Spending a couple of months with any new smartphone is one of the best ways to identify its strengths and weaknesses. The Honor X9b, which launched in November, is the successor to the walnut-crushing X9a that was released less than a year ago.
Honor claims to have infused it with a greater degree of toughness compared with its predecessor, in addition to improved internal hardware and a longer-lasting battery. Those who handle their devices with a more robust attitude will find the X9b the perfect fit.
With many smartphones returning to a flat display design, the X9b maintains its curved display with Honors’s Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop technology, which claims the device will remain pristine as long as it is not dropped from a height of more than 1.5m onto a concrete or any other equally hard surface.
If you’re prone to leaving your keys in the same pocket as your phone and, therefore, risk scratching it, you will be grateful for the X9b’s durability.
With curved edges on the back and front, the device offers an easy grip. The presence of a matte finish at the back makes sure the Honor X9b remains secure in your hand even with sweaty palms.
The familiar camera ring hosts three lenses and the flash. Look closely and you’ll see a minor difference from its predecessor – a ridged rim around the module, meaning the days of leaving your phone flat on a table are over.
The volume rocker and power button are located on the right side, while the bottom of the handset features a USB-C port, SIM tray, and speaker holes.
The X9b features a 6.78-inch (17cm) Amoled display with resolution of 2,652 x 1,200 pixels. Armed with a 120Hz refresh rate, you will find scrolling through long pages of text or social media feeds to be buttery-smooth.
Unlocking the Honor X9b is done via an under-display fingerprint reader. Indoors, the colours look deep and rich, but under bright sunlight, the colours look washed out.
The brightness level could have been improved in this regard, so it’s a good thing few people actually pay attention to their phones while directly under the harsh Malaysian sun!
Performance
Powered by a 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and mated to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, this handset screams mid-range. It will not break any benchmark records but, for everyday use, there is nothing to complain about.
Programmes are launched relatively quickly without any lag, and switching between apps is also seamless.
That said, the camera app could be improved upon: here’s hoping Honor releases a future firmware update that improves the delay when switching between the primary and ultra-wide cameras. It does not make sense for this simple task to be hindered by a processor bottleneck.
Running on the MagicOS 7.2 skin based on Android 13, you will find yourself at home right away if you have been using other MagicOS-powered devices. Expect to receive two major Android upgrades and three years of security updates since this is not a flagship device.
Camera and battery life
With the triple-camera configuration behind, the primary 108MP camera features a 1/1.67″ large sensor that does most of the heavy lifting, accompanied by a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera.
Most of the photos look dull with a rather muted dynamic range when the primary camera is in action, although as with most smartphones, anywhere outdoors with decent lighting will yield acceptable results.
As for the 5MP ultra-wide camera, you will probably give it a miss since most of the photos carry a lot of noise and tend to end up blurry even in adequate light.
Forget about capturing great-looking night shots with the ultra-wide – and the less said about the gimmicky 2MP macro camera, the better.
The 5,800mAh battery is an improvement over its predecessor, easily delivering up to two days of battery life on normal usage. With a 35W charging speed, it will be charged and ready to go before you know it.
All in all, for RM1,499 a pop, focus on the Honor X9b’s primary mantra: toughness. It would’ve been nice to see IP68 certification thrown into the mix, but rough users and clumsy clogs who want a simple communications device will do well to pick up this handset, even if there are other better value-for-money options elsewhere.
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. Read more articles by Edwin here.