HONOR-X-8a-smartphone
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On 14th January 2023, Honor launched the Honor X series of smart mobiles in the Middle East. The latest addition to the HONOR X Series delivers remarkable upgrades across the display, battery, and performance with a bright Display, massive battery, and large storage all packed in a compact design.
We got the opportunity to get the Honor X8a handset for review.
Body & Specification
The Honor X8a smartphone (Model –CRT-LX2) smartphone has a dimension of 162.9 x 74.5 x 7.48mm and it weighs 179 grams which includes a non-removal battery. It has an IPS LCD 90Hz and a size of 6.7 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2388 pixels with a screen ~391ppi density. It has an ~89.6% screen-to-body ratio and a resolution of 19.9:9 ratios. The body build has an aluminium frame and plastic back and the back panel comes with a colour that the company calls – Titanium Silver. It is protected by TÜV Rheinland low blue light certification, and the display is comfortable to the eye by effectively reducing blue light damage, ensuring long-term use without eye fatigue. The frame thickness to display is 1.1mm.
The Honor X8a smartphone comes with Android 12 as the operating system with the Magic UI – 6.1 as the user interface. It uses Mediatek Helio G88 (12 nm) + (GPU) Mali-G52 MC2 with 8GB RAM and 128 GB ROM internal storage for the UAE market.
It has Triple cameras on the rear 100 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP. The front round in-screen camera has a single 16 MP lens embedded into the display. The main cameras and the LED light are arranged on a square rounded panel that jute out of the body frame of the back panel. The camera panel is placed on the top left side and the word HONOR is placed in the centre on the lower back panel.
The main camera can shoot video at 1080p@30, and gyro-EIS and the front camera can shoot video at 1080p@30fps, and gyro-EIS. Honor X8a smartphone features LED flash, HDR, and panorama
The Honor X8a frame is thin as the display and back panel edges are curved to make the body very sleek and thin. The right side of the frame has the power button which doubles as a fingerprint sensor and volume rockers and the left-hand side has the dual SIM Card Tray.
The phone has a Dual SIM (2 Nano SIMs) Card slot. The phone supports GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, and BDS. The bottom side of the phone has the USB Type- C super-charge (22.5W) input, speaker grills and mic and the top side is clean with a single mic and thin ear speaker.
The Review
The device which I have received for review is Titanium Silver and the back panel is made of plastic with a metallic matt-shiny finish which also avoids fingerprint smudges on the back panel.
With the ~89.6% screen-to-body ratio and a resolution of 19.9:9 ratio, the bezel of the phone is thin and almost merges with the frame of the phone. The back panel and display make the phone sleek and very thin. The only thing you will notice is in the top area where it houses the single-lens camera in punch hole type embedded in the screen.
Honor X8a is a mid-range smartphone created for the audience who is looking for a good camera and work-horse phone with and budget of around AED899.
Honor X8a Cameras
The front camera is a single 16MP (F2.5) and the photo resolution is 4608 x 3456 at 72dpi. The camera has a sensor for instant Face detection & Auto tracking and it has the supports Bokeh effect. The camera in selfie photo mode also supports at least 2 face recognition with AI. In video mode too, the camera supports multiple face recognition and via face lock, the camera lens remains focused on the subject which is great for vloggers.
Some of the additional features of the front selfie camera under photo mode, in the AI setting, Auto Smile Capture and the palm gesture, so when you hold your open palm in front of the front camera, it gives you a 3-sec count and clicks a selfie. Multi-Video option where you can record with main cameras and selfie camera recording simultaneously. You can record videos at 1080p@30 and gyro-EIS. Under the photo and video option, you can shoot with Ai, FHD, and also HDR. During Selfie with Flash, where it uses the screen is full brightness white light as a flash. You can also shoot selfies mode. Under more options, you have Dual Capture photo and video. Under the portrait mode, you can also get the Bokeh effect.
The back panel of the Honor X8a houses the triple cameras and the LED flash on the left-hand side. The triple cameras consist of 100MP Main Camera f/1.9, (wide), AF + 5 MP, f/2.2, (ultra-wide) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro).
The main camera general setting can click images in 11584 x 8688 in 72dpi. In Hi-res mode, you get 9216 × 6912px in 72 dpi. In the video mode, the camera clicks 1080p@30, gyro-EIS
The autofocus is good, with half-second delays measured under even easy lighting conditions. It also has the pro mode where you can do manual adjustment of exposure value (EV), white balance (WB), Auto Focus (AF), Exposure (ISO) and also 54 MP mode.
Under the aperture mode, you have the option to change the aperture from F 0.95 to F 16.
