HONOR X8c Review: Affordable, Stylish, and Durable Smartphone

The new HONOR X8c is a feature-packed smartphone for the mid-range market. It boasts a 108MP night photography camera, AI-powered features, and robust durability. Designed to deliver a premium experience without the hefty price tag.

Whether you're a casual user, a mobile gamer, or a photography enthusiast, this new smartphone promises style, performance, and reliability. With a price tag, priced at just ₱13,999, the HONOR X8c offers a blend of premium-looking design and practical functionality.

 Opening the box, it includes everything you need:

HONOR X8c
35W HONOR SuperCharge adapter
Type-C Cable
Pre-applied screen protector
TPU protective case
Eject pin, Quick Start Guide, and Warranty Card

Design and Build Quality

The HONOR X8c boasts a slim 7.12mm profile and a lightweight 174g body, it feels comfortable and has a premium feel to the hand. The design adds a unique touch, making it stand out among generic-looking smartphones.

The device is well-balanced, making one-handed use a breeze, while its polished edges enhance its premium appeal. If you’re after a phone that’s both sleek and functional, this one ticks all the right boxes.

Also read HONOR X9b 5G Top 9 Features: Unlock Your eXtra Power

The power button and volume rocker are conveniently placed on the right side, while the SIM slot sits on the left. At the bottom, you'll find the Type-C port, speaker, and primary microphone, with a secondary microphone positioned at the top for enhanced audio clarity.

The 108MP main camera, 5MP ultra-wide lens, and LED flash are neatly arranged in a square module at the back. This design keeps the lenses unobtrusive and gives the phone a clean, balanced look. The slight camera bump is noticeable but doesn’t feel bulky, and with the included protective case, the phone rests evenly on flat surfaces.

Its available in three stunning color options: Marrs Green, Midnight Black, and Moonlight White. Each variant offers a unique design. Marrs Green exudes a vibrant, modern look, Midnight Black provides a sleek and timeless appeal, and Moonlight White delivers a clean and elegant finish.

Durability

Despite its slim and lightweight build, the HONOR X8c is designed to be tough enough for everyday use. It has been SGS-certified for drop and crush resistance, meaning it can withstand drops from heights of up to 1.8 meters without significant damage. Additionally, the phone has undergone 2,000 soft squeeze tests, ensuring that it can handle pressure and minor impacts without compromising its structure.

For added protection, the HONOR X8c comes with an IP64 rating, making it resistant to dust and splashes. This means it can withstand exposure to dust particles and handle accidental spills or light rain without issues. While it’s not fully waterproof, the added protection gives peace of mind in everyday situations, like using your phone during a drizzle or placing it on a slightly wet surface.

Display and Sound

The 6.7-inch AMOLED display on the HONOR X8c is easily one of its standout features. With an impressive 93.7% screen-to-body ratio, it offers an immersive viewing experience. Whether you're watching videos, browsing social media, or gaming, the screen delivers sharp details, vibrant colors, and deep contrasts that enhance visual quality. The 120Hz refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling and fluid animations, making everyday navigation feel fast and responsive.

The display supports up to 2800-nit peak brightness, which makes outdoor visibility excellent. Whether you're taking photos under direct sunlight or checking notifications on a bright day, the screen remains clear and easy to read. Additionally, 3840Hz PWM dimming technology helps reduce eye strain, making extended screen time more comfortable, especially in low-light conditions. There is a slight color shift at extreme viewing angles, but it doesn’t affect everyday use significantly.

On the audio side, the HONOR X8c provides clear and loud sound output, making it enjoyable for watching movies, listening to music, or playing casual games without needing earphones. The audio quality is balanced, with decent bass and crisp mids, but the lack of stereo speakers is a noticeable drawback. Since it only has a single bottom-firing speaker, audio can sometimes feel unbalanced, particularly when gaming or watching content in landscape mode.

