Honor Pad X8a Review – Affordable but Basic

Honor has expanded its tech offerings far beyond just smartphones. They now offer a range of gadgets including laptops, tablets, and wearables. Today, we’ll dive into their latest release: the Honor Pad X8a, the most budget-friendly tablet in Honor’s lineup, priced at just Rs.10,999. With such a competitive price point, does this tablet offer enough value for the money? Let’s explore its strengths and weaknesses.

Design and Build Quality

The Honor Pad X8a takes a minimalist approach to design. There’s nothing flashy about it, but it’s refined and practical. The back panel is clean, with only the Honor logo and a single camera module. The design of the camera island may look substantial, but don’t be fooled—it only houses one rear camera.

Despite its budget price, the Honor Pad X8a features a metal back panel, specifically made from aluminum. This material not only gives the tablet a more premium appearance but also makes it relatively smudge-resistant. The matte gray colorway of our review unit complements the minimalist aesthetics and adds a touch of elegance. The frame is also metallic, contributing to the overall solid build.

The tablet is slim, measuring only 7.25mm thick, making it easy to carry around, even with the optional cover that doubles as a stand. However, it weighs around 495g, which isn’t the lightest on the market, and you may feel the heft during prolonged use.

Display and Screen Quality

Equipped with an 11-inch display, the Honor Pad X8a uses a regular TFT LCD panel instead of an OLED or AMOLED. This means you’re getting decent, but not extraordinary, image quality. The resolution is 1920 x 1200, equivalent to 1080p, which is acceptable for watching videos and browsing the web. However, if you’re used to the deep blacks and vivid colors of OLED displays, you might find the screen underwhelming.

Viewing angles are limited, and you’ll notice reflections and color distortions when not looking at the screen head-on. Outdoors, the display struggles even more, as it maxes out at only 400 nits of brightness. This means using it in bright sunlight is less than ideal, and you’d be better off finding shade or sticking to indoor use.

Despite being limited to a 90Hz refresh rate, animations and videos are smooth. You can also set the refresh rate to dynamic mode to balance performance and battery life. For most basic tasks, the display quality is decent, given the tablet’s affordable price.

Audio Experience

One of the standout features of the Honor Pad X8a is its quad-speaker setup. The four speakers deliver loud and clear audio, with a hint of bass. Even though they aren’t branded or tuned by a well-known audio company, the sound quality is more than satisfactory. At higher volumes (above 90-95%), the sound quality does degrade slightly, but for casual media consumption, the audio performance is commendable.

Camera Performance

As expected from a budget tablet, the cameras on the Honor Pad X8a are basic. The rear camera is a 5-megapixel unit that’s best used for scanning documents or snapping photos for business transactions. Don’t expect it to capture detailed or vibrant images, and it’s definitely not your go-to device for photography.

The front-facing 5-megapixel camera serves its purpose for video calls and online meetings. The quality is passable, making it suitable for Zoom or Google Meet, but it won’t win any awards for image clarity. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30fps, and footage quality is similarly grainy and underwhelming.

Software and Performance

The Honor Pad X8a runs MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14. While the user interface is straightforward and user-friendly, performance isn’t exactly smooth. There are noticeable lags and slow load times when opening apps, which is likely due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G chipset and just 4GB of RAM. You can virtually extend the RAM by another 4GB, but this only offers a marginal improvement in multitasking capabilities.

Basic productivity tasks and media consumption are fine, but the tablet struggles with heavier apps and demanding games. Titles like Genshin Impact are playable, but only at the lowest settings, and even then, frame rate drops are common. On the plus side, the tablet doesn’t overheat during prolonged use, even when pushing its limits.

Benchmark scores reflect its entry-level performance, with an AnTuTu score under 300,000. This isn’t surprising for a tablet at this price but does set expectations for what it can and cannot do.

Battery Life and Charging

This tablet houses a substantial 8,300mAh battery, but real-world performance was slightly disappointing. In benchmark tests like PCMark Work 3.0, the battery lasted 11 hours and 45 minutes. While this isn’t terrible, it’s less impressive considering the large battery capacity. Your experience may vary depending on your usage habits; light browsing and video watching could help stretch the battery life a bit longer.

Unfortunately, there’s no fast charging, and a full charge from 15-20% takes almost two hours. This can be a bit inconvenient if you’re always on the go.

Final Verdict

The Honor Pad X8a is a no-frills, budget-friendly tablet that delivers where it matters for its price point. It’s not meant for heavy multitasking, intense gaming, or outdoor use, but it excels as a basic device for media consumption, light productivity, or business needs. The sturdy aluminum design, decent audio setup, and affordable price tag make it appealing for casual users and those looking for an inexpensive option.

If you’re considering the Honor Pad X8a, set your expectations accordingly. It’s an entry-level tablet that performs adequately for everyday tasks. For simple browsing, watching videos, or reading documents, it’s a solid choice, especially at Rs.10,999. However, if you’re after more power or a superior display, you may need to look elsewhere and be prepared to spend more.