Honor X9c Review – Honor’s Toughest Workhorse Phone Series Upgraded

The successor to last year’s X9b 5G tough phone, the new Honor X9c 5G builds on the strengths of its predecessor – its incredible durability – and then dials it up a notch for 2024 while retaining 5G connectivity and even adding in a smattering of Magic AI capabilities from their higher end Magic V3 too.

They’ve graciously loaned us a review sample for field testing. Here’s our Honor X9c review where we share if its added durability is worth your money.

Honor X9c review – Build and Design

In terms of build and design, our Honor X9c review sample bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor the Honor X9b and has a similar width and identical 8mm thickness but is slightly shorter while still retaining the same display size on account of slimmer bezels while being slightly heavier by 4g at 189g.

While it has a similar rounded camera housing on the rear, closer inspection reveals that the cameras are all clustered around the inner portion of the camera itself whereas its predecessor spaced them out around the cardinal points of the camera housing. 

Another key difference is that the front has a pill-shaped cutout for the 16MP selfie camera rather than the punch hole in the X9b. Bar these aesthetics and a new array of colourways, it has similar ergonomics to its predecessor along with the addition of stereo speakers on the top and bottom of the phone that can offer up to 300% more sound along with a much larger, faster charging 6,600mAh silicon-carbide battery for greater endurance in the field.

This time around, the Honor X9c has significant improvements to its ability to resist damage on account of a number of features in its manufacture to give a quoted 166% improvement to its durability including the demonstrated ability to shrug off up to 2m impacts from almost all angles to tiles, marble, cobblestone, asphalt and generally anything you’d find around the home or office.

This enables the Honor X9c to survive a drop from chest height for the average adult which is the most likely scenario when in use. Its predecessor was only rated for drops up to 1.6m which makes it a noticeable improvement.

The display itself has also been toughened as well to better withstand impacts and scratches. The interior has also been specially designed with a series of micro-level gaps in the interior to absorb and disperse impact damage while also featuring special shock absorbing materials to ensure that vital hardware remains intact and isn’t shaken loose in a fall. 

Rather than being made of glass or metal, the backplate is made of a damage resistant polycarbonate laminate that has a metallic reflective finish, with our Honor X9c review sample coming in a shade of Titanium Purple though it can also be acquired in Jade Cyan as well as Titanium Black. To be clear, the phone does not utilise any titanium in its manufacture. 

On top of making it drop and scratch resistant, Honor has also made the X9c water resistant by introducing three consecutive layers of protective waterproofing for critical components to earn an IP65M rating.

While IP65 phones are relatively common, the addition of the M suffix for the Honor X9c means that it has 360-degree water jet resistance and can survive immersion for 5 minutes in up to 25cm of water. While it is extremely unlikely to encounter such challenges in day to day living, this added durability is welcome especially for the butter fingered.

In fact, the Honor X9c is officially rated as the industry’s first 5-star Comprehensive Reliability Certified by SGS phone for protection against drops, water ingress and scratch resistance. In an early preview, Honor demonstrated all these qualities and more on the phone which were impressive. You can check out our TikTok video here to see the phone in action surviving impressive endurance tasks.

 

@hitechcentury We tested the new HONOR X9c 5G – their toughest phone yet in an insane gauntlet of pain that includes being used as a hammer, surviving 2M drops, immersion in hot water and even a water blaster! Will it survive? #honorx9c #HitechCentury #tech #fyp #learnontiktok #techtok #malaysia @honorglobal @honormalaysia ♬ Rock and Roll Session – Canal Records JP

Honor has also put their money where their mouth is and has integrated a triple defence policy. The Honor X9c has a 365-day front and back crack replacement policy in the unlikely event the display or backplate cracks, a 180-day one-to-one replacement policy for units purchased by 15 December 2024 and a 36-month battery assurance policy which swaps the battery out if battery health dips below expected levels within 3 years.

These guarantees are impressive, more so for the fact that these warranties are on a midrange phone which adds significant survivability and peace of mind for potential owners. You can check out our prior feature on Honor’s durability upgrades for the X9c here.

On top of the triple defence policy, our Honor X9c review sample ships with a generous assortment of extra kit including a 66W UK-style wired charger, a USB-C cable, a soft TPU casing, a SIM eject pin and, strangely, a pre-applied screen protector.

Honor X9c Review – Performance and Benchmarks

While the majority of upgrades are primarily towards enhancing its endurance and durability, the Honor X9c instead plays it safe when it comes to its specifications with proven hardware.

Under the hood, our Honor X9c review sample comes with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the very same used in the prior Honor X9b. This is paired with 12GB RAM and either 512GB or, in the case of our review unit 256GB UFS 3.1 storage.

The Honor X9c also runs the latest Android 14 with Magic OS 8.0 overlaying it with the ability to add up to 12GB of additional virtual RAM off the onboard storage. According to Honor Malaysia, the X9c will have 2 years of OS and 3 years of security updates. Here’s a summary of its specifications:

Price	RM1,499 (256GB) RM1,699 (512GB)
Display	.78-inch curved OLED 1.5K, 2,700 x 1,224 pixels resolution, 4,000 nits peak brightness, 120Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3, 3,840Hz PWM dimming, Circadian night technology
Processor	Snapdragon 6 Gen 1
OS	Android 14 w/ Magic OS 8.0
Memory	12GB RAM / 256GB (review unit) or 512GB UFS 3.1 storage
Camera	108MP F/1.75 Ultra Sensing with OIS + 5MP F/2.2 ultra wide camera [rear] / 16MP [front]
Battery	6,600mAh w/ 66W Honor SuperCharge
Size/Weight	162.8 x 75.5 x 7.98mm /189g

Here’s how our Honor X9c review unit performs in synthetic benchmarks:

3D Mark Steel Nomad Light	200
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light Unlimited	199
3D Mark Wildlife Extreme	612
3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Unlimited	606
Geekbench 6 Single Core	937
Geekbench 6 Multi Core	2,770
Geekbench 6 OpenCL	1,330
Geekbench 6 Vulkan	1,662
PCMark Work 3.0	12,747
PC Mark Battery Life	15 hours 19 mins

In terms of overall performance, our Honor X9c review unit has similar benchmarks to its predecessor the X9b seeing as it has the same processor. You’ll get a solid chipset for day to day use and the generous amount of 12GB of physical RAM and 12GB virtual RAM makes multitasking and swapping between apps a seamless affair.

