Huawei sub-brand Honor expanded its 9X smartphone line with a new Pro model, attempting to woo consumers with more processing power and a budget-friendly price despite missing access to Google apps and services.

Device highlights include a Kirin 810 chipset, upgraded from the Kirin 710F used in the 9X; 6.59-inch display; triple rear camera setup with 48MP main, 2MP depth and 8MP wide-angle lenses; a 16MP pop-up selfie camera; 6GB of RAM and 256GB storage; and a 4000mAh battery.

During a launch event, Honor UK senior marketing manager Ali Qureshi said “for us, the X series has always been about pushing the boundaries of innovation and making them more powerful yet accessible to all consumer types”.

But unlike the original, the 9X Pro won’t come with access to Google apps and services, due to a ban preventing parent Huawei from using US-based technology. Instead, Honor executives peddled Huawei’s App Gallery as a replacement, adding the device will come preloaded with Huawei Assistant and a handful of key services.

Honor 9X Pro is priced €249 and will be available in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia starting in March.

Other devices
The company also unveiled a new series of MagicBook laptops and Magic Earbuds, as executives outlined plans to expand further beyond its core smartphone business to other connected devices.

MagicBook 14 features a 14-inch screen, up to ten hours battery life, a pop-up webcam embedded in the keyboard, and a fingerprint sensor in the power button. It also comes with MagicLink 2.0, a new feature which will allow users to connect their smartphone screen to the laptop. It it priced €599 with availability in the UK, Germany, France and Czech Republic starting at the end of March.

Magic Earbuds will be globally available from April 2020 at a cost of €129.