Honor and Xiaomi are among the first smartphone brands to confirm their flagship models will run on Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
With the same flagship-level power on offer, what really separates the two handsets? As it turns out, there’s quite a difference between these two Chinese flagships, be it design, screen tech or battery life.
While the Honor Magic 8 Pro or Xiaomi 17 Pro Max are currently exclusively available in China, we’ve compared the specs of the two Android smartphones right here.
Price and Availability
At the time of writing, neither the Honor Magic 8 Pro nor the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is currently available outside of China, but both should launch globally in the coming months.
The Honor Magic 8 Pro has a starting RRP of RMB 5,699, while the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max starts at RMB 5999. While that roughly equates to £569 and £599 respectively, it’s worth remembering that this isn’t an exact conversion and both phones will likely set you back more towards the £1000/$1000 mark at the very least.
Considering the Honor Magic 7 Pro’s RRP of £1099.99, we can reasonably expect the Magic 8 Pro to be set at a similar price when it eventually gets its wider release.
Both run on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Both the Honor Magic 8 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max are fitted with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Qualcomm’s recently announced flagship processor. In fact, both phones are among the first to confirm they’ll use the new chipset, alongside the OnePlus 15.
While we’re yet to review either handset, nor the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 itself, Qualcomm promises a 20% CPU uplift, 35% improved efficiency and a 37% boost to on-device AI compared to Snapdragon 8 Elite. Considering that the Snapdragon 8 Elite powers many of the best Android phones of 2025, and its speed and efficiency have blown us away, these improvements are undoubtedly an exciting prospect.
We’ll have to wait until we review both the Honor Magic 8 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max to see how Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performs in real-world use.
Honor Magic 8 Pro has an AI button
Alongside the Magic 8, the Honor Magic 8 Pro includes a new, multi-functional, and customisable AI button. While its primary function is to make Honor’s Yoyo assistant instantly accessible, a double-click will open the camera app instead, and the button itself can turn into a shortcut to specific functions.
Otherwise, Honor explains that you can also long-press the AI button to open Yoyo Video Call, which allows the AI assistant to provide information based on what it sees through the camera lens.
Like most Yoyo-branded tools, this likely won’t make it outside of its home region of China so it’ll be interesting to see how Honor brands the AI button internationally.
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max has a dual-screen design
Both the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max have a dual-screen design, which means they sport an OLED screen at the back alongside the rear cameras. The 2.9-inch back display, in a way, acts like an upgraded Glyph Interface of the Nothing handsets and offers real-time notifications, access to apps and more while your phone is face-down, allowing you to stay connected without being distracted.
Otherwise, the 120Hz back display can be customised due to personal taste, supports selfie functions and can even house a virtual pet too. It’s certainly an intriguing prospect, but perhaps not a sole reason to upgrade to the handset.
Instead, flip the Honor Magic 8 Pro over, and you’ll find a circular camera bump that houses the handset’s trio of rear lenses, including a 200MP ultra-night telephoto camera.
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max has a larger display
The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is fitted with a 6.9-inch display, the same size as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. You can learn more about the two handsets in our dedicated Xiaomi 17 Pro Max vs iPhone 17 Pro Max guide.
Xiaomi explains that its 17 Pro Max exclusively adopts “independent pixel array technology” to achieve sharper clarity while using less power than traditional 2K displays, alongside an M10 Display Panel and SuperRed material for high brightness with low power too.
As we’re yet to review the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, we’ll have to wait and see how the display performs.
Otherwise, the Honor Magic 8 Pro is fitted with a slightly smaller 6.7-inch display. However, much like its predecessor, the Magic 8 Pro boasts plenty of premium screen technologies including LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate, support for Dolby Vision and up to a massive 6000 nits brightness for HDR content. In fact, that brightness is among one of the highest measurements of any smartphone available.
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max has a larger battery
Powering the Honor Magic 8 Pro is a 7200mAh battery, whereas the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max benefits from a whopping 7500mAh cell. These numbers are seriously jaw-dropping, and to put this into perspective, the OnePlus 13, which currently sits in our best Android phones list for its battery capacity, has a 6000mAh cell.
While we’re yet to see how either handset’s batteries really perform, it’s fair to say we have pretty high expectations given the enormous cells.
In addition, the Honor Magic 8 Pro supports up to 120W and 80W wireless charging speeds, while the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max offers 100W and 50W wireless.
Early Verdict
As we have yet to review either handset, we’ll hold off on providing a conclusive verdict for now. However, as both run on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon flagship chipset, we can reasonably expect the two handsets to offer serious power, impressive AI capabilities, and power efficiency.
With a unique dual-screen design, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max sports a more unique finish, whereas the Honor Magic 8 Pro is brighter than ever.
We’ll be sure to update this versus once we’ve reviewed the handsets and seen how they perform in everyday use for ourselves.
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