The Honor Pad X8 and Honor Pad X9 may appear very similar, but they come with a couple of key differences. Here is everything you need to know.
Honor is known for producing reliable hardware, and the Honor Pad range is no exception.
Since we got the chance to review the Honor Pad X9 in all its glory, we thought it would be interesting to see how it compares to its predecessor. We haven’t been able to review the Honor Pad X8, but we can use the provided specs to see how they compare on paper.
With all that said, here are all the vital differences between the Honor Pad X8 and Honor Pad X9 that you need to know.
Larger screen on the Honor Pad X9
The Honor Pad X8 comes kitted out with a 10.1-inch IPS display with a 1920×1200 resolution. The Honor Pad X9, meanwhile, boasts for a larger 11.5-inch LCD display with a Full HD+ 2000×1200 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.
We found the Honor Pad X9 to be relatively crisp with black bars kept to a minimum – although not altogether absent. The high refresh rate ensured smooth scrolling and made the user experience feel faster and more fluid. It’s not the flashiest display, but it’s more than serviceable for those looking to watch media content or browse the web.
The Honor Pad X8 comes with a MediaTek MT8786 CPU, while the Honor Pad X9 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 685. The MediaTek chipset was designed for mobile and tablet devices, with Honor claiming that it offers comprehensively higher running speeds than its predecessor, the Honor Pad X7.
We found the Snapdragon chipset of the newer tablet to offer a solid performance; Diablo was playable at Medium settings with a 30fps cap. The High preset barely changed performance, but higher resolutions and frame caps were locked due to the underpowered processor. It won’t be able to handle modern 3D games or intensive graphical workloads, but it’s more than powerful enough for basic productivity tasks and light gaming.
More storage on the Honor Pad X9
Both models come in just one configuration on the Honor website. The Honor Pad X8 comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. The Honor Pad X9 improved on this with a 4GB and 128GB combination.
The higher storage on the Honor Pad X9 means that it will be better equipped to store games, photos and downloaded media files. You could always pair the Honor Pad X8 with an external hard drive, but its successor will definitely be more convenient.
Smaller battery on the Honor Pad X8
Due to its smaller size, it makes sense that the Honor Pad X8 comes with a smaller battery. A 5100mAh battery sits inside the Honor Pad X8, with no claims from the company on how long it’s expected to last.
The Honor Pad X9 instead comes with a larger 7250mAh battery, suggesting that it will have a higher endurance than its predecessor. We found that it had a surprisingly good battery life, with one episode of Better Call Saul draining it by 6% in a dimly lit room. Things will fluctuate on higher and lower brightness levels and volumes, but we were able to binge a limited series on full charge without needing to reach for the charger.
The Honor Pad X9 is more expensive
With all of that in mind, you may be wondering which tablet is the most expensive. The Honor Pad X8 comes in one configuration and can be found on the Honor website for £119.99.
The Honor Pad X9 also comes in one configuration and is a little more pricy, at £159.99. The £49 difference may be worth it, however, if you’re after a tablet with a larger screen and longer endurance.
