Honor Magic 9 Pro: Film like the pros with Arri
If you haven't filmed two blockbusters with the Honor Magic 9 Pro by the next family gathering, you haven't taken advantage of the tools from the new partner, Arri.
Honor has introduced the Magic 9 Pro in China. The new top-tier model is the first smartphone to feature the collaboration with film camera manufacturer Arri. The back is designed to evoke the look of a vintage camera, and there are many new options for video recording.
A smartphone for cinephiles
Honor describes the Magic 9 Pro as nothing less than a «handheld cinema system», designed to enable a professional cinematic workflow. Among other things, Arri provides color spaces and presets for video recording, as well as color gradings for post-production.
Source: Honor
Honor takes inspiration from the iconic Arriflex cameras with their three lenses for the design of the camera system on the back of the Magic 9 Pro. You have two 200-megapixel cameras and one 50-megapixel camera at your disposal:
- Main camera: 200 megapixels, 1/1.28 inch, f/1.57, optical image stabilization with 3-degree gimbal
- Telephoto camera: 200 megapixels, 1/1.4 inch, f/2.6
- Ultra-wide-angle camera: 50 megapixels, f/2.0
The front camera features a square 55-megapixel sensor. It is designed not only to enable 1:1 format shots but also to make all portrait-oriented shots better than classic landscape-oriented sensors.
Furthermore, with the H1, Honor is using an image processor of its own development. Among other things, this shifts AI-based noise reduction into the RAW domain, which is intended to save more genuine image information. It is said to improve the signal-to-noise ratio by up to eight decibels and supports 14 stops of dynamic range. As a result, textures, details, and natural transitions should be preserved even in difficult lighting conditions.
Source: Honor
Arri has assisted Honor with sensor calibration, among other things, and provides two color spaces: «Arri LogC3 Curve» and «Arri Wide Gamut 3». For recordings, you can also choose from 14 presets from the film studio technology expert. There are even 87 color gradings available.
The «Arri Cinema Mode» is designed to provide you with the most important recording settings in a «focused interface»: resolution, frame rate, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus, lens selection, aspect ratio, stabilization, exposure compensation, audio presets, and display mode.
Source: Honor
For high-quality videos with minimal effort, Honor equips the Magic 9 Pro with a four-microphone system. During editing, two speakers ensure that you can hear the audio clearly.
With its accessories, Honor also underscores its ambition to offer a tool for the film studio. For instance, the SmallRig Mobile Video Kit provides a mount to connect the smartphone to further accessories or to integrate it into a tripod system. With the two teleconverters G200 and G500, the focal length of the Magic 9 Pro can be extended.
Source: Honor
An overview of the remaining top-tier specifications of the Magic 9 Pro:
- Display: 6.8-inch OLED, 2868 × 1320 pixels, 10,000(!) nits peak brightness for HDR content
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
- Memory variants: 12 + 256 GB, 12 + 512 GB, 16 + 512 GB, 16 GB + 1TB
- Battery and charging: 8800 mAh, 100 watts, 80 watts wireless, each with Honor SuperCharge
The smartphone is dust- and water-resistant according to IP69K and is protected against hot water and high-pressure water jets.
Source: Honor
Price and availability
The Honor Magic 9 Pro is initially being released only in China. The manufacturer has not yet announced when or at what price the smartphone will be available in Europe.
What should not be missing from the announcement: a short film shot with the Magic 9 Pro.
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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