HONOR X8 Philippines Initial Review, Price, Specs and Features Rundown

Honor is back in the Philippines!

On Tuesday night - September 27, 2022 - at Revel at The Palace in BGC, Honor Philippines formally trumpeted their return to the country with the launch of a handful of new devices that will surely delight their new and dormant Pinoy fans.

Of these new releases, the first one that our friends from Honor Philippines sent me for review is this, the Honor X8, which offers eXtra Elegance and eXtra Vision.

Donning an official suggested retail price of PHP 12,990, Honor X8 is now available nationwide via the company's authorized distributors and through Honor PH's online in Lazada. Pinoy Honor fans who will buy this handset will even get a free HONOR Band 6 worth PHP 1,990 to make the deal even sweeter.

Unboxing

Before I show you more of the actual unit and share my thoughts about its key features and main selling points, let me talk about the device's packaging and what's inside the box.

What I have here is the Titanium Silver colorway of the Honor X8 and as you can see in the image above, it ships in this plain white box with an image of the handset and the device nomenclature printed on the cover. Frankly, this package gives me Apple iPhone box vibes.

My review package, which also happens to be an official retail package, comes with the unit itself, the User Manual, a USB Type C charging cable, Travel Charger, the metal pin for ejecting the Dual nanoSIM Card tray, and free soft silicone case so the owner won't have to buy one separately.

Design and Egonomics

As soon as I took the Honor X8 out of the box, I was instantly smitten with its downright gorgeous aesthetics -- from the metallic shell to the almost bezel-less screen, from the rounded corners to the very slim profile.

Incredibly, Honor X8 is just 7.45 millimeters thin. This makes it one of the slimmest handsets ever released by Honor and easily one of the thinnest options in its price echelon.

On top of that, this smartphone weighs only 177 grams, making it a joy to hold even with extended use or to keep in the pocket when you're out and about.

My Honor X8 review unit comes in the Titanium Silver colorway, which I find very beautiful, classy, and sophisticated. I also love the iridescent finish of the back panel that gleams and changes shade from blue to orange, depending on how light hits it. I would say that this handset is a true headturner and a device you won't be shy to flaunt in cafes or even in corporate meetings.

A few days ago, I posted a teaser photo of the Honor X8 on my social media accounts, showing the handset's back panel -- and interestingly, some of my readers and followers messaged me and asked if it was the new iPhone. To be fair, their assumption was not that wild since, for me, this model does have that "iPhone vibe" if ever there's one.

Display

Alongside its eye-catching design language, Honor X8's large, clear, brilliant, and almost bezel-free 6.7-inch FullHD+ IPS display is definitely another of its strong selling points. It's certainly the main feature of this model that instantly wowed me as soon as I turned on my review unit.

Whether you use your smartphone mostly for playing games, browsing social media apps, watching videos, or reading modules, I think that you will definitely find the experience more enjoyable and delightful on this vibrant screen.

Apart from the clear details and the vibrant colors that this display delivers, its 90Hz Refresh Rate is another thing that's special about it. Visually, it enables smoother screen transitions and more fluid touch response when you run your finger across the panel.

Imaging Capabilities

Honor X8 flaunts a Quad Rear Camera module made up of the following shooters:

1. 64 MegaPixels, f/1.8 Aperture, Wide, Phase Detection AutoFocus PDAF

This is the most powerful of the bunch because of its large sensor, wide aperture, and high resolution. It's the one you will use the most in almost all settings and conditions, especially at night or in low light settings to get the clearest shots possible.

2. 5 MegaPixels, f/2.2, Ultrawide

Because of its ultra-wide lens, this secondary shooter is ideal for taking architectural and landscape images. It's also good for taking photos of large groups of people conveniently.

3. 2 MegaPixels, f/2.4, Macro

If you enjoy snapping images of very small objects like insects or minute details on larger subjects, you will appreciate this Macro cam.

