New year, new phones, and that also means a new smartphone tier list. Right now, there’s only a handful of new phones for us to rank, so be sure to stay tuned to see what other phones we have stored.
Today’s spotlight is focused on the newly released HONOR X9d 5G, the successor to last year’s HONOR X9c.
Where does it fall in our 2026 Smartphone Tier List, and is it worth upgrading to the HONOR X9d 5G?
Let’s find out…
Design
With the new X9d 5G, the ruggedness is clearly emphasized. The HONOR X9d 5G foregoes the curved AMOLED display of the X9c and instead goes for a flat AMOLED display to maximize the screen’s durability.
Another thing that went away is the X9c’s pill-shaped cutout, replaced with a more traditional punch-hole cutout that’s meant to complement the thinner bezels that give it that “all-screen” look.
Where I’m most impressed is the thickness and weight of the X9d 5G. Despite having a larger battery, which we’ll talk more about later, the X9d 5G still managed to trim off quite a bit of thickness at 7.76 mm. And although heavier on paper, the difference in weight from the X9c isn’t by a lot, only 4 g heavier.
For this generation, HONOR didn’t bother changing the design by much. It still retains the “Watch Face” camera island that the X9c had but further refined, especially if you opt for the Reddish Brown variant like the one we have.
Durability
We covered the X9d 5G’s durability at length in our durability review, which you can read here. But just to give you the TLDR, it’s the first phone to receive the SGS Triple Resistant Premium Performance certification. That means that the X9d 5G can survive falls from up to 2.5 meters even on hard surfaces like marble, cobblestone, asphalt, and even tactile pavements.
The water and dust resistance has also been upgraded. From just an IP65M splash-proof resistance to an IP66, IP68, and IP69K full submersion rating. Based on HONOR’s own testing, it can survive over 10,000 water immersion cycles, just don’t go dropping it in water on purpose.
Performance
The HONOR X9d 5G continues the X9 series’ legacy of prioritizing durability more than anything else. If you’re looking for a phone that’s tough and that’ll last, then this is for you. But if you’re looking for something to play AAA games on, then I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Now, just to be clear, I’m not saying that the X9d 5G’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is slow, but it’s not a gaming powerhouse either. For most day-to-day tasks, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 should be more than enough, especially when coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
We ran both AnTuTu Benchmark V11 and Geekbench 6 just to get an idea of how much power this chip in this phone can squeeze. On AnTuTu, the HONOR X9d 5G was able to score 998,986. While on GeekBench, it scored 1087 on Single-Core and 3077 on Multi-Core.
It runs MagicOS 9 based on Android 15 out of the box, and as with any mid-range phone, it does come with a fair amount of pre-installed apps that may or may not be bloatware for you. Thankfully, most of these apps can be uninstalled or disabled. There’s still no news on when the X9d 5G will receive the MagicOS 10 treatment, as well as how long it’ll be supported. I guess we’ll just have to wait for now.
On the other hand, the X9d 5G’s display is large and bright at 6.79 inch and up to 6000 nits peak brightness. It also supports up to 120Hz refresh rate and 3840Hz PWM Risk-Free Dimming to help protect your eyes.
Camera
As with the case of performance, I’m guessing that you won’t be buying the HONOR X9d 5G for its camera capability. While the 108 MP is quite good, especially with OIS, the ultrawide sensor is a bit of a letdown at 5 MP, plus there’s no telephoto so you’ll have to rely on digital zoom.
Now I know megapixel count isn’t always the be all and end all of cameras, but from our testing, photos using the ultrawide lens often lack detail and struggle in anything other than daylight.
Battery
Now this is where the HONOR X9d 5G flexes its value. On paper, the HONOR X9d 5G’s 8,300 mAh Silicon Carbon battery blows the competition out of the water. However, in our first testing, the X9d 5G only managed to last 16 h 8 min but we re-ran the benchmark again and was able to squeeze a tiny bit more at 16 h 50 min.
Impressive nonetheless, but it still has room for improvement, especially on the software side. But hey, at least HONOR employs an anti-aging algorithm that’s meant to preserve the battery’s optimal performance for up to 6 years.
Topping it up can take an hour with the 66W fast wired charger that it comes with in the box. Might not be the fastest, especially with such a large battery, but I think it’s good enough considering you’ll only be plugging this phone in after a long day’s work.
What’s the Verdict?
With all that’s said and done, we think that for the phone’s SRP of ₱18,999, the HONOR X9d 5G deserves its spot in the Super Sulit tier.
Sure, it may not be the most powerful when it comes to performance, and it’s not the best at taking photos either, but all that can be overlooked because of how durable the X9d 5G can be.
Where else would you see a massive 8,300 mAh battery in a form factor that’s easy to lug around? Nowhere but the HONOR X9d 5G.