Honor X8a Smartphone Review – There’s no doubt that Honor is spreading their wings in the entry-level segment, and they have released several phones in the last quarter. For instance, the Honor X7a, and many more. But for today’s review, we have the Honor X8a, which is released in February 2023. For now, the phone is listed on the Malaysia and UAE sites, though there’s no official confirmation of the global release.
But still, the first impression is looking pretty decent as you are getting a classic design layout of Honor with appealing mid-ranger specs that will provide a proper user experience. Although, the phone only supports 4G connectivity, still, you can surf the internet with no trouble at all. With that said, let’s head toward the Honor X8a review to find out more details about this phone.
Table of Contents
Honor X8a Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The device arrives with a 6.7-inches IPS LCD panel with a 90Hz refresh rate.
- In terms of the software, you are getting Android 12 with Magic UI 6.1 custom interface.
- As for the hardware, you will obtain an Helio G88 chipset with a decent graphic unit.
- A decent 100MP triple camera with appropriate results and offers a 16MP selfie at the front.
- A Li-Po 4500 mAh battery will be equipped on this phone offers 22.5W wired charging support.
Design and Display
The classy matte finish design layout of the Honor X8a is worth noting as it gives the phone premium textures. Besides this, you will notice a triple camera configuration that will allow users to click decent photos. Moreover, the unique camera module also complements the phone’s appearance. If you prefer professional looks, you should consider Midnight Black.
But if you want something fancy and vibrant, there are Cyan Lake (Blue), and Titanium Silver color variants. Both of them look pretty good while holding. Not to forget, the phone comes with a proper biometric scanner on the side panel that will enhance the security level. Although, you are getting the standard plastic body. But still, it’s good in some way as you won’t notice fingerprint smudge on the back panel.
Moving to the front display, you won’t receive corning gorilla protection on the 6.7 inches IPS LCD panel. But, the smartphone makers added a 90Hz refresh rate that ensures the users get a 180Hz touch response without any problem. However, the FHD resolution makes sure you are getting decent content support. However, the brightness configuration is lower compared to other entry-level range phones.
Memory and Internal
Under the hood, the Honor X8a smartphone comes with an Android 12 interface that will provide remarkable support. Plus, the Magic UI 6.1 custom skin grants various perks to modify the interface layout according to your requirement. At the same time, the gaming experience with this phone is average as you are getting a mediocre graphics unit.
Hopefully, the users can push the limits with a slightly better refresh rate and get a stable gameplay experience with casual games. However, lags are noticeable in advanced games like Apex Legend and Call of Duty. Speaking of the hardware setup, the company delivers the 12nm Mediatek Helio G88 chipset, which is designed to support your daily activities flawlessly. But don’t expect much from the octa-core processors as they can only go up to 2×2.0 GHz cloaking speed.
Now, let’s talk about storage configuration. The Honor X8a smartphone arrives with 128GB storage that will grant superb support when you want to store apps, media, and other documents. Following this, the phone can be accompanied by a 6GB RAM base variant or an 8GB RAM variant. But it’s sad to say that the phone doesn’t provide a secondary storage unit.
Camera
Undoubtedly, the 100MP primary lens was pretty much unexpected for the Honor X8a smartphone. But still, it’s appreciatable that the company invest in the new lens. Instead of using the 108MP traditional sensors, the company used the newer and bigger sensor so that the image processing can improve behind the scenes. It will include impressive colors and contrast attributes.
But sometimes, the phone isn’t able to capture fine details since it lacks phase detect autofocus. Although, it doesn’t impact the image quality, but still, distorted the images. The daylight photos are crisp and provide ample details, while the night mode photos come out below average. Aside from the primary lens, the camera module also houses two more sensors, which include 5MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro.
The ultra-wide lens capture details with precision and give dynamic range to click the best photos without any hassle. On the other hand, a dot-notch 16MP selfie lens appears on the front display. with this, the users can capture decent photos and videos. Speaking of video recording, both cameras can record up to 1080p resolution video using the native camera app.
Battery and Others
The battery department is led by a Li-Po 4500 mAh capacity, which is slightly less compared to regular phones. Here, the company cut corners so that the price point can be reduced and eventually appeal to interested buyers. Even though you are getting less battery capacity, it’s good to see that the phone can stay active for more than five hours with a single charge via the 22.5W charger.
Although, charging phones would take more than an hour and a half. Generally, if you want to refill the battery from 10% to 100%, the charger will take an hour and 15 minutes. Aside from this, you won’t receive a 3.5 mm jack. But still, the audio output is fine for watching content indoors. But the sound muffles in the outdoors. Last but not least, the Honor X8a smartphone cost around $239 (Rs 19,590 in India) approx for the starting variant.
Honor X8a Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Honor X8a smartphone.
| Specifications | Honor X8a |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | February 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.41 x 2.93 x 0.30 inches |
| Weight | 179 g |
| Size | 6.7 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 90Hz ~391 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2388 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, Magic UI 6.1 |
| Chipset | 12nm – Mediatek Helio G88 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 6×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G52 MC2 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB |
| Camera | 100 MP (wide), AF 5 MP (ultrawide) 2 MP (macro) LED flash, panorama, HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 16 MP Max – 1080@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes (CRT-LX1 only) |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, compass Virtual proximity sensing |
| Battery | Li-Po 4500 mAh 22.5W wired |
| Colors | Cyan Lake, Titanium Silver, Midnight Black |
| Expected Price | $239 (Rs 19,590 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Honor X8a is not that amazing if you compare it to other entry-level phones, especially the southeast Asian market smartphones. You are getting a pretty standard configuration without any improvement in the hardware or software segment. On top of that, the phone only supports 4G connectivity, which might be a big turn-off for many people.
We won’t recommend this phone because the company doesn’t improve the basic features, and X8a is not a value-for-money phone. Instead of this, you can check out the Motorola Moto G72, if you are looking for a 4G phone in the first place. On the other hand, you can also look for Realme V30 as an affordable 5G choice.