4. 2 MegaPixels, f/2.4, Depth Sensor

Finally, the fourth cam enables Portrait Mode, giving you a virtual Bokeh Effect on your shots, in which the subject is very clear but the background is beautifully blurred.

For those who love taking selfies, the phone has a 16 MegaPixel f/2.5 front-facing camera inside the punch hole located above the display. This camera is also powered by Honor's own imaging software that lets you customize Beauty and Aperture (Background Blur) Effects.

For TikTokers and aspiring Youtubers, Honor X8 can shoot FullHD 30fps videos both using the main camera at the back and the front-facing camera. The video quality is decent but cannot really compare to what you can get from Honor's more expensive flagship models. However, what I like about this handset in terms of video recording is the noise-canceling feature of its microphones, which is very handy for vlogging in noisy environments.

Internal Hardware

As you can see in the image above, Honor X8 runs its Magic UI 4.2 customized Android 11 operating system with a fairly powerful and energy-efficient 6nm 2.4GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G processor with an integrated Adreno 610 GPU for relatively smooth graphics performance when playing mobile games.

The CPU is complemented by 6GB of RAM that expands up to 8GB via HONOR RAM Turbo technology as well as 128GB of internal storage. Sadly, the device doesn't have a microSD card slot for expanding storage.

I've tried playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on the Honor X8 with Ultra graphics turned on and I found the experience pretty good and enjoyable for a smartphone in this price bracket. There were no annoying lags or crashes.

Google Mobile Services

For those who may be wondering, Honor X8 - just like all new and upcoming Honor smartphones and devices - lets you enjoy Google Mobile Services, including pre-installed apps for GMail, Google Maps, Youtube, and Google Drive, among others - as shown in the image above.

Yes, Honor X8 also allows you to download and install official versions of mobile applications for Android via Google Play Store so you won't have to sideload them and expose yourself to malware that sometimes comes with unofficial versions of apps.

Privacy and Security

On top of the usual pattern and passcode unlock, Honor X8 features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which adds a veritable of layer of privacy and security against those who might want to check the content of the device without the user's knowledge.

This sensor is integrated with the power button, which I particularly like because it makes firing up the display and unlocking the interface easier and more convenient with just one click.

Battery Size and Charging Speed

Honor X8 is powered by a fairly large 4,000 mAh Li-Po battery, which should give most users up to a whole day of use coming from a full charge. I wished the handset came with a larger 5,000 mAh pack for extended uptime but I guess Honor had to limit the capacity of the battery to keep the frame of the device very thin.

Good thing, Honor X8 features the company's 22.5W SuperCharge innovation that delivers 3 hours of video playback after plugging the handset to an electrical outlet for just 10 minutes using the provided cable and travel charger.

Do I recommend the HONOR X8?

Even if doesn't support 5G and lacks a microSD card slot for expanding storage, Honor X8 has enough stellar features and attractive selling points to make it a great purchase at PHP 12,990.

Honor X8's ultra-slim form factor, gorgeous design, large and crisp display, good imaging capabilities, and decent set of internal hardware for a handset in its price bracket should make it a delightful upgrade for many Filipinos who are using an aging entry-level smartphone.

I highly recommend Honor X8, especially to Filipino mobile users who value the look or aesthetics of their handset above other value-added features. If you want an eye-catching, attention-grabbing smartphone that reflects well on you as its owner, you should definitely check out this fresh release from our friends at Honor Philippines.

Honor X8 Specs

163.4 x 74.7 x 7.45 mm

177 grams

6.7 inches, FullHD+, 1080 x 2388 pixels, IPS LCD

90Hz Refresh Rate

Quad Rear Camera Module:

64 MegaPixels, f/1.8 Aperture, Wide, Phase Detection AutoFocus PDAF

5 MegaPixels, f/2.2, Ultrawide

2 MegaPixels, f/2.4, Macro

2 MegaPixels, f/2.4, Depth Sensor

Front-Facing Camera:

16 MegaPixels, f/2.5