Honor X9d Sunrise Gold 256GB

The Honor X9d's 8300mAh battery is an absolute unit that will outlast every other phone on the market. It's slow, its cameras are mediocre, but if you value stamina above all else, this is your phone.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is a middle-of-the-road chip. It handles day-to-day stuff like browsing, YouTube, and messaging without breaking a sweat, but demanding games or heavy multitasking will show its limits. What surprised us is how cool it runs, even under load, probably because it's not a power-hungry beast. The 12GB of RAM is generous for this price, so apps stay alive in memory longer than you'd think. Still, if you're coming from a Snapdragon 8-series phone, you'll notice the animation stutters and slower app launches. It's about average for a $500 phone, but nothing to write home about.

The most natural rival is the Motorola G Stylus, which also targets the 'big screen, big battery' crowd. The Honor outclasses it with AMOLED, IP68, and much larger battery. Against flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra or Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, the X9d gets demolished in camera and performance, but it costs less than half as much and lasts twice as long on a charge. So if you're looking for a secondary phone or a pure workhorse, the Honor makes a compelling case; for photographers or gamers, just skip it.

At $485, the Honor X9d is a screaming deal if battery is your number one priority. You're getting a giant, high-quality screen and an IP68 body for under $500. But you're also gambling on a brand with zero retail presence in the U.S. and a dismal review average. If you're okay with a slower processor and a bare-bones camera, it's a steal. Otherwise, the Pixel 8a or Galaxy A56 offer better all-around experiences for similar money.

The Honor X9d is one of those phones that doesn't pretend to compete with the Galaxy Ultras or iPhones of the world. Instead, it zeroes in on one thing: battery life. And it absolutely crushes it. With an 8300mAh cell, this thing goes days between charges, and that alone makes it worth a look if you're tired of battery anxiety. The rest of the package is a solid mid-ranger: a 6.8-inch 120Hz AMOLED, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage, and an IP68 build that feels way more premium than its $485 price tag suggests. Just don't expect flagship speed or camera wizardry, and you'll be pretty happy.

If you want a pocketable phone, a top-tier camera, or the snappy performance of a flagship, this isn't it. Go get a Pixel 10 Pro or Galaxy S26 Ultra instead. This phone is for battery endurance junkies and people who treat their phone like a tool, not a toy.

Buy the Honor X9d if you've ever dreamed of a phone that survives a weekend camping trip without a charger. It's a battery endurance champion wrapped in a surprisingly premium body. Just know that you're trading away camera quality, processing grunt, and any hope of software support to get there. For the right person, that's a fair trade. For everyone else, grab a Pixel.