If it’s durability you’re looking for, HONOR has been working up their reputation to create midrange phones that not only will not break the bank but won’t break at all. Ever since they launched the HONOR X9a 5G, the brand has been putting their phones to the absolute limit in terms of physical drop test torture and bold marketing communications.
Now on its 4th iteration, does the series have what it takes to sustain the #ToughestPhone claim and in 2026 is durability still a major factor for consideration?
Geek-sthetic
Being built tough doesn’t require that your finished product looks like an industrial tank. HONOR has been advocating beautiful design to their well-structured devices and the HONOR X9d 5G is no different.
Built around smooth curved corners and flat edges this time around, the HONOR X9d 5G has stockier profile than its predecessor – and with it, bigger side bezels. Personally, this adds to better hand-feel, and more comfort is always a good thing.
To add to the luxe feel, HONOR adorned these devices in three distinct colorways: Matte uni-body-like Sunrise Gold, timeless Midnight Black, and opulent Reddish Brown with hues of red clay and polished gold.
Out of the three, the Reddish Brown is the only one with a leather-like back finish. The signature circular camera module that we’ve grown accustomed to since the HONOR X9a 5G is rendered in sleek black and gold to complement the entire design ethos.
It is a marvel to look at, and surprisingly chic especially for the price-point it commands.
Binge-Watching Factor
Similar to its predecessor, the HONOR X9d 5G also sports a large 6.79” AMOLED HONOR FullView Display, this time around, however, the display could go up to 6000 nits of brightness to ensure that you can get crystal clear viewing regardless of harsh lighting conditions.
Should you need additional immersion, you can crank up the volume rocker to 400% for loud but not overbearing tunes.
Still, to give users better eye protection, as always, the HONOR X9d 5G is equipped with a fast 3840Hz PWM Dimming technology to ensure that less eyestrain for those long binge-watching sessions. And boy, those binge-watching sessions will be loooong. You’ll begin to understand why later.
Gaming Prowess
Tough on the outside, tough on the inside – that’s pretty much what the HONOR X9d 5G is. Built with the latest 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chipset, the device is more than enough to power up your favorite triple-A games with medium graphic settings.
Providing consistent framerates and enjoyable experience, we tried a handful of today’s popular games on the device. With the 12GB of RAM (+12GB Expanded) and a large enough 256GB memory, you should be able to house your favorite games with relative ease.
Games that are not extremely resource-hungry like Asphalt United, and a bunch of MOBA titles like Mobile Legends: Bang-Bang should run smoothly on the HONOR X9d 5G.
To push the device further, we tried our usual roster of triple-A games like Genshin Impact and a relatively new one, Where Winds Meet (an open world RPG) and while you can play the games, you will have to crank the graphics to a somewhat lower setting or keep framerates low if you want to have a more graphic-intensive experience like what we did for When Winds Meet (framerate at 25fps but increased graphics just a tad). The result is a cinematic-like experience. It’s actually pretty neat.
Of course, we ran two 3D Mark stress test on the unit and it passed with 99.2% to 99.8% stability scores proving that the HONOR X9d 5G is a very capable gaming machine.
Geek Photoshoot Capabilities
While photography isn’t the key focus of the HONOR X9d 5G, it still is equipped with a very capable set of shooters starting with a large 108MP Main Camera followed by a 5MP Ultrawide one.
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- AI intelligently detects subject and subtly blurs foreground and background
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- Portrait Mode in 2x mode
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- In low light conditions or when subject moves, the HONOR X9d 5G still tries to stabilize things
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- Here’s one where the cat stood still enough for better light capture (this was taken during the night)
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- If you need more light, there’s Night Mode
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- It works even when you zoom in on the subject (3x Zoom)
On daytime and with ample light, photos are crips and clear. The phone will struggle a bit on lowlight environments. That being said, we found that the phone has a more aggressive AI processing than its predecessor prompting that the new chipset could be optimizing the camera setup even more.
For those still using selfies, it comes with a 16MP Selfie shooter. It’s not the biggest or strongest camera out there but it’s adequate enough for every selfies.
To support this setup further, the HONOR X9d 5G is already equipped with a host of AI-Editing tools like AI Remove People/ Background, AI Outpainting, and Moving Pictures among others. All of these come right out of the box, no need to wait for a software update.
