The Honor X9 5G Is a Finances-Busting Smartphone to Swimsuit Any Pockets

Honor is absolutely turning into a tour de drive, having set out by itself again in November 2020, following its cut up from Huawei. Going it alone in a saturated smartphone market is not an easy job, however Honor has made large leaps towards greatness for the reason that breakup, with 2022 proving a optimistic 12 months for the model, to this point.

The Honor X9 5G (considerably confusingly additionally known as the Magic4 Lite 5G in some territories) is the newest within the model’s line of reasonably priced smartphones, however that does not imply it scrimps on premium really feel. In reality, it boasts some actual meat that you simply’d usually solely affiliate with a costlier handset. You may seize yours now at a very wallet-friendly $250-ish, from the HiHonor retailer.

Eager to seek out out extra about Honor’s budget-busting beast? Learn on…

What’s within the Field?

If you crack the lid in your new smartphone field, you may discover:

• Honor X9 5G smartphone
• USB Sort-C to USB Sort-A charging cable
• Charger
• SIM key
• Gadget literature and fast begin information

So, just about every little thing you’d anticipate finding in a smartphone field.

Nice Wanting Finances {Hardware}

Popping the telephone out of its field, I’ve to confess it stunned me how fairly the gadget is. Ours is the Ocean Blue variant, though it is available in two different hues as properly; Titanium Silver and Midnight Black. The Ocean Blue colorway is absolutely eye-catching, and flipping the telephone over reveals a high-luster rear face, with a lovely metallic blue chrome end. It’s this that offers the telephone a premium look and hand really feel, though it’s a plastic chassis.

You will additionally discover the massive digital camera array up again, which is all collected collectively in what Honor is asking the “Eye of Muse” (you may learn extra about Eye of Muse right here).

The entrance of the telephone fairly clearly options the 6.81-inch IPS LCD show working at a most 120Hz refresh price. On the high, within the heart, you may see the punch-hole selfie digital camera. The display screen additionally comes with a protecting movie, which Honor has kindly utilized for you. No annoying mid-screen air bubbles post-application for you, new X9 5G consumer!

The underside edge carries the USB Sort-C charging port, the loudspeaker grille, the microphone pinhole, and the dual-SIM tray.

On the correct edge, you may discover the amount rocker and the facility button. This energy button additionally doubles up because the fingerprint sensor for unlocking the gadget. The highest edge additionally has a loudspeaker grille.

So, when it comes to look, that’s it. What you have to be aware of right here is that that is Honor’s finances handset, so when you’re anticipating premium glass rear faces and under-screen fingerprint sensors, you may have to look elsewhere, sadly. However, for $260, the telephone appears to be like very nice.

Some Stunning Specs

So, you understand the telephone appears to be like good, however what about specs? Properly, whereas there are options right here that you simply’d anticipate from most finances handsets, the X9 5G has lots to shout about, which put it on par with equally priced handsets like Xiaomi’s Redmi Be aware 11T Professional.

We’ll begin with the OS, as that is prone to increase an eyebrow or two. The telephone ships with Android 11, overlaid with Honor’s proprietary MagicUI 4.2. Provided that we are actually on Android 12, with Android 13 properly on the way in which, we may forgive you when you really feel it is a little bit of a step again. Nevertheless, Honor guarantees consumers it can launch an Android 12 replace for the X9 5G. We simply don’t have any date for that but. As quickly as Honor updates us, we’ll let you understand.

Powering the X9 5G is a Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6-nanometer) chipset. The CPU is an octa-core processor, comprising two 2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold, and 6 1.8 GHz Kryo 660 Silver. The GPU is a 2020 Adreno 619. By way of storage and reminiscence, the handset is available in two acquainted flavors; 128GB or 256GB storage, every with 8GB RAM. We’re testing the 256 GB model.

Onto the digital camera, and we have a 48MP wide-angle foremost sensor, backed up with a 2MP macro sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. By way of video, you may shoot 1080p@30FPS, which is okay for the informal smartphone consumer. The selfie digital camera is a decent 16MP sensor, and you may shoot at 1080p@30FPS from the entrance digital camera, too.

For the battery, you are a lithium polymer 4800mAh tank, and that is one space by which the X9 5G performs notably properly; we’ll come onto that later.

In all, for such a reasonable handset, the Honor X9 5G fares properly in opposition to equally priced gadgets.

