The HONOR X9d 5G became the most popular smartphone here on Pinoy Techno Guide in January 2026. That’s an impressive feat for a midrange smartphone.
I’ve been testing the phone for several weeks including its cameras, battery life, performance, display, connectivity, and durability. Yes, I’ve done the drop tests. Here’s my full review of the HONOR X9d 5G…
DESIGN & DURABILITY
I have the Sunrise Gold color variant of the HONOR X9d 5G. It also comes in Midnight Black and Reddish Brown colors with the latter being more interesting.
It has a flat design with subtle patterns on the back and a large circular camera island that gives it a symmetrical look. The phone looks just like a normal smartphone of this generation despite the fact that it has a massive battery and drop-resistant design.
In the hands, the phone feels solid and sturdy. It is certified with IP66, IP68 and IP69K dust & water resistance and 2.5-meter drop resistance. That means it can survive high pressure water jets and accidental drops!
I tried a few drop tests myself from a table and from about my height to a hard tiled floor. I used it in the rain, dropped it in boiling water and sprayed it with water using a garden hose. It still works fine although there are small dents from the harsher falls.
I’m sure you’ve seen the ridiculous level of durability tests that the HONOR X9d 5G has been subjected to by the brand and other creators.
While some may say this is a marketing gimmick, the fact that HONOR Philippines is asking these people to conduct durability tests speaks volume to their confidence in the product itself.
DISPLAY & SOUND QUALITY
The HONOR X9d 5G has a large 6.79-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. It’s sharp, vivid and bright enough for outdoor use. Sadly, Netflix doesn’t have HDR playback for this device but videos still look bright.
Animations and transitions are smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. The bezels around the display are narrow which results in a more immersive look.
For longer use, the phone has eye comfort features to reduce strain. Audio is decent with its dual speakers making videos and music enjoyable. It even has an audio booster of up to 400% which makes the loudspeakers louder.
PERFORMANCE & GAMING
The HONOR X9d 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 chipset with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Basic tasks like browsing and using social media run smoothly. There’s no shortage of storage for heavy games, large files and 4K videos. Some may want more storage space but the phone doesn’t have a microSD card slot.
The HONOR X9d 5G runs on the MagicOS 9 software with Android 15 OS. It has a clean interface and a few pre-installed apps that can be easily uninstalled if unused.
Gaming performance is decent with Mobile Legends and Call of Duty running smoothly at High graphics quality settings. It’s generally smooth with a few frame drops during team fights. It gets a bit warm during prolonged gaming sessions but still manageable.
While many power users criticize the phone for its choice of chipset, my experience shows that it’s a balanced hardware setup.
Here are some of its benchmark scores:
Antutu Benchmark v11 – 978,858 points
Geekbench 6 (single-core) – 1,092 points
Geekbench 6 (multi-core) – 3,086 points
PCMark Work 3.0 – 13,624 points
3DMark Wild Life – 3,793 points (22.72 fps)
CAMERA QUALITY
The HONOR X9d 5G is equipped with a dual camera system at the back composed of a 108 Megapixel main camera and 5 Megapixel ultrawide camera.
It can produce good-looking pictures in both daylight and night scenes. Pictures look sharp with natural colors and tamed dynamic range. Some might prefer shadows to be brighter though.
In low-light scenes, it automatically enhances pictures to make them brighter and more vibrant. The results are decent although tweaking the exposure a little can produce better images.
Just like most midrange smartphones nowadays, the HONOR X9d 5G comes with several AI features especially for photography. There’s the usual AI Erase, AI Upscale, AI Cutout and AI Outpainting. It also has a dedicated Underwater shooting mode.
One nitpick I have is the ultrawide camera. It’s obviously several steps down in quality compared to the main camera. Daylight pictures can be decent but low-light ones are grainy. There’s also no dedicated telephoto camera.
The 16 Megapixel selfie camera on the front is good. It captures pleasing selfies with clear facial details and balanced skin tone. Beautification options are available for tweaking selfies.
Meanwhile, video recording is supported up to 4K resolution by the main rear camera and 1080p resolution for the selfie camera. Both look decent in daylight and a bit grainy at night.
CONNECTIVITY & SECURITY
The HONOR X9d 5G is a dual-SIM smartphone with 5G connectivity. It can provide fast mobile internet speeds in areas with good 5G signal coverage. There’s no e-sim support though.
It has Wi-Fi 6 support and Bluetooth v5.2. Its GPS also works well and there’s NFC for Google Pay.
The device uses an under-display fingerprint scanner for biometric unlocking. It’s decently fast and accurate but I chose to also enable Face Recognition using the front camera for quicker access.
BATTERY & CHARGING
A massive 8,300mAh battery powers the HONOR X9d 5G. This is one of the biggest batteries in normal-sized midrange smartphones right now.
It can easily last 3 days on a single charge with my normal use or 2 days with heavy usage. For continuous gaming (MLBB), it has a battery life of up to 12 hours!
Recharging the phone takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes using the bundled 66W fast charger. It’s surprisingly quick despite the large battery capacity. However, there’s no wireless charging support.
CONCLUSION
The HONOR X9d 5G deserves its number one spot in popularity on our database of smartphones in the Philippines.
It didn’t just catch the attention of Filipino consumers, it also offered truly impressive features including its long-lasting battery, durable design, and good overall performance.
There’s no doubt that its many freebies and TESLA Cybertruck raffle added to its popularity. But that’s just another win for its buyers.
I highly recommend the HONOR X9d 5G smartphone!
HONOR X9d 5G Review Summary
A durable smartphone with bright display and massive battery!
- 6.79-inch FHD+ AMOLED Display (1200 x 2640 Pixels), 427 ppi
- Android 15 Operating System
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 (4 nm) Chipset
- 12GB of RAM
- 108 Megapixel Rear Camera with LED Flash
- 16 Megapixel Front Camera
- Dual SIM
- 256GB Internal Storage
- 5G, 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE & GPRS Networks
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax (dual band)
- Bluetooth 5.2
- USB Type-C
- USB Type-C
- Fingerprint Sensor
- 8300mAh Battery
- 66W Fast Charging (HONOR SuperCharge)
- ₱18,999.00 Official Price in the Philippines
- ₱17,999.00 - Price drop on January 9-23, 2026
