Although Huawei has been hit by the US ban, the group's activities have never ceased. Even at home HonorIn fact, several smartphones have been released internationally over the past few months. Among these, therefore, he certainly finds space Honor 9X, Which by poco was also launched in Italy. This smartphone is outlined as a normal mid-range, characterized by the presence of a HiSilicon SoC Kirin 710F and alone 4GB RAM. But beyond all these specifications, what is hidden behind this large display? How did this device behave in everyday use? Find out inside ours Full review.
Honor 9X review
Index
Unboxing
From the sales package it is clear that the product is intended for a fairly young user. The whole side profile, in fact, is characterized by a very bright blue color, with the image of the smartphone printed on the front. In this sales box, however, we find:
- Honor 9X;
- wall-mounted power supply with European socket;
- USB / USB Type-C cable;
- transparent soft silicone cover;
- short instruction manual, also in Italian;
- pin for the SIM slot.
Design & Materials
If we were to rate the build quality of this model, this evaluation would be 8 on 10. Honor 9X presents, in fact, a good constructive level, characterized by the presence of a glass on the rear surface really well finished. Not having received the Sapphire Blue version as a test, however, we could not appreciate the typical design on the back, which shows the X of the brand. As a proof of this, the severe tests that the product had to undergo, such as the resistance test, were also reported on the official website volume button, of the entrance USB Type-C and many others.
Despite this, the device presents itself with dimensions that are not too small, measuring 163.1 x 77.2 x 8.8 mm, With a weight of 208 grams. It is therefore a fairly large smartphone that, in everyday use, is not always easy to manage with one hand. Thanks also to an important screen diagonal which covers the entire front surface on this device. Always observing this profile, then, we note the presence of a triple room, assisted by the individual LED flash. Poco to the side, then, resides the fingerprint reader. The latter works quite well, unlocking the device around 9 times on 10. The Face Unlock is not present, among other things.
The whole side frame is made in metal polished, of the same color present on the back. On the right, therefore, we have the key ON / OFF and volume balance, while on the opposite side we find a completely clean surface. On the upper part, then, we find it SIM slot, secondary microphone for the suppression of environmental noise and the front camera, hidden inside the body. Inside the lower profile, instead, we have the hole mini jack for headphones, the main microphone, the entrance USB Type-C and system speaker.
Display
On this phone you will find a space LCD IPS FullView from 6,59 inches diagonal, with resolution FHD + (2340 x 1080 pixels) and density of PPI 391. According to the company, the absence of the notch leads this panel to occupy around 91% of the entire front surface. If we note, in fact, the anterior chamber has been implemented within a fairly standard pop-up mechanism.
From the chromatic point of view, this panel returns good sensations, showing colors not too intense. At extreme angles, then, these shades do not turn too much, thus making the white and blacks look slightly deeper than on normal IPS screens. If the color calibration does not convince you, you can still change it in the appropriate menu. In fact, within it, the possibilities of choice are practically endless.
In the direct sunlight I did not experience any particular problems with visibility, although relative sensor has proved a bit too lazy in different situations. Despite this, the panel is clearly visible on almost every occasion, although the screen presents an oleophobic treatment that is not entirely convincing. In terms of writing, however, I never felt any criticality, as the touch screen it is always responsive and precise.
Hardware & Performance
Honor 9X mounts a HiSilicon SoC Kirin 710F, then a processor octa-core equipped with a maximum clock frequency of 2,27GHz, with configuration 2x 2.27 GHz Cortex-A76 + 6x 1.88 GHz Cortex-A55. To accompany this sector we find a Mali-G52 MP6 GPU and, in terms of memories, 4GB RAM e 128GB of internal memory. In case you want to expand the internal storage space, however, you could take advantage of one microSD coming up to 512GB of storage.
I did not experience any particular problems in daily use, although I still need to make some criticism. Against a hardware all in all satisfactory, I have not always found the maximum fluidity possible in the navigation between the various menus, as well as within the individual applications. Up Facebook, Telegram and some other apps I can't say I suffered big slowdowns, but on Instagram the situation is quite different. Being a smartphone openly devoted to sharing content on social media, I shouldn't have found it difficult to post some types of stories on that platform. This, however, has happened. Which is why, from this point of view, I absolutely cannot promote the device, because in some situations it has shown such slowness that it also compromises all the other functions of the phone, such as navigation within the multitasking.
Also using different titles on the Play Store, such as Call of Duty Mobile o Brawl Stars, I did not feel a high temperature rise, although on the back there is a slight warmth after long gaming sessions. These titles, however, run quite smoothly, thanks also to the Turbo 3.0 GPU, which optimizes some processes by providing all the power in the gaming phase.
Benchmark
Software
We have already discussed in depth, during all the past reviews, the software installed on these devices. Therefore, on Honor 9X lies the EMUI 9.1, Based on Android 9 Pie, with security patches that are currently stopped at the 1 August 2019. Then there are all the Google services, as well as the Play Store from which to download all the apps you need.
Despite all this software is confirmed as one of the most complete and mature in the Android interface customization landscape. In fact, even at the service level, we already have a series of system applications pre-installed (not by Google) that are the envy of many other mobile systems. I continue to argue, therefore, that this terminal integrates very well with the entire system and everything runs rather smoothly. There are, as always, the system gestures to move between the various menus, as well as some items in the settings that for some time we find on all Huawei terminals, and not only. Among these find space Digital Management, which keeps track of our use of the device by signaling us when we use the phone too much during a day, and the application Optimizer that checks that everything is optimized at its best.
