MANILA - The HONOR X9a 5G has standout looks, decent specs and an incredibly tough screen that makes it one of the most unique and most formidable contenders in the super-competitive midrange smartphone market.

This thing is crazy tough. The X9a might just be the GenZ reincarnation of the Nokia 3310 beloved by GenXers for its equally extreme durability.

Weeks before its local launch, videos of this smartphone flooded social media showing just how ridiculously durable this gadget is.

It was smashed screen-first onto a solid table; it was used to crush a walnut, smash a watermelon, and it was even run over by a car. But the Honor X9a 5G endured all of these torture tests like they were nothing and just kept working.

But besides this very unique selling point, the X9a is also a really great looking phone.

The AMOLED screen curves to the sides, making it really stand out aesthetically from other phones in this price range. Its 6.67-inch, 2400x1080, 120 Hz display is at par with higher-end midrange phones, but with a max of 800 nits of brightness, it’s almost up there with the flagships.

Design details of the Honor X9a 5G

Design details of the Honor X9a 5G

Design details of the Honor X9a 5G

Design details of the Honor X9a 5G

Its main cameras at the back are also arranged in a ring, which is another design departure from many midrange phones which have them arrayed in a line or a clustered bump.

I also like the matte finish at the back, which resists fingerprint smudges, keeping the phone elegant looking even after several hours of fiddling with sweaty fingers. While the back is made of plastic and not glass por ceramic as in more premium phones, the X9a still felt pretty solid thanks to an aluminum frame. And yes, the phone feels great to grip and handle.

Our test unit came with 8GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. A Snapdragon 695 did the lifting, while a 5100 mAh battery provided power. For most games on medium settings, these specs can churn out decent gameplay.

The cameras on this device are pretty decent. On the back is 64 megapixel f1.8 main shooter, a 5 MP f2.2 ultrawide lens, and a 2 MP f2.4 lens for macro shots.

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

Sample shots from the Honor X9a 5G

You can zoom up to 2X with little noticeable loss of detail, while the ultrawide comes in handy for landscapes and tight indoor spaces. It would have been nice to see a 3x optical zoom option, but that may bump up the phone’s price. Midrange phones, after all, are always a compromise between features and cost.

The X9a produces photos with more “natural-looking” colors. Users who prefer more saturated colors will need to get their filters on. There is some noticeable clipping of details when you look closely at the photos, but not so bad for a midranger. Night shots also tend to look whitish instead of warm, but the details are still OK. Selfies are also decent.

When it comes to video, the X9a shoots 1080p at 30 frames per second max. It would have been nice to see 4K or higher frame rates, but again compromises.

One weird thing about the X9a though is that despite its vaunted durability, the phone itself doesn’t seem to have an IP rating that says how resistant it is to water and dust.

Is it OK for this phone to get splashed or submerged, or thrown into beach sand? A video on YouTube showed someone testing it by putting it under a faucet and the phone seemed OK.

The HONOR X9a 5G retails for P16,990.