iPhone 16 Pro vs. HONOR Magic7 Pro Comparison Review

The HONOR Magic7 Pro is the brand’s newest flagship device boasting the cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a high-end set of cameras, and a solid battery life with 5,850mAh of capacity. And all that comes at a price of no more than Php60,000.

While we’ve already established in our full and comparison reviews that the HONOR Magic7 Pro offers most of the flagship features you’d expect for less, is that compelling enough to choose it over the latest Apple flagship, the iPhone 16 Pro?

We’re going to answer that in this comparison review. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

Design and Construction

Starting with design, these phones are easily recognizable. The iPhone 16 Pro retains the signature iPhone look with that square camera island and the same triple camera layout. The materials are pretty much the same as well with a glass back, and a brushed titanium frame.

On the other hand, it’s the same case for the Magic7 Pro, also retaining the previous look with a couple of design tweaks. The phone sports the same circular camera island, albeit the camera layout is a little more symmetrical this time around.

Its entire camera enclosure also has a distinct, darker shade by default rather than a color-matched module from last year’s Magic6 Pro. Its back has a matte finish, while its metal frame comes in a glossy finish.

This is just a nitpick, but I prefer the iPhone 16 Pro’s brushed titanium frame over the Magic7 Pro’s glossy metal one. The latter feels quite sticky in the hand and it’s more of a smudge-magnet than the competition.

Due to its larger 6.8-inch screen, the Magic7 Pro is on the hefty side, measuring 8.8 mm thick and weighs about 223 grams. That’s not too far off from the iPhone 16 Pro, though, which has a 6.3-inch display, measures 8.25 mm thick and goes a bit lighter at about 199 grams.

Another major difference to see here is that the iPhone 16 Pro comes with a flat-edge design, while the Magic7 Pro has sleek curves from both the front and back—making it more comfortable to hold despite its larger size.

For added protection, both units have dust and water resistance, but only the Magic7 Pro gets a stronger IP69 rating that provides a stronger level of water resistance. The iPhone 16 Pro still gets a solid protection thanks to IP68.

In terms of design, I would say both models definitely offer that premium look and feel we all expect from a flagship device. It ultimately comes down to your preference—whether you’d go for the more iconic design of the iPhone 16 Pro or the bolder, more unique aesthetic of the Magic7 Pro.

We all know that iPhones in general have seemingly become status symbols, especially in the Philippines, so I wouldn’t be mad if you choose the iPhone 16 Pro because of its design and the Apple branding alone.

But if you care less about all that branding, then the Magic7 Pro stands as a sleek alternative.

After all, design is subjective and both have similar durable builds, so it’s just fair to give ‘em both a point this round.

Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics

Flip both phones over, you’re greeted by vibrant OLED displays.

The iPhone 16 Pro sports a more compact 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED flat screen that has a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2000 nits.

Meanwhile, the Magic7 Pro has a larger 6.8-inch Full HD+ OLED display with subtle curves from all sides. It runs up to 120Hz as well, and peaks at 1600 nits of luminance in high brightness mode (HBM).

Notably, both phones have LTPO panels, which makes sense for flagship models. Essentially, LTPO technology allows the phones to automatically adjust their screen refresh rates—from as low as 1Hz up to 120Hz—depending on the content being displayed. This reduces power consumption, leading to overall better battery efficiency.

The visuals are superb for both units. Colors are vivid, both having great contrast and deep, true blacks. And despite the subtle curves on the Magic7 Pro’s display, I could still properly watch content since it doesn’t show those pesky glares from the sides as much.

These superb visuals are also complemented with great audio. Both models feature dual stereo speakers, and the experience has been surprisingly enjoyable, even for a more affordable flagship like the Magic7 Pro.

They both provide a loud and clear sound stage with a nice balance in the mids and highs, as well as deep, punchy bass.

One similar feature that the HONOR Magic7 Pro copied from the iPhone though is the presence of a pill-shaped notch. Although, it’s not just for aesthetics, it’s a bit functional too, as it houses a 3D depth sensor for a more secure face unlock.

However, in terms of software functionality, the Magic7 Pro is apparently not up to par yet with Apple’s Dynamic Island, providing less features to work with. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Going back to biometrics security, the iPhone 16 Pro features Face ID, while the Magic7 Pro, in addition to its 3D face recognition, has an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor.

