HONOR X9d Review: The Smartphone with the Greatest Durability!

HONOR has just released the brand new addition to their HONOR X Series, with the HONOR X9d smartphone! This new smartphone comes with many incredible features, some of which are the industry’s FIRST ever in a smartphone, and it showcases incredible durability in order to dominate the field. In this review article, we’ll be taking a closer look at this device, and addressing the phone’s overall design, display, camera, AI features, performance as well as battery life in order to showcase why to get this phone, especially for those looking for greater durability.

Design

The new HONOR X9d features a luxurious design, giving users the opportunity to have a smartphone with a premium look at an affordable price. In addition to this, the X9d also features a flat screen display and not a curved screen due to popular demand, but at the same time, this also helps to enhance the durability of the device while also ensuring a comfortable grip for users.

The X9d comes with a 7.76mm thickness while also weighing around 193 grams, which helps to complement the lightweight and sleek design that the smartphone has. 

Though the phone isn't just a premium design, it is also extremely durable and was even awarded with the SGS Triple-Resistant Certification, and they are also the first smartphone to receive this certification. 

This was shown as the device comes with an Ultra Deep Tempered Glass, equipped with the Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2, which delivers superior resistance against knocks, scratches, and accidental drops. 

And it doesn’t just have protection externally as it also comes with an aerospace-grade Non-Newtonian Fluid to help shield internal components from sustaining any damages. As a result of these new improvements, the HONOR X9d is 25% tougher than its predecessor.

Furthermore, the HONOR X9d also sets a brand new benchmark as it’s the industry’s first device to feature IP69K water and dust resistance. This rating not only suggests that the device has complete dust-tightness, but it is also able to withstand high-pressure and high-temperature water jets.

In addition, the device also comes with an intelligent drainage and dust removal system built into the ports, ensuring long-term performance and reliability even after exposure to challenging environments. This feature is very helpful, especially if there’s a situation where water or dust enters the phone.

Display

The HONOR X9d comes with a 6.79-inch display with a 1.5K Ultra Clear Resolution, delivering crisp detail and exceptional clarity whether you’re streaming videos or gaming. And this is paired nicely with its 120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate, the device ensures smooth visuals and responsive scrolling, giving users an immersive experience when browsing through social media or even gaming.

Also, the device also comes with an incredible peak brightness of 6000 nits, and this makes it so that users will be able to have clear and vivid viewing even when they’re outside under the direct sunlight. In addition to this, with its Super Dynamic Vivid Display, the X9d will bring lifelike colors and contrast to create an incredible visual experience.

That’s not all, as HONOR also ensures the safety and comfort of their users’ eyes and thus the HONOR X9d comes with various protective technologies to help reduce the strain in your eyes. With the HONOR Eye Comfort Display, it helps to reduce any discomfort during extended use, providing various features such as the AI Circadian Night Display and AI Defocus Display to help ease your eyes.

Camera

When looking at the camera features for the HONOR X9d, it comes equipped with a powerful 108MP OIS Ultra-Clear AI Camera, enabling users to capture photos with exceptional detail and clarity. With the support of Optical Image Stabilisation and AI enhancements, the device ensures sharper images even during low-light conditions.

On top of that, the HONOR X9d also introduces an innovative Underwater Photo Mode, allowing users to take high-quality shots even when submerged. This makes it an ideal companion for adventurous moments, ensuring that every memory can be preserved with vivid detail both on land and underwater.

In addition to this, the HONOR X9d also features AI Imaging, the first time for the X Series, and it will allow users to be able to edit, enhance and improve their images in quick steps, making sure that it feels right for you.

AI Eraser

The AI Eraser feature lets users remove unwanted people or objects from photos with ease, while intelligently restoring the background. This ensures that every shot remains polished and ready to share on social media.

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AI Eyes Open

The HONOR X9d also introduces the AI Eyes Open feature, designed to make group photos and portraits more natural and flawless. So, if your picture ever has either you or your friends with their eyes closed, there’s no need for any retakes, as you can use this feature to fix that mistake!

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AI Remove Reflection

The AI Remove Reflection feature is especially handy for photos taken through windows or other glass surfaces, as it intelligently detects and removes reflections to deliver clearer, distraction-free images.

