Honor 9A Smartphone Review- Cheap cell phone with much battery, but little power
Comparison devices
Bewertung | Rating Version | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74.5 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 11 / 2020 | Honor 9A Helio P22 MT6762, PowerVR GE8320 | 185 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.30" | 1600x720 | |
| 74.3 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 01 / 2020 | Nokia 2.3 Helio A22 MT6761, PowerVR GE8300 | 183 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 6.20" | 1520x720 | |
| 76.9 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 06 / 2020 | Realme C3 Helio G70, Mali-G52 MP2 | 195 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 6.50" | 1600x720 | |
| 75.9 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 09 / 2020 | LG K51S Helio P35 MT6765, PowerVR GE8320 | 195 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.55" | 1600x720 |
Case, equipment and operation - chic Honor-mobile
Even in the entry-level class, people now have certain requirements: a single camera no longer does the job, a large battery must also be on board and Android must run at least reasonably smoothly on the smartphone. The Honor 9A wants to cover all these needs, for it the manufacturer demands scarcely 150 euro.
With a 6.3-inch screen, the smartphone is medium-sized, for very small hands probably still quite a chunk, but at least not a giant cell phone. At 185 grams, it is also somewhat lighter than some competitors in this price class. In Central Europe, Phantom Blue and Midnight Black are available as color variants, and an Ice Green variant is also available internationally. The back reflects and refracts the light, which leads to very nice color effects. The stability of the case is decent for its price range.
You don't always get 64 GB mass storage for 149 Euro, so the Honor 9A is quite well equipped in terms of memory. NFC for mobile payment services is also on board. If you want, you can use two SIM cards in the smartphone and additionally expand the memory with a microSD card. There is also a micro-USB slot, so there is no modern USB-C port. Great is that the WLAN is quite fast and clearly outperforms other devices. We measure with our reference router, the Nighthawk AX12 from Netgear.
A fingerprint sensor is located on the back of the smartphone. It is not the fastest one, but unlocks the smartphone quite reliably. The unlocking via face recognition can also be used. The operation of the system is basically smooth.
The Honor 9A is equipped with Android 10 as the basis and Magic UI as the interface. The security patches on our test device are from July 2020, so they are no longer up-to-date. With such cheap smartphones it is also rare to get regular updates. Nevertheless, it would be nice. It should also be noted that Honor, although recently sold by Huawei, still does not have access to certain US technology and therefore has to do without Google services on this model. The App Gallery is filling up with popular apps surprisingly fast, but Google Maps for example and many other applications are not (yet) available on Honor devices.
Cameras - Hellie surfaces as problem
Honor uses two usable cameras on the back and a camera sensor that provides additional data for depth of field in portraits
The main camera offers 13 megapixel resolution, photos are often quite inaccurate in detail and outshine quickly in bright areas. In dark environments, on the other hand, the smartphone has problems with sharpness. Sure, you can't expect a top camera for 150 Euros, but the Honor 9A is in our opinion suitable for snapshots at most.
The wide-angle camera also takes partly dull pictures and has clear problems with high contrasts.
On the front side, there is an 8 megapixel lens in a waterdrop notch at the top of the screen. It makes quite passable selfies in normal light.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Hauptobjektiv BlumeHauptobjektiv UmgebungHauptobjektiv Low LightUltraweitwinkel
Display - No PWM flickering at Honor 9A
The IPS display resolves with an extended 720p resolution, which is common in this price class and also sufficient for a reasonably sharp display. We like the screen brightness with an exposed sensor, it surpasses all comparable devices at least slightly.
Also the black level is OK and so we get a contrast ratio that is OK. Colors on the display seem to be quite vivid and are sometimes even reproduced quite lifelike.
The IPS screen doesn't flicker even at low brightness levels.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 537 cd/m²
Contrast: 1492:1 (Black: 0.36 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.56 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.87
ΔE Greyscale 5.4 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
94.1% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.393
| Honor 9A IPS, 1600x720, 6.3" | Nokia 2.3 IPS, 1520x720, 6.2" | Realme C3 IPS, 1600x720, 6.5" | LG K51S IPS, 1600x720, 6.6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | -23% | -17% | -20% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 42 ? | 49.2 ? -17% | 52.8 ? -26% | 42 ? -0% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 20 ? | 25.6 ? -28% | 21.6 ? -8% | 28 ? -40% |
| PWM Frequency | 7692 ? | |||
| Screen | -8% | -7% | -13% | |
| Brightness middle | 537 | 515 -4% | 531 -1% | 407 -24% |
| Brightness | 515 | 488 -5% | 492 -4% | 393 -24% |
| Brightness Distribution | 93 | 92 -1% | 88 -5% | 95 2% |
| Black Level * | 0.36 | 0.23 36% | 0.26 28% | 0.53 -47% |
| Contrast | 1492 | 2239 50% | 2042 37% | 768 -49% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.56 | 6.1 -34% | 6.1 -34% | 4.17 9% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.14 | 13.4 -65% | 11.6 -43% | 8.28 -2% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.4 | 7.7 -43% | 7.4 -37% | 3.8 30% |
| Gamma | 2.393 92% | 2.26 97% | 2.14 103% | 2.235 98% |
| CCT | 7665 85% | 8639 75% | 8028 81% | 7227 90% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -16% /
-11% | -12% /
-9% | -17% /
-15% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 20 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 40 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (20.7 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 42 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 21 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 21 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 65 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.5 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8492 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life - would like to be even longer
With a Helio P22 from MediaTek Honor reaches quite far down the shelf of SoCs. You should not expect a lot of power, many comparable devices in this price range offer more power, especially the real C3 stands out. But it also works even slower, as the Nokia 2.3 proves.