Regardless of what biometrics feature you use from these phones, the unlocking experience is fast and snappy, at least in our experience.

For added protection, the iPhone 16 Pro gets the Ceramic Shield, while the Magic7 Pro has the NanoCrystal Shield, and not to mention, it also has a pre-installed screen protector out of the box.

With neither model having much of an advantage over the other, it seems this round ends in another tie.

Performance and Benchmarks

Now, when it comes to performance, both phones are surely capable.

The iPhone 16 Pro boasts the newest Apple A18 Pro, and the HONOR Magic7 Pro boasts the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Both chipsets are built on a 3-nanometer process, mind you, so you can expect both phones to be really efficient on your day-to-day activities.

Taking a look at our benchmark results below, the HONOR Magic7 Pro seems to surpass the iPhone 16 Pro by a huge margin in our ANTUTU test, achieving a score of 2.3 million points as compared to the iPhone’s 1.6 million score.

While that is a good indicator of its performance, iOS and Android are two, entirely different worlds in terms of processing power. Therefore, the numbers you see here for the iPhone 16 Pro doesn’t necessarily match, one is to one (1:1) to that of the Magic7 Pro’s.

Talking about real-world performance, you won’t be disappointed on either of the two phones. Navigation feels buttery smooth, multitasking is a breeze, and you won’t encounter any slowdowns or whatnot.

As for gaming, both models don’t slouch either. Any casual titles ran flawlessly for both models, and the more graphic-intensive ones can run at Max graphics. Although, I wouldn’t recommend playing in such conditions since both phones get relatively hot during prolonged gameplay while graphics are set to Max.

Overall, on the subject of performance, both the iPhone 16 Pro and Magic7 Pro hold their own with confidence. So, I’m giving it yet another tie this round.

Cameras

Now this one’s the most important: the camera performance.

While both phones feature a triple rear camera setup, the key differences lie in the sensors used. The iPhone 16 Pro gets a 48-megapixel main shooter with sensor-shift OIS, another 48-megapixel sensor for ultrawide shots, and a 12-megapixel telephoto also with sensor-shift OIS—offering 5x optical zoom.

Meanwhile, the HONOR Magic7 Pro features a 50-megapixel main sensor with OIS, a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a whopping 200-megapixel periscope telephoto.

Sure, the Magic7 Pro generally has a higher megapixel count, especially with its telephoto lens, like we always say though, that doesn’t necessarily equate to better image quality.

Surprisingly, the Magic7 Pro holds up pretty well with the competition. Images coming out from both phones are absolutely amazing. Despite the difference in image processing, the quality in general offers vibrant colors, good contrast and solid dynamic range.

Be the judge of the image quality yourself with some sample shots below.

For video capture, however, Apple always nails it—and that shows with the iPhone 16 Pro. We can’t quite pinpoint why, but more often than not, the iPhone 16 Pro does a better job capturing video overall, regardless of the shooting conditions.

That said, the Magic7 Pro remains a solid performer, especially with its primary camera. Videos from the telephoto and ultrawide lenses tend to be a bit softer which is still better than what most phones deliver, but not quite on par with the iPhone 16 Pro.

Therefore, the iPhone 16 Pro secures its first point advantage in this round.

For more sample shots, head over to our separate full reviews below:

• iPhone 16 Pro Review Long-term Review
• HONOR Magic7 Pro Review

Battery Life

Battery-wise, the HONOR Magic7 Pro counters with a larger battery pack and relatively longer runtime. It features a 5,850mAh battery that uses silicon-carbon technology, making the slim frame possible.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro packs a smaller 3582mAh battery, and you can see where this is going.

From our experience, the iPhone 16 Pro easily made it through a full day of regular use, typically ending the day with around 20% battery remaining. However, the extra battery capacity in the Magic7 Pro actually translates to significant gains, as it consistently lasts up to two days on a single charge under similar usage.

However, that still depends on the user’s end. Heavier usage where gaming and other activities that eat quite a chunk of power usually leads to a shorter runtime, so keep that in mind.

Moving on, the Magic7 Pro has faster charging speeds with support for 100W wired- and 80W wireless charging, in which the former fills up the device to 100% in just under 30 minutes.

In comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro only has a 45W wired and 25W MagSafe charging.

It’s clear that the Magic7 Pro has the upper hand in this regard, providing longer battery life and faster charging capabilities. So, it evens out the match gaining a point this round.

Connectivity and Other Features

Both models run the latest versions of iOS and Android. The iPhone 16 Pro runs iOS 18 out of the box, and the HONOR Magic7 Pro gets Android 15, skinned with MagicOS 9 on top.

On the software side, I’d say many of you would agree that iOS is still top-notch offering smoother animations and an overall sleeker UI design, especially with the introduction of Liquid Glass, Apple’s software has reached an entirely new level of aesthetics.

Well, that doesn’t mean that Android is left in the dust. In fact, brands like HONOR, Xiaomi, and OPPO are developing software that are heavily inspired by iOS– I mean, just look at the Magic7 Pro that we have here.

So, they could easily replicate that Liquid Glass aesthetics if they wanted.

But going back to our comparison, both software from the iPhone 16 Pro and the HONOR Magic7 Pro look and feel equally good, in our opinion. Yes, it’s still a fact that iOS offers smoother animations, but you can still appreciate what HONOR is doing with MagicOS 9.

It had some visual upgrades over the years, with animations that are far better than previous iterations, especially during the EMUI days.

There’s no bloatware here for the iPhone 16 Pro, except the first party apps. The HONOR Magic7 Pro on the other hand, it’s a bit disappointing to see some bloatware apps on a flagship device.

In terms of UI design, though, I’m glad to say that both Apple and HONOR kept it clean.

What I do hope that they can improve upon is about the Magic Capsule. It’s their own take on Apple’s Dynamic Island, but it feels limited at least for now. Just as we inferred in our full review, it only does four functions like media playback and timer.

So, we’re hoping that in the future, if ever they push this Dynamic Island copy, then it would be much appreciated if they add more features similar to what the actual Dynamic Island offers in iOS.

As for update policy, I’m happy to report that the HONOR Magic7 Pro is promised to get up to seven years of major OS updates and security patches. This levels with Apple’s software pledge that usually lasts five to seven years for each device.

Connectivity-wise, you get all the essentials from both phones such as 5G, NFC, and Wi-Fi 7. However, I have to mention that only the iPhone 16 Pro has Ultra Wideband (UWB) feature for a more precise positioning. Say, finding your AirTags or AirPods even, the phone can track them more precisely via Ultra Wideband.

This leads us to another area to discuss, which is the ecosystem. As we all know, Apple is praised for their closed ecosystem—the so-called “walled garden”—that just works seamlessly across Apple devices.

While HONOR does provide its own ecosystem to settle with, it feels like Apple’s ecosystem is far superior and more efficient, not just compared to HONOR, but to Android in general, at least for now.

So, it just makes sense to give the point this round to the iPhone 16 Pro that provides better software integration with other Apple devices. That leaves us a 5-4 standing, and we have one last category to talk about, and that is the pricing.

Which one should you get?

As I mentioned earlier, the HONOR Magic7 Pro offers the kind of flagship experience that you would expect for a significantly cheaper cost. Priced at just PHP 59,999, the HONOR Magic7 Pro’s insane value for money is really hard to beat.

For the price, you get a sleek phone with impressive audio and visuals, capable cameras, solid battery life, and dependable long-term software support.

That said, the HONOR Magic7 Pro is highly recommended for those looking for a flagship-level experience, without spending a fortune for a new phone.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro starts at PHP 76,990 and that’s just for the base model with 128GB of storage. If you choose the 512GB just like the Magic7 Pro, the price goes up drastically to PHP 98,990.

Honestly, perhaps the main reason we could think of getting the iPhone 16 Pro is if you’re already engrossed in the Apple ecosystem, then it is a no-brainer: get this one instead.

Aside from that, it’s got all the best features out of an iPhone right now: a great display, amazing cameras, solid performance, and a superior software experience.

Long story short, if you want the best all-around phone regardless of the cost, go for the iPhone 16 Pro, especially if you’re already using other Apple devices. But if you’re after flagship features at a much more accessible price, then the HONOR Magic7 Pro is definitely the way to go.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. HONOR Magic7 Pro specs