The HONOR X9b was recently launched in Malaysia as the latest durability-focused smartphone from the brand, less than a year after the X9a was introduced. Still packed with mid-range specs, the successor comes slightly upgraded internals but with a notably bigger battery, while at the same time, touting improved toughness over the previous model.
While the specs are quite modest, given that it is a mid-range smartphone, its durable design is undeniably a stand-out feature that may give its competitors within the same price segment a run for their money. I’ve always been a bit clumsy when it comes to phones but with this device, I threw all caution to the wind to see if HONOR’s phone can truly live up to its claims.
Specifications
The HONOR X9b sports a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,200 nits. With it comes its so-called Ultra Bounce Anti-Drop design with three layers made up of single-point reinforcement protection, wraparound cushioning, and deep seal protection.
Inside, it runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Unremarkably, it only supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1, but it still comes with 5G and NFC support.
On the photography side, the main camera gets twice the megapixel count with a 108MP sensor alongside a 5MP ultra-wide and a 2MP macro lens. Powering it is a hefty 5,800mAh battery, a significantly bigger capacity than its predecessor, and a slightly lowered charging speed of 35W.
Looks & Functionality
Design-wise, the new phone looks nearly identical to its predecessor. Both edges of the display are curved on both the back and front, making it easier to grip. The back feels like smooth glass but has a matte finish that thwarts sweaty fingerprints.
It even has the same camera ring containing the three lenses as well as the flash, but one minor difference this time is that the rim around the module is ridged. It’s also a big flat island, so it allows you to lay the phone on a flat surface and use it without it wobbling.
The new screen is relatively bigger and brighter, but not by a meaningful amount. It’s a sharp, vivid, and smooth display as usual but it’s not exactly the most readable display when outdoors. For unlocking, there’s an under-display fingerprint reader that’s not exactly the fastest and is placed way too low.
Overall, I have no major complaints about it but as always, I do wish they would just opt for a flat design instead because the curved edge trend should have, in my opinion, died out years ago. Both the volume rocker and power button are positioned on the right-hand side and at the bottom, you’ll find the sole speaker on this phone.
On to the fun part: how durable is it? Well, in the few weeks that I’ve had this phone, I’ve dropped it from a standing position at least a dozen times on different types on materials, including a carpeted floor, a bare wooden floor, concrete, and flat-out asphalt. I’ve even banged the display into the corner of tables several times just for laughs.
The result? I’m absolutely stunned at how tough this phone is. Even after going through all that, the display and back glass aren’t even scratched, proving that it can definitely take some abuse, whether intentional or not. Keep in mind that you can, of course, damage it if you want to but in real-world use, you won’t have to worry about accidental drops or the keys in your pocket wrecking the X9b. That being said, the aluminium sides of the phone don’t seem to be as strong as the display but I’ll let them slide on that one.
Performance & Battery
The X9b is the first phone with Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 in the Malaysian market, which is Qualcomm’s mid-range SoC that was unveiled last year. It’s not exactly the most powerful chipset out there on paper but in real-world use, I found no issues with day-to-day tasks and everything ran smoothly, for the most part.
The only major lag issue I’ve consistently experienced with this phone is when I’m using the camera app. While it’s not a dealbreaker, it does take longer than average to switch back and forth between the main camera and the ultra-wide lens. Oddly enough, using the ultra-wide will also cause the viewfinder to lag to a considerable degree, although I can’t be certain whether this is a software issue or just the SoC not being powerful enough to keep up.
On the other hand, the combination of a large battery capacity and a low-powered chipset results in the phone having a stellar battery life. I’m able to comfortably use it for two whole days without charging and on days when I barely even use it for doom scrolling, I was able to stretch it to almost three whole days.
When put through a YouTube streaming endurance test with the volume and brightness set at about 25%, the HONOR X9b cruised through with no issue, lasting a staggering 21 hours. And with the 35W charging, it doesn’t take long to juice it up and have it last the entire day.
Camera
The cameras are not a strongpoint for the X9b. Don’t be fooled by the high megapixel count of the main camera because it’s certainly a mid-range camera sensor. The colours are dull in most cases with not that much dynamic range, it has a strong yellow hue when taking indoor low-light photos, and it has a small area of focus, making the edges of close-up shots soft and blurry.
Of course, as with most phones, you can get decently sharp wide shots in good outdoor lighting. As for the 5MP ultra-wide lens, I have to be harsh on HONOR for this. It’s practically unusable with most photos taken with it ending up a blurry and noisy mess. This sensor is so bad that, as I mentioned above, it even lags in the viewfinder and this lag appears in videos taken with the ultra-wide that it looks almost like footage from a security camera.
Lastly, there’s the macro lens which ended up disappointing me. I’m not sure whether it’s the same sensor that was fitted into the HONOR 90, but it doesn’t seem to perform at the same level. It was hard to get a decent focus on any subject and even when I did, the photos were still dark and soft, making this just another gimmick lens.
Sample Images
Competition
Admittedly, I couldn’t find a competitor with similar durability claims for regular consumers. With that in mind, here are a couple of alternatives that have similar or better specs at comparable price points.
Infinix Zero 30
The Infinix Zero 30 also recently arrived in Malaysia with a price tag of only RM1,299. With that price, you get a 6.78-inch 144Hz AMOLED display with curved edges and a peak brightness of 950 nits. It runs on the more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8020 chipset with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Powering it is a smaller 5,000mAh battery but with almost twice the charging speed at 68W.
For protection, while it may not have the enhanced durability of the HONOR X9b, it still gets an IP53 dust and water resistance rating as well as Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the display. As for the cameras, it features a 108MP primary camera with OIS, something that the X9b lacks, a 13MP ultra-wide lens, a depth sensor, and a 50MP selfie snapper with autofocus.
vivo V29
The vivo V29 is a bit pricier than the HONOR X9b with a starting price of RM1,899 but it does have some notable advantages spec-wise. It has a curved 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,300 nits. Under the hood, it is equipped with the Snapdragon 778G SoC with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The rear setup has a 50MP main sensor with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a depth sensor, while the front houses a 50MP selfie shooter with autofocus. While it has an incredibly fast charging speed of 80W, it unfortunately gets a relatively small 4,600mAh battery.
Conclusion
The HONOR X9b has one thing going for it but it’s a big one. As of now, there’s no other smartphone that offers this kind of toughness in the market other than its predecessor, at least not in this form factor. Most resilient phones are bulky and look like something you’re bringing into a mine or a jungle, while this phone just looks like any other regular smartphone in 2023.
While it’s obviously not indestructible, it’s more than capable of handling the regular slips and drops of the accident-prone. The icing on the cake is that the X9b comes with 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.
Sure, it has a mediocre camera setup and it won’t get you the best mobile gaming performance, but if neither of those things is a high priority for you and you’re just looking for a reliable and affordable smartphone that’ll last for years to come with little care, then the HONOR X9b gets my approval.
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