HONOR X7b Review - Good enough for a budget phone?

HONOR X7b.png

If you are looking for an entry-level phone for your daily needs, the HONOR X7b could be the phone you need. In case you didn’t know, this phone arrived alongside the HONOR X8b variant on 22 December 2023 for the Malaysian market. This phone comes in 2 colours - Emerald Green and Flowing Silver.

Thankfully, we managed to snatch the Flowing Silver unit 2 weeks before the Malaysian release date. So, that gave us enough time to test this phone's specs. That begs the question, is this budget phone worth getting? This is our verdict on the new device.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 235645.png

The back panel design is pretty clean

 

Design - Smooth, clean, and simple

When we first received this unit, the colours on the back panel were a real eye-catcher. We noticed that it gave a nice glow under direct sunlight. So, that’s a neat touch design-wise. It also features a metallic side panel to complete the look.

In addition, the 2 rear camera humps are a stand-out design for this phone. These camera islands feature a dual 108MP primary camera (More on that later). The power and volume button sits on the right side of the panel. Meanwhile, a dedicated MicroSD card slot sits on the left.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 235618.pngScreenshot 2023-12-20 235806.png

(Left pic) Power button and Volume button on the right panel

(Right pic) Dedicated microSD slot on the left panel

Moreover, you might notice the top panel sports small openings for the loud speaker. The bottom panel also houses a loudspeaker and a USB-C port. If you are a fan of wired earphones, the earphone jack is a welcomed feature for the phone.

We are not a fan of the back panel design. However, we do appreciate the neat metallic finish for the side panel. It looks good, simple, and clean. Plus, you might want to invest in a thicker phone case for better protection. Given how thin it is and the notable camera humps, you might want to be extra careful with it.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 235849.pngScreenshot 2023-12-20 235822.png

(Left pic) Very minimalistic for the top panel

(Right pic) You might appreciate the earphone jack alongside the USB-C port

 

Tech Specs and Features - Decent but nothing extraordinary

  • Octa-core processor (4x2.4 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver)
  • Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680 4G (6 nm) soC
  • Adreno 610 GPU
  • 16GB RAM, 256GB of storage
  • A dedicated microSDXC slot
  • MagicOS 7.2 (Android 13)
  • 6000 mAh battery life and supports 35W wired charging.
  • 6.8 inch- 111.3 cm2 (~87.3% screen-to-body ratio) 1080 x 2412 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~389 ppi density)
  • TFT LCD, 90Hz, 850 nits (peak)
  • Primary camera - Dual: 108 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.67", 0.64µm, PDAF +5 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
  • Front camera - 8 MP, f/2.0, (wide)

Screenshot 2023-12-21 012022.png

This is one beefy battery

The main highlight of this phone lies in its excellent battery life of 6000mAh. HONOR promised an Ultra-lasting battery life, and the phone lives up to its reputation. It took just over 48 hours for the battery to run out with decent streaming and gaming time. On idle? It could take up to 4 full days from a single charge.

HONOR also promises 35W Super-Fast Charging for this phone. Based on our experience so far, it takes around 90 minutes for the phone to go from 45% to 100%. So, you could expect the phone to recharge fully from 0% in 2 hours.

Screenshot 2023-12-21 011911.pngScreenshot 2023-12-21 011928.png

Nothing better than a clean and simple UI

UI-wise, we like the organised file management on the main screen. It’s user-friendly and doesn’t take much time adjusting to it. Just like other phones, you can adjust them to your preferences, but we are fairly satisfied with the default display. The phone also has less bloatware compared to other phones. So, that’s a plus in our book.

When it comes to the display and audio quality, we are satisfied with what this phone has to offer. Even under direct sunlight and surrounding noises, the streaming, and display quality remains decent.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 235504.png

Direct sunlight? Not a problem

 

Performance - Gets the job done

For your information, this phone scored 437 on the Wildlife test for the 3D Mark app. That makes the device better than only 3% other devices on the list. So, that should give you an idea of what this phone can do.

