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When looking for viable mid-range options out there, Honor and Redmi are surely among the popular brands that makes solid offerings in this category.
So, today, we’re gonna talk about their recent releases, namely the HONOR X9c 5G and the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G—both of which go for under Php18,000 price range, but which model one-ups the other?
We’re about to find out in this comparison review. Let’s dive right in!
Design and Construction
On the outside, both phones went for a similar design language, and that is evident with their centered camera islands at the back.
However, as you can see, the HONOR X9c has a circular one and the Redmi Note 14 Pro’s comes in a square-ish shape.
Notably, looks can be deceiving in this case. While both phones appear to have four cameras, the HONOR X9c only has two sensors, and the Redmi Note 14 Pro has three.
As for the back panels themselves, both models opted for curved edges, making them more comfortable in the hands.
When it comes to the materials used, we actually mistook the Redmi Note 14 Pro’s housing to be a frosted glass. However, upon further inspection, it’s actually made of a polycarbonate material. Then, it blends with an aluminum frame to the sides.
The HONOR X9c, on the other hand, uses a similar plastic back panel, and our unit is in Jade Cyan that sports this interesting marble-like design.
Looking at them side-by-side, the HONOR X9c exudes a more unique aesthetic. The Redmi Note 14 Pro is still commendable for its minimalist design though.
In terms of durability, the HONOR X9c sounds tougher on paper as it boasts a five-star drop resistance certification from SGS, Switzerland. We’ve pretty much memorized this already, as most of Honor’s smartphones nowadays come with the same certification.
On top of that, the phone also comes with an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance. However, the Redmi Note 14 Pro has an advantage in this regard thanks to its stronger IP68 rating. This means the phone can survive underwater at a depth of one and a half meters for up to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, the HONOR X9c is only resistant to water jets.
But despite all those certifications, do be careful in handling these gadgets. You also don’t want to take these phones for a swim in a pool or seawater as they’re not built to withstand such environments.
For this round though, I’ll give the point to the Redmi Note 14 Pro mainly because of its stronger ingress protection, matching that of a flagship device.
Overall, in terms of design, we think both phones look and feel great, nonetheless.
Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics
Flip both phones over and we are greeted by curved displays.
The Redmi Note 14 Pro boasts a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3000 nits.
Meanwhile, the HONOR X9c sports a tad bit larger 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with the same 120Hz refresh rate, and 4000 nits of HDR peak brightness. Both phones have a 1.5K screen resolution.
Not much of a difference here except the X9c features a pill-shaped notch at the top, while the Note 14 Pro is left with the usual hole punch notch.
There’s an Asahi double-tempered glass on the HONOR X9c, and the Redmi Note 14 Pro on the other hand, deploys a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 making their displays more resistant to drops and scratches.
For biometrics, both phones utilize an under-display fingerprint sensor along with face unlock.
On the subject of visual experience, the Redmi Note 14 Pro has a slight edge. It has dual stereo speakers complemented with support for both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, that should bring a more immersive viewing experience.
The HONOR X9c does have dual stereo speakers as well but lacks such display and sound enhancements.
Setting those aside, they do a pretty good job in the display department bringing vivid colors and deep blacks. While audio quality is debatable, both phones still deliver a more than enough viewing pleasure.
So, in that case, both the Redmi Note 14 Pro and the HONOR X9c get a point this round.
Performance and Benchmarks
Now, let’s talk about performance.
Powering the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Ultra built on a 4nm process and clocked at 2.5GHz. The HONOR X9c 5G is equipped with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 from Qualcomm which is also a 4nm chip with a slightly lower clock speed at 2.2GHz.
Perhaps, that bump in frequency makes a difference here. As seen in our benchmark results below, the Redmi Note 14 Pro managed to get higher scores across all the benchmark tests, except in ANTUTU storage.
| Benchmark | Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G | HONOR X9c 5G |
| Chipset | Dimensity 7300-Ultra | Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 |
| AnTuTu V10 | 676,089 | 606,921 |
| AnTuTu Storage | 93,897 | 124,330 |
| S.Read Speed | 990.7 MB/s | 2016.0 MB/s |
| S.Write Speed | 912.3 MB/s | 1996.3 MB/s |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 3,131 | 2,379 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Single-Core | 1,023 | 928 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Multi-Core | 2,932 | 2,777 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL | 2,512 | 1,337 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU Vulkan | 2514 | 248 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 performance | 13,001 | 12,612 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 battery life | 13 hours and 14 minutes | 15 hours and 34 minutes |
For some reason, it had significantly lower read and write speeds as compared to the HONOR X9c. But apart from that, the Redmi phone, overall, had better performance, especially in graphic-intensive tasks like 3DMark and Geekbench GPU.
Setting the numbers aside, expect both phones to perform well on your day-to-day tasks. As for gaming, they can definitely handle your casual and MOBA games with ease, and graphically demanding titles are still playable, albeit at low to medium graphics settings.
With that, both phones get a point, yet again, in this segment.
Cameras
Moving on to cameras, the Redmi Note 14 Pro, once again, has the slight advantage mainly because it has one more sensor. It has a triple rear camera setup led by a whopping 200-megapixel main sensor with OIS, combined with an 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro lens.
Meanwhile, the HONOR X9c features a dual rear setup with a 108-megapixel main camera and a 5-megapixel ultrawide sensor.
During our testing, the added megapixels and the extra macro camera don’t really bring the Redmi Note 14 Pro a huge advantage.
