When a phone brand promises durability and endurance, it usually means “we dropped it once in a lab” and then you spend the rest of your ownership life praying it doesn’t fall off the couch.
So when Honor sent over the X9d for us to review, instead of babying it like we usually do, I did the opposite. I treated it the way you would expect to treat a durable phone. Badly.
I dropped it from just above waist height, screen first directly onto tiles. I shot it eight times with a Tippman TMC paintball gun – (that’s a velocity of about 300 FPS), straight at the display, from about three meters away. Then I washed the paint off with a garden hose and a pressure nozzle. No protection or special setup. Just some real stupidity in the name of science.
And the thing kept going.
Now does that make it unbreakable? Of course not — no phone is — but for everyday knocks, spills, and unpredictability, the X9d handles life better than most. And after spending meaningful hands-on time with the HONOR X9d, I can confidently say this is one of the toughest mid-range smartphones you can buy in South Africa right now.
Durability that actually shows up in daily life
What stood out to me wasn’t just that the X9d survived my nonsense. It was how normal it felt afterwards. The screen didn’t lose sensitivity, zero loss in touch responsiveness and no moisture warnings popping up later like a delayed panic attack.
Phones usually tend to fail after the dramatic moment, often when you least expect it. This one didn’t.
And let’s be honest, normal people don’t shoot their phones with paintballs. They drop them getting out of a car, maybe knock them off the table or send it for an unintended swim in the pool. The X9d feels built for that kind of life. The clumsy, distracted and very human kind.
The part that perhaps surprised me most is that it doesn’t look anything like a rugged phone. You know like those Caterpillar phones with thick rubber edges. The Honor X9d has no industrial design language screaming “I survive construction sites.” It looks like a normal, modern smartphone with slim, clean lines and feels super comfortable in the hand. That contrast is probably my favourite thing about it.
The battery is quietly ridiculous
The massive 8,300 mAh battery is arguably one of the X9d’s biggest strength. On typical mixed use (social apps, streaming, calls, web), it can easily stretch into a second full day without a charge.
Even in high-demand scenarios — long days on 5G data, messages, and GPS— it still has plenty of juice by bedtime.
That changes how you use a phone. You stop thinking about chargers or checking percentages and just use the damn thing.
The 66 W fast charging helps too, but honestly, the battery is so big that charging becomes a background task instead of a daily ritual.
The display held up when it mattered
Honor hasn’t made the X9d look like a brick and the display whilst durable is still beautiful to look at. The 6.79″ AMOLED screen with 120 Hz refresh delivers bright, smooth visuals — useful for outdoor use and media consumption alike.
The display holds its own under bright sunlight thanks to an ultra-high peak brightness, and despite the rough tests I threw at it, the touch responsiveness stayed reliable throughout.
I watch a lot of video, read a lot on my phone, and spend way too much time scrolling. The screen never became a point of frustration. That alone puts it ahead of many devices in this price range.
Performance that knows its limits
Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, this isn’t a performance monster, and that’s fine. It’s fast enough for daily life. Apps open when they should. Switching between tasks feels smooth. Social media, streaming, browsing, messaging, all of it works without friction.
If you’re chasing max frame rates in heavy games, you’ll find better options elsewhere. But if you want a phone that doesn’t get in your way, this one behaves itself. It feels tuned for stability and efficiency, not bragging rights.
And honestly, most people don’t need more than that.
Cameras that are… fine
The HONOR X9d packs a 108 MP main camera and a 5 MP ultra-wide shooter and they’re more than good enough. Not flagship level, but not bad either.
In good light, photos look sharp and social-media ready. In tougher lighting, you start to see the limits. This is not a camera first phone, and that’s ok.
While I never felt truly excited by the camera, it didn’t really disappoint either. It does its job well, just don’t expect flagship level camera chops and you’ll be fine.
Software and the small stuff
The software experience is clean and mostly unobtrusive. There’s some preloaded stuff, but nothing that made me roll my eyes hard enough to want to uninstall everything immediately.
What mattered more to me was stability. No sign of random bugs or frustrating freezes. No moments where I wondered if the phone was having a bad day. It felt dependable, which ties back to the core theme of this device.
The price makes the argument easy
At a price of R10,000, the Honor X9d sits in a crowded, competitive space. But boy does it stand out. Not because it’s perfect, but because it offers something many phones don’t.
Peace of mind.
You buy this phone knowing it can handle mistakes. Knowing it won’t die if life gets a bit rough and in knowing you won’t be glued to a power bank by mid-afternoon.
I don’t agree with calling it unbreakable. That word sets unrealistic expectations. But I do think it’s one of the toughest, most stress-free, value for money mid-range phones you can buy in South Africa right now.
And after trying pretty hard to break it, that opinion feels earned.
Disclaimer:
Geekhub received the Honor X9d for review and was not required to return the device. That said, all opinions, experiences, and conclusions in this article are entirely our own. Honor had no input into this review and did not see or approve this article prior to publication.