In the video, you can do a time-lapse and story. You shoot video in Wide, 1x, 2x and 8x which is digitally zoomed. The camera records Full-HD 1920 x 1080 at 30FPS and sound capture is pretty good the camera automatically focuses on the subject and creates a Bokeh effect and also allows to fix focus (AE/AF lock) when clicking on the subject via holding the finger for few seconds on the screen.
(Please note: AE/AF Lock to be used sensibly as it may cause out of focus of the video if moved from the subject with the locked to another far away subject)
Operating System and Software
The operating system of Honor X8a has the latest Android 12 as the operating system with the Magic UI – 6 as the user interface. So, with Android 12.0, the Honor X8a, has all the latest features like AI beautification, creamy Bokeh for portraits, and AI recognition of up to 500 scenes. It uses Mediatek Helio G88 (12 nm) + (GPU) Mali-G52 MC2 with 8GB RAM and 128 GB ROM internal storage for the UAE market. Android 12 also helps in better more accurate facial brightness, contrast for selfies on the front cameras and scene-by-scene optimizations for shots taken on the rear and enhancing the photography effects. There was no major lag between screens or scrolling the apps, it was quite smooth and fast.
The phone comes with Honor Share, Nearby Share, Screenshot, Screen Recorder, link to Windows and other buttons from the top of the screen menu.
Benchmark Testing
The Honor X8a was tested with various benchmark testing Apps. On the PC Mark benchmark, it scored 7517. On the 3DMark benchmark, under the Wildlife test, it scored 744 and Wild Life Extreme, it scored 189 and Sling Shot Extreme – Open GL Es 3.1, it scored 1396. On GFX scored Aztec Ruins Open GL – 290.3 frames (4.5FPS) and 4K Aztec Ruins Vulkan (high Tier) Off Screen – 86.97 frames (1.4FPS). On AI Benchmark scored 30.2. On the Geek benchmark, it scored 433 on single-core and 1366 on multi-core.
While on benchmark testing the smartphone, the temperature of the body rose to 34°C and the CPU temperature rose to 38°C.
(Please note: Most of the smartphones while reviewing and testing had an average body temperature of 32°C to 37°C.)
Sound & Audio
Honor X8a, has a single-side speaker grill you can hear sound coming from the bottom side when you are holding the smartphone vertically and horizontally.
The trebles, mid-level was clear and the bass was average as missed the very low frequencies for heavy bass. The volume is quite clear not very loud. The device comes with two mics – on top and bottom and the bottom beside the USB Type C charging port.
Honor X8a was tested with various types of videos played and different genres of music and it passed above average compared to other competitors in a similar price range.
(Please note: The smartphone was held at a distance of 1- 2 feet while testing the audio quality)
Connectivity & Battery
The smartphone has a fingerprint sensor, face detection, pattern and pin for accessing the smartphone. The Smartphone supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth which supports 5.1, A2DP, and LE. The smartphone comes with a non-removable Li-Po 4500 mAh battery which can last more than 2+ days with average usage. The smartphone comes with USB Type- C charging input which can charge the phone at 22.5W wired charging and I could get 50% charge in 30mins.
Conclusion
Honor X8a is a good smartphone for the price, the phone is a mid-range with all the great features for gaming, and watching online entertainment. The built quality and colour make the phone very rich and stylish. 100MP triple cameras with AI support make this smartphone one of the best in the competition. As for the selfies, the single 16MP lens can make difference with the Ai function which can give a very nice creamy Bokeh effect and focus on your face with auto tracking when clicked on the screen for focus. It has a quick and sharp focus system.
With 128GB ROM is quite good enough for storage and with the Dual Card SIM Tray, it is a good smartphone for the price and can run for the money to its competitors.
With all the AR and AI effects and functions, it is a very young, stylish and perfect companion the teens, and gamers.
The daylight shot was sharp and good and 16MP selfies were natural and the colour output was great. The zoom has digital 10x and 3 preset modes of zoom – wide, 1x and 2x.
Under low light or night photography, the output was good with the colour saturated with the AI.
Overall, for the price and in the Mid-range phone, it is a good buy for the consumer.
Packaging of Honor X8a & Price
The Honor X8a smartphone comes in white packing with 4 colour printed images of the phone and the HONOR X 8a is printed in silver on all sides. On opening the box, you will find the smartphone in a translucent cover in a plastic tray. Digging further you will find the white paper sleeve with a transparent protective back cover with a SIM removal tool, quick guide and warranty card. Below the sleeve, you will find the 22.5W charger plug, and the USB Type C charging cable.
The Honor 70 launch price was AED 899 and is available in various online and retail stores.
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