Honor Magic 9 Pro Max gets four SIM slots as phones go eSIM-only
Honor is launching the Magic 9 Pro Max on September 28 with a feature no other current flagship offers: four active SIM numbers in one phone. The setup combines two physical SIM slots with two eSIM profiles, all running in Dual Standby mode so two numbers stay live at once. That puts it squarely against the industry's eSIM-only drift — the iPhone Air, for instance, has dropped physical SIMs entirely in a growing list of countries.
The four-SIM pitch
The practical case is straightforward for frequent travellers and anyone juggling personal and work numbers. You can keep a home SIM, a work eSIM, and a travel SIM loaded simultaneously, switching active pairs without pulling a tray. No current Android rival — including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which tops out at dual eSIM — matches that count. Whether mainstream buyers in the US and UK will care is another question; most carriers here haven't marketed multi-profile plans, and the eSIM adoption tracker suggests the market is moving the other way.
The hardware
The display is a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED running at 120Hz with a 2868×1320 resolution. Honor calls the panel tech "Black Diamond" — 5600 layers of silicon nitride reduce the reflection coefficient to 1.5%, which should make it genuinely usable in direct sunlight without a matte coating killing brightness.
Honor Magic 9 Pro Max — Black Diamond display with 5,600 silicon nitride layers and 1.5% reflection coefficient.
Inside sits the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, the first mobile chip to hit 5.0 GHz on its prime cores, per Gizmochina's benchmarks. That puts it in direct competition with Apple's A20 Pro on raw clock speed — at least on paper. Powering that chip is an 8,800 mAh battery, a big jump from the 7,100 mAh in last year's Honor Magic 8 Pro. Charging tops out at 100W wired and 80W wireless.
Cameras and extras
The camera array runs to four sensors: two 200MP modules (main and periscope telephoto), a 50MP ultrawide, and a 55MP square-format selfie camera. Honor has partnered with ARRI — the German cinema optics company — on colour processing, a collaboration that already covers the broader Magic 9 line.
Other features include dedicated physical buttons for the camera and AI functions, IP69K dust and water resistance (rated for hot pressurised water), and stereo speakers. If an 8,800 mAh cell still isn't enough, the Honor Magic9 Super Edition packs an 11,000mAh battery into an 8mm chassis in a chassis that's only 8mm thick.
Pricing and availability
The Chinese starting price is around €855 (6,999 yuan) for the 12GB/256GB model. UK pricing hasn't been confirmed; expect something in the £850–1,000 range once Honor announces a global rollout. US availability is uncertain given the broader trade environment. If you're already tracking the MagicOS 11 software updates that will ship with the device, the full picture comes together at the September 28 launch event.
