By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter
SMART devices brand HONOR launched in the Philippines last week the X9a 5G, its first-ever premium budget phone and the latest addition to the HONOR X series.
Priced at P16,990, the X9a’s key features are its “superior curved display and long-lasting battery in a compact design,” HONOR said. Its recent social media ad campaigns have also shown the phone being dropped, smashed, or run over and sustaining no damage.
“We at HONOR believe that hardware is as important as the software. We believe that now, post-pandemic, everyone is on the rush, everyone is trying to get the three years back. We believe that a very good smartphone can do a lot for you,” Stephen Cheng, HONOR vice-president for marketing, said in an interview with BusinessWorld.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the trend… We are just emphasizing the durability of the project,” he added.
The phone’s 6.67-inch 120Hz OLED curved tempered glass display is durable, based on tests BusinessWorld did along with other media outfits on X9a review units.
Like other smartphones with curved displays, its appearance had a premium feel but showed no dents or scratches despite being dropped from five feet, smashed into pistachio nuts, or hit by badminton shuttlecocks and BB gun pellets.
The X9a’s display supports a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels and displays up to 1.07 billion colors to reproduce detailed and vibrant images, HONOR said. BusinessWorld found that its 93% screen-to-body ratio offered immersive viewing for video.
For gamers looking for responsiveness, the X9a screen has a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate. The device instantly registered and reacted to user inputs, and had touch prevention features.
Certified by TÜV Rheinland for low blue light emissions, the display was easy on the eyes. HONOR said the phone also features industry-leading dimming technology to reduce screen flickering and alleviate eye fatigue.
“HONOR wants to change the standard. Premium is not just about the design, but it’s also having powerful features packed in a beautiful design that is durable enough to serve your daily needs,” said Joepy Libo-on, HONOR brand marketing manager.
Other features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, a 64-megapixel main camera sensor, and a 5100mAh battery with 40-watt charging capacity.
Available in titanium silver and emerald green, the X9a can be purchased starting Jan. 20 at all HONOR kiosks and online stores in Lazada, Shopee, Tiktok Shop, and Home Credit, with free HONOR earbuds worth P3,999.
