The HONOR Pad X9a is available for pre-order starting today in the Philippines, and from the looks of it, this is a promising Android tablet for productivity and binge-watching.
This year saw HONOR release plenty of affordable smartphones in its X series, and the brand seems to be keen on doing something similar for the tablet market. That’s because the new Pad X9a is available for pre-order with a special price tag of just a bit over PHP 10k.
Ahead of the tablet’s release, we got our hands on a unit to see how promising it really is.
To start, let’s take a look at the Pad X9a’s design. This new Android tablet keeps things simple as it has a solid-colored back, while its frame is made out of aluminum. This build should make it quite sturdy, enough that users won’t have to worry about the damaging the tablet in daily use.
The Pad X9a also has flat sides, making it feel nice and easy to grip when you’re using it in-hand. Of course, given its size, you may want to use it with its keyboard cover (which you can buy as a bundle), though we found that it’s still easy to hold if you’re planning to use it as an ebook reader.
As for its display, the Pad X9a has an 11.5-inch LCD screen with a 1504 x 2508 resolution, meaning it has a 5:3 aspect ratio. The display also has a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as 400 nits peak brightness.
We’ve only had the Pad X9a for a few days, so we can’t give a full verdict yet when it comes to its display, though we already think it’s quite a solid screen. Sure, it may not be as vibrant as an OLED panel, but this HONOR tablet’s screen is not bad at all when it comes to color output and brightness. Note that, according some sources (like GSMArena), the Pad X9a’s display is a TFT LCD screen. As such, it may not have as wide a viewing angle as a tablet with an IPS LCD display. Still, this shouldn’t be an issue, especially given its price tag.
What we do like to point out is that the 5:3 aspect ratio makes the Pad X9a longer vertically compared to tablets with a 16:10 ratio. Personally, I’m used to a 16:10 aspect ratio tablets, so I found the Pad X9a to feel a bit too long for my preference, but that’s far from a deal-breaker. After all, some users prefer a 5:3 display, not to mention that this screen should be a better fit for watching widescreen content.
Speaking of watching, the Pad X9a has a stereo speaker setup. Given the tablet’s size, we were expecting it to have great sound quality. While we can’t say for certain yet, we found the audio output to be quite loud and have surprisingly decent bass. Of course, we’ll have to play more movies and songs before we can give a better verdict.
Tablets aren’t designed with photography as a focus (given how cumbersome it is to use a tablet as a camera), so it’s no surprise that the new HONOR tablet only has an 8MP rear camera that’s paired with a 5MP selfie camera.
These should get the job done, though we’re hoping that the 5MP front shooter won’t disappoint, at least when it comes to online conferences/video calls.
As for performance, we’re keen on finding out how well the tablet performs for games or more hardware-intensive tasks given that many tablet users aim to use their devices for productivity or gaming.
This new tablet is powered by a Snapdragon 685 4G chipset that’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Given its entry-level pricing, the Snapdragon 685 isn’t too surprising, though this likely means the Pad X9a is more suited to running more mainstream multiplayer titles instead of the most demanding Android games.
On the flip side, the Pad X9a likely won’t disappoint when it comes to battery life. That’s because it packs a large 8300 mAh battery, meaning it should be able to last for a day of use on average, or potentially more.
Based on our admittedly short time with the HONOR Pad X9a, we think that there’s a lot going for it thanks to its design, screen, and potential performance capabilities. This tablet has an SRP of PHP 10,999, and those who pre-order will get a free Camping Light Speaker that they can claim on May 31.
At that price point, the Pad X9a is already quite a solid option, especially given its combination of design, display, and processor. Of course, that’ snot our full verdict yet as we still have more things we want to find out about the tablet. So, watch out for our full review of this new HONOR tablet which will come out soon.