Honor’s X9d 5G arrives with a bold claim: it’s the “unbreakable AI smartphone”, promising to be a rugged outlier in a more fragile midrange market. If this device is on your shortlist, here is what you need to know. 

Massive battery

While its durability might be the drawcard, the Honor X9d’s 8300 mAh silicon-carbon battery is the trump. It’s a big step up from the previous version’s 6600 mAh and provides a battery that outperforms even high-end devices.

Honor notes the possibility of three days of battery power, but in my experience two is doable if you don’t go too far with your gaming or video binges, or GPS navigation. In my case, I only charged the phone most mornings using the 66W Supercharge, although the battery would have been fine to charge only at night the second day.  

Less charging can lead to better overall battery durability and in this case, Honor states the battery can provide six years or reliable performance, at about 1000 full charges.

Oh, the X9d’s battery can also reverse charge in case any of your peripherals (or friends’ phones) need a bit of juice.

Durability

It’s seriously impressive the amount of pain the X9d can be put through. The local launch event for the X9d was theatrical – using the phone as a hammer, shooting it with paintballs, and even running it over with an SUV (at least in a locally produced video).  

In real-world scenarios the phone falling into water or being dropped by accident might be more prevalent. And for the latter it’s comforting to know that the X9d currently holds a Guinness world record, having survived intact a drop from a height of 6.133 meters. However, Honor states the X9d is more commonly drop resistant up to 2.5m, also coming with an IPX9K rating – the highest level of waterproof protection, alongside an IP6X rating which makes it “dust tight”.

It’s a comfort knowing this, although I suppose the possibility is always there that a drop might just hit the screen at the exact right angle to crack it. 

AI onboard

You’ll hear about AI features on most tech coming out in 2026, especially smartphones, and in the case of the Honor X9d the majority of AI benefits lies in imaging. 

Highlights include an AI Eraser where you can erase objects, passersby’s or reflections from an image; AI Outpainting which expands the borders of the photo by incorporating what the AI thinks could be in the frame; and AI Cutout to separate your subject and place it on a different background. 

If you are a constant traveller, AI Translate might come in handy, interestingly splitting the screen in the middle so that the person you are talking to can see the translated text when looking at your phone from the other side.

Google Gemini is also onboard by long pressing the power button, with one of our most used features being able to search an object on the screen (long pressing the home button). Gemini is, however, common on most new midrange phones and not exclusive to Honor.

How much you appreciate these AI features is dependent on how much you actually use them. For the most part, we see Honor’s features as nice-to-haves, with the photo editing perhaps the biggest benefit.  

The Honor X9d is slightly larger than the Honor 400 Lite (right), plus more powerful too.

Mid midrange processor

While the above are all ticking the right boxes, the X9d’s processor could be problematic for those who use their phone for gaming. The X9d’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 favours battery life instead of outright performance, which can be problematic if mobile gaming is your thing. 

The X9d does outpace last year’s Honor 400 Lite, but there are superior midrange units out there. For most use cases however, the X9d will be perfectly fine.

Look and feel

Like most midrange phones these days, the X9d is a good-looking device. It’s especially the Sunrise Gold version that offers a unique appearance – reflective soft, luminous clouds: a subtle effect that is beautiful when catching the light correctly.

With the X9d, the temptation is to use the device without the case, and why not, it’s “unbreakable” didn't they say? However, the back of the unit is extremely smooth, which could mean a knock on the metal sides if it slips out of hand. 

Whether you find the large circular coupling of the cameras and LED flash appealing is a matter of personal preference. I’m not too sure, since I enjoy smaller integrations in the top left corner.

Size wise, if you are used to a slightly slimmer phone in terms of width, the 76.1 mm of the device might feel just a tad large but luckily not too much. 

One the inside, Honor’s MagicOS UI is easy to use, straight forward and quite clean, with one of my favourite features being the ability to start the torch when double pressing the programmable on/off button.

A must have?

At R10k, the Honor X9d 5G offers a compelling package, with especially the massive 8300 mAh battery really hard to ignore. Add to this some peace of mind thanks to its ability to take a knock; interesting AI features; a lovely 6.79” OLED screen; a decent camera system; loud speakers plus its stylish look, and you start to understand why the previous X9c sold 13 million units worldwide. 

Just to note, there is competition on the durability side now, with Xiaomi releasing their REDMI Note 15 Pro (R8 000) and REDMI Note 15 Pro+ (R11 000) locally, which features REDMI Titan Durability, although with smaller battery capacity. 

DISCLOSURE: The X9d was received from Honor as part of a trade exchange. The review is independent and was not sent to Honor for review.