As a matter of fact, both phones are equally matched, capturing photos with fine detail, good contrast, and okay-ish dynamic range. However, photos coming from the Redmi Note 14 Pro look a bit washed out in some scenarios and the details look relatively less sharp.
Be the judge of it yourself with our sample photos below.
For video capture, both phones support 4K resolution at 30 fps. You can expect stable videos from the OIS-enabled main cameras of both devices.
In general, these phones will do casual photography just fine. However, despite having fewer sensors, the HONOR X9c’s camera performance still goes on par with the competition. So, both phones deserve a point this round.
Battery Life
Battery-wise, the HONOR X9c packs a larger 6600mAh unit despite having a thinner chassis at 7.98 mm. That’s possible because it utilizes a new technology called silicon carbon battery. If you haven’t heard of this tech yet, we have a short explainer about it which you can watch in our YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, the Redmi Note 14 Pro has a smaller 5110mAh battery despite its larger frame at 8.4 mm. The bump in capacity definitely led to a longer battery life for the X9c.
In our PCMark test, the phone was able to last 15 hours and 34 minutes. That is over two hours longer than the Note 14 Pro with 13 hours and 14 minutes of runtime.
When it comes to charging, the X9c has the upper hand again with its fast charging support of 66W. The Note 14 Pro is left with 45W of charging which is still quite fast.
So, in this segment, the HONOR X9c evens out the match with its better battery and charging capabilities with overall longer battery life.
Connectivity and Other Features
On the software side, both phones run Android 14 out-of-the-box with the Redmi Note 14 Pro and the HONOR X9c skinned with Xiaomi HyperOS 1 and MagicOS 8.0, respectively.
UI design hits different for each software skin and it will boil down to preference. Since these are mid-range devices, expect some bloatware here and there too.
When it comes to update policy, we only have info for the Redmi Note 14 Pro which should get up to three major OS upgrades and four years of security patches.
Sadly, we don’t get any details as to how long Honor will support the X9c. But based on experience, users can expect one to two years of OS upgrades from Honor.
Moving on, both phones feature all the connectivity essentials including 5G and NFC. Notably, the Redmi phone adds a Wi-Fi 6 support, an eSIM slot, and an IR blaster.
With those added features and not to mention, Xiaomi’s transparency on software support, the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G secures another point this round.
Price and Verdict
Finally, let’s talk about the price. This may very well be the X9c’s trump card as it carries a more affordable price tag than the competition. The HONOR X9c 5G goes for just PHP 16,999.
The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G starts at PHP 17,999 for the base model with a 256GB trim and PHP 19,999 for the 512GB option.
To wrap this up, both devices surely impress in their own right. The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G brings a taste of flagship with its IP68 rating, includes a clear roadmap for OS updates, and adds a couple of hardware features such as Wi-Fi 6 and eSIM support.
Still, the HONOR X9c definitely holds its own with its unique design, long-lasting battery and faster charging capabilities. It’s also no slouch when it comes to camera performance and processing power.
In the end, it’s all about what you prioritize: if you give importance to water resistance, more handy features, and longevity in terms of software support, then the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G could be your winner.
But if a stunning design, and a standout battery life are more your style, the HONOR X9c certainly presents a strong case for less cost.
So, are you Team Redmi or Team Honor in this comparison? Which one would you pick and why? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G vs HONOR X9c 5G specs:
| 6.67-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED | 6.78-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED |
| 2712 x 1220 pixels, 120Hz | 2700 x 1224 pixels, 120Hz |
| 3000-nit peak brightness | 4000-nit peak brightness (HDR), wet touch control |
| Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | - |
| MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Ultra | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 |
| 4-nm, 8-cores, up to 2.5GHz | 4-nm, 8-cores, up to 2.2GHz |
| 12GB LPDDR4X RAM | 12GB RAM |
| 256GB, 512GB UFS 2.2 storage | 256GB, 512GB storage |
| Triple rear cameras: | Dual rear cameras: |
| - 200MP f/1.65 main, OIS | - 108MP f/1.75 main, OIS, EIS |
| - 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide | - 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide |
| - 2MP f/2.4 macro | - |
| 20MP f/2.2 selfie shooter (hole punch notch) | 16MP f/2.45 selfie shooter (pill-shaped notch) |
| Dual nano-SIM (supports eSIM) | Dual nano-SIM |
| 5G, 4G LTE | 5G, 4G LTE |
| Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 5 |
| Bluetooth 5.4 | Bluetooth 5.1 |
| GPS, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS, A-GPS | GPS/ AGPS/ GLONASS/ BeiDou/ Galileo |
| USB Type-C | USB Type-C (USB 2.0) |
| NFC | NFC |
| Under-display fingerprint sensor, face unlock | Under-display fingerprint sensor, face unlock |
| IP68 dust and water resistance | IP65 dust and water resistance, SGS 5-star drop resistance |
| Dual stereo speakers, Dolby Vision/ Atmos, IR blaster | Dual stereo speakers |
| Xiaomi HyperOS, Android 14 | MagicOS 8.0, Android 14 |
| 5110mAh battery | 6600mAh Si/C battery |
| 45W charging (wired) | 66W charging (wired) |
| 162.33 x 74.42 x 8.4 mm | 8.55 mm (Lavender Purple) | 162.8 x 75.5 x 7.98 mm |
| 190g | ~189g |
| Midnight Black, Coral Green, Lavender Purple (colorways) | Titanium Purple, Titanium Black, Jade Cyan (colorways) |