Overall, the HONOR X8c’s display is a strong selling point, offering high brightness, smooth performance, and eye-comfort features that make it a great choice for media consumption and everyday use. While stereo speakers would have improved the audio experience, the sound quality is still good for its price range.

Performance and Gaming

The HONOR X8c, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 chipset paired with Adreno 610 GPU, delivers reliable performance for everyday tasks like browsing, social media, and video streaming. With 16GB of RAM (8GB physical + 8GB HONOR Turbo RAM) and a generous 512GB storage, multitasking is smooth, and you won’t have to worry about running out of space for apps, photos, and media.

Gaming Performance
For casual gaming, the HONOR X8c performs well, especially with its 120Hz refresh rate, making gameplay feel smooth and responsive. Popular titles like Honkai: Star Rail, Call of Duty: Mobile, Immoral, and PUBG Mobile run well, though for the best experience, medium settings are recommended to avoid frame drops. Lighter games like Pokemon, MU Origin 3, and Zombie Fire 3D run effortlessly with no noticeable slowdowns.

However, when playing graphically demanding games like Genshin Impact or Diablo Immortal, the device starts to show its limitations. These games are playable, but frame drops and stutters occur at higher settings. Lowering the graphics settings significantly improves performance. Additionally, during extended gaming sessions (over an hour) or while playing high-graphic games, the phone gets slightly warm, particularly around the camera module. While this doesn’t affect usability, it's something to be aware of if you game for long periods.

Benchmark Scores
In performance tests, the HONOR X8c scores around 371,378 on AnTuTu, positioning it as a solid mid-range performer. While it doesn’t compete with flagship devices, it’s more than capable of handling daily tasks and moderate gaming.

MagicOS 9.0 and User Experience
Running on MagicOS 9.0 (based on Android 15), the HONOR X8c provides a clean, responsive, and intuitive user interface. Features like Magic Capsule and Magic Portal enhance convenience by improving navigation and app management. The under-display fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate, making unlocking the device effortless.

One of the highlights of MagicOS 9.0 is its lightweight UI, and minor bloatware, allowing for a fluid and pleasant user experience. Apps launch quickly, transitions are smooth, and there’s no unnecessary clutter slowing down the device.

Minor Drawbacks

• Not ideal for heavy gaming – High-end games require lower settings for smooth performance.
• Slight heating during long gaming sessions – Noticeable warmth near the camera area after extended play.
• No 5G connectivity – Limited to 4G LTE, which may be a drawback for users looking for faster mobile data speeds.

Overall, the HONOR X8c delivers dependable performance for everyday tasks and casual gaming. It’s a great option if you want smooth multitasking, ample storage, and a clean UI, but heavy mobile gamers may need to look elsewhere.

Camera: AI-Powered Photography

The HONOR X8c comes with a dual-camera setup designed for everyday photography. The 108MP main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) captures sharp, detailed, and vibrant photos, making it a good choice for casual and social media photography. The AI scene recognition automatically adjusts brightness, contrast, and exposure based on what you're shooting, which helps bring out richer colors and better dynamic range. In well-lit conditions, photos come out clear and detailed, but in low-light settings, the AI processing sometimes over-brightens shots, reducing natural contrast.

The Night Mode is useful for low-light photography, enhancing brightness and reducing noise for better clarity. However, it still struggles with motion blur, so keeping a steady hand is necessary. The 5MP ultra-wide camera works well for group shots and landscapes but produces softer details and muted colors in dim lighting.

For selfies, the 50MP front camera provides sharp and well-balanced images. The AI Beautification Mode subtly enhances skin texture and tone without making photos look overly processed. It also has a wide-angle mode, making it great for group selfies or fitting more background into the frame.

Shooting Modes
The HONOR X8c offers various shooting modes, including Night, Portrait, Video, Pro, Aperture, Dual-View, Slo-mo, Panorama, Time-lapse, High-Res, and Story Mode. Portrait Mode applies a depth effect for better subject focus, while Aperture Mode allows manual control of background blur. Dual-View Mode lets you record with both front and rear cameras at the same time—useful for vlogs or reaction videos.

