Update 2 (7/15/19 @ 1:25 PM ET): Press renders of the Honor 9X and Honor 9X Pro have surfaced, giving us a look at the slim bezels and X-shaped gradient color effect.
Update 1 (7/15/19 @ 6:00 AM ET): Honor has begun teasing the devices in the new series through its official Weibo account. Meanwhile, we have confirmation for several specifications through TENAA listings.
Honor's mid-range series with the suffix "X" offers a good value for the price. The focus of this series is to empower the average consumer in the sub-$250 price segment and the high demand proves its success. As per official figures, the Huawei sub-brand has already sold 15 million units of the Honor 8X, i.e. last smartphone in the series, in the last ten months. Now, even as Huawei and (consequently) Honor hang by a thin thread held by the U.S. Department of Commerce on one side and President Trump on the other, Honor is preparing to launch its next smartphone in the series – the Honor 9X – on the 23rd of this month.
Ahead of the launch in China, we're getting to learn details about the design of the smartphone. Besides the Honor 9X, we should also see a Pro model and known leaker Evan Blass aka @evleaks has shared the digital sketches, highlighting the design overview of the two smartphones. Notably, both the Honor 9X and the Honor 9X Pro are likely to come with pop-up selfie camera, bezel-less displays.
The difference between the two devices lies in the number of cameras they feature on their back. While the Honor 9X is likely to come with dual rear cameras, the Honor 9X Pro could feature three cameras on the back. These triple cameras can be anticipated to be on par with the triple cameras on the Honor 20i/20 Lite launched recently. The image for the 9X Pro can be seen to show a circular cutout at the bottom beside the USB port but the representation for the non-Pro variant does not. Furthermore, the SIM tray can be expected to be placed on the top opposite the pop-up selfie camera.
There's no fingerprint scanner on the rear of either of the smartphones so we may get to see a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button, just like the Honor View20 and the Honor 20/20 Pro. This is based on the assumption that the two devices will get LCD displays. If, however, either of the smartphones comes with an AMOLED or OLED screen, we might also see an in-display fingerprint scanner but, we are less optimistic of that happening.
Blass did not share other information about the smartphone but we know that the smartphone will feature a HiSilicon Kirin 810 chipset, which also powers the Huawei Nova 5. After the launch in China later this month, we also expect Honor to launch the smartphone in target markets including India.
Source: Twitter/Evan Blass (1), (2)
Update 1: Specifications for the Honor 9X and Honor 9X Pro have appeared on TENAA
Honor has begun teasing the device through its Weibo account, giving us a good look at the back of the device, with a special focus on the design underneath the back glass.
The presence of a triple rear camera setup indicates that the device pictured is the Honor 9X Pro, though one can also presume that a similar design pattern may make its way to the Honor 9X too.
Meanwhile, TENAA pages for both the Honor 9X and Honor 9X Pro are now live. This gives us confirmation for several key specifications of both the devices.
The Honor 9X (HLK-TL00) will measure 163.1 mm × 77.2mm × 8.8mm and weigh a good 206g. The phone will also have a 6.39" TFT LCD with FHD+ resolution. The device will also come with a 3,900 mAh battery. RAM variants include options for 4GB, 6GB and 8GB, while storage options include 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, so the device should be available across a wider spread of price points. There's also a mention for storage expansion up to 512GB. For its camera setup, the TENAA listing suggests that the Honor 9X will come with a 48MP primary rear sensor coupled with a 2MP sensor, while the front camera is expected to be 16MP.
For the Honor 9X Pro (HLK-AL10), the device appears to be similar to the Honor 9X in several aspects, including the dimensions, screen size and battery capacity. Points of difference include RAM choices of 6GB and 8GB, and internal storage options of 128GB and 256GB. Further, in line with previous leaks, the rear camera setup sees an additional 8MP sensor. Both the devices will launch with Android 9 Pie, likely with EMUI 9 on top.
Source: Honor Weibo; TENAA (1), (2)
Update 2: Press Renders
We now have our first look at press renders of the Hono 9X and Honor 9X Pro. The images don't show the pop-up camera, but the very slim bezels confirm it's there. The press renders show the devices in two colors: plain black and gradient purple. The purple color has an X-shape effect to go along with the "9X" name. We're not sure if the purple color will be available for both models.
The devices look extremely similar, but you can tell them apart by the camera setups. The 9X Pro has three cameras and a flash underneath, whereas the 9X has two cameras and the flash is inside the camera bump. The cameras on the 9X Pro are said to be 48MP + 8MP + 2MP, and the 9X is said to have 48MP + 2MP.
Source: MySmartPrice
Note: Huawei has stopped providing official bootloader unlock codes for its devices. Therefore, the bootloaders of their devices cannot be unlocked, which means that users cannot root or install custom ROMs.