HONOR Malaysia launched the HONOR X9b last month, the company’s toughest smartphone ever. I’ve been using the phone for over a month, it’s time for a full review treatment.
HONOR X9b Specs
- 6.78-inch (2,652 x 1,200) 120Hz AMOLED display
- 4nm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
- Cameras:
- 5MP ultra-wide + 108MP main + 2MP macro
- 16MP front camera
- 5,800mAh battery with 25W wired charging
- IP53 water and dust resistance
- Colors: Sunrise Orange (Vegan Leather), Titanium Silver, Midnight Black
- MagicOS 7.2 based on Android 13
- Price: RM1,499
Design
Unlike many phones priced in this range, the HONOR X9b has a curved display. The phone’s display incorporates the HONOR Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop technology ensuring utmost durability even when subject to drops from a height of 1.5 meters and all angles.
The back of the phone features a huge camera ring, similar to its predecessor. My review unit is the Titanium Silver variant, which has a matte finish, the same goes for the Midnight Black variant. As for the Sunrise Orange variant, it has a vegan leather material on its back.
Display
The HONOR X9b sports a 6.78-inch 1.5K (2,652 x 1,200) AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is pretty smooth with good deep rich colors, but I still encounter the same issue on certain occasions scrolling doesn’t feel that smooth at all especially when I’m scrolling the YouTube app. This issue can be fixed by switching the refresh rate mode to high, though keep in mind that this mode uses more power, and if the phone temperature goes up, it will thermal throttle to keep the phone cool. Hence, affecting the overall smoothness as well.
Performance
Powering the HONOR X9b is a 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, which is the latest Snapdragon 6 series processor, together with 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage.
In terms of performance, the phone performs quite well for basic tasks such as replying to messages, web browsing, and playing light games. It’s not the most powerful chipset out there but it runs everything smoothly, though there are some hiccups when I’m using the camera app.
Software
The phone runs on MagicOS 7.2 based on Android 13 and the user experience is quite similar to the Magic5 Pro, and I still experience the app optimization issue.
Camera
The HONOR X9b comes with a triple-camera setup on the back, two if you don’t count the 2MP macro camera. It has a 108MP main camera with a 1/1.67″ large sensor and also a 5MP ultra-wide camera.
The 5MP ultra-wide camera is practically unusable as most photos are quite blurry or noisy, you can’t use night mode on the ultra-wide camera too. As for the 108MP main camera, it has a mediocre performance. The colors are dull with not much dynamic range, just don’t expect it to capture nice photos.
Battery Life
The phone has a huge 5,800mAh battery, which is even bigger than most flagship phones nowadays. I was able to get two days of battery life easily on normal usage, the phone can even go up to three days if I barely use it with back-to-back meetings. It supports 35W charging that doesn’t take long to juice it up.
Final Words
Retailing at RM1,499, the HONOR X9b has many things to like. It is the toughest phone ever on the market and HONOR also offers a 365-day replacement warranty for the back and front glass, meaning that it gets replaced for free if you manage to crack it within a year. The phone also comes with an impressive display that can match many flagship phones.
It has a mediocre camera setup and won’t get you the best mobile gaming performance, but if neither of those things is important to you and you just need a reliable and affordable smartphone, you can just go ahead and get it.
Buy Here
Yay
- Tough body
- Impressive display
- Great battery life
Nay
- Average gaming performance
- Mediocre camera setup