The HONOR X7c has officially made its debut in the Philippines. As part of their durable smartphones, it comes with a water-resistant chassis that they claim to protect its internals from the weather or accidental splashes. But does it have more than just its toughness?
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 |
| Screen | 6.77-inch IPS, 1610 x 720 |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| OS | Android 14, MagicOS 8.0 |
| Rear Camera | 108MP f/1.75 Main, 2MP f/2.4 Depth |
| Front Camera | 8MP f/2.0 |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 4G LTE |
| Connectivity | WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm Audio Jack |
| Battery | 6,000mAh, 35W HONOR SuperCharge |
| Others | Side-Mounted Fingerprint Scanner, IP64 Dust and Water Resistance |
| Dimensions | 166.9 x 76.8 x 8.09 – 8.24mm |
| Weight | 199 – 201g |
| Colors | Forest Green, Midnight Black, Moonlight White |
The HONOR X7c ships out in a white box with the smartphone’s design and name on display. The device is accompanied by a silicone case, a SIM ejector pin, documentation, a 35W wall charger, and a white USB-C to USB-A cable.
The X7c comes in three colorways: Forest Green, Midnight Black, and Moonlight White. The one we have for review is the Forest Green variant with a faux leather back that feels nice to the touch. Its design is similar to that of the X8b earlier this year, with a slightly cornered lens compartment and more stylized stitching.
The chassis is rated for IP64 dust and water resistance allowing it to survive up to 20cm of submersion for up to 3 minutes. It’s also rated by SGS for 5-Star Drop Resistance that enables it to survive from accidental drops from a reasonable height.
We wouldn’t recommend dipping the smartphone in water regularly, especially in salt water. It will be able to handle splashes and rain with no problem.
Its sides are flat and the rest of its body is made out of plastic. Its hybrid SIM tray can be popped out at the left-hand side and enables two SIM cards or a single SIM card with a microSD storage expansion.
All of its buttons are clustered at the right-hand side with its power button having an integrated fingerprint scanner. At the bottom are grilles for its speaker, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
HONOR gives the X7c a 6.77-inch 1610 x 720 IPS display running at 120Hz. HD+ might be acceptable for an entry-level device, but there are smartphones in its price range that sport FullHD+ panels. This is both an upgrade and a downgrade from the X7b, which sported a FullHD+ 90Hz display. Thankfully, its 120Hz refresh rate makes animations feel smooth.
The brand didn’t state if the X7c’s screen comes with wet touch support since it is being advertised as a weather-resistant smartphone. We did spray the screen with some water and the screen still worked well and without any significant jitters.
The HD+ resolution of the display is usable, though not as sharp as a FullHD+ screen especially for its size. Colors do look decent and it’s bright enough to be useable outdoors. It only supports Widevine L3 so DRM-protected services such as Netflix will max out at 480p.
Despite its budget stature, HONOR has given the X7c dual stereo speakers. Performance is what you expect and the volume can get pretty loud. Details are muffled and the bass feels lacking, but vocals do remain clear throughout the volume range.
The HONOR X7c sports a 108MP f/1.75 main camera complemented by a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor at the back, and an 8MP f/2.0 front-facing camera. Its video mode caps out at 1080p 30fps. There is an option for 720p video but framerates don’t increase to 60fps.
The star of the show is the 108MP f/1.75 main camera, which takes 12MP shots by default. Shots are pretty good so long as you have good lighting. The center is sharp and there is good color reproduction on photos.
Rather expectedly, quality dips when it comes to low-light photos. There will be quite a bit of noise when you take photos in ill-lit situations, but using Night Mode will alleviate some of the issues.
Powering the smartphone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 chip with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Though the Snapdragon 685 is more than a year old now, performance for average use remains seamless with very little slowdowns aside from heavy workloads.
Benchmark performance isn’t particularly impressive, but that’s to be expected from an affordable smartphone. We did run into a problem installing some of our benchmark programs, specifically 3Dmark and PCMark, but most apps that we use didn’t encounter this issue.
For gaming, its chipset does well for mainstream games such as Honor of Kings and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. You will encounter lower framerates and may need to turn down graphical settings on more demanding games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.
HONOR gives the X7c a massive 6,000mAh battery – a rarity even for higher-end smartphones. When paired with its HD+ screen and efficient chip, you’ll be able to easily reach more than a day and a half’s worth of use in one charge.
Charging will be a longer affair due to the increased battery size. While it does support HONOR 35W SuperCharge, it will still take just around 2 hours to fill up the battery from zero to full.
The HONOR X7c blends style and ruggedness into one budget-oriented package. Its water- and drop-resistant design will definitely be attractive to those who want a durable smartphone for daily use. The battery life is nothing to scoff at as it can easily last you a long time on a single charge.
The faster 120Hz refresh rate on its screen is a welcome addition, but we would have preferred a higher resolution screen to get sharper images. Its Snapdragon 685 is also starting to show its age when it comes to heavy workloads. Its main camera is also decent, but nothing that stands out from the crowd.
The HONOR X7c is priced at PhP 8,999 in the Philippines. Getting it from November 8 – 10, 2024 will get you a free camping light speaker. You’ll be able to get the device through HONOR’s Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok stores, as well as HONOR concept stores and authorized retailers nationwide.