Sample Photos

Video Recording
The HONOR X8c supports 1080p video recording with electronic image stabilization (EIS). Daylight videos are stable, and have good color accuracy, making them great for casual recording. The AI Video Enhancement feature helps adjust brightness and clarity in real time, making dark scenes appear brighter and more detailed. However, low-light videos tend to have noticeable noise, and stabilization isn't as smooth as on flagship models.

One major limitation is that the HONOR X8c does not support 4K recording or 60fps video, which some users might find restrictive if they want higher-resolution footage or smoother motion capture.

AI Editing Features
The AI Eraser is a useful tool for removing unwanted objects from photos. It works well for small distractions, like people in the background, but struggles with larger edits, sometimes leaving visible smudges or distortions if the background is complex.

Minor Camera Drawbacks

• Ultra-wide camera lacks sharpness in low light.
• Video stabilization is decent but not as smooth as flagship models.
• Low-light video has noticeable noise and requires good lighting for better quality.
• AI processing sometimes brightens images too much, reducing natural contrast.
• No 4K video recording or 60fps support.

Final Thoughts on the Camera

The HONOR X8c’s camera system is great for everyday use, especially in good lighting. The AI-powered enhancements improve photos and make shooting easier, but low-light performance, ultra-wide sharpness, and video limitations leave room for improvement. If you're looking for a phone that takes vibrant, detailed daytime shots and offers AI tools for easy editing, this camera setup should work well for you.

Battery Life and Charging

The HONOR X8c packs a 5000mAh battery, delivering solid all-day battery life. it can easily last through a full day of mixed activities, including social media browsing, video streaming, messaging, and light gaming. By the end of the day, it still had around 20–30% battery left, meaning casual users could stretch it to almost two days on a single charge.

For charging, the 35W HONOR SuperCharge can charge the battery for around 30 minutes to reach 50% and under 90 minutes for a full charge. This is convenient for busy users who need a quick boost before heading out. While it's not the fastest charging in its price range, it’s still efficient enough for everyday needs.

Battery optimization is well-tuned, with a minimal drain in standby mode. Even when left unplugged overnight, the battery level dropped by just a few percentage points, which is a good sign of power efficiency. However, heavy gaming and extensive camera use do drain the battery faster, but not to the point of being a major drawback.

Overall, the HONOR X8c delivers reliable, long-lasting battery life with fast and efficient charging, making it a dependable choice for daily use.

Pros:
✅ Sleek and lightweight design
✅ Durable build with drop and water resistance
✅ 108MP main camera with OIS
✅ AI-powered camera features
✅ Large 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate
✅ 512GB storage and 16GB RAM (8GB + 8GB extended)
✅ Smooth performance for daily tasks
✅ Long-lasting 5000mAh battery
✅ 35W fast charging

Cons:
❌ No 5G support
❌ Snapdragon 685 limits high-end gaming
❌ Ultra-wide camera lacks detail in low light
❌ Video stabilization needs improvement
❌ No stereo speakers

Final Verdict: Is the HONOR X8c Worth It?

The HONOR X8c offers a good mix of durability, camera quality, and reliable performance at an affordable price. With drop resistance and IP64 water and dust protection, it’s built to handle daily use. The 108MP main camera with OIS captures sharp and detailed photos, while AI enhancements help in low-light conditions. Video recording is decent, though stabilization could be better for fast-moving scenes.

For everyday tasks, browsing, and casual gaming, the performance holds up well without major slowdowns. The 6.7-inch AMOLED display provides a great and enjoyable viewing experience, and the battery easily lasts a full day.

At ₱13,999, the HONOR X8c is a solid option for those looking for a dependable smartphone with a good camera, smooth performance, and a sturdy build.

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