Honor X8a

Honor X8a Review

The Honor X8a, launched on February 11, 2023, is a mid-range smartphone focusing on a stylish design and a capable user experience.

Build Quality

The device measures 162.9mm in height, 74.5mm in width, and 7.5mm in depth, with a weight of 179 grams. The slim profile and lightweight design contribute to a comfortable in-hand feel. The device is available in Midnight Black, Titanium Silver, and Cyan Lake color options. A side-mounted fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button, providing convenient security.

Screen Quality

The Honor X8a features a 6.7-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2388 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 391 ppi. The screen has a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate, offering relatively smooth visuals. It also features TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification, 2.5D curved glass, capacitive multi-touch, and is frameless, with a hole-punch notch for the selfie camera. There is no HDR support, typical of this class of device.

Camera Performance

The phone features a triple rear camera setup. The primary camera is a 100MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture. It is complemented by a 5MP wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP macro lens with an f/2.4 aperture. The main sensor, a CMOS BSI type, enables standard photography features. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30fps. The front-facing selfie camera is a 16MP sensor with an f/2.45 aperture. The camera software provides features like digital zoom, digital image stabilization, autofocus, touch focus, PDAF, CDAF, continuous shooting, geotagging, panorama, HDR, face detection, and various manual settings. Slow-motion video recording is available at 120fps.

Software Experience

The Honor X8a runs on Android 12. There is no information on planned OS version upgrades.

Battery Performance

Powering the device is a 4500mAh Li-Polymer battery. It supports 22.5W fast charging, contributing to a quicker recharge time. The battery is non-removable.

Performance

The Honor X8a utilizes the MediaTek MT6769H Helio G88 (12 nm) chipset, which features an octa-core CPU (2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55) and a Mali-G52 MC2 GPU. RAM configurations include 6GB and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, coupled with 128GB of storage. Certain Latin American versions offer a 256 GB storage option. There is no SD card slot. An AnTuTu v10 benchmark test yields an approximate score of 253,700.

Connectivity

The device supports 4G LTE, 3G, and 2G networks and dual SIM dual standby capability (Nano SIM). It features dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, with Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, and Wi-Fi Display capabilities. Bluetooth 5.1 LE with A2DP and EDR features is present. GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo provide location services. A USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG functionality provides charging and data transfer. NFC is also included. The device has no accessory connector or video output.

Value for Money

The Honor X8a is positioned in the medium price range. Its price ranges from $173.38 to $405.00 depending on the retailer and market location for the 8GB/128GB variant.