Honor 9N review: Mid-range device with premium design, average performance

Honor, the online sub-brand of the Chinese smartphone maker Huawei, has been aggressively pushing its new smartphones in India. As a result, the company recently becamme one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in the country, according to the Counterpoint research. A new addition to the company’s budget smartphone portfolio, the Honor 9N, sports a notch-based screen, a first for the company’s budget profile. However, there is more to the phone than just the new screen format.

The Honor 9N sports a premium glass design, dual rear cameras and a modern 19:9 aspect ratio notch-based screen. Importantly, the phone comes in three RAM and storage configurations – 3GB/32GB, 4GB/64GB and 4GB/128GB. It shares its technical specifications with other Honor budget smartphones, but in terms of design and features, it offers a refreshing new experience.

Design and display

The Honor 9N takes design cues from its flagship sibling, the Honor 10. The phone’s front and back are covered with glass, with subtle curved sides that move into a metallic chassis. The back glass is reflective in nature and takes some of the colour-changing properties from the Honor 10. However, it is not as profound as seen in the premium sibling.

The front of the smartphone is dominated by a 5.84-inch notch-based fullHD+ screen. However, even with a big screen, the phone’s form factor is compact and it feels light in hand and comfortable to carry in pocket. The phone’s back has a fingerprint scanner at the upper centre and dual cameras, with an LED flash, on the extreme top left. Interestingly, the camera unit does not bulge out much – it did in the Honor View10 – and fits right inside the frame, improving the phone’s design quotient. Read Complete Article