Honor’s latest addition to its X series, Honor X9a features a range of upgrades such as an exceptional display, a long-lasting battery and smoother user experience. This means no annoying pauses or stutters when you are watching your favourite series or trying to get your work done. What’s best is that all this is packed into a compact design at an affordable price point.
Outstanding screen quality
Many unique features are built into X9a’s display, making it one of the best in the market. There are virtually no bezels around the 6.67-inch OLED curved display panel — at an impressive 93 per cent screen-to-body ratio — so that your favourite movies and TV shows appear that much more immersive.
Long sessions on our smartphones tend to strain eyes, especially in low-light environments. But with a technology known as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and TUV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification, Honor X9a will reduce the impact on your eyes. Additionally, there are algorithms on the smartphone to optimise display brightness according to surrounding light, such as a high-contrast mode when reading an e-book or a dark mode in the evenings to take advantage of the AMOLED panel.
If you want to use the smartphone outdoors, the 800 nits of brightness is plenty even under direct sunlight.
Strongest screen
Given our extensive use of smartphones, drops and accidental knocks are bound to happen. Honor X9a has addressed this problem head on and made the display on X9a thicker, at 0.65mm, making it the strongest screen on a smartphone.
Using the panel on a day-to-day basis is also a delight. The in-screen fingerprint scanner is both quick and responsive, and so is the nature of the display given its 120Hz refresh rate. At this price bracket, it is rare for a smartphone to be so comprehensive, yet Honor has done a fantastic job.
Slim and lightweight
The durability of Honor X9a, which comes in silver, green and black, is complemented perfectly by its slim design. Whether you want to slip it into your pocket or purse, its 7.9mm profile makes it easy. Carrying around the smartphone is also effortless, with it weighing just 175g and its curved edges offering a comfortable grip.
On the back, X9a inherits the same iconic circular camera layout as Honor’s flagship Magic line-up featuring a symmetrical Dynamic Eye camera design. This makes for a premium look and catches people’s attention, especially the crisp rim around the Matrix Star Ring.
Arranged along the Dynamic Eye, you find a triple-camera system, made up of a 64MP main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera. Each camera helps you take a picture from a different perspective. For example, the main camera can be used to capture intricate details in images whereas the ultra-wide one allows you to take in more of the surrounding area. If you want to take close-ups of subjects, especially flowers or embroidery, the macro camera comes in handy.
Video capture on Honor X9a is plenty of fun too, making it very apt for social media. With support for electronic image stabilisation (EIS), camera shake during videos and in low light is reduced, meaning your photos come out looking sharp. There is also a multi-video mode available on the smartphone, which helps you use both the front and back camera together. In case you find yourself sightseeing and want to capture your reaction to what you are seeing, this mode is incredibly useful.
Speed meets efficiency
At the heart of Honor X9a, you find the 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor. This provides a unique combination of power and efficiency, which is obvious when you use the smartphone. Not only does it keep up with daily tasks, but it’s also able to last up to two days on a single charge thanks to its 5,100mAh battery. Honor spoils you with its trademark RAM Turbo too, where the smartphone uses a small portion of its storage and converts it into RAM. In total, you get 5GB of RAM on X9a, which helps you store more applications in memory during heavy multitasking.
Behind the scenes, X9a’s software has a lot going on. Running on an Android 12-based Magic UI 6.1 operating system, it boasts a special anti-ageing feature that keeps cleaning up junk files in the background to give you more storage space. It even uses AI to extend the life of your smartphone.
Pricing and availability
The 256GB version of Honor X9a is available to pre-order at Honor online store, Axiom, Carrefour, Emax, Etisalat, Jumbo, KM Trading, Lulu, Nesto, and Sharaf DG in the UAE for Dh1,299. Upon purchase, you will get free gifts worth Dh268 including Honor Choice Earbuds X and one-year screen protection. Honor X9a will also be available in a 128GB version exclusively via its online store for Dh1,199, bundled with the same free gifts.
You can also pre-order Honor X9a in Saudi Arabia through Jarir Bookstore, eXtra, STC, LuLu, X-cite and ALJ Electronics-Red Sea for 1,399 Saudi riyals with free gifts worth 1,215 Saudi riyals, which includes Honor Earbuds X2, Bluetooth speaker, coffee cup, ring holder, GCC warranty and six-month screen protection.
