HONOR X9a Review - The Smartphone with The Strongest Screen

As the latest addition to HONOR's X Series line-up, the HONOR X9a comes with a range of upgrades including an exceptional display, a long-lasting battery and a smooth user experience, all packed into an extremely compact design and at an affordable price point. It offers a range of top-notch features and it's a solid choice for anyone looking for an affordable and strong Android device this year.

Boasting a 6.67-inch AMOLED Curved Display , the HONOR X9a brings users a large screen with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 93%, guaranteeing an immersive viewing experience for all content types. Supporting a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels , up to 1.07 billion colors and display brightness of up to 800 nits, the HONOR X9a delivers stunning visuals in crisp detail no matter the ambient lighting conditions.

Here's more on what makes the HONOR X9a so compelling to us and why you should get one.

Incredibly strong Display

The HONOR X9a has an all-round display that offers an exceptional viewing experience. The 6.67-inch AMOLED Curved Display has a screen-to-body ratio of 93% and a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels.

The display supports up to 1.07 billion colors and has a wide color gamut of 100% DCI-P3, providing vivid and vibrant colors for photos, videos, movies, and more. The display has a peak brightness of up to 800 nits, so you'll use it in all sorts of lighting conditions even when its bright outside from direct sunlight.

The screen is packed in with a 0.65mm deeply reinforced glass that HONOR says has gone through several stress tests to make sure the X9a can take a few falls without you worrying.

Now coming to the strength of the screen, we tested the HONOR X9a's strength by dropping it over different materials. HONOR even challenged us to break things with it, so we smashed macadamia nuts using the screen, dropped it on a granite floor and several other stress tests and there wasn't a single scratch. HONOR's confidence in its screen strength is fairly justified considering what we put it through.

We can say that the HONOR X9a is by far the strongest screen we've ever seen in a smartphone thus far.

It also supports 1920Hz Pulse Width Modulation Dimming, which minimizes fluctuations in screen brightness and is TÜV Rheinland low blue light certified. And with a 300Hz touch sampling rate and a 120Hz screen refresh rate, you're going to enjoy playing games, watching movies and overall have a good viewing experience on the display.

Design

In terms of design, the HONOR X9a is compact. It measures 161.6mm in height, 73.9mm in width, and 7.9mm in depth, and weighs 175g, making it easy to carry around. It's very grippy and this design language to make the phone sit comfortably in your hand is because of its 45-degree golden curvature making it easy on the eyes and at the same time ensuring your phone is safely in your hand.

Safety is an understatement because this phone will take a lot of punishment in terms of drops. Its truly what makes the HONOR X9a stand out and we'll get more into that.

The device has curved edges on both sides, providing a comfortable grip and fitting perfectly in the palm of the hand while in use. It is available in three shades: Titanium Silver, Emerald Green, and Midnight Black. We had the Titanium Silver for review, and it looks stylish especially when the light hits it.

The device also has a symmetrical circular camera layout on the back, featuring a Matrix Star Ring design and has a USB-C port. The HONOR X9a’s fingerprint sensor on the screen is also incredibly responsive.

Performance

The HONOR X9a runs on the latest Android 12, with full Google Mobile Services support providing users with the latest features and security updates. The device also has HONOR RAM Turbo technology, which keeps more apps active in the background and enables quicker switching of apps for efficient multitasking.

Battery

The HONOR X9a has a large 5100mAh battery that supports up to two days of daily use, providing users with an uninterrupted user experience. The device is also equipped with fast charging technology, allowing it to deliver up to 12.5 hours of video streaming with just 30 minutes of charging.

The HONOR X9a delivers sustained high performance even over an extended period, which means with the bonus of a big battery, fast charging capability, the HONOR X9a will keep going.

The 5100mAh large battery is optimized by HONOR's smart power-saving technology, providing continuous power across two days of regular use. Not to mention, the high-speed 40W HONOR SuperCharge allows for half a days' worth of watching videos with just 30 minutes of charge.

This is perfect for those who are travelling and want to watch videos over a long travel period.

Camera

The HONOR X9a's camera setup is a triple matrix AI vision camera setup that can capture high-quality and versatile images.

The device has a 64MP Ultra-clear Camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 5MP Wide Angle Camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 2MP Macro Camera with an f/2.4 aperture. The camera setup allows users to take detailed, wide angle, and close-up shots with ease.

The HONOR X9a also has a front camera for taking selfies and making video calls. The device has a 16MP front camera with an f/2.45 aperture, allowing users to capture high-resolution selfies and make video calls with clear and sharp images.

Verdict

The HONOR X9a completely blew us away on how strong it is. The screen takes a beating and still performs remarkably well. In most cases most other flagship smartphone displays wouldn't last in these tests but the HONOR X9a remains undisputed in its durability.

The HONOR X9a is a stylish smartphone that offers an exceptional display, long-lasting battery and is the smart choice for consumers looking to get the most value for their money especially if they use their phone a lot for watching videos, playing games, or just using everyday media.

The HONOR X9a gets top honors in doing all those things and is the perfect mid-range device for 2023 that we've seen.

Availability and Pricing

The HONOR X9a is set to be released in the Middle East in early January and we can expect the HONOR X9a to be priced in the range of AED1000 to AED 1500.

Pre-orders for the device will begin on 11th and 14th January in UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively and open sale to start on January 21st. The smartphone will be available online on hihonor.com, and noon.com and at key stores including Axiom, Carrefour, Emax, , Jumbo, KM Trading, Lulu, Nesto, and Sharaf DG in UAE and via Jarir Bookstore, eXtra, STC, LuLu, X-cite and ALJ Electronics - Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.

In addition, HONOR partnered with NorthLadder, which is the #1 device Trade-in player in MEA region. Starting from Jan 7th people can enjoy the newly added trade-in service, which allows them to replace their old smartphones with new phones from HONOR for less, including the upcoming HONOR X9a, and the iconic HONOR 70 5G.

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