What we all want from our phones nowadays is so much more than just for communication. It has become a daily driver in our lives, from a content creation tool, taking quick videos and photos for memories, gaming and entertainment. And everyone, young and old, from students to our grandparents alike need at least one decent phone today. With that in mind, the hunt for the perfect phone seems to get trickier, but don’t you fret. Here’s our HONOR X7b review, which might be what you need!
HONOR Philippines recently launched the HONOR X7b, their lowest priced smartphone with a 6000 mAh Battery that is focused on photography and longevity.
Aside from that, it is filled to the brim with great features that can keep up with your everyday life. Now, the reality is that a good phone only needs four basic things and the rest is a bonus. That would be: a great screen, massive battery life that can last you all day, a processor that is enough to handle daily tasks, and massive storage for all your photos and videos.
Build
For our HONOR X7b review, we have the Flowing Silver, unassuming and minimalist with dim light, but transforms to a textured finish radiating soft hues of blues, greens, bits of pink and purple as well as specs of yellow when exposed to direct light. It is a stylish design that feels premium. The 3D Backplane Quad-Curved Design, ensures a comfortable grip. It measures at just 8.24mm thin and weighs only 199g, making this device feel sturdy and easy to hold.
This device is also available in Emerald Green and Midnight Black, with all of them sporting plastic cover and sides. We recommend to use the Jelly Case as it might be prone to scratches from keys and other things inside our bag or pockets.
On the right side you have a fingerprint scanner as the power button, along with the volume button. Below, you will also find the USB-C port, a headphone jack, and dual stereo speakers for your immersive media consumption. The speakers are decent enough for its price, whether it be outside or inside. At the top edge is another mic and a secondary audio output. On the left side is a tray for dual sim cards.
HONOR X7b 5G Display
You also have a 6.8-inch FullView LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate. It gives a buttery-smooth scrolling experience. While not as lively in the colors department as an AMOLED Display, it is good for your usual netflix and chill and other media consumption. It has an 800 nits peak brightness, making it still readable despite bright lighting conditions.
Battery and Performance
The HONOR X7b sports an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset with an 8GB RAM. While it is an old mid-tier processor, it was enough to give satisfactory results when using the phone for everyday use, and a bit of gaming on the side. We tested it out on Call of Duty, and it was pretty fast and responsive even on high-definition settings.
The X7b runs MagicOS 7.2 based on Android 13, giving an easy, clean and user-friendly interface.
Battery wise, you have a 6000 mAh ultra-large battery. I think the refresh rate as well as the chipset helps it to be more efficient and gives the HONOR X7b a longer battery life. I have used this for around 3 days with casual surfing using wifi, along with the usual use of camera and watching of my favorite videos on youtube, and it was still at around 18 percent when I needed to charge it.
This phone also supports 35W HONOR SuperCharge via its USB-C port, which is a decent bonus. All you would really need is a quick charge in the morning to start your day, and charging habits would change to probably at least every two days with its massive battery life.
Camera
For this review of HONOR X7b, it has a triple-camera system with its 108MP main camera as the star of the show. While it can shoot photos at full 108MP on Pro mode, the default setting is at 12MP. I personally like how both modes produce photos with vibrant colors, as well as balanced contrast and highlights. The detail is still good even if you are shooting on a cloudy day, or a darkish room. The sharpness suffers a bit when the default setting is used, but the results are much decent for an entry-level smartphone.
Partnered with the main camera is a 5MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro camera at the back. The macro camera can only be used via the super macro mode, which I find to only be usable when it is daytime.
Night mode for this phone is exceptional, for the price. The photos we took are bright, detailed, colorful and almost noise free. I suggest using this mode especially when you are in dark scenarios like caves or under city lights as it really is better versus using the default camera settings.
The Aperture mode delivers its promise to create a depth-of-field effect in photos by blurring the background. Perfect to use for food, product shots or portraits.
You also have an 8MP shooter for the front camera. I find things to be a bit too filtered for my taste, despite not using portrait mode. The subject’s blemishes are still minimized, the skin brightened, and the background is a bit blurred for effect.
This phone’s camera can record videos at 1080 pixels with a frame rate of 30fps. While you don’t have 4K shooting here and no stabilization, the audio is fair enough.
Overall thoughts on the HONOR X7b 5G
For our HONOR X7b review, we find it to be a stylish and reliable phone that does not break your wallet. It ticked the four basic things that we mentioned from the start, with a couple of bonuses, thanks to its great display, decent and efficient performance, massive storage and powerful 6000 mAh battery that keeps on giving for your everyday tasks.
The main camera is such a bonus for something that is in its price range, and while the audio system and supporting cameras are something to be improved, this phone is definitely worth considering, especially since it is in such a budget friendly price of P8,999.
The HONOR X7b is available in HONOR retailers and online via Shopee (https://bit.ly/Shop_X7b_PR) and Lazada (https://bit.ly/Laz_X7b_PR).
HONOR X7b Full Specs:
- Android 13
- Dual SIM, Dual standby
- 2.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor
- 6GB/8GB Memory
- Adreno 610 GPU
- 128GB/256GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
Battery:
- 6,000mAh non-removable battery
- 35W fast charging
Display:
- 6.8-inch FHD+ IPS display, 2412 x 1080 pixel resolution, 389ppi
- 90Hz refresh rate
Camera:
- 8-megapixel front camera
- 108-megapixel (f/1.8, PDAF) + 5-megapixel (ultra-wide) + 2-megapixel (depth sensor) rear cameras, LED flash
Connectivity
- HSPA+, 4G LTE
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth 5.0
- GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
- NFC
- USB-C
Dimensions and weight:
- 166.7 x 76.5 x 8.2mm
- 199g
Available Colors:
- Emerald Green
- Flowing Silver
- Midnight Black
