Huawei sub-brand Honor has actually come a great distance. After exiting the market a couple of years in the past, the model has as soon as once more entered India, this time underneath a brand new guardian firm known as HTech, with the licence to fabricate and promote Huawei’s Honor smartphones in India. And since it’s technically primarily based out of India underneath a special firm, these Honor smartphones additionally pack within the typical Google companies integrations and apps. Honor’s first smartphone underneath the HTech banner was its Honor 90, which was launched as a premium system.
Quickly sufficient, this was adopted by the brand new Honor X9b, which is a mid-range smartphone. Whereas it gives a slick-looking design, an enormous battery and a seemingly succesful digital camera (on paper), Honor has additionally been harping about its ultra-bounce show tech, which is meant to supply a sure stage of shock resistance. I have been utilizing this smartphone for some time, and whereas it looks like a sensible mid-ranger, I discover it very onerous to suggest and this is why.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Worth in India
The Honor X9b is accessible with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 25,999. The telephone is obtainable in two colourways. The Midnight Black colourway gives a fundamental polycarbonate rear panel whereas the Dawn Orange colourway spices issues up with a shiny orange vegan leather-based rear panel. We obtained the Midnight Black colourway for evaluation.
The Honor X9b certain makes a superb first impression once you decide it up the primary time
Other than a transparent TPU case and documentation, Honor has even included a Sort-C to three.5mm headphone adaptor and a pair of wired earphones. There’s additionally the same old Sort-A to Sort-C USB cable for charging, however no charger within the field. We have been supplied with the 30W charger, which is accessible individually as an possibility at Rs. 699.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Design
The Honor X9b seems fairly slim and absolutely makes an impression with its curved sides. Each the polycarbonate rear panel and the show glass on the entrance curve across the edges on the left and proper sides, making it comfy to carry. The telephone weighs 185g however feels surprisingly light-weight and has a thickness of simply 7.98mm. The curved edges give it an excellent hand really feel regardless of having a thin polycarbonate body; it feels fairly sturdy when it comes to construct high quality and premium when it comes to end.
Honor additionally claims that the telephone can survive a drop of 1.5 metres, that means that its show glass mustn’t shatter underneath influence. Since this isn’t a rugged telephone (with quite a few seals and bumpers), Honor depends on its proprietary shock-absorbing cushioning materials (consists of three layers) that’s utilized to the X9b’s body, which the show’s curved edge glass panel rests on. Honor claims that the telephone can stand up to impacts not simply on gentle surfaces however even on onerous surfaces like marble. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply that it’s completely shatter-proof. It is simply that the Extremely-Bounce Anti-Drop show tech will resist shattering as much as a sure level.
The Honor X9b turns right into a smudgy and dust-ridden mess after a couple of hours of use
Given this system’s sturdiness claims, I did put it to the check. The telephone correctly survived the primary drop, which was flat on the again (rear panel) and the second, which was on one in every of its edges (the body), however a nook of the show shattered on the third drop, which was face ahead on the show. Nonetheless, the show layer under the glass display was intact, correctly useful, and labored completely high quality with no issues in any way.
Whereas it is clear that it will not survive a direct influence on the show, the polycarbonate body and rear panel barely received scratched, which is spectacular. Nokia’s XR20, which I reviewed greater than a yr in the past, is certainly a more sensible choice in case you put your telephones by way of a lot torture or plan to make use of them and not using a case.
Given its somewhat slick-looking design, I used to be a bit disenchanted that its rear panel is a mud and fingerprint magnet. To make issues worse it is nearly not possible to wipe off these fingerprints because of its matte floor. Given its mid-range price ticket, the X9b does provide an official IP53 ranking for mud and water resistance, which is kind of fundamental so far as ingress safety scores go. In truth, its closest competitor, the Realme 12 Professional, gives an IP65 certification on the identical worth level, which is loads higher.
Honor’s Extremely-Bounce show cushioning couldn’t shield its display on influence
Regardless of the IP53 ranking claims, I seen that the rubber seal across the SIM card tray comes off fairly simply when pulling or pushing the tray into the slot. That is one thing I’ve hardly ever encountered on a mid-range smartphone, so I’d not be too assured about subjecting this telephone to sprays of water.
I appreciated the design of the curved-edge 6.78-inch show. It has a skinny bezel throughout and provides the telephone a really premium look. It is a bit of a smudge magnet, however these smudges may be wiped off simply.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Specs and software program
It is a bit uncommon to see a Huawei system not powered by their very own silicon however the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC is not a nasty alternative for the informal consumer. The 4nm processor with a most clock velocity of two.2GHz was introduced in 2022, so it’s a bit dated at this time and principally changed by the sooner Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC, which is discovered on competing smartphones just like the OnePlus Nord CE4 that I lately reviewed. The telephone is provided with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and gives 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, which isn’t expandable. As for communication requirements, there’s dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC help and a USB-C port on the backside. There’s help for twin 5G standby (with two nano SIM playing cards), and the telephone additionally helps the same old international positioning methods. The telephone has an enormous 5,800mAh battery and helps 35W wired charging.
