HONOR isn’t backing off with their aggressive release schedule this year in the Philippines as they launch the HONOR X8b – the affordable follow up for the HONOR X9b 5G. Much like its big brother, it will come with a big AMOLED screen, a 108MP f/1.75 main camera, 35W Fast Charging, and plenty of storage.

HONOR X8b

 HONOR X8b Review – Unboxing

The HONOR X8b doesn’t detract much from the norm when it comes to packaging. It is encased in a plain white box with its photo and name at the front, and will come bundled with a silicone case, SIM ejector pin, a white USB-A to USB-C cable, and a 35W HONOR SuperCharge adapter.

Design and Aesthetics

Our HONOR X8b comes in the hero variant – the Glamorous Green colorway. It separates itself from others in the market by using vegan leather with a diamond criss-cross pattern at the back. While vegan leather isn’t unique, its use in a more affordable segment instead makes the X8b feel premium.

The smartphone’s edges are straight with rounded corners that make for a good feel in the hand. Its buttons are clustered at the right-hand side with its power button doubling as a fingerprint scanner. At the top left-hand side is its dual SIM tray. Unfortunately, there’s no support for MicroSD expansion.

Placed at the bottom is its single speaker setup plus a USB-C port for data and charging. It seems that HONOR has removed the 3.5mm jack on the X8b, which will be missed especially for those who like wired headsets.

Screen and Audio

HONOR is using a 6.7-inch 2412 x 1080 AMOLED screen at the front and it can run up to 90Hz. Its display looks great with good colors and contrast as expected for the panel. The combination of its size and resolution is just right as it allows details to look sharp.

There is quite a pill at the top as to house its front-facing camera and LED flash, but the empty space is used smartly with the OS’ Mini Capsule. HONOR also throws in a basic screen protector, which should protect the screen underneath without diminishing the screen’s colors.

Brightness is also a strong suit for the X8b. At max brightness, the screen will be able to reach 584.33 cd/m2. This will allow the smartphone to be comfortably used under sunlight or against strong backlight sources.

• sRGB – 100%
• AdobeRGB – 92.30%
• DCI-P3 – 99.20%
• Luminance (Minimum) – 2.26 cd/m2
• Luminance (Maximum) – 584.33 cd/m2
• Gamma – 2.2
• Contrast Ratio – 1:1

Audio performance isn’t breathtaking as it only uses its bottom-firing speakers for external audio. There are silver linings as the vocals remain clear and the audio won’t become too harsh or tinny when you max out its volume.

Software

Running on the HONOR X8b is the MagicOS 7.2 based on Android 13. HONOR hasn’t done anything too drastic on its OS and it remains functional overall. There are some customization options available plus its large folders can be an efficient way to organize apps and icons so long as you don’t need to read their respective names. Notable addition in this revision is the Automatic Page Scan that automatically scan and optimizes documents captured by the camera.

Mini Capsule is HONOR’s own take on the Dynamic Island and it is somewhat of a gimmick. Instead of relying on the notification center for the timer, charging percentage, and recording status, they now appear at the Mini Capsule that appears once they are used. You can then stop or start recording without opening the notification center or the app itself. It can be useful at times, but functionalities are still too few to become a main selling point.

HONOR X8b Review – Cameras

HONOR outfits the X8b with a standard triple camera array at the back composed of a 108MP f/1.75 main camera, and a 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide, plus a 50MP f/2.1 front-facing camera with a dedicated LED flash. There is a 2MP f/2.4 macro shooter at the back, but it only serves to increase the device’s camera count.

Its camera app has all of the standard features plus a few extras. Basic modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, and Aperture. Heading over to the more tab will show additional modes like Panorama, High-Res, Slow Motion, Time-Lapse, Dual-View, Story, Pro, HDR Photo, Super Macro, and Scan Document. It also supports gesture controls so you can just show your palm when you take photos.

Video for the rear camera caps at 1080p at 30fps and there is no 60fps option even on the 720p resolution. Meanwhile, the front-facing camera peaks at 720p30fps. It’s a bit of a shame that there’s no 60fps option on any resolution.

Main Camera

Its main 108MP f/1.75 main camera is powered by an ISOCELL HM6 sensor and bins photos to 12MP by default. You’ll need to use the high-res mode on the camera app to get its full resolution. The performance is nothing too spectacular for the smartphone’s price, but there are some highlights to be found.

Details look sharp even using its default 12MP output though and colors look natural. You can get pretty decent shots when there’s good lighting, but there are times that colors will come out drab. Quality can be a mixed when it comes to low-light shots as details look smudged. However, you will be able to get good shots with some patience and a steady hand.

Ultrawide Camera

The 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide has a relatively lower pixel count compared to the main camera, and thus shots look a bit less detailed. You do get a wider area of coverage when shooting, but quality can be hit or miss. Colors look drab and the software can sometimes miss HDR that will make some photos look flat or overexposed. Picture detail also takes a dive at low-light conditions with photos coming out looking smudgy with noticeable noise.

HONOR X8b Review – Benchmarks

The HONOR X8b runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 platform. It might be an aging chip as it was released a few years ago, but it still has some legs on it. HONOR pairs it with 8GB of RAM which is pretty standard though they are also packing the device with 512GB of internal storage.

Benchmark figures are average for a lower midrange smartphone, but you won’t experience too much hiccups when using the smartphone normally. AnTuTu puts the device at the 318,000 mark while PCMark Work 3.0 scores it a decent 7,759.

Gaming is bit of a mixed bag for the X8b. Mainstream titles like League of Legends: Wild Rift and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang will run at a steady 60fps at maximum settings, but they currently don’t support 90Hz mode on the device. Call of Duty Mobile hard locks the fps cap at 30fps at Very High graphics even if the device could do more. Heavier games, however, like Genshin Impact will have a few dips now and then even at its lowest settings though it will still average at 30fps during normal gameplay.

HONOR X8b Review – Battery Life

The X8b has the same 4,500mAh battery size as its predecessor. One would think that HONOR will be upgrading it to the more standard 5,000mAh as most of its competitors, but a 500mAh reduction shouldn’t be too noticeable.

Based on our testing, the smartphone is able to comfortably last a day with average use composed of browsing the web, replying to emails, watching videos, and occasional light gaming. PCMark Work 3.0 puts the smartphone at just shy of 13 hours with medium brightness and volume – nothing spectacular but it should get you through to the end of the day with a bit leftover.

It supports 35W HONOR SuperCharge for less downtimes while filling up. Charging the smartphone from 5% to 100% will take around an hour and a half, which is decent wait times for an otherwise lower midrange smartphone.

HONOR X8b Review – Conclusion

The HONOR X8b is a decent lower midrange smartphone with an attractive design especially with its Glamorous Green variant. It’s FullHD+ 6.7-inch AMOLED screen is great and has good colors, plus its 90Hz refresh rate is smooth to use. Despite its battery being shy of 500mAh from the standard 5,000mAh capacity that most smartphones have, it will still have decent longevity with fast charging.

There are, however, some downsides to the device. Its Snapdragon 680 is starting to show its age. It won’t slow down with if you’re using the device for just browsing the Internet or watching videos, but heavier games will be harder to run smoothly. Its camera can take good shots, though you will need a bit of trial and error to get better colors and HDR.

Overall, the HONOR X8b might not be the best on any specific category, but it should serve you well. If you like its design, its screen, and HONOR’s overall ecosystem, you should get a bit of mileage with the device.

HONOR X8b Price and Availability

The HONOR X8b is priced at PhP 12,999 in the Philippines. You can get it via HONOR’s official Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok stores, as well as their concept stores and authorized retailers nationwide.