Honor X9b review: Almost a perfect midranger!

Honor recently made a comeback in the Nepali market with the Honor 90 5G and Honor 30 Lite. And you might have already noticed the hot and happening phone with the strongest display; the Honor X9B. Powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, 108MP camera, and 5800mah battery, is it the phone to beat in the midrange segment??? Or is it a phone to break??? I’ll let you know in my Honor X9b review. Before heading forward, let's have a look at the specs of the Honor X9b.

Honor X9b Specifications:

• Display: 6.78-inches curved AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color depth
• Resolution: Full HD+ (1200 x 2652 pixels), 19:9:9
• Chipset: Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 (4nm Mobile platform)
• GPU: Adreno A710
• Memory: 12GB RAM, 256GB internal storage
• Software & UI: MagicOS 7.2 based on Android 13
• Rear Camera: Triple; – 108MP primary – 5MP ultrawide – 2MP macro
• Front Camera: 16MP (punch-hole cutout)
• Security: Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
• Battery: 5,800mAh, 35 wired charging
• Colors: Sunrise Orange(Vegan leather), Midnight Black, Emerald Green
• Price in Nepal: Rs. 43,999 (12/256GB)
• Buy Honor X9b here (Get exciting offers)

Honor X9b Review:

The toughest build

• Dimensions: 163.6 x 75.5 x 8 mm
• Weight: 185g
• IP Rating: IP53, dust and splash resistant

First and foremost, the Honor X9b’s main USP is none other than its build. You might have already seen the hype going around this phone with people bashing walnuts, dropping them from heights, and so on! Well, we also did some rigorous tests on this guy, and to no one’s surprise, the Honor X9b did manage to survive, that too with no major scratches. Why is this phone so strong? Okay, the answer lies in the 360-degree Anti-drop protection. Honor has implemented multiple layers of protection to make this guy sturdy as heck. Which also makes it the 1st smartphone display to get crowned by the five-star overall drop resistance certifications from Switzerland’s SGS. So, the build and display protection is just top-notch. Arguably the toughest for the time being!

Superb display quality

• Screen: 6.78-inch AMOLED, 120Hz, 1200 nits (peak)
• Resolution: 1220 x 2652 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~431 ppi density)
• Protection: 360-degree Anti-drop protection

Okay, what about the actual display quality? Apart from the super tough build, this 6.78-inch AMOLED panel is definitely one of the best in the segment. Period! No, it doesn’t boast any sort of HDR 10+ or Dolby Vision certifications, but, it supports 1920Hz PWM dimming for flicker flicker-free experience. Pair that with Dynamic Dimming to reduce eye fatigue and Cicardian night tech for better sleep quality. On top of that, it also filters out the harmful blue light from the hardware level. So many goodies for a midrange phone right? Wait there is one more! The sunlight readability is just too good, I mean really really good. I compared it to the OnePlus 12R and Honor X9b’s display is a tat bit better.

An almost perfect multimedia experience

I was awestruck with its visual quality on my day-to-day usage period too. This 1.5K res display is super sharp and crisp. Everything feels pleasing here– be it scrolling through social media, or watching reels or series. This makes iit almost a perfect companion for multimedia usage, if only the device boasted a dual stereo speaker setup. Yeah, Honor has gone for a single-speaker setup, just like it did with the Honor 90 5G. The mono speaker here is clear and loud, but I really yearn for a dual one in this price point. Besides that, the 120Hz refresh rate is super smooth and it adjusts dynamically as per the content on the screen, dialing it down up to 60Hz. Overall, the Honor X9b’s display deserves all the crowns with its top-notch protection and quality.

Snapdragon 6 Gen 1

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 (4nm)
• CPU: Octa-core (4×2.2GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×1.8GHz Cortex-A55)
• GPU: Adreno 710

Ticking the two boxes green, let’s move to the performance side of things now! Under the hood, this phone packs a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 5G chipset. Well, this SoC is not a new one, actually, it was released back in September 2022. But as brands opted for MediaTek’s Dimensity chips for the midrange portfolio, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 had to wait until 2023 to get some limelight. To note, the recently launched Realme 12 Pro also boasts the same chip. Okay so, talking of the core architecture, you get four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.2GHz and four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores clocking at 1.8GHz. Even the newer Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip is based on the same architecture with slightly boosted clock speeds.

Benchmarks and Gaming

And the real-life performance of this midrange chip is actually good. Have a look at the benchmark yourself, the SD 6 Gen 1 scores impressively for a mid-ranger on both Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu V10. I did some gaming tests too and it performed well. Battle Royale games like PUBG or BGMI, and Call of Duty Mobile run pretty smoothly. You can even go up to HDR + Extreme settings on PUBG and I got an average 59 fps score. Likewise, 55fps on Genshin impact on low settings is also good.’ But one thing to mention, this device cannot run high 120 fps games, capping the refresh rate at 60fps max. And I guess, it’s a restriction from the company itself. Maybe a future update can fix this?

What about the UI?