Everyday Reliability
This is where the HONOR X9d 5G shines the most – in making sure that you have a device that can rough and tough it with you throughout the day and still give you enough juice until night or heck, even until the next day.
Let’s start with the obvious one first – durability. Yes, HONOR managed to make their tough phone tougher with the HONOR X9d 5G. Built with the HONOR Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop Technology and Ultra Tough Tempered Glass, the HONOR X9d 5G has 6-layer drop-resistant structure that can survive accidental drops of up to 2.5m in height. This is waaay above the industry standard of 1 meters.
It also has an IP68/69K dust and waterproof-rating so you can submerge the phone with depths of up to 1.5meters in freshwater areas for up to 30 minutes. And yes, for those asking, the HONOR X9d 5G has a dedicated underwater mode allowing you to remove excess water from the crevices via the speaker.
If you haven’t seen our drop test and the abuse the phone got during the insane Tesla Cybertruck promotion, you can check it out here:
That being said, everything breaks – eventually, but the HONOR X9d 5G is meant to last long. And speaking of lasting long, it also have an absurdly large 8300mAh battery fitted into a body like this. It’s almost the size of a standard powerbank.
And yup, it’s still equipped with 66W HONOR SuperCharge Technology.
On synthetic benchmarks, the phone can run almost 20 hours of continued medium-sized tasks before going below the 20% mark.
In practice? If you’re not using the phone as much, you should be able to get almost 2 days of battery with this. Even with heavy usage, it’s hard for us to deplete the battery on this beast of a midranger.
Lastly, the HONOR X9d 5G is fitted with a host of AI productivity features that’s not just centered on photography. Need help on writing an email or a document, or need a way to help organize your data, the HONOR MagicOS 9.0 built around Android 15 can help you do that. There’s even an AI Call translate feature and AI translate/ transcribe feature when you need to take down notes in a foreign setting.
These features once were only available for flagship devices are not given to one of the best entry-level midrange phones from the brand.
Final Geek Lifestyle Capabilities
The HONOR X9d 5G undoubtedly is one of the best releases from the brand. The X9 for 2026 took bold steps in not just creating the same phone from last year with slightly better specs and a fresh coat of paint, the HONOR X9d 5G equips users with thoughtful upgrades especially in the realm of AI. With more AI tasks being done locally, the upgraded battery, more powerful chipset, is not just a welcomed addition, it’s setting a standard of things to come. The addition of the hardened tempered glass and more durable shell is just icing on an already impressive upgrade from 2025.
The HONOR X9d 5G has an SRP of Php 18,999, a 2,000 Peso increase from last year. And while this may raise eyebrows, you have to understand that chipsets are more expensive this time around. Expect a price increase on majority of consumer electronic devices this year (especially those using RAMs). That being said, HONOR is having a pre-order promotion and slashing 1000 Pesos off when you place your orders from today, January 9, 2026 until January 23, 2026 (Php 17,999 Pre-order Price). You’ll also be entered into potentially winning an almost 17 million Pesos Tesla Cybetruck. Yes, that’ promotion, insane as it may be, is 100% real. HONOR Philippines is crazy enough to raffle-off a Tesla Cybertruck to one lucky customer.
HONOR X9d 5G Specs:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 5G Processor (4nm)
- Adreno 810 GPU
- 12GB RAM (+12 GB VRAM)
- 6.79-inch AMOLED HONOR FullView Display, 120Hz refresh rate, 6000 nits peak brightness and 3840Hz PWM Dimming
- HONOR Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop Technology with SGS Triple Resistant Premium Performance Certification
- 256 GB storage
- 108MP f/1.75 Ultra-Sensing main w/ OIS + 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide rear camera setup (AI Camera)
- 16MP f/2.45 wide front camera
- 3G, LTE, 5G Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, fingerprint under display, USB Type-C
- 8300mAh battery with 66W HONOR SuperCharge Support
- Android 15 with Magic OS 9.0
- IP68/ IP69K Dust & Waterproof Rated
- Sunrise Gold, Midnight Black, Reddish Brown
- Price: PHP 18,999 (with Php 17,999 introductory price until Jan 23, 2026)