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AI Cutout

With the AI Cutout feature, it allows users to accurately and effortlessly isolate a subject from a photo, saving it as a separate image. This makes it easy to creatively edit or place the cutout onto other pictures.

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AI Upscale

Meanwhile, with the AI Upscale feature, users can restore and enhance the quality of old or childhood photos, making them look sharp and vibrant as if they were captured today.

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Performance

Powering the HONOR X9d is the Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 6 Gen 4 processor, designed to deliver efficient yet powerful performance across everyday tasks, entertainment, and gaming. This is further complemented by HONOR RAM Turbo technology, which combines 12GB of physical RAM with an additional 12GB of virtual RAM, ensuring smoother multitasking and faster app switching. For storage, users will also have access to up to 512GB of space, providing ample room for apps, games, and media.

In addition, the HONOR X9d is equipped with a new VC cooling system that helps regulate temperature even during intensive usage, ensuring stable performance over longer sessions. 

The device also features a dedicated Game Mode, giving users the choice between Balanced Mode for efficient power management or Game Mode for enhanced graphics and responsiveness. 

AI Features

In addition to its many incredible features, the HONOR X9d also comes equipped with a suite of AI-powered features designed to elevate the user experience such as translating face-to-face conversations to instantly summarising articles. Some of the key AI features that the X9d has include Magic Text, Magic Portal, AI Subtitles, AI Translate, and AI Writing, making everyday tasks smarter and more effortless.

Magic Text

With the AI Writing feature, users can easily extract text from images and then copy, drag, or tap it to access related services, making information more actionable and convenient.

Magic Portal

With the Magic Portal feature, users can access their files more quickly than ever, even while using another app. In addition, circled text or images can be seamlessly dragged into connected apps through Magic Portal, enabling a wide range of scenarios such as shopping, navigation, posting to social media, sending emails, searching the web, or even sharing via Parallel Space.

AI Subtitles

With the AI Subtitles feature, users can open a floating window that automatically transcribes and adds subtitles to videos in real time, making content easier to follow and enjoy.

AI Translate

The AI Translate feature on the HONOR X9d provides instant and accurate translations across 13 different languages, helping users break down language barriers during real-time conversations. To suit different situations, the phone can be used for both Conversation and Face-to-Face, ensuring smooth and effortless communication anywhere.

AI Writing

With the AI Writing feature, it helps to allow users to polish, rephrase, expand, shorten, or summarise selected text with ease, making writing more efficient and versatile.

Battery

The HONOR X9d is equipped with the industry’s first 8300mAh battery, setting a new benchmark for mobile endurance. With this massive capacity, users can enjoy up to three days of use on a single charge, making it one of the longest-lasting smartphones available. In fact, the device is able to deliver up to 23.8 hours of continuous YouTube streaming or up to 16.9 hours of TikTok, showcasing its ability to handle heavy entertainment and social media use with ease.

I decided to test out the phone’s battery life with an hour-long gaming session on the popular MOBA game, Honor of Kings. While playing the game, a total of 8% of the battery was consumed in that hour, and this is while the phone was set to Performance mode, and with the game set to have Ultra Resolution, set to the maximum FPS, UHD graphics quality setting, while the phone was on Game mode as well.

Aside from just gaming on the X9d, I also conducted a test to measure the battery life of the device by watching YouTube videos at 1440p for one hour. The results showed that the phone’s battery life was only drained by 9% after an hour.

To complement the large battery of the device, the HONOR X9d also supports a 66W HONOR SuperCharge, allowing users to quickly recharge and get back to their daily activities without long waiting times. When charging the phone, the X9d was able to reach 42% in 30 minutes while fully charging in just 80 minutes, and this is an incredible feat considering the phone's large battery size.

Verdict

In conclusion, the HONOR X9d redefines smartphone endurance with several industry-firsts such as its 8300mAh battery, IP69K Water and Dust Resistance, and 1st SGS Triple-Resistant Certification. Combined with its durable design, immersive display, and innovative camera capabilities, it offers users a premium experience at an accessible price point. Thus, if you’re looking for a device that blends performance, durability, and intelligence, the HONOR X9d is certainly a smartphone worth considering.