The HONOR X9b is the successor to the famously able to withstand drops and some torture HONOR X9a 5G, which HONOR this time aims for even a tougher build to it, while retaining similar design language and outlooks to it.
For those who have not watch the unboxing and overview, I will just clip in my video as below to learn some of the HONOR X9b contents and some of the basic features
Unboxing Content
Upon unboxing will get as below
- HONOR X9b Phone
- Translucent Casing
- USB A to C cable
- SIM Ejector
- HONOR SuperCharge 35w adaptor
- USB C to 3.5mm audio jack
- 3.5mm earphone with call button
Design
The very base of the HONOR X9b design took inspiration from both jewelry and high end watches that matches with the overall outlook of the back portion of the device. Apart from it the whole device besides looking beautiful, it’s build with strength in it, what HONOR calls it All-angle Ultra Tough. This makes the HONOR X9b drop resistance up to 1.5 metre over various surfaces and compared to the predecessor HONOR X9a, this one is three times stronger including the screen also. Besides that, the phone is also IP53 certified for water and dust protection. You will notice the camera ring portion is refined with a premium metal ring design which the cutting is closer towards looking like a premium class phone, but paying lesser.
The weight of the HONOR X9b is at 185 g with a thickness of just 8mm, maintaining a good balance when holding and operating with this phone, it does not feel heavy keeping thing minimalistic while all buttons and ports placements including dual microphone, USB C ports for data and charging, SIM slot area and down firing speakers positions remain similar when compared to the HONOR X9a. If you are missing out on the audio jack, fear not, earphone and 3.5mm converter adaptor is included so you can still use any of your wired headphones.
Three colors will be offered, the Sunrise Orange Vegan Leather, Titanium Silver and Black, all which gives a smooth touch and slight glitters inspired by our skies while the Sunrise Orange looks more premium with the seamless leather back.
Display & Audio
Display wise, the HONOR x9b has a dual curved 6.78 inch AMOLED display with 431 ppi density and resolution is at 1220 x 2652 pixels. This gives a longer wider view and especially if you love watching movies (with Widevine L1 support) with long scrolling over social media platform, the aspect ratio does fit well for your all day enjoyment with good color accuracy and contrast. Besides that, the HONOR X9b carries a fast dynamic 120Hz refresh rates, 1920Hz PWM dimming and Circadian Night Display, which helps in adjusting screen color with Eye comfort mode, further relieving eye stress for those who likes to read in dimmer places. Our experience so far is great with the response rate while scrolling and reading with it, text are clear and colors are pleasing even towards the edge of the display, which some phones might go blur or faded in colors.
Audio is pretty audible but not the loudest for sure, as it only has a single down firing speaker however additional options are available when you are connected to a wired earphones or wireless headset, where HONOR Histen will provide more options for a more surround, immersive experience with your favorite headphones.
Camera
Now towards the camera, the HONOR X9b 5G has 3 rear camera, one at 108 MP with PDAF, another at 5MP ultra wide angle and lastly a 2MP macro lens. Over to the front camera, you get a 16MP lens which can capture wide angle photos too.
I am seeing the HONOR X9b camera portion as quite an improvement compared to HONOR X9a. First off, the images were sharper, and more vibrance compared to the former, even zooming in shots taken during night time is more visible and objects can be identified at least correctly. Day time wise, there is still some softness on certain colors and lesser aliasing but ignoring that, the pictures are still looking good in part HONOR implemented the falcon capture and motion sensing capture feature which was available for the HONOR Magic5 series. Should you need even more details, you can always use the Hi-Res option which you can take pictures up to 108MP resolution. All of these, you get HDR photo mode, story mode and manual pro mode. Using the selfie camera is business as usual, similar to the HONOR X9a with some noticeable improvement on sharpness.
The rear camera is able to record up to 4K at 30FPS or 1080P at 60FPS, which is a leap of improvement which is welcoming and finally the frame pacing is good there with very minimal stutters.
Performance, Software, Benchmarking
In terms of performance, it was equipped with a small yet capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Octa Core processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. While the SOC is not the most powerful among mid-range processors, it nevertheless offers superb multitasking programs flowing in and out on switching and transitions, and it can keep up with demanding apps and games. We tested it for up to 14 hours and the remaining battery capacity is still quite acceptable with the included 5800MAh battery; recharging it will take less than 100 minutes and you can continue using it with the supplied charging adaptor. With that said, it also has 5G connectivity although the slight downside is the WiFi AC is supported up to 433MBPS only.
Within the software, HONOR X9b is driven with MagicUI 7.2 with Android 13. HONOR brought in several features from the higher end models such as HONOR Share which allows wireless printing and file sharing, while HONOR muti-screen collaboration allows you to share your phone screen to your PC or Laptop, with backup is also possible by manual via USB or wirelessly via HONOR PC Manager. For those who loves to open mutiple app which consumes memory, the additional 8GB of HONOR RAM Turbo (Virtual RAM) will allow you to do more with it. There is also Game Manager which optimises your games so that it can run smoothly.
We also manage to get some of the benchmarks for this phone which I would say within our expected when it comes to performance on par with most of the mid rangers in the market today and pretty much capable for multitasking and gaming, since this is running on a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1.
Technical Specifications
| Display | 1220 x 2652 pixels, 19.9:9 ratio, 120Hz, 6.78inch, 1200nits HBM, AMOLED 1B colors |
| Rear camera | 108MP Main Camera(F1.8) PDAF 5MP Ultra Wide with Depth Camera(F2.2) 2MP Macro Camera（f2.4) |
| Front camera | 16MP (F2.45) |
| Dimension & Weight | 163.6 x 75.5 x 8 mm, 185 Grams |
| Processor | Qualcomm SM6450 Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 (4 nm) 5G |
| Graphics | Adreno 710 |
| RAM+ROM | 12GB RAM (LPDDR4X), 256 GB UFS |
| Audio | Single Speaker with HONOR Histen, USB C Audio |
| Security | In Display fingerprint sensor AI Face Unlock |
| Charging | 5,800mAh (typ) battery Supports 35W PD Charging |
| Connectivity | Dual SIM, NFC, BT 5.x, AC Wifi 5, LTE/5G |
| Available colors | Sunrise Orange Vegan Leather, Titanium Silver and Black |
Verdict & Conclusion
The HONOR X9b 5G is one solid device that defines beauty and toughness can be together in a phone that still performs adequately, with modern outlooks that is suitable on any occasion, but still giving it all it has in terms of performance with a slim body and still a good camera that produces photos that you can upload fast over social media, all out as a good productive and a travel buddy that you know it is tough all round, yet presentable everywhere you go.
Pricing & Availability
The HONOR X9b will be available as pre-order from 1st to 9th November while retail Availability will start from 10th November via Honor authorised resellers and stores at RM1499
For more information, click here to find out more about the HONOR X9b