This phone runs the Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680 4G and Adreno 610 GPU. At this point, both chips are fairly outdated, but it still offers a decent performance. The download speed for the phone is fairly decent too, we only had to wait for a few minutes to install both Asphalt 9: Legends and Genshin Impact at the same time.

Screenshot 2023-12-21 012039.pngScreenshot 2023-12-21 012109.png

What do you think of this score and stats?

We can’t quite figure it out, but the phone feels odd at times. For instance, the phone stutters or even lags when left with a few apps running in the background. At first, we thought this shouldn’t happen because of the phone’s 16GB RAM.

Upon a deeper inspection, we figured the standard RAM is 8GB with an external 8GB RAM (HONOR refers to this as the 8GB HONOR RAM Turbo). Unfortunately, this is the default and only setting. So, you are locked to this RAM speed permanently. Hopefully, HONOR will patch this problem in the next updates or releases.

We would like to highlight a very odd occurrence for this phone. One night, we left it with the WIFI switched on. The next day, we found out the phone had factory reset itself. Up to this day, we are not sure why this happened.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233403.png

Graphics looks pixelated, but that shouldn't stop you

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233650.png

You might notice some lag at times, but that's a minor issue

Gaming-wise, the phone struggles with high-octane games such as Asphalt 9: Legends. We noticed the graphics were a lot pixelated and the frame-rate drop is jarring. Even in the game menu, the phone experienced a noticeable stutter/lag.

The lag on Asphalt 9: Legends might have been occasional, but it is a prominent issue on Genshin Impact. Loading this game on this device takes around 10 minutes. During this loading screen, we couldn’t help but see noticeable frame rate drops and stuttering graphics.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233332.png

You might want to change the game's performance settings before you play

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233347.png

It's made for casual gaming

As you could expect, the gameplay graphics look pixelated and blurry. If graphics and competitive gaming are not your priority, this device should be good enough. Nonetheless, you can still enjoy both games on this phone.

Camera-wise, this phone runs a primary 108MP Ultra-Clear main camera with an 8MP snapper. Overall, the primary camera performed well under a decent amount of sunlight. Meanwhile,the front camera looks a bit artificial at times but that shouldn't deter your photography experience.

Furthermore, the portrait mode provides enough details and focus on the subject. We also had a decent experience with night-time photography on this phone. Under enough lighting, the phone did well in capturing the tone and colours of stationary objects. However, the camera produced a lot of noise in the image when we tried to snap a picture of moving cars and so forth.

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234513.png

Shot on normal mode

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234458.png

Shot on 2x zoom

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234442.png

Shot on 4x zoom

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234430.png

Shot on 8x zoom

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234413.png

This camera did a good job in capturing the colours and tone in this environment

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234350.png

Not too shabby

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234747.png

Shot on portrait mode

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234819.png

The front camera is pretty decent

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234328.png

Nice

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234238.png

Noise is noticeable, but it is expected in this environment

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234305.png

We love the tone and colours in this image

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233703.png

Under decent lighting, this camera is no slouch

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233719.png

The shading and tone looks decent

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234218.png

We love how these colours meshes together

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234114.png

The colours are distinguishable even with the surrounding noise

Screenshot 2023-12-20 233940.png

Bit noisy, but it still looks good

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234028.png

Expected noise, so you will have to set up the camera properly for a decent image

Screenshot 2023-12-20 234011.png

Voila, lesser noise but better result

 

Conclusion - Decent, but there are better phones out there

Overall, it's a very decent device for your daily needs. However, for a device in this price range, we feel some phones could perform better and provide you with more value.

For example, the Infinix GT 10 Pro (RM1049) might cost slightly more compared to the HONOR X7b (RM799), but it gives you better performance and overall user experience. Another solid alternative is the iQOO Z7x 5G (RM929). If you are looking for a smartphone with excellent battery life, solid fast charging tech, and decent performance, the X7b model should be on top of your wish list.

What are your thoughts on our list? Let us know in the comments below. Stay tuned for more news and videos like this at TechNave!

HONOR X7b Specs & Price >