
A phone that’s tough? Hard to crack? Can withstand scratches and drops? Equipped against extreme temperatures? That’s the promise of the HONOR X9c 5G.
Continuing the brand’s line of extra durable smartphones, the HONOR X9c 5G is a midranger dubbed “the toughest phone of 2025.” This newest addition to the HONOR X series brings enhanced durability and a bigger battery compared to last year’s iteration. It is priced at P16,999 for the 12GB+256GB configuration.
Here’s a closer look at the HONOR X9c 5G to help you decide if it’s a substantial upgrade from the previous iteration or your current device.
Strength and style
The HONOR X9c 5G is a premium-looking device with its slim body, curved display, and smooth finish.
Our review unit is in Titanium Purple—a stylish and elegant colorway that complements the sleek build of the phone. Like in the previous X Series model, the rear camera system is housed in a circular module, with only a slight variation in the placement of the lenses. At 189g and having a thin form factor, this device is easy to use even with just one hand.
Despite its glossy finish, the phone remains easy to grip and not slippery. Plus, it comes with a frosted case in the box—kind of amusing, considering how durable this phone already is. But hey, if you’re looking for extra protection, HONOR’s got you covered. Speaking of which, this phone boasts an enhanced IP65M rating for water resistance as well as an increased rating for drops (up to two meters). The device also ensures safe and stable use even under extremely low and high temperatures.
The left side of the phone is clear of any ports or buttons; the power key and the volume rocker sit on the right side. At the bottom, you’ll find the USB-C port flanked by the SIM card tray/slot and loudspeaker grille.


Sharp, curved
The HONOR X9c 5G features a stunning 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with Full HD+ (2700 x 1224) resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Text and icons are crisp, while colors truly pop off the screen. With a peak brightness of up to 4000 nits, this display ensures comfortable usability even in the harshest lighting conditions..
This display provides users with a truly enjoyable experience, whether they’re watching, gaming, or reading. Scrolling through social media and switching between apps is seamless. The curved design and ultra-slim bezels make videos and games feel even more immersive.

While we prefer to use wireless headphones, this phone’s stereo speakers—one at the top and one at the bottom—provide decent audio even at higher volume levels. Occasionally, depending on how you hold the phone, your hands or fingers might slightly muffle the sound. However, it’s not significant enough to distract you from enjoying your videos or games.
HONOR also equipped the X9c 5G with an under-display fingerprint sensor, which works accurately and quickly during our testing.
A small improvement
The HONOR X9c 5G retains the same 108-megapixel main sensor and 5MP wide lens as its predecessor, the HONOR X9b. However, it replaces the 2MP macro shooter with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) support, ensuring minimal to zero blur in photos. We see this as a welcome upgrade—image quality from the rear cameras remains excellent, while the OIS feature significantly improves capturing clear shots, even when on the move or photographing moving subjects.
Overall, the resulting images are decent to great depending on the environment. When taken in a well-lit environment, they have enough details and accurate colors. Photos taken indoors from the main camera are good, too. The phone leverages artificial intelligence to offer features such as AI Night Mode Camera, AI OIS Motion Sensing Capture, and AI Erase.
The 16MP front shooter takes decent selfies, especially when under good lighting conditions. It struggles a bit in low-lit scenarios. The beauty mode, which is turned on by default, feels aggressive in its post-processing. But simply turning it off or adjusting the levels can solve that. The selfie camera also provides clear images during video calls and snappy responses for facial recognition.
For videos, the HONOR X9c is capable of shooting up to 4K resolution on its rear camera. The front camera is capable of capturing up to 1080p.






Better battery, familiar performance
The processor remains largely unchanged, as the HONOR X9c 5G is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset found in the X9b. Our review unit features 256GB of internal storage and 12GB of RAM, expandable to an impressive 24GB with HONOR RAM Turbo.
This setup delivers the same fast and responsive performance as its predecessor. Graphics-intensive games run smoothly, and everyday tasks like scrolling through social media, streaming videos, and installing apps are equally seamless.

The X9c 5G runs on MagicOS 8.0, which is based on Android 14. As expected, the user interface offers a fluid experience—it’s clean and smooth to navigate. The usual bloatware is present out of the box, but it’s nothing users can’t easily remove or manage.
Connectivity options include 5G Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and GPS. The SIM tray can accommodate two nano-SIMs for network flexibility.
One major upgrade in the new HONOR X9c is its battery. With a 6600mAh capacity compared to the 5800mAh of the X9b, this improvement offers significantly longer battery life.
We barely made a dent in the battery after a day of casual use, including web and social media browsing, watching YouTube, and taking pictures and photos. Constant gaming and binge-watching demand more power, but even then, it took almost a day and a half before we had to charge the phone again (with breaks in between, of course!)
The phone also has support for fast wired charging through the HONOR 66W SuperCharge charger that comes with the device. The phone took around an hour to charge from zero to 100 percent.
Speed says

The HONOR X9c 5G is a strong contender in the midrange category. It’s a beautifully designed phone that lives up to its durability promise. The performance, display, battery life, and user experience are great too. The cameras meet the needs of most users and go beyond the basics. If you’re looking for a reliable and all-around device, the X9c 5G is a good choice. However, if you’re upgrading from the X9b, it might be worth waiting, as there aren’t significant changes between the two models.