We subjected the Honor X9a to our rigorous SBMARK battery test suite to measure its performance in terms of range, charging and efficiency. In these test results, we’ll analyze how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key Specifications:
- Battery Capacity: 5100mAh
- 40W charger (included)
- 6.67-inch, 1080 x 2400, 120Hz OLED display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 (6nm)
- ROM / RAM combination tested: 128GB + 6GB
Pros
- Excellent autonomy in moderate use
- Excellent battery life in almost all of our use cases (calls, video and music streaming, gaming)
- Excellent autonomy on the move
- Fair autonomy recovered after 5 minutes of recharging
- Low overall discharge currents
Versus
- Slightly longer than average reload time
- Poor charger efficiency
- Inaccurate battery gauge
The Honor X9a’s outstanding overall battery score earned it a place in the top 5 of our database to date.
While the device’s charging time was slightly longer than average, the Honor X9a offered excellent battery life and overall efficiency, delivering a full 3 days of battery life with moderate use.
The excellent battery life was measured particularly in individual uses such as gaming, calling, video and music streaming, but also for all uses on the go. This was confirmed by our discharge efficiency measurements, with the Honor X9a discharging very low discharge currents overall, a sign of well-optimized software.
The downside to the device’s performance was that the battery gauge was inaccurate. When the screen showed 20% capacity, the actual measured capacity was only 16%. With 1% capacity displayed, the device turns off automatically. Also, the battery readings at various stages of the battery gauge (precisely at 12%, 17%, 43%, 50%, 65% and 83%) lasted only a few seconds, affecting the user experience.
Overall, the Honor X9a shows very good battery performance, especially when compared to other devices in the Advanced segment.
Trial summary
Learn about SBMARK battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, SBMARK engineers conduct a series of objective tests over a one-week period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introduction and how we test articles for more details on our smartphone’s battery protocol.)
The following section compiles the key elements of our extensive testing and analysis performed in the SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
| Battery | Battery charger | wireless | Screen | Processor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honor X9a | 5100mAh | 40W (not included) |
– | OLEDs 1080×2400 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 |
| Honor Magic4 Lite 5G | 4800mAh | 66W (included) |
– | LCDs 1080×2388 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G | 5000mAh | 67W (included) |
– | AMOLED 1080×2400 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G |
How the Autonomy score is composed
The Battery Life Score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Home/Office, On the Go, and Calibrated Use Cases. Each subscore includes results from a full range of tests to measure range in all kinds of real-life scenarios.
100 hours
Light use
Active: 2h30/day
72 hours
Moderate use
Active: 4h/day
46 hours
Intensive use
Active: 7h/day
Home office
A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a series of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, streaming video, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16 hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep”. The robot repeats this series of actions every day until the device runs out.
In movement
156
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
Using a smartphone on the go has a negative impact on range due to additional “hidden” demands, such as continuous signaling associated with cellular network selection. SBMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a series of precisely defined activities following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device
Calibrated
153
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and to ours bots repeatedly perform actions related to a specific use case (like gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting with an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have used at least 5% battery power.
Reload
119
Realme GTNeo 3
Realme GTNeo 3
How the recharge score is composed
Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where range is at its lowest, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The SBMARK Battery Charging Score consists of two subscores, (1) Full Charge and (2) Fast Boost.
Charge complete
101
Black Shark 5Pro
Black Shark 5Pro
The full charge tests evaluate the reliability of the battery charge indicator; measure how long and how much energy it takes for the battery to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the user interface, and to an actual full charge.
The charging curves, in wired and wireless mode (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the energy consumption in watts during the charging phases towards full capacity.
The time to full charge graph breaks down the time required to reach 80%, 100% and full charge.
Quick push
140
Realme GTNeo 3
Realme GTNeo 3
With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), the Quick Boost tests measure how much charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The graph here compares the average range gain with a 5-minute quick charge.
Efficiency
148
Oppo Reno6 5G
Oppo Reno6 5G
How the efficiency score is composed
The SBMARK Energy Efficiency Score consists of two subscores, charge rate and discharge rate, which combine both data obtained during a typical robot-based usage scenario, calibrated testing and charge rating, taking into consideration battery capacity of the device. SBMARK calculates the product’s annual energy consumption, shown in the graph below, which is representative of overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.
To load
135
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
The secondary charge score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, relating to the amount of energy required to recharge the battery compared to the energy the battery can supply; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the remaining consumption when the phone is fully charged and still connected to the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The graph below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.
Discharge
155
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
The sub-discharge score evaluates how quickly a battery discharges during a test, which is independent of battery capacity. It is the ratio between the capacity of a battery and its autonomy. A small capacity battery may have the same run time as a large capacity battery, indicating that the device is well optimized, with a low discharge rate.
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