Honor X7a Review; Affordably Awesome
INTRODUCTION:
Launch after launch, Honor proves itself as more than Huawei's sister brand, parading its own identity through its offerings. Among the latest devices Honor brought into the country is the Honor X7a, ideal for budget-savvy Filipinos looking for a decent daily driver.
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| Honor X7a Review; Affordably Awesome |
Read on and discover our thoughts about this device.
DESIGN and BUILD:
The Honor X7a could easily trick people into thinking it's not a budget device because of its premium look. For starters, this smartphone comes dressed in colors commonly found in higher-end devices – Titanium Silver, which has streaks of pretty pastel pink, orange, yellow, blue, and purple; Ocean Blue, with a flashy indigo and silver color combination; and Midnight Black, with two shades of black positioned in a horizontal design.
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| Ocean Blue |
One thing about its build that gives away the Honor X7a as a budget device is its bulky body – but that's only because this smartphone comes with a massive battery. On paper, it measures 167.48 mm (height), 76.85 mm (width), and 8.27 mm (depth). The Honor X7a weighs 196 grams.
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| Retail Package |
While the Honor X7a comes clad in a glass-like panel with a frosted, semi-matte finish, its rear part is still a fingerprint magnet. Hence, we recommend using a case that comes free with the smartphone's package, a power adapter, and a USB-C charging cable.
The two back cameras of the Honor X7a are protruded, so placing the smartphone flat on its back might result in unwanted scratches on the lenses.
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| Card Tray |
On the top of the smartphone is a hybrid SIM card tray, meaning you have to choose whether you want to be on dual SIM mode or if you want storage expansion via a microSD card.
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| 3.5mm Jack, Microphone, USB-C Port, Loudspeaker |
At the bottom are the smartphone's 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone, single-grille loudspeaker, and a USB Type-C port.
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| Volume Keys and Power Button/Fingerprint Sensor |
The left cheek of the Honor X7a is button-free, while on its right side are the volume controls and the power switch-slash-fingerprint scanner.
The overall look of the Honor X7a shines in its own right. Sure, there are more good-looking devices out there, but for a sub-P8,000 smartphone, Honor still did a great job giving the device a pleasing design.
Awesome Reasons Why You Should Get the Honor X7a for Php7,990
DISPLAY:
Entry-level smartphones mean large bezels. The Honor X7a didn't deviate from this stereotype as its display comes with a chunky chin and black areas all over its screen. Its 6.74-inch IPS display with a 1600 x 720 resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate does its job mediocrely. With that said, there's really nothing special about the screen of the Honor X7a. The colors are so-so, and the clarity is also middling.
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| 6.74-inch HD+ 90Hz Display |
What's good about the Honor X7a display is how visible it remains even when used outdoors. And again, this smartphone sports a 6.74-inch display which is big enough for us to enjoy streaming content.
PERFORMANCE:
Powering the Honor X7a is a MediaTek Helio G37 processor with eight cores, complemented with 6GB RAM (which is pretty impressive for a budget device) and 128GB of expandable storage. Bloatware was there when we unboxed the device, so we had to quickly remove the apps we didn't need anyway.
There's not a lot of customization that can be done with the Honor X7a with its Magic UI 6.1 based on Android 12. One good thing about this, though, is you can enjoy a straightforward user interface with the essential widgets you can use. Fingerprint and face unlock are available with the Honor X7a, which both work properly and quickly.
If you're looking to buy the Honor X7a and use it as a gaming device, we advise you otherwise – unless you're the type to enjoy a mobile game even on low settings. The Honor X7a tends to lag when tweaked on medium to best graphics and audio quality for games. Sadly, there's a recurring lag when we use the device to play Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Call of Duty Mobile.
For reference, here are the Honor X7a benchmark results.
- Antutu - 134,760
- Geekbench Single-Core - 170
- Geekbench Multi-Core - 961
- Geekbench Compute - Error
- PC Mark Work Performance 3.0 - 5,576
- 3D Mark Wild Life - Not Supported
- 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test - Not Supported
- 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme - Not Supported
- 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test - Not Supported
- 3D Mark Sling Shot - 575
- 3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme - 320
Albeit lacking in this segment, the Honor X7a is still a good smartphone pick for users who just need a device for light social media use or for texting and calling.
