The HONOR X9d survived a fall from the sky, but the real test comes after the drop

• IN PHOTO: HONOR X9d

By Art Samaniego

The recent launch of HONOR’s most durable phone to date, the HONOR X9d, was designed to capture attention. The device was dropped from an airplane, run over by a Tesla Cybertruck, boiled, frozen, and subjected to a series of extreme stress tests.

Against expectations, it emerged functional and largely unscathed. Scratchless, intact, and very much alive. I joined the hype and tossed the HONOR X9d 5G straight up as high as I could, letting gravity do the rest.

The impact was real and uncontrolled, landing hard on the rough parking pavement at SM Batangas. I was hoping it would break, but it came out completely scratch-free.

After watching it survived what most devices would never recover from, it is hard not to ask the next question.

What happens after the durability tests are done.

Physical resilience, however, is only half the story. In today’s environment, the more serious threats are invisible.

Scams, data leaks, surveillance, and network manipulation do not leave dents or cracks. They quietly drain trust, money, and personal information. This is where HONOR’s broader security narrative becomes more interesting.

According to HONOR Philippines Vice President Stephen Cheng, the durability tests were meant to remove doubt about physical reliability.

“While we assure users that the HONOR X9d is physically protected and that owners have nothing to worry about in terms of durability, we also made sure that the user is protected against cybersecurity threats,” Cheng said.

That second part of the statement matters more than it may initially sound. Physical strength is visible. Cybersecurity is not. Yet it is the invisible threats that now cause the most damage to smartphone users.

Beyond marketing spectacle, HONOR has been steadily building a layered security and privacy framework into its devices. Features like Privacy Moment allow users to instantly shut down radios, sensors, and tracking vectors while keeping essential communications active.

It is a practical response to real-world concerns about digital monitoring, not just a theoretical privacy promise.

The company also emphasizes protection against everyday threats that many users underestimate. Fake base stations, often used to broadcast scam messages or phishing links, are actively detected and blocked at the system level.

This matters in countries like the Philippines where SMS-based fraud remains one of the most effective tools of cybercriminals. Blocking the source, rather than just filtering messages, is a meaningful shift.

Call privacy is another area where HONOR takes a practical approach. AI Privacy Call focuses audio toward the user’s ear to reduce sound leakage in public spaces. It is a small feature, but one that reflects how privacy failures often happen through simple human exposure rather than sophisticated hacks.

At the data level, HONOR relies heavily on encryption and local processing. Biometric data such as fingerprints and facial recognition remain stored in isolated secure environments on the device.

Password input automatically triggers secure input mode, preventing screenshots, recordings, or keystroke capture. Clipboard data clears itself after a short time, reducing accidental leaks of sensitive information.

Account and app management also follow a principle of minimization. Apps are required to request permissions explicitly, unused permissions can be revoked automatically, and users can review detailed access histories.

For those who connect multiple devices under a single HONOR ID, data synchronization uses end-to-end encryption and can be disabled at any time.

The durability of the HONOR X9d makes for compelling visuals. A phone surviving extreme heat, freezing temperatures, crushing weight, and a fall from the sky is undeniably impressive. But what is more important is whether that same device can withstand the quieter and more dangerous cyber and online attacks that most users actually face.

HONOR’s message seems to be that strength is not only about glass, frames, and shock resistance. It is also about resisting scams, blocking fraudulent networks, protecting identities, and giving users control over their digital footprint.

If the X9d’s physical trials were meant to prove toughness, its security architecture is built to support smarter, safer user decisions in real-world digital environments.

Other brands will surely come up with durable phones of their own, but none match the strength HONOR is building, both inside and out. Many of these devices will end up like people with all muscle but no brain, all beauty without substance.

In an era where smartphones are both wallets and identities, durability without security is just spectacle. HONOR appears to understand that surviving the fall is only the beginning.

(These security and privacy features are not exclusive to the HONOR X9d. They are implemented across HONOR’s broader smartphone lineup, ensuring that users benefit from the same core protections regardless of model.)