Today, 31 January, Honor announced the next smartphone in its mid-range X-series, the X9a.
The device will initially only be available from Telkom and Vodacom stores from the 1st and 7th of February respectively. According to an Honor spokesperson, it will be available on contract from either mobile network operator or for a once-off payment of R12,000.
To sweeten the deal, Honor will throw in (not literally) a set of Honor Choice Earbuds X3 Lite with your purchase. You’ll also get a fast charger and more earphones in the box.
A wild X9a appears
The stand-out specs for the X9a are the rather large 5,100mAh battery with 40W wired charging along with a respectable memory and storage configuration — 8GB and 256GB respectively. The rest of the specs aren’t looking to break any records but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The curved 6.67in display is a fairly standard AMOLED affair offering a 1,080 x 2,400 resolution. It does however offer a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s an optical fingerprint reader beneath the display too. Those can be a mixed bag on mid-range devices compared to a side-mounted reader so we’ll be sure to note our findings when we get our hands on the phone.
For taking snaps, you’re presented with a 64MP main sensor which has autofocus but no image stabilization to speak of, which is a pity. We would’ve liked to see that in at least some form.
That’s joined by a 5MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro sensor. Hopefully, the auxiliary sensors add some value and haven’t just been tacked on because you can’t have only one sensor on a smartphone anymore. The front is equipped with a 16MP hole-punch selfie cam.
The only other concern for us is the Snapdragon 695 chipset Honor has opted for. While this is a 5G-enabled chipset and should offer great battery life, it may struggle in other areas.
Since separating from Huawei in 2020, Honor doesn’t face the same international restrictions as its Chinese cousin, hence the inclusion of 5G and support for Google services.
And waiting in the wings…
During the press briefing, Honor also announced that the X8a and X7a devices would be joining the X9a in South Africa but wasn’t able to say when or for how much. From their spec sheets (and if Honor is using numbers right), they are likely to be positioned lower on the budget-to-flagship spectrum.
It seems Honor is making a decent value proposition with the X9a as far as mid-range devices go, judging from the spec sheet. We’ll wait for our review device to arrive before confirming or refuting our initial impressions.