The upgrade that Honor took a few months to get to is finally here. The Honor 9i is the latest entrant to the Honor family and it’s all ready to hit the mid-range market with a bang.
The phone has been launched in the Indian market for Rs 17,999 and will be available exclusively on Flipkart.
The Quint got to spend some time with the device. Here’s what we think about the new Honor 9i.
Specifications
- Display: 5.9-inch full HD with 18:9 screen ratio
- Processor: Kirin 659 octa-core
- RAM: 4GB
- Storage: 64GB (expandable up to 128GB)
- Rear camera: Dual 16+2 megapixel
- Front camera: 13+2 megapixel
- Battery: 3340mAh non-removable
- Price: Rs 17,999
Design & Display
The Honor 9i is a sturdy phone with a full metal body. The smooth finish at the back attracts a lot of smudges, but it makes the phone look good.
The Honor 9i sports a full view 18:9 ratio display that stands at 5.9 inches. It pumps out a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels. The display is decent but struggles in sunlight. The 2.5D curved glass makes navigation smooth.
We’d have liked it if the screen was bezel-less, like most other phones in the market today.
Performance & Storage
The phone runs on the Kirin 659 octa-core chipset coupled with 4GB RAM. It runs on the latest EMUI 5.0 with the Android 7.0 Nougat on top. We installed a few apps and played a few HD games. No lags at all.
You get 64GB of onboard storage, along with an option to expand up to 128GB via a microSD card.
The phone bears a responsive fingerprint sensor at the back. It’s strange that Honor chose to continue with a USB 2.0 charging port on the Honor 9i when the whole world is moving to Type-C.
The phone supports 4G VoLTE and supports dual SIM and records a decent performance, overall.
Camera & Battery
This is Honor’s first phone that comes with four cameras onboard. Yes, four cameras!
The USP of the device is the dual front camera it sports – a combination of 13+2- megapixel lenses that also offers flash (called selfie toning flash).
Selfies look good on the Honor 9i and you get the Bokeh mode as well. So selfie away!
The rear camera is a vertical dual camera setup with a 16+2-megapixel lens combination. Honor has always been serious about their cameras and they’ve done well with the Honor 9i.
Check out there samples:
Image captured outside in auto mode
(Photo: The Quint)
The Honor 9i has enough battery backup, with a 3340mAh battery pack inside the phone. Honor says that it’s capable of packing nine hours of game time. We couldn’t really test that part out but we’ll put it through its paces in the full review.
Initial Verdict
So you have another budget phone in the market with the Honor 9i and this one comes with a brilliant camera setup. It is not a powerhouse but it comes with cool features like gesture control, dual front camera and a full view display.
If you want to explore the photographer in you and watch a lot of movies and videos on your smartphone, the Honor 9i – with its Rs 17,999 price tag – is worth considering.
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