Introduction
The HONOR X9d 5G is being pushed as a rugged everyday driver that can withstand harsher environments than your typical mid-range phone, without giving up solid performance, battery life, or camera versatility. It is clearly aimed at users whose work or lifestyle regularly exposes their devices to drops, water, and the elements, and who need something that can keep going even after accidents.
This device’s identity is centered around durability, with protection against accidental drops, impacts, water immersion, and even heavy rain. At the same time, it houses an 8,300mAh silicon-carbon battery with 66W wired fast charging, an AMOLED display, a 108MP camera, and a capable processor. The result is a phone designed for people who move through unpredictable environments but still expect modern performance and a capable camera system.
Design and Build Quality
The HONOR X9d 5G delivers a comprehensive stack of durability features, starting with the HONOR Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop Technology that allows the device to withstand drops of up to 2.5 meters on surfaces like cobblestone, marble, asphalt, and tactile paving. It also uses ultra-tough tempered glass with a 31% deeper tempering depth and a non-Newtonian fluid layer to better absorb and disperse impact energy, improving resistance to scratches and shattering.
On top of drop protection, the device boasts IP69K, IP68, and IP66 water and dust resistance, which means it should withstand ultra-high-pressure water jets, 85°C hot water splashes, cold-water blasts, and even full submersion up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.
It has features that ensure the screen remains usable even when its wet or when the user is wearing gloves, and the phone can be rinsed in thick or dirty water and even endure brief contact with high-temperature liquid for a limited time.
Still, it is emphasized that the while the HONOR X9d 5G is durable, it’s not indestructible: given the right circumstances, it can still sustain damage, but the odds of it staying usable long enough for you to retrieve important files are much higher than on a typical device.
The design shifts away from the curved look of its predecessor to a flat display with rounded corners and flat sides, which improves handling but introduces a glossy metallic finish on the frame that easily attracts smudges. It also has dual speakers—one at the bottom and the earpiece.
Performance
The HONOR X9d 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor, which is a welcome upgrade from the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 used previously. This newer chip offers a better GPU (Adreno 810 vs Adreno 710) and improved efficiency.
In terms of gaming, the device can run Genshin Impact at medium to high preset with 60 fps enabled, and while it can also push Very High, some performance drops become noticeable. It can also run Call of Duty Mobile smoothly at its Very High preset. For HONOR of Kings, I could only crank it up to High FPS at most, and Ultra Quality Mode, and the game runs smooth at those settings.
The HONOR X9d 5G’s VC Ice Cooling System seems to be doing a good job here, being able to keep temperature to below 40°C for most of the time during PCMark’s Wild Life Stress test, which subjects the device to heavy graphics load for set number of times, continuously.
You get 12GB of RAM, giving you ample room for multitasking, and 256GB of storage, which is personally more than enough, but may not be enough for some. Unfortunately, there is no microSD card slot.
Camera
The HONOR X9d 5G has a 108MP main camera that now has OIS, plus EIS. This setup allows the phone to capture photos with good detail and sharpness in most conditions.
However, it is not flawless. In certain scenarios, especially when strong light sources enter the frame, you may encounter unwanted lens flare that can take attention away from an otherwise good shot. The 5MP ultrawide camera is “decent but nothing special,” though, I’d rather have it than not.
Low light shots are usable and generally pleasing, but they lack the fine detail you would see from more premium devices once you start pixel-peeping. Video recording tops out at 4K 30fps, and stabilization is good enough for handheld clips, but there is no telephoto lens, which limits how competitive the phone can be in the emerging “zoom wars.”
The 16MP front camera takes selfies with good levels of detail and texture. The bokeh effect when using portrait mode also looks very convincing, though edge detection does need some work.
Audio and Multimedia
The HONOR X9d 5G’s stereo speakers deliver enough volume for personal listening and casual media consumption, though pushing them to maximum volume introduces slight distortion. Tonally, the sound is detailed enough, with noticeable low-end presence, clear vocals, and treble that stays airy without crossing into piercing territory.
The 6.79-inch AMOLED display has a resolution of 2640 x 1200 and delivers good saturation, sharpness, and deep blacks that make video content and games look engaging. Bolstered with a 120Hz refresh rate, it also ensures smooth animations and scrolling.
For eye comfort, features such as 3,840Hz PWM dimming, Eye Comfort Mode, Circadian Night Display, and Dynamic Dimming help reduce strain during extended viewing.
Software
At the time of writing, the HONOR X9d 5G runs MagicOS 9 on top of Android 15, giving the software a current base and keeping it aligned with the rest of HONOR’s ecosystem. The interface will be familiar if you have used other phones from the brand, and there is only a minimal amount of pre-installed apps beyond HONOR’s own utilities.
You do not get the entire suite of AI features seen on flagship models, but the selection here is more than ample. These include AI Eraser, AI Upscale, AI Cutout, AI Outpainting, Magic Text for extracting text from images, AI subtitles, AI translate, AI writing, and Magic Portal for sending images and files to compatible apps. The balance here leans towards features that genuinely help with productivity and creativity.
Battery
The HONOR X9d 5G packs an 8,300mAh silicon-carbon battery, one of the highest capacity batteries we’ve seen on a smartphone. And when combined with the phone’s durability, it makes the package even more compelling.
While formal benchmarks are still in progress, real-world use shows it can comfortably last at day or two under light to moderate usage, with actual mileage may vary depending on several factors, such as apps you use and whether you stay on mobile data or Wi-Fi.
When it is time to recharge, the HONOR X9d 5G’s 66W HONOR SuperCharge support keeps downtime low, making top-ups between tasks and commutes much more feasible. As expected, there’s no wireless charging.
HONOR X9d 5G – Verdict
The HONOR X9d 5G delivers a generous set of upgrades over its predecessor, including improved durability ratings, a larger 8,300mAh battery, a more capable processor, a larger display, plenty of AI features, and OIS on the main camera. The overall experience in both gaming and day-to-day use exceeds expectations for a mid-range phone, and Design-wise, it’s a matter of personal taste. I prefer this over its predecessor.
It’s not without its share of still trade-offs: the lack of a telephoto lens, the minor lens flare issue, and the absence of expandable storage prevent it from being a no-brainer for every type of user.
However, at a price of PHP 18,999, slightly higher than the previous generation at launch, the combination of durability, performance, big battery, and useful software features makes the HONOR X9d 5G a justified and well-rounded upgrade for those who value toughness and longevity above all.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
