Honor X8 review – Affordable mid-range smartphone with 64 MP camera

The Honor X8 convinces with an appealing and straightforward design and is available in black, silver, and blue. The build quality is good and convinces with tight and even gaps; hardly any ripples can be seen even when the display is pressed hard. The display-to-surface ratio (89%) is really good, only the bezel on the chin side is a bit thicker.

Although Honor does not declare special protection against dust and water penetration, the SIM tray has a small rubber seal. Big leaps in features are not to be expected in this price range. Thus, it is not surprising that Honor relies on a USB 2.

0 port that supports OTG. Due to the large storage capacity, the lack of a microSD slot is acceptable. The X8 also has an audio jack and an FM radio receiver.

However, the lack of DRM certification is not understandable. The Honor X8 is shipped with Google Android 11 and the in-house Magic UI 4. 2 user interface.

The security updates are up to March 1, 2022, at the time of the test and thus are not quite up to date. Probably, Honor aims for a semi-annual update rhythm, but the company does not want to make a concrete statement about that so far. Unfortunately, this also applies to a potential upgrade to Android 12.

The Wi-Fi 5 module of the Honor X8 works at a reasonable speed, but it is not very consistent in terms of transmission performance in combination with our reference router, the Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000. However, this does not impact everyday use negatively. The frequency coverage is limited to the necessary bands in Europe, so the X8 is not a globetrotter.

The voice quality of the Honor smartphone is good when held to the ear, but the suppression of ambient noise is rather mediocre. The user’s voice reverberates a bit in speaker mode, but the intelligibility remains good. The X8 has a dual-SIM slot (2x nano-SIM) and supports VoLTE and Wi-Fi calls.

A screen protector is already applied ex-factory, which allows decent gliding properties. The fingerprint scanner is located in the power button and excels with high recognition rates. The unlocking speed is quite good; facial recognition via the front-facing camera is available as an alternative or in addition.

On the front of the Honor X8, a 16 MP camera is embedded in the display, which can take high-contrast and balanced selfies even in the backlight. The resulting photos are not detailed enough for prints but are really good for social media. A bokeh and beauty filter are also on board.

The nominal quad camera (aspect ratios: 4:3, 1:1, or full frame) can rely on a 64 MP lens. The photos shot with it show comparatively much dynamics, but the details in close-ups are not always captured optimally. The ultra-wide-angle is certainly not a highlight, but it shows quite a few aberrations and gets a bit blurry in the peripheral areas.

The macro and depth lenses also appear on the spec sheet, but they do not offer any real added value in everyday use. The X8 can record videos in Full HD with 30 FPS on both sides. The Honor X8 has a 6.

7-inch TFT LCD that has a high pixel density thanks to Full HD+ resolution. The brightness of the display is on par with the competition when the ambient light sensor is deactivated. If it is activated, the brightness in the center of the screen is slightly lower at 495 cd/m², whereas the APL18 measurement is slightly higher (516 cd/m²).

Unfortunately, the increased black value (0. 82 cd/m²) of the display prevents crisp contrasts. Nevertheless, the color reproduction is largely accurate.

The refresh rate can be set to 60 or 90 Hz. Alternatively, the system can also switch between the two settings automatically. The Honor X8 relies on a Snapdragon 680 4G which can draw on 6 GB of LPDDR4x working memory.

The graphics acceleration is handled by the Adreno 610 integrated into the SoC. The chipset is still up-to-date but also uses quite old Cortex cores. Honor smartphone manages an appealing system speed, however, those who like gaming will have to be content with reduced details and frame rates.

While the X8 can heat up noticeably under load, the cooling of the SoC is sufficient to ensure constant performance. The memory delivers high transfer rates, which is not a matter of course in this price range since many competitors use even older eMMC memory. The speaker of the Honor X8 has very distinctive high mids and still sounds quite decent, but listening pleasure does not come up.

The audio jack can play all the better and convinces with very low noise (SNR: 98. 77 dBFS). The 4,000 mAh battery supplies very good runtimes and easily gets the user through the day.

The included 33-watt power adapter also allows recharging the Honor X8 quickly. Technically, the Honor X8 does a lot right and offers a very attractive price-performance ratio. The 90 Hz panel has decent brightness, the memory size is large and it’s working fast, the audio jack has a low-noise playback, the battery delivers good runtimes and fast charging is also included.

The Honor X8 is definitely a technically good smartphone, but the unclear update policy is annoying 5G is still not mandatory in this price range, and Honor is not alone. The situation is different for the DRM certification, which would have been a must. The unclear update supply policy is also annoying, especially since the Honor smartphone was still shipped with Android 11.

At least Android 12 should be available. As with all new smartphones from Honor, Google services are once again included in the X8. Alternatives are the realme 9i or the Samsung Galaxy A13.

The price of the Honor X8 has already dropped to 210 Euros in the Honor store at the time of the test and is offered with further discounts in kind. Alternatively, it is also available on Amazon or Otto available.