On Honor, then, we also find the application called "Party Mode", thanks to which synchronize the playback of songs on multiple devices to create a more immersive surround effect.
Camera
From the photographic point of view, on this smartphone find a space main sensor da 48 mega-pixels with opening f / 1.8, wide-angle lens da 8 mega-pixels with 120 ° vision and an additional smaller sensor, from 2 mega-pixels, exploited only for the calculation of depth of field.
In this respect, the smartphone disappoints expectations, despite showing sufficient clicks in this price range. However, it does not appear to be one of the best camera phones on the market in its category. In daytime hourstherefore, the quality is quite good but the management of whites and, in general, of external lighting disappoints slightly. I did not find, in fact, vivid colors and sufficiently good contrasts to justify the purchase. As with all the other products of the brand, then, the HDR is hidden inside the settings, even if I would have preferred it to be set automatically. Taking advantage of the wide angle, then, there is a distortion really too high along the side edges, a sign that the software on board this smartphone has not been properly optimized in this area. From the smaller sensor, then, then the one dedicated to macros, you get excellent results. You will, however, always have a good source of light at your side in order to better appreciate every detail.
During the night hours the quality drops drastically and the photographic noise is further accentuated. He convinced, however, the night mode, which on many occasions can better manage the light sources while not distorting the quality of the original image. If this type of function were not present, however, we would be in the presence of a device that is largely sufficient in this area. We have not noticed, in fact, a care for details that is lower than in other mid-range smartphones on the market. In the darkest hours, however, we do not recommend using the wide-angle sensor, as the yield is really bad.
In the front there is a space pop-up room da 16 mega-pixels, with opening f / 2.2. By removing the beauty filter, the quality is absolutely not inferior to that shown by the competition. However, I didn't like two things in particular. Both in daylight hours and in nighttime hours, exploiting the bokeh effect, bad results are obtained. Many parts of the main subject are opaque, so the system cannot better understand the real distance between the various planes. Secondly, when using the mode HD Portrait, the whole background is unnaturally overexposed.
Video
Honor 9X is able to shoot videos in 1080p to 60fps. It will be possible to switch from one sensor to another, during shooting, only by using 720p at 30fps. In this respect, therefore, the digital stabilization he didn't fully convince me. Indeed, we notice strange distortion effects due to the latter. With the focusthen we are on a good level. During a walk, however, the sensor tends to lose the point of focus too easily, often showing completely blurred frames.
At the level audioinstead, we are on a good level. When around the public there is no particular type of distortion due to excessive noise.
Audio & Connectivity
With this smartphone, as many will expect, we will not have stereo audio available. In fact, from the lower part, all the power of the individual is released speaker which, in general, aligns with the quality expressed by its competitors. We find, therefore, a fairly flat sound and poco engaging, which has almost no bass. All the mid frequencies have been almost canceled, therefore, in favor of the highs. Despite this, with the use of their own earphones the quality increases significantly, even using a pair of Bluetooth headphones. We do not know, however, if this device implements some codec specific for this type of device, given that not much information is declared on the official website.
During the calls, instead, the audio is very clear and even the voice on the other side can be heard distinctly, even in places that are usually more crowded. I have never found any problems or signal disturbances, even after several tens of minutes of conversation.
From the point of view of connectivity, on this Honor 9X we have Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac Dual Band, the Bluetooth 5.0 and GPS (L1 + L5 dual band)/ AGPS / Glonass / Beidou. Support for two nano SIMs with 4G, which has not caused me any problems during these weeks. The same applies to all the other modules, with the Wi-Fi which offers only a fair coverage, the Bluetooth that interfaces quickly with any type of accessory and the satellite navigation that is fast in hooking up the satellites and is able to satisfy fully during the journey. Unfortunately, theNFC. This absence, in my opinion, is very serious for a smartphone that professes to want to become the reference point for the youngest. In fact, more and more people are using their smartphones to make payments and this tool is absolutely necessary in many cases.
Autonomy
With this phone you will hardly be unable to complete a working day. Thanks to yours 4.000 mAh of battery, in fact, you will have the possibility to overcome almost always 6 hours on screen turned on, on a basis of 15 hours of continuous use. With a mixture of Wi-Fi and 4G, in fact, it is possible to reach these figures. In the event that you still have to use it even less, perhaps you would be able to complete a day and a half.
I cannot then give you more detailed information about i charging times. In our kit, in fact, there was no wall power supply with a European plug but the Chinese one, which is why I don't know if the same type of charger is actually available in the sales package. With this unit, with output from 5V / 2A, I engaged poco more than 2 hours in order to pass by 10 to 100%.
Price & Conclusions
Honor 9X has a list price di 249,90 €. Finding ourselves in the week of Black Friday, however, it is possible to find it even at around 20 euros less. Despite this, however, the device has slightly disappointed our expectations. We hoped to find ourselves in front of a product devoted to sharing various contents on Instagram, as well as on all the others social networks, and instead we had to note a chronic slowness in the use of all these tools. So if you are not an Instagrammer, then you could also rely on this product, although there may be something better on the market.
However, considering that the Honor devices tend to go down quickly as street prices, on the 199 € price the device could certainly become more interesting and intriguing.
