Smartphone owners tend to buy casing and screen protectors for their new phones. They would not want to risk incurring scratches or dent when using their phones. As a tech reviewer, I have the luxury of not putting on casings for loan units because, well, they are not mine. That really puts the devices to the test of normal wear and tear, and most of them actually do rather well. The irony is that the screen protectors or the casings are the ones that will get more easily damaged. Remove the screen protectors and the display glass can actually handle life’s challenges.
Still, you would not dare to abuse the smartphones intentionally. But that is what HONOR marketing team has encouraged reviewers to give it their best shot. During the product launch event, the X9e Pro is subject to boiling water submergence, blasts from powerful jets, airgun shots and stapler gun to the display, drops onto hard flooring. This fifth-gen X9 series have improved on their durability year-on-year, from 1.5 m on the X9b, 2m on the X9c, to 2.5m on the X9d. Now, the X9e Pro can survive a 3-metre drop onto smooth granite floor. It also receives certification for IP68, IP69 and IP69K, the highest level of water protection level. You can confidently carry the X9e Pro with you for any water activities to take photos and videos even underwater. The back is finished with vegan leather that is water repellent and its frame is reinforced with smooth glossy metal that does not easily scratch. During my review period, I threw it around my bag and stuffed in my pocket without a care.
Another liberating feature is the massive 11,000 mAh battery that truly lasts for days. With the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 processor, the phone does not drain as much battery as the flagship models. I even turned on battery performance mode as a default so that I can get more performance boost from this low-mid tier processor, yet it can last for 3 days with normal usage, and even stretching to a week with minimal usage. It takes less than 90 minutes to full-charge the phone. You can even use it as a power bank as it supports 27W wired reverse charging.
The phone contains many of the flagship features from the premium HONOR models, like the MagicOS 10 UI, 80W Supercharge, AI Image to Video, 10,000 nits display with 3840 Hz PWM dimming and DCI-P3 wide colour gamut. Its camera system has a 108MP main camera with 1/1.67-inch sensor and CIPA 6.0 stabilization, a 5MP f/1.75 ultra-wide camera, and 16MP selfie camera. It supports up to 3x optical zoom using cropped sensor and up to 15x digital zoom with AI Enhance.
The image quality is rather good with a balance of sharpness and contrast that works well without any further processing. It lacks a dedicated optical zoom lens so the zoom shots are not as resolving. The ultra wide angle lens does not support 4K video resolution.
While the X9e Pro comes with stereo speakers, I am pampered by the HONOR Magic8 Pro whose speakers offer incredible bass volume. And despite a larger battery capacity, the X9e Pro is lighter at 209g than the Magic8 Pro and the screen is a little bit wider. Overall UI performance is largely smooth with occasional waits in loading content when I push it with constant toggles between apps, but it’s not fair to expect flagship performance when it only costs a third of the price.
With a retail price starting from S$529 (6GB+128GB), the X9e Pro it delivers excessive value and durability to the active consumers. It is such a hardy phone that I would recommend this to family members who are prone to breaking their phones (there isn’t even a need to get a protective casing). In fact, anyone who is not so particular with camera zoom quality and blazing UI performance can consider it. No wonder HONOR X9 series are the top-selling midrange phones in Southeast Asia awarded by ASEAN Records. Perhaps it’s time to replace my dad’s HONOR 90, though it is still working well, a testament to HONOR’s product quality.
Visit the official HONOR X9e Pro website for more information.
Likes:
- Ultra tough build
- IP69K waterproof
- Massive battery
- Features many of the flagship HONOR functions
- Premium look, does not feel cheap or plasticky
Dislikes:
- Low-mid tier processor
- No telephoto zoom lens
