Everyone is afraid of Chinese versions. For our fan Jan, we ordered Honor Magic9 Pro Max from China and it’s entirely in Slovak—how did customs duty turn out?
Reader Ján ordered through us Honor Magic9 Pro Max in the Chinese version and had it at home on Thursday, 12 November. The package traveled from China for 18 days and cleared customs in Belgium. The phone has the entire system in Slovak. The Chinese Xiaomi 17 Pro doesn’t have Slovak in the system, but, as Ján says, his Honor is the same as the piece from the Slovak store—just much cheaper. We went through his post, the answers to questions from other readers, and the shipment tracking day by day.
Many people avoid Chinese phone versions for two reasons. They’re afraid they’ll have to pay extra at customs and that they’ll find only Chinese and English in the system. With Xiaomi, the second part is true, because the Chinese HyperOS doesn’t have Slovak, and you can only get it into apps and part of the system using tricks via SetEdit. The eSIM on the Chinese Xiaomi 17 Pro is also not supported, so you need to go for the EasyEUICC card. Honor works differently in the Chinese version, and Ján has now tried it on the flagship Magic9 Pro Max.
Reader Ján’s review
The experience was shared in a post in our Facebook group. The order was handled for him by Kristián from our editorial team, and in Ján’s text we only added diacritics and punctuation:
So today, finally, the Honor Magic9 Pro Max I ordered from you arrived. I waited a bit longer, but the excitement was worth it. Thanks a lot to Mr. Kristián, who placed the order for me and kept me updated continuously on the phone’s status. Once again, thank you very much.
More group members quickly chimed in under the post. Ilja and Marian wanted to know how the phone turned out, so a few minutes later Ján added a more detailed assessment in the comment:
So apart from the fact that I got a Chinese charger, which I can’t use anywhere, everything is like you bought it in Slovakia, and it’s way cheaper. The battery is bigger. The camera takes photos as it should.
Because it’s China, you have to make a Slovak Honor ID; otherwise you’ll lose all the apps from Google Play. I have everything as I had in another phone, and the Honor ID works as it should. NFC works. Calling and writing SMS—everything works as it should. Full signal, no drops, nothing.
On Friday, the phone was charged from the morning and I still have 63 % battery left, which is great—and I was basically messing around with it all day almost, so from my side I’m very satisfied.
Honor’s flagship from China without customs worries
The Chinese version of the Honor Magic9 Pro Max is sold by the trusted shop GShopper with delivery to Slovakia. For Standard Shipping, they send it from China, so count on roughly two to three weeks. VAT (DPH) and customs duty (clo) are already included in the price, so when you receive it, you don’t have to pay anything extra. If you don’t dare to place the order yourself, we’ll handle it for you to your address just like for Ján. Just message us, you’ll send the money by bank transfer, and we’ll take care of the order, the coupon, and the shipment tracking. The service fee is 15 € on top of the item price. If there’s any issue with delivery, the phone, or a complaint, we’ll take care of it for you directly with our contact at GShopper, where we have—because they’re our biggest partner for Slovakia and the Czech Republic—a premium care arrangement for our customers.
Xiaomi Planet shopping tip: GShopper has now launched direct bank transfer payments, so you can save another 4.5 % off the product price! Compared to card / Google Pay payment, you can get this product much cheaper. We described the full bank transfer payment process in our article.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Is it your first time shopping on GShopper?See the guide!
Updated 12. 11. 2026 on 14:51
TIPWith Standard Shipping via GShopper, you pay no extra fees—everything is already included!
With the GShopper seller, we recommend choosing Standard Shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller. You can select the shipping method in the cart only, after entering your delivery address. Delivery with this option usually takes about 15 business days from dispatch from the warehouse, but it may take longer.
Our extra service with VIP support — we’ll handle the order on Gshopper for you and ship it straight to your address.
If you don’t have experience buying on Gshopper, payments don’t go through, or coupon use doesn’t work for you, we offer an order handling service directly to your address for our readers and customers. You transfer the money to our account and we place the order directly to your address. This way, you won’t have to worry about a failed payment or applying the coupon, and you can be sure the entire order will go through correctly 100 %. In addition, you automatically get our VIP support — if any issues arise with the shipment, we handle them for you and assist with filing a claim. The fee for this service is €15 extra of the product price. You can contact us by email at info(@)xiaomiplanet.sk or on Messenger, where we’re constantly active.
18 days from China: where the parcel waited the longest
The seller created the shipment 26. October in the morning, and the carrier YunExpress took it over in China the same day in the afternoon. In the Chinese sorting center the parcel spent less than three days, and on 31. October morning it flew to Europe. The plane landed in Liège, Belgium, on Saturday evening at 18:56 and by 22:00 the parcel was already in the custody of the customs agent’s warehouse. It didn’t stay at customs for long, and already on Sunday 1. November early morning it passed through the sorting center in Liège.
