Huawei has officially launched Honor 9X International / Global edition and is coming soon to India as well. This Global Honor 9X variant is different from the one they launched a couple of months ago in China. There are some very surprising specs changes. The biggest surprise is that Honor 9X ships with Google Apps and Play Store despite Huawei's Ban by US govt.
Huawei is yet announced the price of Honor 9X in India. Stay Tuned.
So what are the differences between Honor 9X Global Version / Indian Variant and Chinese Variant ?
The main difference is in the Chipset Huawei is using on these phones. Honor 9X and 9X Pro Chinese variants come with the latest mid-range Kirin 810 7nm octacore chipset while the Global 9X model has an older 11nm Kirin 710F chipset on board. Performance wise, Kirin 810 is faster as well as offer better battery efficiency.
One other difference is in the placement of the fingerprint sensor. On the Chinese model, the power button doubles up as a fingerprint sensor while on Indian variant, it is placed at the rear of the phone.
Honor 9X Pro Chinese Edition had liquid cooling system build in. No such system is available on the Global 9X.
Honor 9X ships with EMUI 10 Lite, based on Android 9 Pie. It will get an OTA update to Android 10 based EMUI in the future.
Let's talk about the Camera.
I have been using this phone for a few weeks now. Here is my Camera Review. Honor 9X comes with Triple Cameras at the back. There is an F1.8 48MP main wide angle camera along with an 8MP Ultra Wide angles lens at F2.4 aperture. The third lens is a depth sensor to assist in bokeh / portrait modes. On the front, you get a pop-up 16MP selfie camera.
Even though it's a 48MP sensor, the recommended shooting mode is 12MP as it uses Pixel binning tech to create better images by combining pixels. From my experience, shooting 12MP produced better, sharper images than the 48MP sensor. Also, 12MP files are smaller in size and is plenty enough for Instagram and Whatsapp uses. So leave it at 12MP.
The ultra wide angle lens is fun to have. However, there is no Auto Focus and the corner sharpness of the image is quite bad. Again, good enough for Instagram.
Various Camera Shooting Modes
Like every other Huawei phone, Honor 9X also comes with a lot of creative shooting modes. However, some of these modes are not Full versions we see on high end Huawei and Honor phones. There is a Night Mode which produces better images in low light scenarios, but the max resolution is limited at 8MP. The same applies to Light Painting modes like Silky Water, Star trails, Light Trails etc.
If you love to shoot DNG RAW images, you would be disappointed to know that the Pro mode on the default camera does not support RAW image shooting. Bummer.
You can use third party Pro camera apps like Moment Camera, Lightroom Mobile Camera etc to shoot DNG raw. However, for some reason, all these third party apps do not detect raw support for the main 48MP sensor instead only supports for the ultra wide 8MP sensor. So currently, there is no way to shoot 48MP raw images on Honor 9X.
Honor 9X can shoot 1080P videos at 30fps or 60fps. There is no 4K recording support. This is very disappointing as most other phones ( powered by Snapdragon processors ) in this price range come with 4K support. Also, there is no EIS stabilization available at 1080P recording. You have to use 720P HD to get image stabilization.
Display and Build Quality
Honor 9X feels solid in the hand. Since it has a bigger 4000mAh battery, the phone is not lightweight, but not very heavy, and is definitely a two hands use phone. The display is a bezel less, Full HD+ screen offering a immersive experience thanks to lack of a notch. The outdoor brightness is of the display is very good. The texts can be read without any issues under direct sun.
Reasons to Buy Honor 9X
Huawei is yet announced the price of Honor 9X in India. Stay Tuned.
The main difference is in the Chipset Huawei is using on these phones. Honor 9X and 9X Pro Chinese variants come with the latest mid-range Kirin 810 7nm octacore chipset while the Global 9X model has an older 11nm Kirin 710F chipset on board. Performance wise, Kirin 810 is faster as well as offer better battery efficiency.
One other difference is in the placement of the fingerprint sensor. On the Chinese model, the power button doubles up as a fingerprint sensor while on Indian variant, it is placed at the rear of the phone.
Honor 9X Pro Chinese Edition had liquid cooling system build in. No such system is available on the Global 9X.
Honor 9X ships with EMUI 10 Lite, based on Android 9 Pie. It will get an OTA update to Android 10 based EMUI in the future.
Let's talk about the Camera.
I have been using this phone for a few weeks now. Here is my Camera Review. Honor 9X comes with Triple Cameras at the back. There is an F1.8 48MP main wide angle camera along with an 8MP Ultra Wide angles lens at F2.4 aperture. The third lens is a depth sensor to assist in bokeh / portrait modes. On the front, you get a pop-up 16MP selfie camera.
Even though it's a 48MP sensor, the recommended shooting mode is 12MP as it uses Pixel binning tech to create better images by combining pixels. From my experience, shooting 12MP produced better, sharper images than the 48MP sensor. Also, 12MP files are smaller in size and is plenty enough for Instagram and Whatsapp uses. So leave it at 12MP.
The ultra wide angle lens is fun to have. However, there is no Auto Focus and the corner sharpness of the image is quite bad. Again, good enough for Instagram.
Various Camera Shooting Modes
Like every other Huawei phone, Honor 9X also comes with a lot of creative shooting modes. However, some of these modes are not Full versions we see on high end Huawei and Honor phones. There is a Night Mode which produces better images in low light scenarios, but the max resolution is limited at 8MP. The same applies to Light Painting modes like Silky Water, Star trails, Light Trails etc.
If you love to shoot DNG RAW images, you would be disappointed to know that the Pro mode on the default camera does not support RAW image shooting. Bummer.
You can use third party Pro camera apps like Moment Camera, Lightroom Mobile Camera etc to shoot DNG raw. However, for some reason, all these third party apps do not detect raw support for the main 48MP sensor instead only supports for the ultra wide 8MP sensor. So currently, there is no way to shoot 48MP raw images on Honor 9X.
Honor 9X can shoot 1080P videos at 30fps or 60fps. There is no 4K recording support. This is very disappointing as most other phones ( powered by Snapdragon processors ) in this price range come with 4K support. Also, there is no EIS stabilization available at 1080P recording. You have to use 720P HD to get image stabilization.
Display and Build Quality
Honor 9X feels solid in the hand. Since it has a bigger 4000mAh battery, the phone is not lightweight, but not very heavy, and is definitely a two hands use phone. The display is a bezel less, Full HD+ screen offering a immersive experience thanks to lack of a notch. The outdoor brightness is of the display is very good. The texts can be read without any issues under direct sun.
Reasons to Buy Honor 9X
- 48MP Camera - A lot of Creative Modes available
- Full View bezel less screen
- Headphone Jack
- Good Battery Life
- Ultra Wide Angle lens
- Good display
- AI Photography Mode
- Portrait and Aperture mode for Bokeh shots
- Pop-up Selfie Camera
Honor 9X Camera Sample Images ( Not Edited )
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