Gaming isn’t a problem and it will comfortably handle Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG on default settings without too much issue and Genshin Impact on low settings.

Where the Honor X9c gets the edge is that they’ve added several Magic AI features into the firmware culled from the Magic V3 foldable. Among the additions to the camera interface is the provision of AI Motion Sensing that enables the camera to capture crisp action shots and AI Eraser to selectively delete unwanted parts of a phone. 

Additional Magic AI features include Magic Capsule, Magic Portal to transfer and paste text and images across to compatible apps and Parallel Space to create a partitioned instance of their phone so that two copies of an app can run independently of each other for privacy or security reasons.

Of note is the Honor X9c’s improved display that is not only tougher than its predecessor but brighter too at 4,000 nits peak brightness whereas the older X9b maxed out at 1,200 nits. Under direct noonday sunlight, our Honor X9c review unit offered good legibility and clarity with the brightness maxed out. Colour rendition is excellent as well with lifelike hues and pin-sharp text. 

The accompanying stereo speakers which are a new addition to the series and which address one of the biggest shortcoming of its predecessor the X9b offer impressive volumes when fully maxed out to its 300% volume mode and are effective if you aim to share your tastes in music to everyone within a dozen paces. 

For the most part, the stereo speakers work a treat for casual listening to Spotify or movie watching. Our Honor X9c review unit when dialled up was loud enough to be heard all the way across a busy eatery which is quite a feat.

On paper, the Honor X9b has a larger 6,600mAh battery with faster 66W charging and comfortably enjoys three days of average use though this is tempered by the fact that the phone now has a potentially brighter screen which in turn drains more battery life on paper.

While our battery life benchmarks actually had slightly less endurance by a few minutes, it’s nonetheless a substantial 15 hours and 19 minutes which is a feat that still handily beats many other phones in the market. 

While the hardware is a bit long in the tooth, the brighter and tougher display, additional RAM, stereo speakers and larger battery more than make up for it and addresses the shortcomings of its predecessor, making it an even better general purpose workhorse than ever before.

Honor X9c Review – Cameras

In terms of imaging hardware, our Honor X9c review unit sports a mostly similar setup as the prior X9b which consists of a primary 108MP F/1.8 main camera though it now has optical image stabilisation (OIS).

The secondary 5MP F/2.2 ultra wide angle camera is otherwise the same as its predecessor along with the elimination of the rarely used 2MP macro camera in the X9b. The front 16MP F/2.6 selfie camera is identical to the X9b.

This setup enables the rear dual camera to offer up to 2x and 3x lossless zoom as well as up to 10x digital zoom for stills and up to 8x zoom for videos.  For videos, the rear camera offers up to 4K@30fps or a more practical 1080p@60fps. The front 16MP camera understandably lacks zoom and has up to 1080p@30fps video capture. 

In daylight conditions, our Honor X9c review unit delivers similar results to its predecessor for stills out to 3x zoom with good colour rendition and detail.

At 10x zoom, shots tend to look a bit soft which is more apparent in dim light. If you stick to 1x, 2x and 3x zoom, you’ll yield very usable shots. The provision of OIS improves low light shots for the main 108MP camera which require longer exposure times in dim light conditions, allowing for steadier, better shots. 

Unfortunately the ultra wide camera still has similar shortcomings as it’s effectively the same sensor as that used on the prior X9b and tends to overcompensate light sources when using it in dim light conditions. There’s no modifications to the front 16MP camera and it does the job for the odd selfie or two or for video calls on Zoom and the like.

@hitechcentury We test the new Honor X9c 5G rear cameras in low light near the scenic KLCC twin towers! #klcc #fyp #hitechcentury #learnontiktok #malaysia #techtok #honorx9c @honormalaysia ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim

Where the Honor X9c gets a substantial leg up is its options AI Motion Sensing setting that toggles the camera so that it can intelligently capture action shots like someone running without relying on mere human reflexes. The AI Eraser feature is also a welcome addition, especially on a midrange phone that allows you to selectively delete unwanted parts of a shot like background passerby and whatnot.

In general, the Honor X9c is a competent shooter for its price range and tackles most day to day scenarios well with the provision of OIS ensuring sharper shots especially in more challenging lighting conditions with the AI Motion Sensing and AI Eraser offering more creative options.

Should you buy the Honor X9c?

The Honor X9c brings a number of welcome upgrades including a brighter display, a larger battery, a number of AI features and OIS for the rear camera in a substantially tougher casing that is markedly more durable than almost anything else in the market. It also ships with a free charger and casing which adds quite a bit of value to the phone. 

Bar the middling two years of OS and 3 years of security updates, the Honor X9c is an otherwise excellent workhorse phone that comes highly recommended especially for the accident prone and butter fingered.

Honor X9c review unit courtesy of Honor Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.honor.com/my/shop/new-launch/#gifts