Phone maker Honor partners with the iconic cinema camera maker ARRI to enhance the look and color of videos recorded on its Magic 9 Pro Max.
While standing on the roof of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles for the first time, I pulled out my phone to commemorate the moment by filming a video that pans toward the Hollywood sign. And then I did it again, using a special cinema mode created by the legendary movie camera company ARRI to give it some old Hollywood flair. The second video had a grainier look and could have been shot in the 1960s, with the sky appearing teal.
This might sound like a filter, but it’s actually from ARRI’s Nostalgia look — one of many color configurations available on the company’s $80,000-and-up cinema cameras. I’m using it on a smartphone from Chinese company Honor.
This Honor Magic 9 Pro Max, announced Wednesday, looks a lot like an iPhone 18 Pro Max, sporting a similar unibody metal design and two-tone back glass. I used it in a Moss Green color that I find quite comforting, but it also comes in Shadow Black and Glacier Silver.
Honor’s focus on video production underscores the increasing trend of smartphone use in studio environments. And the company is banking on its partnership with ARRI to help its Magic 9 Pro Max stand out among a number of phones with their own Hollywood pedigree, like the iPhone.
Even if you don’t know ARRI, you’ll certainly know the movies that have been filmed on the company’s cameras, like 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and 1947’s Dark Passage starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
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