The trip across Europe took the most time. From Belgium to the Maglód sorting center near Budapest, the parcel 8 days and arrived there on 9 November. From there, it went quickly: on Thursday 12 November in the morning, the courier was transporting it from a depot in Slovakia, and in the afternoon Ján picked it up. GShopper, for Standard Shipping, lists approximately 10 to 15 business days, so Ján’s 14 business days from when the carrier took it still fits within the estimate. However, Ján waited longer than, for example, Ľuboš, for whom REDMI Note 17 Pro Max flew from China straight to Budapest.
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Customs duty for a phone from China costing one thousand euros
For a shipment from China over 150 €, you can’t use the simplified IOSS system through which, for example, AliExpress collects VAT already at checkout. That kind of parcel has to go through proper customs clearance, and if the seller doesn’t handle it for you, you’ll get a notice from customs and you’ll pay the VAT yourself. Customs duty for mobile phones in the EU is zero, so you only pay 23 % VAT; but on a phone worth about one thousand euros, that’s more than €180.
GShopper, with Standard Shipping, handles customs clearance through a customs agent and pays the VAT (VAT) on behalf of the customer. You can see that clearly in the tracking of Ján’s shipment: the customs agent’s warehouse in Liège is only one stop on the way, and Ján didn’t have to fill anything in and didn’t pay anything extra upon receipt. With an expensive phone from AliExpress, though, watch out for that—AliExpress does not collect VAT for shipments above 150 € and you’d have to sort out customs yourself.
What came in the box from China
After we published the post, Ján also sent us photos from the unboxing. In the box with Honor and ARRI logos, besides the phone there’s an original charger with a Chinese plug, a USB-C cable, and a card for new owners of the Magic9 series. It promises benefits worth 800 yuan, i.e. roughly 100 €, but these are discounts on further Honor purchases in China that you won’t use in Slovakia. The QR code on the card also opens an electronic warranty certificate valid in China. That’s why you handle a phone complaint from China through the seller—in Ján’s case, through us and GShopper.
Ján chose the silver color and immediately put the phone into a clear case. From the back, the biggest circular camera module dominates, with the ARRI logo, under which are two more lenses.
The Chinese version that speaks Slovak
Most of the questions under the post were about the language. Silvester asked whether the phone has Slovak, and Ľuboš wanted to know whether the menu is entirely in Slovak or only partially. Ján replied to both that everything is in Slovak, and later he also sent us a photo of the settings directly on his phone. The date and weather on the locked screen are also in Slovak, which you can see in the photo of the phone next to the box.
The only thing you have to do differently with the Chinese version is the Honor ID account. Ján advises setting it up with the Slovak region, otherwise, according to him, you’ll lose the apps from Google Play. Martin asked how to do that, but Ján already had an account from an older Honor Magic7 Pro, so he just logged into it. If you don’t have Honor ID yet, when creating the account, choose Slovakia as the country. Besides Slovak and Google services, the Chinese version also has eSIM for two numbers, NFC payments, and Android Auto — as we wrote already in the article about the Chinese Magic9 Pro Max.
Battery 8 800 mAh: since Friday morning still 63 %
The battery of the Chinese Magic9 Pro Max has a silicon-carbon anode and a typical capacity of 8 800 mAh, and you can charge it either with a 100 W cable or wirelessly at 80 W. Ján charged the phone on Friday morning, used it properly all day as he said, and on Saturday before noon it was still 63% on a screenshot.
Ján’s only complaint from his review is the charger. In the box of the Chinese version, there’s an original adapter with power of 100 W and a Chinese plug that you can’t plug into a Slovak socket. A travel adapter for a few euros will help, or you can charge the phone with any USB-C charger, just more slowly, since full 100 W power is handled only by the original Honor charger.
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Chinese or global version?
From this week, GShopper is offering in pre-sale also the global version of Magic9 Pro Max. Shipping starts on November 24, and only in the 12 + 512 GB version in black, while Honor will officially bring the phone to European stores only in January. The global version has Google services right from the factory, but its battery is only 8 000 mAh, i.e. 800 mAh less.
It mainly comes down to price. The Chinese version with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage costs with a coupon 1 104 €, the global one with 12 GB RAM and the same storage 1 308 €. So today you pay over 200 € less for the Chinese version, get more RAM, a bigger battery, and a choice of three colors. With the global version, you don’t have to worry about an Honor ID either, and Honor promises seven major Android updates for it.
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Chinese version
Global version
Battery
8 800 mAh
8 000 mAh
Memory
12 + 256 GB / 16 + 512 GB / 16 GB + 1 TB
12 + 512 GB
Colors
green / silver / black
black
Slovak
yes (verified with Ján)
yes
Google Play
yes / via Honor ID with the Slovak region
yes / directly from the factory
eSIM
yes / up to 2 numbers
yes / up to 2 numbers
NFC payments
yes
yes
Android Auto
yes
yes
LTE band 20
Honor doesn’t specify / Ján has a full signal
yes
Charging
100 W wired / 80 W wireless
with cable and wirelessly
Charger in the box
100 W with a Chinese plug
not specified
System
MagicOS 11 / Android 17
MagicOS 11 / Android 17 / 7 major updates
Chip
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
Cameras
200 + 200 + 50 Mpx / ARRI tuning
200 + 200 + 50 Mpx / ARRI tuning
Availability
in stock
pre-sale / shipping from 24. 11.
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