honor 9 review – mid-range smartphone with high-end features

honor 9, the successor to the stunning honor 8 was released in China last June, but unfortunately there is no news on Malaysia release until now. We are lucky to be able to have a little hands-on experience on it, so here is our quick honor 9 review!

What is in the box

The honor 9 package comes in a neat white box with some of the most basic items – the phone itself, Quick Start Guide, Eject Pin, USB-C Cable and Charger. The model we get is in the graceful Glacier Grey (I’d prefer Sapphire Blue though). The design looks very similar to P10, with a fingerprint scanner built into the home button in front and dual lens camera on the back.

What makes honor 9 stands out from the others is its shiny and reflective glass body that would diffract light at different angles to create attractive reflective patterns. It looks really cool, however, it is very slippery (even the cameras are sitting flush with the body) and quite a fingerprint magnet. The size of honor 9 fits right into the palm of your hand, while the weight is only about 155g so you don’t have to worry about carrying it around.

honor 9 Specifications

• Size: 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.45 mm
• Weight: about 155 g
• Color: Glacier Grey, Sapphire Blue, Midnight Black
• Display: 5.15-inch FHD display
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
• CPU: HUAWEI Kirin 960 Octa-core processor
• OS: Android 7.0
• Memory: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM (support up to 256GB with Micro SD card)
• Camera:
  • 8MP Front Camera
  • 20MP Monochrome + 12MP RGB Rear Camera
• Battery: 3200 mAh
• EMUI: EMUI 5.1

Display and Camera

Although honor 9 sticks to their heavy-bezel design (while everyone else is following the bezel-less trend), the 5.15-inch display doesn’t disappoint us with a decent 428 pixels per inch. The display is bright and sharp enough for indoor and outdoor use too.

honor 9 comes with an impressive camera setup – 20MP Monochrome + 12MP dual-lens rear camera (well, not Leica-branded this time) and 8MP on the front camera. The honor 9 manages to take photos quick and accurate so you will face no problem in taking crystal clear photos. But, since it doesn’t have the optical image stabilization, taking photos in low-light conditions might be a bit challenging. Various photo mode such as wide aperture, bokeh (selfie) and portrait presents in honor 9 as well.

Performance and Battery Life

Powered by Kirin 960 and 4GB RAM, the performance of honor 9 is undoubtedly good. Multitasking is fast and seamless, while high-demanding game loads in a few seconds. The storage is originally 64GB, if that is not enough to fit all your favorite games, you can also expand it up to 256GB with MicroSD card.

You can expect a full day of battery life under regular usage with the 3200 mAh battery. The battery runs out pretty fast on entertainment activity (gaming or playing video) but thanks to honor’s fast charging technology, you can top back up the battery quickly (from 0 to 40% in just half an hour).

Conclusion

With these high-end features (where the expansive flagship smartphones are offering) and gorgeous design, honor 9 only cost a low price – 2,299 CNY (about RM1,442). So if you are looking for an affordable flagship and don’t mind about the heavy-bezel display or the lack of waterproof feature, honor 9 would be your perfect choice. honor 9 is not out in Malaysia yet, hopefully we will see it launching in Malaysia soon!

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