One element that hasn’t modified a lot in comparison with the older vary of Honor and Huawei units is the software program expertise. The Honor X9b gives Magic OS 7.2, which is oddly primarily based on Android 13. Honor guarantees simply two years of Android updates and three years of safety updates, however this feels a bit restricted provided that the telephone is already caught on Android 13, whereas competing smartphones provide higher.
The Honor X9b has an official IP53 ranking, however the seal across the SIM card tray got here off a number of instances
The software program is usually Huawei if in case you have used or owned a Huawei smartphone beforehand. The icons have a barely refreshed look, however the entire interface hasn’t modified a lot since Huawei waved goodbye to India a number of years in the past. With that stated, Magic OS is mainly a barely tweaked model of EMUI (however for Honor or globally offered units). In the meantime EMUI remains to be out there on handsets offered within the Chinese language market.
The 120Hz refresh fee show absolutely enhances the software program expertise, making interactions seem fairly fluid. The icons have been revamped and now provide loads of customisation choices and themes and it is effectively laid out just like the Personalisation part of OnePlus’ OxygenOS. I am additionally a fan of the Honor Sans font, and in contrast to most smartphone working methods (or skins) I’ve come throughout, this font stays constant throughout the interface (save for third-party apps that don’t help a local font), very like iOS. It is also used within the Chrome internet browser, which makes for a really constant software program expertise.
I additionally just like the swipe-up gesture over choose system icons, which show their respective playing cards (or widgets). There are additionally some minor AI-enabled options, like AI app strategies (which present up as a widget on the house display) and Magic Textual content, which helps you to pull out textual content from a screenshot, that’s helpful.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Efficiency
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 performs as anticipated, which is on par with most units at this worth level, just like the Realme 12 Professional and the OnePlus Nord CE4. Nonetheless, it does fall behind extra performance-oriented units just like the Poco X6 Professional. This mainly interprets to a clean and lag-free software program expertise and a good gaming expertise with a couple of hiccups.
The telephone scored 4,87,774 factors in AnTuTu and 939 and a pair of,763 factors in Geekbench’s single and multi-core checks, respectively. By way of graphics efficiency, the telephone managed a satisfactory 60 FPS, 31 FPS, and 16 FPS in GFXBench’s T-Rex, Manhattan 3.1, and Automobile Chase check suites, respectively.
The Magic OS software program relies on Android 13 however runs fairly easily
Firing up Name of Obligation: Cellular (CODM), the telephone didn’t provide any choices over Excessive graphics however allowed for Max body fee, which was restricted to 60 FPS throughout gameplay. With simply Excessive graphics on provide, the telephone didn’t warmth up when taking part in video games, however the 240Hz most contact sampling fee appeared too lag-ridden for fast-paced shooters like CODM. Asphalt 9: Legends labored easily at Prime quality graphics with no hiccups in any way and even provided a 60 FPS mode.
The 120Hz refresh doesn’t play an enormous half within the somewhat mid-range gaming expertise however works effectively by delivering buttery clean animations and transitions when interacting with the Magic OS software program. It will get fairly shiny outdoor, with textual content and pictures being correctly legible even underneath direct daylight. Color copy can be good, supplied you follow the pure display color mode.
Battery life is likely one of the standout options of the Honor X9b. Whereas it is spectacular sufficient to see how the engineers managed to squeeze in a big, 5,800mAh battery into such a slim body, it was positively definitely worth the effort. The telephone delivers a superb 1.5 days of battery life with heavy use. With informal use, which doesn’t contain any gaming or digital camera utilization, you’ll be able to simply get about 2 days of utilization, which is fairly spectacular.
Our normal video loop battery check managed a really spectacular 25 hours and 43 minutes, which is a bit decrease than what the OnePlus Nord CE4 pulled off in the identical check, however these are nonetheless good numbers, regardless.