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CAMERA:
The Honor X7a joins the growing line of affordable devices with huge camera sensors. This smartphone carries a quad camera setup consisting of a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 2-megapixel for macro, and a 2-megapixel for depth sensing.
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| 50MP Quad Cameras |
Don't be deceived, though. While the Honor X7a has a 50-megapixel camera that's similar to flagship devices on paper, its camera quality still falls short compared to devices under the higher segments. Comparison aside, the Honor X7a produces decent shots and would only need a bit of tweaking with an editing app to make the colors pop even more and sharpen details further.
Users of this device might also notice blurry shots, but that's not the camera's fault entirely. The slow processor of the Honor X7a entails a steadier hand when taking photos to avoid shaky images.
As expected, the Honor X7a does well in taking photos in a well-lit environment, like outdoors during daylight. Its struggle to capture good pictures at night was pretty evident in our sample photos.
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| 8MP Front Camera |
We also tried taking selfies with the Honor X7a 8MP front camera. The photos we took appeared dewy, especially on the face, and we noticed that sometimes the background tends to be clearer than the foreground.
Camera Samples:
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| Buildings, Normal |
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| Buildings, 2x Zoom |
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| Buildings, Ultrawide |
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| Buildings, Night |
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| Buildings, 2x Zoom, Night |
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| Buildings, Ultrawide, Night |
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| Flower, Normal |
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| Flower, Macro |
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| Selfie, Normal |
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| Selfie, Portrait |
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| Selfie, Night |
Video recording on the Honor X7a is maxed at 1080p at 30fps for both the front and rear cameras. While high-quality videos are not to be expected with the Honor X7a, given its price point, its video function is enough to keep memories at bay.
BATTERY:
As an old saying goes, save the best for last. For the Honor X7a, the battery is the main highlight. With 6,000mAh of juice at your disposal, this smartphone can last you more than two days of use on a single charge – tried and tested. Plus, the Honor X7a supports 22.5W fast charging, so you only need a little over an hour before its battery level replenishes to 100 percent again.
CONCLUSION:
Does the Honor X7a offer more than its asking price? The answer: is yes. While this smartphone is mediocre in some areas, its overall performance isn't exactly lacking. It gives you what you paid for.
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| Honor X7a |
The Honor X7a retails for Php7,990.
How much is the Honor X7a price in the Philippines?
- The Honor X7a price Philippines is Php7,990, which is 2,000 pesos more affordable than the HONOR X7.
- Get yours now via Lazada at https://bit.ly/honorphstore or Shopee at https://bit.ly/honorstoreph
When will be the Honor X7a available in the Philippines?
- The Honor X7a is now available in the Philippines.
Honor X7a Specs Philippines:
- Dual SIM, dual standby, supports 4G/LTE connectivity
- 6.74-inch HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels) IPS TFT LCD
- Dimensions: 167.5mm x 76.9mm x 8.3mm
- Weight: 196 grams
- Magic UI 6.1 based on Android 12
- Octa-core (4x2.3GHz Cortex-A53 + 4x1.7GHz Cortex-A53) CPU, PowerVR GE8320 GPU, Mediatek MT6765H Helio G37 12nm chipset
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB storage, expandable up to 512GB via MicroSD card, uses SIM 2 slot
- 50MP f/1.8 PDAF main + 5MP f/2.2 ultrawide + 2MP macro + 2MP depth quad rear cameras, 1080p video recording at 30fps
- 8MP f/2.0 front camera, 1080p video recording at 30fps
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth v5.1
- USB 2.0 Type-C with OTG function
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo
- Multimedia Player
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Sensors: fingerprint (side-mounted), light, proximity, accelerometer, gyroscope
- Battery: 6,000mAh non-removable lithium-ion polymer; supports 22.5W fast wired and wireless charging
- Colors: Titanium Silver, Midnight Black, Ocean Blue
- Honor X7a Price Philippines: Php7,990