In everyday life you should be prepared for Ruckler with complex apps. But for everyday activities like watching videos via the browser there are no problems. Our microSD card, the Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 is read quickly and the internal memory is on the level of its price class in terms of speed.
The smartphone warms up only slightly and should not cause any problems in everyday life.
The mono loudspeaker seems a bit overstrained: At maximum volume it is extremely high-frequency, if you lower the volume, it appears dull. In between, there is a setting where the sound is fine, but that takes away a lot of flexibility from the user. External audio devices can be connected via a 3.5mm connector or Bluetooth, and clean sound is output.
With 5,000 mAh the built-in battery is quite high-capacity. The runtimes are with 15:45 hours also not bad, the real C3 shows however that still clearly more would have penetrated. But for two days without power outlet it should be enough for normal use. The charger has up to 10 watts of charging power and needs up to 0% battery charge for well over two hours until the battery is full again.
| PCMark for Android | |
| Work performance score (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (4404 - 7465, n=18) | |
| Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Nokia 2.3 | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (3805 - 5380, n=21) | |
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Nokia 2.3 | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (6.4 - 7.6, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (5.5 - 166, n=206, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Nokia 2.3 | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (3.5 - 4.7, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.4 - 321, n=206, last 2 years) | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Nokia 2.3 | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (4.1 - 4.8, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Nokia 2.3 | |
| Realme C3 | |
| LG K51S | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (1.3 - 1.6, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (1.2 - 129, n=206, last 2 years) | |
| Geekbench 4.4 | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Realme C3 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (749 - 824, n=10) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (844 - 9592, n=79, last 2 years) | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Realme C3 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (3300 - 3660, n=10) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (4134 - 34246, n=79, last 2 years) | |
| Compute OpenCL Score (sort by value) | |
| Honor 9A | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (n=1) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (n=1last 2 years) | |
| Honor 9A | Nokia 2.3 | Realme C3 | LG K51S | Average 64 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 12% | 38% | -1% | 12% | 881% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 277.4 | 261.8 -6% | 294.1 6% | 266.1 -4% | 274 ? -1% | 2032 ? 633% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 160.7 | 149.2 -7% | 122.2 -24% | 165.2 3% | 177.3 ? 10% | 1648 ? 926% |
| Random Read 4KB | 54.8 | 69.6 27% | 51.8 -5% | 58.9 7% | 59.9 ? 9% | 282 ? 415% |
| Random Write 4KB | 19.7 | 30.33 54% | 68.5 248% | 18.8 -5% | 32.7 ? 66% | 325 ? 1550% |
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 82.9 ? | 83.7 ? 1% | 84.6 ? 2% | 79.6 ? -4% | 77.4 ? -7% | |
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 62.5 ? | 63.7 ? 2% | 63.5 ? 2% | 59.3 ? -5% | 58.3 ? -7% |
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 38.8 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.2 °C / 85 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speakers
Honor 9A audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 72.5% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 72.5% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 72.5% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (115.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 86% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 10% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 3% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Nokia 2.3 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 34.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.7% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (27.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 69% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 25% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 82% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 14% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
Pros
Cons
Verdict - OK for Internet fans
The Honor 9A certainly offers some interesting features: There is the fast WLAN, which is also noticeable in everyday life. The screen is quite bright and the case looks nice and is reasonably stable. The large battery unfortunately doesn't give the smartphone as much as one could hope for, but it is enough for good runtimes.
The Honor 9A can score me fast WLAN and a bright screen. But there are deficits in the performance and the camera.
The cameras in turn offer rather poor image quality even for this low price range and have massive problems with bright areas. It is also annoying that Honor offers even less performance than one would expect from this price class anyway.
So there remains an ambivalent feeling with regard to the Honor 9A. Who photographs little and surfs much in the Internet, that will be probably content with the Smartphone however. But you should be aware of what it means to do without Google Services and all Google Apps.
Honor 9A
- 11/20/2020 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt
Price comparison
