The HONOR X9c 5G might have been popping in your feed with durability challenges such as being dropped and boiled. While we can’t argue that the device does have what it takes to survive being abused, does it have more to offer oth
| Chipset | Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 |
| Screen | 6.78-inch AMOLED, 2700 x 1224, 120Hz |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| OS | Android 14, MagicOS 8.0 |
| Rear Camera | 108MP f/1.75, 5MP f/2.2 Ultrawide |
| Front Camera | 16MP f/2.45 |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 5G |
| Connectivity | WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, USB-C |
| Battery | 6,600mAh, HONOR 66W SuperCharge |
| Others | In-Display Fingerprint Scanner |
| Dimensions | 162.8 x 75.5 x 7.98mm |
| Weight | 189g |
| Colors | Titanium Purple, Titanium Black, Jade Cyan |
The HONOR X9c is packed in the usual packaging – a white box with the company’s branding. It comes with a 66W HONOR SuperCharge adapter, a USB-A to USB-C cable, a silicone case, a SIM ejector pin, and documentation.
The HONOR X9c comes in three colorways: Titanium Purple, Titanium Black, and Jade Cyan. The one we have for review is the Jade Cyan variant, which has a distinctive jade rock design. Its design is accentuated with a circular camera island and a slight reflective finish.
HONOR pegs the X9c as “The Toughest Phone” of 2025 thanks to plenty of chassis improvements. These upgrades let the device to survive 2-meter drops and even being boiled in water for a short time. It’s nice to have these assurances, but we wouldn’t recommend doing these on a regular basis. It’s also worth noting that the gaskets protecting its innards will degrade over time and thus its water resistance may degrade overtime.
Its side edges are curved due to its curved display and all of its buttons are clustered at the right-hand side. Placed at the bottom are its speaker, USB-C port, and dual SIM card slot. Unfortunately, there’s no microSD card slot for storage expansion.
The smartphone itself is easy to handle and its curved edges make for a comfortable handling experience. Its slim profile means that it’s easy to put in pockets and it’s fairly light as well at 189g.
The X9c comes with a 6.78-inch 2700 x 1224 120Hz AMOLED display. Like its predecessors, it comes with a curved panel which may distort images at the sides. Some may prefer a flat screen, but its curves didn’t bother us during our usage.
Images look good on the smartphone’s display with rich details and punchy colors. The display also delivers good contrast with deep blacks thanks to its AMOLED panel. Brightness is decent and will be able to power through if you’re using the device under direct sunlight or against strong lighting.
It’s pill-shaped cutout at the top not only houses its selfie camera, but expands into the Magic Capsule feature. This lets you peek into notifications such as calls, recording, and clock without them taking the whole display.
The device actually uses dual stereo speakers as it boosts the audio of the bottom-firing speaker with its earpiece. Audio performance is nothing surprising for its price point. Its speakers can get loud and you can boost it even further with its 300% Volume Mode. Bass is good enough and vocals do remain clear throughout the volume range. Highs, however, can get tinny especially if you’re aggressive with the amplification.
On its watch-style camera island is a 108MP f/1.75 main camera and a 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide. You also get a 16MP f/2.45 front-facing lens on its peeking out of its display to take selfies with. Its rear main camera supports up to 4K30fps and 1080p60fps video while its selfie and ultrawide cameras top out at 1080p60fps.
The main camera on the X9c is decent, but nothing spectacular. You will be able to take good social media shots with plenty of detail when taken with good lighting. Colors do look slightly toned down compared to other devices in the market, which makes them look more natural.
Low-light performance is average. You’ll need a steady hand to take well-exposed photos when you find yourself in dim areas. There will be a pronounced amount of noise on photos especially when you zoom in.
Though the ultrawide shooter has a lower pixel count, it shares largely the same characteristics as the main camera. Details are rich and there is natural-looking color reproduction on photos. Low-light performance could be better as there is a noticeable amount of noise. You might need a steady hand to get good low-light photos with proper exposure.
Powering the HONOR X9c is a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chip complemented by 12GB of RAM. Its chipset is designed for the lower midrange segment and does well with its resources. General performance and multitasking are smooth outside of heavy workloads such as gaming and video editing.
Benchmark figures on the X9c are pretty average for what can be classified as a midrange smartphone. AnTuTu puts its just north of the mid-500K mark while PCMark Work 3.0 scores it with 13,000 points.
Its chipset is able to play a great deal of mainstream games. Games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Honor of Kings will run smoothly on the device without any problems. As usual, graphically-heavy titles like Genshin Impact or Zenless Zone Zero will need their settings to be turned down to become playable.
The battery capacity has been greatly upgraded from 5,800mAh of its predecessor to a 6,600mAh Silicon Carbon battery. This increase allows the X9c to work for longer in between charges. In our experience, we were able to get more than a day worth of medium usage with plenty to carry over to the next day under average use.
Its charging speed has been upgraded as well from 35W to 66W. This should be able to fully charge the device from completely empty to 100% in around 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The HONOR X9c 5G offers more than just durability. Its larger battery allows it to last much longer than its predecessor while its support for HONOR 66W SuperCharge minimizes downtime. The 6.78-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display is a joy to use and the inclusion of dual stereo speakers uplifts the entertainment experience.
Its cameras are decent, but nothing spectacular within its category. You will be able to get good shots with good lighting though you might run into challenges in dim environments. The chipset is also nothing to write home about and there are better chipsets in the category. For general use, however, its chip is good enough.
The main selling point of the HONOR X9c 5G is its durability, and it delivers on this front. Those looking for improved cameras and performance might be left wanting for more. So depending on your needs, the X9c 5G might be a durable smartphone for some and a lackluster performer for others.
The HONOR X9c 5G is priced at PhP 16,999 in the Philippines. It is now up for pre-order until January 24, 2025 and will be bundled with a free gift box. Getting it early also gives you the chance to get a new Rolex Datejust Watch worth PhP 600,000.
You can now pre-order the device through their official Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok stores, as well as HONOR experience stores and authorized retailers nationwide.
