In a somewhat strange move, in the middle of May 2020, Honor has brought to Spain its Honor 9X Pro , a premium mid-range device presented in China in July 2019 . Thus, it is configured as one of its main bets to compete in quality-price against brands such as Xiaomi or Realme, although it has an added difficulty: the non-presence of Google Mobile Services .
How does it work in the day to day? What experience does it offer? In Xataka we have tried it to get out of doubt, so without further delay, here is the analysis of the Honor 9X Pro .
Honor 9X Pro Datasheet
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 163.1 x 77.2 x 8.8 mm |
|---|---|
SCREEN | 6.59-inch IPS / LCD |
PROCESSOR | Kirin 810 |
RAM | 6 GB |
INTERNAL STORAGE | 256 GB expandable with microSD cards |
REAR CAMERA | 48 MP f / 1.8 AIS |
FRONT CAMERA | 16 MP f / 2.2 |
OPERATING SYSTEM | Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9.1 |
DRUMS | 4,000 mAh |
CONNECTIVITY | 4G |
OTHERS | Side fingerprint reader |
PRICE | 128 GB: $275 256 GB: $420 |
Design: too big, maybe too much
We begin by reviewing the aesthetic section, which can be summarized in three words: it is very large . We are talking about a device whose front is nothing more and nothing less than a 6.59-inch LCD panel, and that means that it is quite difficult to use with one hand. Reaching the notification bar with your thumb as we normally would is simply impossible . Something I have had to learn during these days has been to use the mobile with both hands.
It weighs 206 grams, which a priori could imply that it is heavy, but the truth is that nothing is further from reality. I mean, it is by definition, but Honor has done an excellent job balancing it . Although it is big and heavy, in hand it feels really good. For the sake of understanding, it doesn't feel like a brick, if I may say so. The problem is when interacting with one hand, but in terms of construction it shows that a good job has been done.
The back has a glass finish that shows an "X" when it is illuminated at a certain angle . The glass feels good and does not slip, but as always happens in this type of finish, the prints are quite marked. Other elements of the design to highlight are the camera module, located in the upper left corner, which protrudes slightly, but not so much that the device wobbles, and the jack port in the lower area , which allows you to use the headphones lifetime. Minipoint for Honor.
As for the screen, it is a 6.59-inch LCD panel with FullHD + resolution that occupies the entire front, although it has small frames on all sides. There is no notch or anything like that, since the front camera has been placed on a pop-up mechanism. We will talk about its performance later.
The display looks good indoors and in low-light conditions, though I would have appreciated one more bit of maximum brightness to improve visibility in broad daylight outdoors. There are no problems with viewing angles or colors, which are vivid without being garish. In short, it is a correct screen, without more. It's a 2019 mid-range device display that works, but isn't surprising.
We ended up talking about the sound. The mobile can be heard well enough, without standing out. It lacks punch in the bass and when we turn the volume to maximum it tends to sound more canned than necessary. The sweet spot is between 50% and 70% , which is enough to listen to podcasts or music in the background while doing something. Fortunately, it has a headphone jack and Bluetooth, so you can always wear headphones and get a better experience.
Another point to value is the location of the speaker , which is located in the lower right area and is very, very, very easy to cover it by hand when holding the phone horizontally.
Experience: good autonomy for half software
From a few years ago until now rare is the mid-range / premium mid-range that is not solvent in all everyday scenarios, and the Honor 9X Pro was not going to be less. The Kirin 810 with the Mali-G62 GPU is more than enough to play heavy games like ' PUBG Mobile ', ' Legends of Runeterra ' or 'Asphalt 9' without giving problems. Needless to say, the same applies to day-to-day applications such as WhatsApp or Instagram. There are no jerks or lag of any kind, on the contrary, everything moves smoothly and the experience is very pleasant.
