Can a smartphone survive a fall from the sky—with no case and no second chances?
HONOR Philippines kicked off 2026 by pushing durability testing to an entirely new extreme, subjecting the all-new HONOR X9d 5G to what it calls its most punishing challenge yet: a real-world, high-altitude drop from an ultralight plane.
Positioned as the toughest mid-range smartphone of the year, the HONOR X9d 5G is the latest evolution in the brand’s X Series—designed not just for performance, but for resilience under conditions most phones are never meant to face.
Since entering the Philippine market in 2023, HONOR has built a reputation for stress-testing its devices beyond conventional lab trials. From the HONOR X9a 5G’s early viral drop tests to the HONOR X9b 5G’s dramatic 50-foot plunge, each release has escalated expectations. That trajectory continued in 2025 with the HONOR X9c 5G, which made headlines with its helicopter drop test and a Guinness World Records milestone for the most people performing a mobile phone drop test simultaneously.
This year, HONOR raised the stakes even higher.
To validate the X9d 5G’s durability with transparency and credibility, HONOR Philippines tapped a trusted third party—Gadget Pilipinas Editor-in-Chief Gian Viterbo—to carry out the ultimate challenge. The test involved releasing the device from an ultralight aircraft traveling at approximately 60 kilometers per hour, with no protective case and no controlled landing.
“I said yes to the challenge as a consumer,” Viterbo said. “I was genuinely curious. Given the risks, I honestly expected the screen or body to be rendered useless. I was more concerned about whether I could still recover my files.”
What happened next surprised him.
“For me, durability meant two things,” Viterbo explained. “First, that the phone could survive extreme conditions. Second, that even if it got scratched or damaged, it could still protect what matters—my data. That’s real durability.”
According to Stephen Cheng, Vice President of HONOR Philippines, the extreme tests reflect how the brand designs its devices. “Filipino users expect value, toughness, and reliability,” Cheng said. “The HONOR X9d 5G was built to keep up with real-life challenges, not just ideal scenarios.”
The full ultralight plane drop test can be viewed here:
HONOR Philippines is set to officially launch the HONOR X9d 5G on January 9 at 6:00 PM via its Facebook page, where viewers will also have a chance to win the new device. Teasers surrounding a major giveaway—including speculation about a Tesla Cybertruck—have already added buzz ahead of the event.
More details, launch updates, and exclusives are available through HONOR’s official website and social media channels, as well as at HONOR Experience and Partner Stores nationwide and on leading e-commerce platforms.
One question now has an answer: when HONOR says tough, it means testing it from the sky down.