There is plenty of competition in the Indian mid-range smartphone market, with brands like iQOO, Motorola, and Realme actively launching new phones, all pushing performance and features at attractive prices. Honor, meanwhile, has chosen a slightly different path with the Honor X9c 5G, focusing on durability, display quality, and long-lasting battery life. Positioned as the successor to last year’s Honor X9b, the X9c isn’t a radical departure but rather a refined variant with a few targeted upgrades. Let’s take a closer look at how the phone performs across design, display, performance, and cameras.
6Cameras and Other Features
On the camera front, the X9c takes a mixed approach. The 108-megapixel main sensor with OIS/EIS delivers sharp and detailed shots in good daylight conditions. Colours appear punchy—sometimes too punchy, leaning towards oversaturation. The sensor allows up to 3x lossless in-sensor zoom, which is effective for portraits and close-ups. Portrait mode itself is serviceable, with decent edge detection but occasional errors around hair or complex subjects. Low-light performance is average, with noticeable noise and some light bloom around bright sources.
The secondary 5-megapixel ultrawide camera is a weak point, producing soft textures and struggling in low light. Purple fringing and overexposure are common issues. Unlike some rivals, there’s no telephoto lens, limiting flexibility. On the front, the 16-megapixel selfie camera produces good daylight selfies with AI beautification and optional bokeh blur, but low-light selfies lack detail.
Extra features include AI motion sensing, multi-video recording, and editing tools like AI Eraser. While these features are useful, execution isn’t always flawless, with occasional smudges left after AI edits.
Connectivity and extras round out the package. The phone supports dual SIM 5G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and an IR blaster. Honor includes a case, screen protector, USB-C cable, and charger in the box, which is increasingly rare among mid-range devices.