Honor’s software program replace dedication contains simply 2 years of Android updates, which is not nice contemplating it’s caught on Android 13
In relation to charging, that is the place the telephone takes a little bit of successful. Charging at 30W (or the supported 35W) is comparatively fairly sluggish, given that almost all competing smartphones provide between 67-100W of wired charging. Honor additionally doesn’t bundle a charger within the field. Nonetheless, they did ship the non-obligatory 30W charger for evaluation, and it managed to cost the telephone to 37 p.c in half-hour, 62 p.c in an hour and accomplished the cost in 1 hour and 54 minutes, which is a bit too sluggish in comparison with the competitors, even when you think about the larger than typical battery capability.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Cameras
The Honor X9b gives a really fundamental digital camera setup for a mid-range system. There is a 108-megapixel major digital camera (sans OIS), a 5-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digital camera and a 2-megapixel macro digital camera. Selfies are dealt with by a 16-megapixel front-facing digital camera. In contrast to the remainder of Magic OS, the digital camera interface feels a bit clunky and unintuitive within the sense that settings or toggles you’d usually look forward to finding within the viewfinder can be buried within the digital camera settings. Nonetheless, I do just like the intuitive clicking sounds when altering digital camera modes, which give out a really basic digital camera vibe.
The first digital camera has a somewhat excessive decision and captures 12-megapixel binned pictures by default. In daylight, the photographs come out strictly okay. The resolved particulars, regardless of packing that enormous sensor, are simply satisfactory, however the digital camera typically overexposes pictures, resulting in blown-out highlights. There’s additionally a noticeable pinkish tinge in all pictures, whether or not you’re clicking landscapes, objects, or individuals.
Honor X9b daylight digital camera samples. High to backside: Extremely-wide-angle digital camera, major digital camera, 2X digital zoom (faucet to increase pictures)
Capturing with 2X digital zoom, you will get nearer to your topic, however there’s a very apparent drop in picture high quality be it textures or sharpness. General, the first digital camera is not capable of shoot or keep shot-to-shot consistency, which is a fundamental requirement for a smartphone at this worth level.
In low mild, picture high quality drops even additional when capturing in Auto mode, and the picture processing is finest described as bizarre, with barely pixelated photographs which have flattened textures. Switching to the devoted Evening mode helps by a big margin, leading to first rate pictures with outlined edges round objects, nevertheless it’s removed from what the competitors is able to.
Selfies captured in broad daylight in Portrait mode present blown-out backgrounds (faucet picture to increase)
Selfies captured in Auto mode have first rate element and good dynamic vary, guaranteeing that each the topic and background are effectively uncovered. Change to Portrait mode, and issues go for toss with common edge detection and blown-out backgrounds, making photographs captured in shiny daylight unusable. Selfies captured in low mild are simply okay, supplied you turn on the on-screen flash, with loads of over sharpening and noise suppression together with the same old blown-out highlights in Portrait mode.
Honor X9b low mild digital camera samples. High: Main digital camera (auto mode) backside: Main digital camera (Evening mode) (faucet pictures to increase)
The ultra-wide digital camera is a bit under common, sporting a paltry 5-megapixel decision. The outcomes communicate for themselves, exhibiting barely overexposed pictures with loads of purple fringing. The textures on objects additionally appear as if oil work and have little or no definition. Low-light pictures seem gentle and principally blurry.
The two-megapixel macro digital camera, as anticipated, does a satisfactory job of snapping macro photographs. Whereas it does allow you to get nearer to topics, one can get higher outcomes by cropping pictures captured by the first digital camera.
4K 30fps video recordings come out fairly shaky whereas strolling and in addition when panning whereas stationary. Publicity and element are first rate, so the footage is usable, supplied you’ll be able to deal with the digital camera shake, which appears unavoidable at this capturing decision. Capturing video at 1080p 30fps has significantly better outcomes and higher stabilisation nevertheless, it tends to overexpose ceaselessly when capturing in daylight. In low mild, recording at 4K reveals the very best outcomes however with loads of noise.
Honor X9b Evaluate: Verdict
Whereas the mid-range Honor X9b (priced at Rs. 25,999) remains to be fairly sensible when it comes to battery life, the premium Honor 90 (First Impressions) presently retails at a severely discounted worth of Rs. 27,999, making the X9b redundant because it gives significantly better worth general.
However even when in comparison with the competitors, the Honor X9b fails to carry its floor regardless of its ultra-bounce show know-how. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 (Evaluate) (Rs. 24,999 onwards) gives equally spectacular efficiency with battery life, but in addition a greater software program expertise, and comparatively higher cameras together with super-fast 100W wired charging. The Poco X6 Professional (Evaluate) (Rs. 25,999 onwards) additionally has a significantly better efficiency for the gaming viewers. There’s additionally the Nothing Telephone 2A (Evaluate) (Rs. 23,999 onwards), which gives good efficiency, a standout design and a bloatware-free software program expertise. And if you’re prepared to spend a couple of thousand extra, there’s the Realme 12 Professional+ (Evaluate) (Rs. 29,999 onwards), which gives far superior digital camera efficiency and telephoto functionality together with a novel design and an IP65 ranking. And so, with better-performing smartphones within the mid-range, it is actually onerous to suggest the Honor X9b.
