apply cinematic styles to their videos, similar to the Photographic Styles available on iPhones.

The ARRI Looks selection includes several black-and-white options, which can add a unique aesthetic to footage. It's interesting to note that these same options are also available to professional camera teams using ARRI's full-fledged cinema cameras. This level of detail and control is a testament to the Magic 9 Pro Max's capabilities.

The phone itself boasts an impressive spec list, including a large 6.8-inch display and a substantial 8,000-mAh battery. The battery supports fast charging at up to 100 watts when plugged in wired, or 80 watts wirelessly. This should provide users with plenty of power for extended shooting sessions.

The Magic 9 Pro Max is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor. While it's not coming to the US market, its international release will be eagerly anticipated by photography enthusiasts and videographers alike.

The Magic 9 Pro Max also comes pre-installed with Android 17 and Honor's MagicOS 11 overlay, which shares a striking resemblance to iOS.

In addition to its impressive camera capabilities, the phone has another notable feature: support for Apple's AirDrop via Quick Share, making it one of several Android phones to offer this functionality.

The growing trend of smartphone usage in filmmaking is evident, with productions like the 2025 film "28 Years Later" shot primarily using an iPhone 15 Pro Max.