Most smartphone owners would rush to get a screen protector or protective case for their brand-new handset. After all, nothing breaks the heart quite like a dent or, worse, a cracked display, on a device that’s barely a week old.
But Honor’s X9a takes a different route. In fact, it dares you to use it as your daily driver without a screen protector.
The primary selling point of the Honor X9a is its highly durable 6.7-inch (17cm) curved Amoled display that arrives in 1080 x 2400 resolution. Just how tough is it? Let’s just say Chuck Norris would be proud.
The X9a thrives in the midst of abuse, so much so that it would not find cracking macadamia nut shells or doubling up as a crab mallet out of the ordinary. In fact, you are encouraged to give it a go as a nutcracker.
Honor has not divulged the type of material used for the display other than attributing it to a 0.65mm Super Reinforced glass – a rather vanilla nomenclature – for its Ultra Tough Oled Curved Display.
Normally, curved displays tend to be the weakest point of most smartphones, but Honor has certainly done its homework here as dropping the handset multiple times from above waist level onto a solid concrete floor or flight of stairs did not yield any cracks. (There were expected scuffs to the chassis, though.)
A 120Hz refresh rate ensures a buttery-smooth experience while scrolling through your social media posts. There is the option to dial it down a notch to 60Hz if you wish to conserve battery, but you are generally better off leaving the Dynamic refresh rate enabled for the software to decide when it should increase or decrease based on the viewed content.
Design
Tipping the scales at 175g with a thickness of 7.9mm, the X9a features an under-display fingerprint reader that works well enough with minimal frustration. The camera matrix protrudes from behind to remain in step with most of the industry’s current design language.
For those who find it grating that the smartphone cannot remain flush when placed on a flat surface, Honor has kindly thrown in a case that remedies the situation.
The USB-C port is located at the bottom, with the dual-SIM card slot on the left and speaker on the right. Both the volume rocker and power button are located on the right side of the device for easy accessibility.
Performance
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 SoC powers the X9a underneath the hood, making it a dependable daily driver. Obviously, you can only eke out so much performance from this mid-range processor, so don’t expect it to break graphics benchmark records or deliver high frame rates for graphically intensive mobile games at their maximum settings.
Loading apps and switching between them is not an issue at all. There is no noticeable lag, and this can be attributed to its 8GB RAM with the provision of another 5GB of storage space allocated for virtual memory.
5G connectivity is also supported by this chipset, in addition to Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi, and GPS as standard fare.
Running on the Magic 6.1 skin based on Android 12, the Honor X9a is currently on the November 2022 security update. Honor’s policy includes two major Android updates and four years of security updates. With Android 14 ready to roll out later this year, this means the X9a will not see Android 15 running on it in 2024.
At least the security updates will keep you safe until 2026 at the bare minimum, by which time you would most probably change your smartphone.
Camera
The X9a features a triple-camera configuration behind it arranged in a circular matrix. The primary 64MP sensor is accompanied by an ultra-wide 5MP camera and a 2MP macro camera.
These are not cameras worthy of influencers and those who make a living off their social media. However, the primary camera is functional enough to capture daily memories.
Like any modern-day smartphone camera, it performs brilliantly under good lighting conditions, but the quality drops in low-light environments. You would be better off taking a photo with the primary camera and cropping it than relying on the 2MP macro camera for certain subjects.
The 16MP front-facing punch-hole camera in the middle of the display is more than adequate for your Zoom and video-call needs.
Battery life
While most smartphones are able to last a full working day before exhausting the battery, the X9a can stretch beyond the conventional workday with its 5,100 mAh battery. It is an engineering wonder that such a large capacity battery has been crammed into a slim and light chassis.
Not jumping aboard the greenwashing bandwagon, Honor has included a 40-watt charger in the box. Do not expect insane charging speeds here, but it should be more than adequate for most users who want a little pick-me-up during their lunch break, as it takes approximately half an hour to hit the 50% mark and an hour for a full charge.
This is not the best in the market, but it is not the worst, either.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the Honor X9a remains strictly within the mid-range smartphone territory. You get a functional smartphone for everyday use, though games will have to be played with the graphics dialled down.
The missing microSD memory card slot and 3.5mm audio jack is a given these days, which is one drawback of newer handsets.
The tough exterior allows you to brandish the smartphone’s design sans protective case, which is worth considering if you love showing off your gear as it is. The price of RM1,499 for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage space seems to be a decent exchange.
If long-term software support is your top priority, there are other options out there, but for most people who upgrade their smartphones once every two to three years, this would be a moot point.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics.