Honor X70 Review: Durable, Waterproof & Reliable

On July 15th, Honor officially launched the Honor X70—a smartphone making waves for its impressive durability, water resistance, battery life, and overall sturdiness. Positioned as an accessible tech gem, the X70 isn’t just another gadget; it’s redefining what it means for a phone to be a long-lasting essential. Let’s break down what makes it stand out.

All-Around Protection Upgrade

The Honor X70 sports a 1.5K OLED flat display with ultra-slim 1.05mm bezels on all four sides, creating an incredibly immersive viewing experience. With a peak brightness of 6000 nits, the screen remains crystal clear even under direct sunlight. It boasts a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and supports 3840Hz high-frequency PWM

dimming to reduce eye strain, along with 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut and AI-enhanced dynamic color rendering for vibrant visuals.

Honor’s Oasis Eye Care technology also makes an appearance here, offering features like defocus vision protection and natural light simulation to keep your eyes comfortable during extended use.

The display itself is reinforced with ultra-deep tempered glass, featuring upgraded materials and structural design. It also supports AI Rainy Day Touch Mode and AI Glove Mode, making it reliable in most outdoor conditions—perfect for hiking, skiing, or rainy commutes.

My review unit features a silver matte silver mid-frame. Up top, you’ll find a speaker grille; along the bottom, there’s a SIM card tray, USB-C port, and another speaker grille. The right side houses the volume buttons and power key.

The back panel showcases a circular DECO design, with a ring of studded detailing surrounding the camera module (where the lenses and flash are neatly arranged). In the center of this ring, you’ll spot the “MATRIX” branding. The white matte back adds subtle textural accents, giving it a sleek, design-forward look.

But the real durability star? The X70’s full-body reinforcement. Its newly upgraded Ballistic Armor Architecture delivers industry-leading drop resistance, with high-strength shock-absorbing structures from screen to back panel. Through material and structural optimizations, it achieves 6 layers of impact resistance for enhanced internal and external protection—including high-strength damping glue in the screen to absorb shocks.

Water resistance is equally impressive: it holds the industry-topping IP69K rating, along with full IP66 and IP68 certifications. Its water-resistant structure features three layers of protection from inside out, and an upcoming OTA update will add a one-touch dust and water drainage function, letting you use it worry-free even after accidental submersion or dust exposure.

Snappy Performance with Snapdragon 6 Gen4

Under the hood, the Honor X70 is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen4 chipset, built on TSMC’s 4nm process. It uses a 1+3+4 tri-cluster architecture: 1x A720 core, 3x A720 cores, and 4x A520 cores, paired with an Adreno 710 GPU. This setup prioritizes energy efficiency, making it a solid performer for everyday use.

In gaming tests, Honor of Kings ran smoothly at 90fps with high graphics settings, averaging 88.92fps (minimum 63.53fps) with a frame jitter rate of just 1.19. The phone stayed cool too, maxing out at 39°C during gameplay—more than playable for casual sessions.

8300mAh Mega Battery: The Ultimate Longevity Champion

Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight is its battery. The X70 packs an 8300mAh cell with over 10% silicon content—outperforming peers in its class for all-day endurance. It also supports 80W wired fast charging and 7.5W reverse charging (handy for topping up accessories). Impressively, it’s the thinnest phone with a battery over 7000mAh. In our tests, it went from 46% to 100% in just 50 minutes.

Polished Software: 6 Years of Lag-Free Use

Despite being a mid-range device focused on durability, the X70 doesn’t skimp on software features.

First, it supports Honor’s full Smart Connect ecosystem, letting you seamlessly link your phone with PCs, tablets, and wearables. It also includes NFC, Honor Share, and car connectivity—supporting both HiCar and CarLife for hassle-free in-vehicle use.

The system’s Trust Ring feature lets you instantly switch content between devices right from the notification shade with a simple drag-and-drop—super convenient.

Beyond dual 5G support, it features WiFi 6 for reliable connectivity. For location tracking, it includes L1+L5 dual-band GPS and tri-band BeiDou, supporting four major satellite systems—resulting in lightning-fast positioning and accurate signal acquisition.

Paired with its outdoor mode, rain-resistant touch, and IP69K rating, it’s a dream for outdoor workers, with precise location marking, navigation, and return tracking.

YOYO, Honor’s smart assistant, gets a boost here too. Accessible anytime on the X70, it’s powered by the Deepseek R1 large model and supports Honor AnyDoor, AI subtitles, real-time translation, and AI writing assistance—elevating this mid-range phone’s capabilities significantly.

AI-Enhanced Camera: 50MP Clear Main Sensor

For photography, the X70 features a 50MP main camera with OIS. In good lighting, it captures decent shots, but let’s be clear—it’s not a camera flagship. It handles daily snaps, social media posts, and QR code scanning with ease, but don’t expect it to shine in complex, high-demand scenarios.

Final Verdict

The Honor X70 redefines smartphone reliability through its “Durable Triad” core technology, achieving groundbreaking leaps in drop resistance, water protection, and battery life. As the world’s first IP69K-certified phone, it laughs off heavy rain, high-pressure car washes, and extreme industrial environments.

Its smart protection tech—like AI Rainy Day Touch Mode (which accurately recognizes wet-hand inputs) and YOYO’s one-touch drainage command—eliminates all worries about water damage.

Through material science breakthroughs, structural innovations, and real-world testing, the Honor X70 transforms the smartphone from a disposable gadget into a long-lasting essential, setting a new benchmark for reliability in the industry. If durability and longevity are your top priorities, this one’s a standout choice.