Honor X9c smartphone review

Honor X9c Smartphone Review: Honor announced the new Honor X9c smartphone in November 2024 and it went on sale in the same month. Honor smartphones are usually available worldwide and this one is no different. It is currently available for sale in Singapore and Malaysia with more regions to follow. The Honor X9c is a modern smartphone designed for Generation Z users, so it features a curved screen, 5G connectivity, and other popular technologies.

In terms of design, this phone looks similar to other Honor phones, especially due to the curved nature of the phone and the rounded camera module at the back. It is an eye-catching design that is present in most Honor phones, and the company hopes it will impress Gen Z users. Let’s start with a detailed review of the Honor X9c smartphone and find out if it is worth buying.

Honor X9c smartphone review

Highlights

1. The Honor X9c smartphone features a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with support for a high refresh rate of 120Hz.
2. The chipset inside the Honor X9c is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 5G SoC, which is capable of clock speeds of up to 4×2.2 GHz.
3. The Honor X9c smartphone arrives with Android 14 with a MagicOS 8 UI for more customization options.
4. The Honor X9c has a 108MP dual rear camera system, while the selfie camera has a 16MP sensor.
5. The smartphone has a 6600 mAh battery with 66W wired fast charging support.

Design and display

The Honor X9c features a great design considering the price at which it was launched. Typically cheaper phones don’t focus too much on design, but that’s not the case here. This phone looks quite good due to the glossy design and matte finish of the paint. Speaking of paint, the phone is available in Titanium Purple, Titanium Black, and Jade Cyan colors.

The two Titanium colors have a shiny appearance over a matte texture, while the other color features a designer pattern. The body of the Honor X9c is made entirely of new materials, which makes it quite solid and does not break easily. In fact, Honor boasts of its strength and says that the phone has a higher resistance to breakage even if dropped from a height of up to 2m.

Aside from that, the phone is also protected by IP65 dust and splash water resistance, so it should perform well in light rain. However, you shouldn’t take a dip in the pool with this smartphone. As for the display, the phone has a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with support for a high refresh rate of 120Hz.

It is a curved AMOLED panel with support for up to one billion colors and FHD+ resolution, so it will provide an excellent visual experience. This panel can also reach a brightness of up to 4000 nits in direct sunlight, which is significantly bright and you will have no problems using it outdoors.

Memory and internal

The Honor fast with this chipset. However, it’s not as fast and other phones in the same price range offer better chipsets.

Now, let’s talk about games. The Adreno 710 GPU can run games like PUBGm, CODm, Summoners War, Black Desert Mobile, and even Genshin Impact at relatively smooth frame rates. Additionally, the smartphone is 5G ready and can offer gigabit-level download speeds and low latency during online gaming.

In terms of memory and storage, the Honor X9c is available in three configurations: 8GB+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB of RAM and internal storage. Choose your storage settings carefully, as they cannot be expanded later. There is no microSDXC card slot. The smartphone also comes with Android 14 with a MagicOS 8 UI for more customization options.

Camera

Honor has equipped the Honor X9c with a 108MP dual rear camera setup. The 108MP main camera manages to capture some decent shots with good image quality. These shots have decent levels of detail and accurate color tone. The performance of the main camera is more than decent, but the same cannot be said for the secondary camera. The second camera consists of a 5MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, which performs terribly and there is a lot of noise in shots, even in daylight. We expected more, considering that it is an Honor smartphone. Therefore, the only usable rear camera is the main camera.

The selfie camera is pretty good. It has a 16MP sensor, which is quite decent, and manages to capture selfies with fine details, high dynamic range, and adequate color tone. The faces of the subjects in the images appear quite detailed and the texture of their skin looks quite good. For video recording, the rear camera can record videos at a maximum resolution of 4K@30FPS, while the selfie camera can only record at 1080P@30FPS.

Battery and others

The Honor This long battery life is only possible through the use of a silicon carbide battery, which has the potential to maintain a higher charging capacity.

Achieving 2 or even 3 days of battery life is not surprising with this phone. However, gaming all day will drain your battery faster, so keep that in mind. The smartphone also supports 66W wired fast charging, which can fully charge the smartphone in about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Apart from that, the smartphone supports Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, an under-display fingerprint sensor, NFC, stereo speakers, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The smartphone costs $331 (Rs 27,990 in India) approximately.

Pros and cons of the Honor X9c

Detail of the specifications of the Honor X9c

Below you can see the Full specifications of Honor X9c smartphone.

Conclusion

The Honor X9c is a fantastic 5G smartphone from Honor. He has provided a great experience in many aspects. The design is quite good and looks quite striking. The body of the phone is also more resistant to scratches and breaks. It even has protection against dust and splashes of water. The display is absolutely fantastic and is the best part of the smartphone.

It can become extremely bright and provides a vivid viewing experience thanks to the curved nature of the screen. The chipset is also quite decent with excellent gaming performance. Battery life and charging speed are also quite good. Even the rear and main selfie cameras are quite good. Essentially, it offers a good experience in many aspects, but it is not without its disadvantages.

The first disadvantage is the lack of a more powerful chipset. Don’t get us wrong; The HONOR X9C’s chipset is pretty decent, but other smartphones in the same price range offer a much better chipset. The second disadvantage is the lack of decent secondary rear cameras. The third and final disadvantage is the price. This smartphone doesn’t perform anywhere near what it costs.

The design, display, battery and charging speed are fine, but the build quality, performance and camera are quite inferior compared to other phones in the same price range. Considering the price, we cannot recommend this phone at the moment. However, when the price drops, it will be a fantastic choice.

For the moment, we would rather recommend the Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus, which comes with much better build quality, camera, chipset, and more. However, it costs a little less than the HONOR X9C. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your needs and requirements.