Review Verdict: While the processor is not an upgrade, the HONOR X7b shines with its best-in-class battery life and improved display and cameras, making it a good budget option for those who want a phone that can last for 2 days or more. 

Pros

• Impressive battery life
• Better main camera
• Significantly better display and speakers

Cons

• The rest of the rear cameras are so-so
• Snapdragon 680 is not meant for power users

 

After the X9b and X8b, it was natural for HONOR to complete its lineup in the Philippines with the X7b. As the brand’s most affordable model in its X series, the main selling point of the X7b is its large battery. Along with upgrades to the display and cameras, is the X7b a good budget option?

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Design

From afar, you’d probably mistake the X7b for the HONOR 90 with the two-circle design that houses 3 cameras. Even the shade of the Emerald Green colorway of our review unit reminds us more of the HONOR 90–the only difference is that the X7b is positioned as a budget offering.

Unlike previous X7 models, the X7b finally adopts a punch-hole for the display, giving it a more modern look. Save for those changes, the X7b has roughly the same dimensions as older X7 models. As for the button and port layout, you still get a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. a headphone jack, and a USB-C port, New to the X7b is a stereo speaker setup, which is a feature we welcome on any budget phone.

 

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Display and Speakers

One of the biggest upgrades on the X7b is the display: aside from being bigger, you are not getting a Full HD+ resolution, a punch-hole, and a higher brightness range. The chin may be thick, but we give the X7b some slack since it’s a budget phone. The only thing we’d probably nitpick on the X7b’s display is that it only has Widevine L3, so you’re limited to watching Netflix videos in HD resolution.

Aside from the display, the X7b also gets an upgrade in the audio department with a stereo speaker setup. The sound is decent for a budget phone, and audio fidelity is well-preserved even when we crank up the volume to its maximum level.

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Cameras

While the cameras of the X7b are mediocre, there’s an exception to the 108-megapixel main camera. It’s the same ISOCELL HM6 sensor found on the X9b and X8b, so image quality is significantly better than the 50-megapixel shooter used on its predecessor.

With the few shots we took with the X7b, the images look detailed for a budget phone with good lighting. Low-light shooting is not the best, but it’s possible to get usable photos as long as you have a steady pair of hands.

When it comes to video, the X7b is limited to Full HD recording at 30FPS. It may not be the best phone for videos, but the performance of the ISOCELL HM6 makes it suitable in case you need to take video–and you only have the X7b with you.

 

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Internals and Battery Life

HONOR realized they made a mistake with the X7a by using a dated Helio G37 processor, so the X7b returned to using a Snapdragon 680 instead. You get 8GB RAM and 256GB storage on the X7b, which is at par with what most budget phones currently offer.

We’re familiar with the Snapdragon 680, and it’s generally an entry-level chip that focuses on battery life. It’s not advisable to play games with the X7b due to the Snapdragon 680’s GPU, but you can push it to run titles like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail at the lowest graphics settings.

Like the other X series phones, you get Android 13-based MagicOS 7.2 on the X7b. We don’t know when it will get updated to Android 14–currently, the Magic6 Pro is the only HONOR device that has Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0.

We got 18 hours and 44 minutes of battery life in PCMark’s benchmark test for the X7b’s 6000mAh battery, which is an impressive figure. That roughly translates to around 2 days of battery life. The X7b also has better charging speeds than its predecessor at 35w, which means that you can fully top up that battery in less than 2 hours.

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions

The HONOR X7b is a big improvement over previous X7 models thanks to a higher-resolution main camera and an updated display with a modern punch-hole and a Full HD+ resolution. While the processor is not an upgrade, the X7b shines with its excellent battery life, making it one of the longest-lasting budget phones in the Philippines for 2024.

 

HONOR X7b Review Philippines: Price

The X7b is priced at Php 8,999.