It has 6 GB of RAM, which is not the highest number on the market, but it is enough to keep apps in the background for a long time and return to them without having to fully recharge. The internal storage, meanwhile, is 256 GB and can be expanded with microSD cards , so unless we plan to store Wikipedia offline several times, it will be very difficult for us to fill it completely. In this section there are no complaints of any kind, it is a solvent terminal.
The biometrics section consists of a fingerprint sensor placed on the right side , specifically on the "Home" button. Access is comfortable with both the right hand (thumb) and the left hand (index), and unlocking is surprisingly fast . Literally, just touch it to unlock the phone. It works very well and has left us with a very pleasant taste in the mouth, to the point that we have not missed that it does not have a facial unlock.
Before going on to talk about software, which is undoubtedly its most negative point, it is worth noting the battery. This has a capacity of 4,000 mAh and is capable of offering between nine and ten hours of active screen with normal use. Not bad for a day of heavy use and up to two days of moderate use. Charging, however, is somewhat slow, about two hours.
So far everything is correct. The most important problem is in the software, and that is that the Honor 9X Pro, like all the mobiles recently launched by Honor and Huawei, does not have the services of Google . What does this translate into? In that we do not have access to the Google Play Store, Google Maps, the YouTube app and any application that requires Google Play services (such as Twitch). It is also not compatible with Netflix , so the huge screen on the front can be half used.
Applications must be downloaded from AppGallery , the Huawei app store, or in APK format from third-party stores, AppSearch or the AppGallery itself. How? Yes, when we search for a commonly used app that is not in the AppGallery (all of Facebook, for example), the store returns a link that takes us to the official website or other app store to download the installation file .
This system works with almost all apps and saves the ballot, but the problem is in the updates , since it forces us to be aware of when there is a new version of all the apps to download it manually. Frankly, it takes less time installing a third-party store like APKMirror or APKPure .
Another problem derived from not having Google services is that everything you have synchronized with Google will not appear on your smartphone . On a personal basis, I have all my contacts uploaded to my Google account, so when I change my mobile I can access them just by entering it during configuration. This does not happen in the new Honor or Huawei mobiles, so it is not possible to access the contacts, neither us nor the apps. For example, WhatsApp will not show us the name of the contacts in the groups, but the phone number .
Solution? Take the contacts on the SIM card (something that, personally, I do not recommend, because if something happens to the SIM, goodbye to the contacts) or export them from the Google account in .csv format, transfer the file to the mobile and import it to the Huawei phone app.
It is, in a nutshell, half software. Because yes, EMUI 9.1 works really well , has no jerks and offers a very smooth experience, but it cannot be fully exploited due to the lack of Google Mobile Services. And now that we've mentioned EMUI 9.1, we can't help but notice that the Honor 9X Pro arrives with Android 9 Pie out of the box and the promise of receiving EMUI 10 with Android 10 coming soon. The promise is fine, but the reality is that it is old software.
Camera: mixed feelings
We end up talking about the photographic section. The Honor 9X Pro has three rear cameras whose main sensor has a resolution of 48 megapixels . However, the effective photos and the ones we will take by default will have a resolution of 12 megapixels thanks to the pixel combination technology. The other two sensors are a wide angle and a sensor for running depth measurements. There is no telephoto, so when zooming what we are really doing is cropping.
As for the camera app, it is the same that we have on other devices of the Chinese manufacturer. It is comfortable to use, intuitive and fast when switching between modes, except for one detail. When we go to the internal camera to take a selfie , the app has to wait until the pop-up mechanism in the upper area opens and, being clear, it is somewhat slow. Fully unfolding takes about a second.
The results are mixed . The main sensor performs very well during the day, but the wide angle shows that it is of a lower quality. When zooming, as we said, we do cropping and on more than a few occasions the photos come out brighter from the account. At night more of the same, but the differences between the wide angle and the main sensor are more evident if possible. Regarding the selfie, enough in general lines, but with room for improvement in portrait mode and night shots.
Honor 9X Pro, Review: Specs and Price
![Honor 9X Pro, Review: Specs and Price]()
Reviewed by Mehemmet
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12:37 AM
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