HONOR X9c Review – Somehow Even Tankier Than Before

Unboxing the HONOR X9c

Kicking off the HONOR X9c review with the unboxing, the box comes is pretty similar to its X9b sibling where it comes in a white box with a picture of smartphone’s rear on the front. You can find some details around it but there’s nothing much. Inside the box, we found the following items:

• Documentations
• SIM ejector tool
• Clear protective case
• USB-C cable
• 66W HONOR SuperCharge charger
• The HONOR X9c itself

Specifications

CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 4 x 2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 + 4 x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 4nm
GPU	Adreno 710
Memory	12GB Additional 12GB HONOR RAM Turbo
Storage	256GB
Display	6.78” 19.85:9 2700 x 1224 (437ppi) 120Hz AMOLED, 1.07 billion colours, 4,000 nits peak brightness Contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1 1,920 PWM dimming
Camera	108MP f/1.8 wide angle camera, PDAF, OIS, 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera
Selfie camera	16MP f/2.45 wide angle camera
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth 5.1 (supports A2DP and LE) USB-C 2.0
Battery	6600mAh 66W HONOR SuperCharge fast charging
Dimensions	162.8 x 75.5 x 7.98 mm
Weight	189g
OS	MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14
Color	Titanium Purple, Titanium Black, Jade Cyan
Ingress Protection	IP65M

Performance

Starting off with Antutu v10, the HONOR X9c managed to perform decently at best. It’s not bad and given the price, it’s what you’d expect. After all, it’s just a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, so it’s not surprise that it would be lagging behind even the upper midrange devices.

Its scores in Geekbench 6 surprised me a little as it managed to push ahead as it performs closer to upper midrange smartphones. Of course, this is just CPU performance for both single core and multi core scenarios but it’s still worth noting.

Moving on to 3DMark, it didn’t really do well in both Wild Life and Wild Life Extreme. This is to be expected since the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is lacking in GPU strength. Sure, it can still play games but don’t expect to run anything in high settings or play games that are resource-intensive.

To drive the point home, GPUScore Sacred Path shows that the HONOR X9c struggles with 3D graphics. If you’re an avid Genshin, ZZZ, or Honkai Star Rail player, you will need something stronger.

Lastly on PCMark’s Work 3.0 benchmark, the HONOR X9c managed to perform rather decently, which means it would make for a good daily driver for the price. I’m surprised its performance here is on par with a flagship from 2 years ago.

The battery life is where the HONOR X9c truly shines as it lasted a whopping 15 hours and 48 minutes (948 minutes) in PCMark’s Work 3.0 endurance test. This shouldn’t be a surprise given the massive 6,600mAh battery capacity but that stamina means that you can easily go two full days without any worries, with the possibility of stretching it to 3 days with light to moderate usage.

As for charging speed, here’s what we got with the included charger starting from 2% charge:

• 15 minutes = 43%
• 30 minutes = 78%
• 45 minutes = 92%
• 52 minutes = 100%

Camera

The cameras on the HONOR X9c are a decent performer at best. Compared to its predecessor, colors appear more natural and details are a bit sharper, at least for the main camera. The ultrawide camera often produces shots that are a bit too soft, resulting in a more artificial look. Pictures still look good up to 3x zoom, even 5x at times but only when lighting is really good. While low light performance did improve slightly, I still wouldn’t use it.

I expected selfies to look similar to the ultrawide but I was surprised by the amount of details it captured. Sure, you can still get the usual skin softening effect if you want but it’s optional and adjustable. Low light isn’t too bad here given that the display will function like a ring light but since the shutter speed will be on the slower side still, the chances of you getting blurry shots is still on the higher side.

The Good

The first good thing about the HONOR X9c, and this isn’t new, is that it’s incredibly tough. In a lot of ways, it’s just as durable as its predecessor, taking impacts like wooden blocks, bricks, and being thrown straight to the floor without a scratch. They’ve upped the ante by ensuring that it can withstand drops of 2 meters from all angles, can endure 3,000 cycles of steel wool friction, and it got bumped up from IP54 to IP65M. This means that it has 360° protection against water exposure, which is further bolstered by the fact that you can interact with the screen perfectly fine if you hands are wet or greasy (thought I still wouldn’t do it out of my own comfort).

Another major plus point for the HONOR X9c is that the need for a protective case is practically non-existent. Given its durability, having a case is pointless and given the finish of the surface on the rear, it doesn’t pick up fingerprint smudges either. Sure, HONOR did include a free transparent case in the box but honestly, it’s not needed and I think they can save some cost by removing it for its successors.

The AMOLED display, while tough, doesn’t lag behind in quality as it looks to be a step up for a smartphone of this price. After all, you get punchy colours, 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, more than adequate brightness with 1,920 PWM dimming and TUV Rheinland Low Blue Light emissions. Some of these features were typically limited to higher end devices, with this range typically having 60Hz or 90Hz at most. They also managed to increase the brightness significantly as it currently stands at 4,000 nits of peak brightness.

Interestingly, the HONOR X9c has seen some improvements in the audio department. Its stereo speakers have become a little louder and sound slightly richer, resulting in a more enjoyable listening experience. Whether it’s for games, listening to music, or watching videos, it’s hard to complain about it given its price point.

Lastly, the HONOR X9c has an abundance of accessories included in the box. It’s actually pretty easy to make use of it right out of the box without needing to buy anything extra. At most, I foresee people finding a different protective case for added personalization, though I still stand by the fact that there’s no point for it for protection purposes, for it but that’s just a matter of personal taste.

The Bad

Of course, it has its share of drawbacks as well. For starters, the HONOR X9c is practically a minor change from the X9b, especially for two particular things. One is the fact that it uses the same SoC, which is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. It’s not a bad chip by any means, especially within this price range but I expected something different or at least a little better, whether it’s a Dimensity chip or a Snapdragon 7 series chip.

The second is the fact that the design isn’t vastly different from the X9b. Unless you really look for the minute details, it looks practically the same. This Jade Cyan in particular is a bit of an exception given that the rear has the look of the surface of a marble dining table. Given its intended audience however, an all-new design might not matter as its durability makes it stand out.

Lastly, there’s no wireless charging here. Sure, it might be tough to include that in order to keep costs and its pricing low but it would have been a nice touch to a device that already has a solid value proposition. It’s a good thing the charging speed did get bumped up to a healthy 66W and, as always, HONOR includes a charger to fully take advantage of it.

HONOR X9c Verdict

The HONOR X9c has plenty to offer with its affordable price of RM1,499. It provides solid value for the money you’re spending and it’s practically built like a tank, even more so than before, while still being practical for daily usage. From a practical standpoint, you’d only want to look for something better if you need something that has better CPU / GPU performance or better overall camera system. Otherwise, this would definitely serve you well.

At the end of our HONOR X9c review, I award this smartphone with our Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to HONOR Malaysia for sending us this smartphone for the purpose of this review.