Honor Magic9 Series Launches on September 28 With a Very Different Design

Honor is getting ready to launch the Magic9 series, and we now have a much better look at the new phones. The lineup will arrive in China on September 28, with a new camera design, Qualcomm's next flagship chip and some serious camera hardware.

The biggest change is on the back. Honor is moving away from the huge circular camera module of the Magic8 series, and I think the new look is much cleaner.

The new images show a wide camera island across the top of the phone. Three cameras sit inside it, with one large lens placed on the right. The design is quite different from the Magic8 Pro and its huge round camera module.

Honor still wants the cameras to stand out, though. The company is working with ARRI on the Magic9 series, with a focus on both photos and video.

I like this new design more than I expected. The large circular camera on the Magic8 Pro gave the phone its own look, but it also took up a lot of space. The Magic9 looks cleaner without trying to hide the fact that cameras are still a big part of the phone.

The camera hardware could be even more interesting than the design. Recent leaks point to a 200MP main camera with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor and an f/1.57 aperture.

Honor may also use a second 200MP sensor for the periscope camera. This one is said to measure 1/1.4 inches, which is very large for a zoom camera. A 50MP ultrawide is also expected to complete the setup.

ARRI will bring some of its own camera tools to the phones. Features such as ARRI LogC3, ARRI Look and a special movie mode are expected, which tells us Honor is putting more focus on video this year.

That's something I want to see. Android flagships are already great at taking photos, but Apple still has an edge when it comes to video. A real camera partnership makes more sense to me than adding another AI photo filter.

The Magic9 series should also be among the first phones to use Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. The chip is expected to use a 2nm process, with better speed and lower power use than the current generation.

A large battery is also coming. Earlier leaks point to a capacity of around 8,000mAh, which would be another big jump for an Honor flagship.

The display could measure around 6.8 inches on the larger models, with a 1.5K LTPO panel. Honor is also expected to offer 3D face unlock and an ultrasonic fingerprint reader.

Honor may change the lineup this year too. The Magic9 family is expected to include the Magic9, Magic9 Pro and Magic9 Pro Max, giving buyers three main models instead of the usual two.

There are also reports of a special model with an active cooling fan, although Honor hasn't confirmed the full lineup yet.

We won't have to wait long to find out. The Honor Magic9 series will make its debut in China on September 28, shortly after Qualcomm introduces its new flagship chip.

For me, the cameras are still the main reason to watch this launch. Two huge 200MP sensors and ARRI camera tech sound far more interesting than another small performance boost, and the cleaner design is a nice bonus.