Honor X9b

Honor made a comeback to India last September as HTech (Honor's representative in the country) with the Honor 90's launch after a three-year hiatus, and today, the brand launched the second smartphone in India since its re-entry, dubbed Honor X9b. The Honor X9b is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC and comes in a single 8GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration in India. It runs Android 13-based MagicOS 7.2 out of the box and is slated to be upgraded to Android 14-based MagicOS 8 in H2 2024. Honor has also promised two years of Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates for the X9b.

The Honor X9b is built around a 6.78" 120Hz 1.5K curved AMOLED screen with 1,200 nits peak brightness. Honor calls it an "Ultra-Bounce Anti-Drop Display" since it incorporates a shock-absorbing material that forms a protective structure, offering drop resistance of up to 1.5m. The display also has a centered punch-hole for the 16MP camera and a fingerprint scanner underneath for biometric authentication. Around the back, we get a circular island housing three cameras - 108MP primary, 5MP ultrawide (110° FOV), and 2MP macro. The rear panel of the Sunset Orange version uses eco-friendly vegan leather to promote sustainability.

The Honor X9b also has an IP53 rating, and fueling the entire package is a 5,800 mAh battery with 35W charging support. The power adapter worth INR 699 (US$ 9/€ 8) won't be included in the retail box, but we are told that "as an introductory offer, the company will be shipping the charger out of the box at no additional cost. Post this, users can purchase it separately."

The Honor X9b will come in Sunrise Orange and Midnight Black colors in India. It's priced at INR 25,999 (US$ 315/€ 290) and will go on sale in India starting February 16 through Honor's official Indian website, Amazon.in, and mainline stores.