HONOR has confirmed that Malaysia will be among the first markets to receive the HONOR X9e Pro, with the launch planned on 24 September 2026. During an exclusive media briefing, the Chinese smartphone maker has – as usual – demonstrated many conditions that it could survive against, including subjecting the smartphone to an air-gun firing squad to demonstrate its purported toughness.
HONOR X9e Pro Is Claimed To Be Extremely Tough
Just so you know, the HONOR’s marketing will be putting plenty of emphasis on the word “Extreme,” which it says is what the ‘e’ in X9e stands for. The smartphone will be featuring four “extremes”: extreme battery, extreme durability, extreme water resistance, and extreme brightness – all four criteria of which HONOR claims are currently class-leading in Malaysia.
The company is quite bullish with its sales performance, too: it claimed the X Series has held the top position in Malaysia’s mid-range smartphone segment for 37 consecutive months as of March 2026, reaching a peak market share of 77%. In Q1 2026, HONOR reported a 21% share of Malaysia’s overall smartphone market, with the X Series cited as a key contributor to that performance.
The HONOR X9e Pro’s durability is built around HONOR’s Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop Technology 4.0, which the company said draws inspiration from the “Halo” structure introduced in Formula 1 racing since 2018. In essence, the structure provides 12 load paths to absorb the force, which allows it to withstand drops of up to three meters across 10 different surface types, including cobblestone, asphalt and rough granite, as well as withstanding “all-angle dynamic drops” of up to 1.2 meters while reducing the risk of screen damage by 82%.
During the demonstration, the HONOR X9e Pro was used to hammer nails into wood, crush metal cans, and withstand impact from a metal ball launched via slingshot; media representatives were also invited to fire an air gun at the device under controlled conditions. Emphasis on “controlled conditions” – just like first-party benchmark claims, always take these demonstrations with a grain of salt. (We should also note this isn’t the first time HONOR has tried to do this.)
Another theme of this smartphone seems to be one-upping its competition, particularly the Chinese ones – you might be aware that both Xiaomi and vivo introduced their mid-rangers with 10,000mAh batteries, to which HONOR counter-punches with its 11,000mAh battery that fits inside a chassis just 8mm thick. The company didn’t confirm what’s the secret sauce inside the battery (at least Xiaomi claims the REDMI Note 17 Pro Max’s cell has 16% silicon content), though we suppose in HONOR’s case it shouldn’t be too far off. In any case, it’s also got 80W fast charging support and 27W reverse charging for other devices.
The HONOR X9e Pro is rated with IP68, IP69 and IP69K water and dust resistance certifications, capable of withstanding high-pressure water jets and high-temperature water exposure. Admittedly quite overkill for even the worst weathers, but it’s another thing that Chinese phone makers usually love to boast – in this case, the smartphone has been tested for immersion at depths of up to 10 meters and has undergone 100,000 submersion cycles, courtesy of a three-layer sealing system inspired by submarine waterproofing architecture.
Lastly, the smartphone was placed under direct sunlight against several other smartphones as a way to compare their display’s peak brightness. HONOR claims its device achieves a peak display brightness of 10,000 nits – though it’s hard to gauge that as smartphone brightness claims are hardly standardized, and we were not given any specific APL values based on the example demonstrated. 10,000 nits at 1% APL and 1,500 nits at 100% APL are completely different things, mind you!
Ahead of launch, HONOR unveiled four color options for the HONOR X9e Pro, each featuring a metallic-look finish: Royal Purple, Dawn Gold, Reddish Brown and Midnight Black. Full specifications, pricing and bundle details will be revealed during a livestream on the HONOR Malaysia official Facebook page at 3:00pm on 24 September 2026. Stay tuned, because we’ll be having our in-depth look at the upcoming smartphone as well.