• OS: MagicOS 7.2
• Android Version: Android 13

Besides gaming, it caters to all my daily chores like texting, scrolling infinite reels, media watching and so, on with ease. What’s even better is the UI here. The phone is powered by MagicOS 7.2 built on top of Android 13. I know, I know, Honor should have booted the phone with Android 14 out of the box but after using the UI for over two weeks, there is no specific thing to complain about! I mean, the animations here are super smooth, like really smooth! Instead of speaking into words, let me show you a quick showdown of the MagicUI’s animations. Not only the animations, but the entire UI feels great. You get all the necessary customization options and some normal AI features such as; Magic Text which allows you to copy text from images, just like Google Lens. And then there is AI app suggestion, which recommends apps based on user habits. But Honor has not been verbal with the software update policy for the X9b. If we look at the latest upgrade policy on Honor’s site, the X9b is expected to receive two major Android updates (up to Android 15) and up to 4 years of security patches. This is not that great, as every brand has commenced providing at least 3 years of OS updates. So, Honor needs to work on this!

A sizeable 5,800mAh battery but..

Moving on, I have to give it a thumbs-up for the battery. Cause’ Honor has managed to fit in a sizeable 5,800mAh cell inside such a slim body. Not just the bigger size, it is DXOMARK Gold Battery Lable certified as well. Making the company confident in the 3-year Anti-aging guarantee, claiming 80% battery health even after 1000 charging cycles. On my usage period, the phone is good to go for a day with moderate usage, providing 8-9 hours of Screen on Time. Apparently, it is claimed to last for 3 days but, I would say, that would only happen if you are a light user. Honor is not shipping a charger in the retail unit box but for a limited period, you can get a 35W charger for free. And it takes more than two hours to top it off from 0-100% from the official charger.

Finally the optics

• Rear Camera
  • 108MP, f/1.8, 1/1.67″, PDAF
  • 5MP, f/2.2 (ultrawide)
  • 2MP, f/2.4 (macro)

Okay so, other aspects are going pretty strong in this Honor X9b review, what about the final one– the camera? Umm.. and it’s where I have mixed feelings. Not that the setup is not fine! You get a 108MP main camera (with no OIS), an 8MP Ultrawide unit, and a 2MP macro sensor. I compared it to the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G’s  (200MP + 8MP + 2MP) camera. And here’s what I have found!

Daylight

Both phone’s main cameras capture images with good details. I found the X9b’s tone to be a bit on the cooler side with slightly reddish tints. While on the other hand, Redmi’s output is super contrasty, a bit on the saturated side. Which makes it look super nice! My main concern is about the Honor X9b’s struggles in controlling highlights. It tends to brighten up the output from every angle and as a result, it doesn’t look appealing. Here, I’d lean over Redmi’s outputs. So, Honor still needs to work on the optimizations side.

In-sensor Zoom

As both are big sensors, you get in-sensor zooming capabilities– 3X on Honor and 4X on Redmi. The results are okay from both phones, but there is a bit of artificial sharpening going around on the X9b. Plus the further zooming capability of Redmi, takes an edge over Honor, once again, this time, by a slight margin.

Portraits

In terms of portraits, the Honor X9b lets you shoot 2X portrait images while the Note 13 Pro 5G is stuck at 1X. Comparing side by side, I found Honor’s outputs to be on the pinkish side and it’s a warmer yellowish shade on the Redmi’s. But here again, Redmi’s contrast looks a bit nicer while Honor produces brightened-up results. Either way, I cannot say Honor’s portraits are bad or Redmi’s are better here. Maybe future updates can make it better.

Selfies

• Front Camera
  • Single 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide)

Alright, talking of the selfies, the color tones get a shift. Here, you get a warmer yellow tone on Honor and a pinkish tone on Redmi. What remains consistent on the X9b’s is the skin tone brightening issue, which blows out your skin tone.

Ultrawide

Moving to the ultrawide camera, I cannot help myself ranting! I mean the main camera got bumped to 108MP from 64MP of the Honor X9a. While the 5MP Ultrawide camera is here to stay. And as expected, the outputs look below average, with no details and quality. I wouldn't say that Redmi’s 8MP UW camera is the best in the segment, but it performs a lot better than Honor’s here.

And the videos...

Lastly, speaking of the videos, both phones can do 4K 30fps. I would say the footage looks just average with slight exposure issues here and there on the X9b. The Note 13 Pro’s outputs are better on the other hand. Also, Honor doesn't boast any sort of stabilization either on 4K or on the 1080p mode. Plus there is a time limitation on shooting 4K videos–   yes, you can do it for 10 minutes only! Which is pretty weird in 2024.

Honor X9b Review: Conclusion

Okay wrapping the Honor X9b review up, I found the Honor X9b to be a solid phone with super solid display protection and build. It ticks almost every box of the 5 pillars I mentioned at the beginning, except for the camera part. Well, I would not term it the worst camera phone in the segment, but it surely needs some optimization in both the photo and video department. Apart from that, the display is super sharp with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon 6 gen 1 is a good performer for the price and the MagicUI is a refined OS, although stuck on Android 13 for now. So, if you are looking for a phone with a really strong display, a good UI, and overall performance but can live with an average camera, the Honor X9b is a no-brainer choice! It is almost a perfect mid-ranger.

Honor X9b Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Super strong display protection
• Sharp 1.5K res panel with 120Hz refresh rate
• Fluid MagicOS
• Good performance from SD 6 Gen 1

Cons

• Average Camera with no OIS/EIS
• Battery doesn't last 3 days as stated
• Still stuck on Android 13
• Single speaker setup