Efficiency: Surprisingly Good for Gaming

Now we all know what the telephone is able to, we have to see if it lives as much as these specs.

I’ll begin with the battery, as this impressed me whereas I used to be utilizing the handset as my day by day driver throughout testing. The battery is 4800mAh, which is a little bit decrease than the Xiaomi comparability I made earlier (5080mAh). Nevertheless, I discovered I received as much as two days out of the battery, even with pretty common use throughout quite a lot of apps, together with testing with cell video games, media streaming, and web use.

Not solely that, however you additionally get 66W quick charging, which in my skilled took simply 40 minutes to full. That is actually neat, and it’s nice to see Honor using comparable charging tech within the X9 5G because it does within the Professional model of the Magic4 (which is able to lightning-fast 100W charging, wired and wi-fi). It’s all the time good to know you solely have to blast your telephone with electrical energy for 40 minutes to get a full cost from 0% battery.

So as to add extra benefits to the gadget’s battery, you additionally get OTG (on the go) reverse-charging, which means if you end up in a decent spot with one other gadget, you may cost it from the X9 5G.

Onto the display screen. You’ve got received a powerful 120Hz refresh price right here, which is fairly excellent on condition that this is not a gaming telephone. Additionally it is sized show, at 6.81 inches, at round 385 PPI when it comes to pixel density. It’s an LCD display screen, so when you’re in search of the deep blacks and super-accurate colours that an OLED supplies, then you definitely’ll have to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, at this value level, you are all the time going to should make a compromise with the display screen in some respect.

Although the LCD display screen makes use of a backlight, that is seemingly at little price to the battery. A bonus you even have right here is LCD screens aren’t topic to paint degradation in the identical approach an OLED display screen is; do not forget, an OLED display screen makes use of natural compounds to create the show. These break down over time, which means that the OLED display screen will lose colour accuracy the longer you utilize it.

The display screen can also be nice when it comes to gesture navigation. I discovered it conscious of swipes, knocks, and presses, and I did not encounter any enter points in any respect throughout testing. Cheaper smartphones could be a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to responsiveness, however I can report that the X9 5G would not wrestle in any respect right here.

In sensible use, I discovered the display screen did a fantastic job of displaying Netflix films (however did wrestle with darker scenes) and, because of that 120Hz refresh price, video games seemed smoother than butter.

At no level throughout testing did I discover the telephone battling apps, together with with a number of apps open and working within the background. The telephone did not lag or stutter once I was utilizing a number of apps and scrolling by way of the app drawer to open extra, both. So, the telephone is succesful sufficient on the subject of working a number of on a regular basis duties without delay.

Graphically, the telephone coped properly with my Genshin Influence testing, which I exploit as a benchmark for gaming on all smartphones that I take a look at. This recreation can put your smartphone’s chip by way of the wringer, however I discovered that the X9 5G coped properly with it.

Images

I discovered the digital camera to be a little bit hit-and-miss, sadly. It really works fantastic in a well-lit or outside setting, nevertheless it actually struggles in decrease gentle, which means photographs tackle that grainy look when you’re attempting to take pics within the night or in a darkish room. The photographs above present the digital camera’s efficiency in daylight with the principle and macro lenses. As you may see, these are completely satisfactory smartphone snaps.

Above you may see the efficiency in low gentle. The darker picture is taken with the X9 5G. For comparability, I took a really comparable shot with precisely the identical lighting, utilizing my Honor Magic4 Professional. As you may see, the outcomes differ, with the X9 shedding a number of element in low gentle. Remember that it is a finances telephone, so you may’t anticipate the digital camera high quality a $1,000+ flagship handset carries. For those who’re in search of that, I heartily advocate the Professional model of this handset (assessment to comply with).

With all that in thoughts, when you’re in search of a reasonable smartphone you can even play cell video games on, then the X9 5G ought to be a consideration, particularly after we recall that glorious battery life and quick charging means. Once more, this additionally represents a superb possibility for the informal smartphone consumer; you may discover that the gadget serves your wants higher than lots of its rivals.

Recommending the Honor X9 5G

The X9 5G is a superb telephone for anybody on a finances. It packs some nice options, together with 66W quick charging, a easy show, and unimaginable battery life. Throw 5G connectivity into the combination and you have got your self an outstanding handset at this value level, even whether it is working barely dated software program—that may all the time be up to date and we’re positive that replace will arrive quickly. A worthy winner of a coveted MUO Finances Smartphone Award.