After launching its Honor 50 flagship series, the now independent Chinese smartphone maker is now going big with its new mid-range smartphone offering. Honor Malaysia has just launched its new X series which consists of the Honor X7, X8, X9 and X9 5G. All four are powered by Qualcomm’s 6nm Snapdragon 680 or 695 chips, and they come with Google Mobile Services included.
Honor X7, X8, X9 and X9 5G Malaysia Pricing
Here’s the official pricing for the new Honor X series for 2022 in Malaysia:
- Honor X9 5G 8GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM1,299
- Honor X9 8GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM1,099
- Honor X8 6GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM899
- Honor X7 4GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM699
The Honor X8 and X9 are available in three colours – Titanium Silver, Ocean Blue and Midnight Black, while the base X7 is only offered in Titanium Silver and Ocean Blue.
The Honor X9 5G and Honor X8 are now available for pre-order starting 29th March 2022 and the first sale is happening on 7th April. Pre-order customers will get freebies worth up to RM516 which include an Honor Choice EarBuds X, 1-year extended warranty, and 6 months screen protection. Honor X9 5G customers will also receive an Honor X9 5G case as well. You can pre-order now in Honor’s official channels as well as Lazada and Shopee.
For those who purchase the devices during the sales launch period from 7th April, will get the Honor Choice Earbuds X and 1-year extended warranty.
Meanwhile, the Honor X9 (4G) and X7 will go on sale starting on 7th April 2022 and buyers will get 1-year extended warranty.
Honor X9 and X9 5G
The top-of-the-range model in the lineup is the Honor X9 5G. This is essentially the global version of the Honor X30 that was launched in China and it sports a Mate 40 inspired design. Upfront, it gets a 6.81″ LCD display that pushes a Full HD+ resolution of 2388×1080 pixels and 120Hz refresh rate.
Under the hood, the 5G model runs on a 6nm Snapdragon 695 5G, which is the same chip that’s powering the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G and Oppo Reno 7 Z 5G. For Malaysia, we only get a single variant with 8GB of RAM which is expandable up to 2GB extra with a RAM Extension feature, as well as 128GB storage.
The huge circular camera bump on the Honor X9 houses a rather basic triple-camera setup that includes a 48MP main camera, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. Meanwhile, selfies are handled by a 16MP front camera that sits on a tiny punch-hole on the screen.
The device also gets a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 5G connectivity, 5GHz 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1 and NFC support. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Powering the device is a 4,800mAh battery that supports Honor’s 66W SuperCharge charging via USB-C. According to Honor, it can push 81% charge in just 30 minutes. Out of the box, it runs on Magic UI 4.2 based on Android 11.
For RM200 less, there’s also the Honor X9 4G version that comes with a couple of differences. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor that’s also mated to 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. While it shares the same 6.81″ display size, the screen pushes a lower 90Hz refresh rate but the X9 gets a more versatile quad-camera setup that includes a 64MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and two 2MP shooters for depth and bokeh effects. At the time of writing, Honor Malaysia has yet to publish the full spec sheet for the 4G variant on its website.
Honor X8
Moving down a notch is the Honor X8 which has a certain fruit brand-inspired camera bump and flat edges. Upfront, it gets a 6.7″ Full HD+ LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate and it runs on Snapdragon 680 chip. The device gets slightly less RAM at 6GB but it still gets 128GB of storage.
In the camera department, the Honor X8 gets a quad-camera setup featuring a 64MP main camera, 5MP ultra-wide-angle lens and two additional cameras for depth and bokeh. Meanwhile, the front comes with a 16MP selfie camera. This is a 4G LTE device with support for 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 and it still retains a 3.5mm headphone jack.
This 7.45mm slim device gets a smaller 4,000mAh battery which supports Honor’s 22.5W SuperCharge. Honor claims that a quick 10-minute top-up via the USB-C cable is enough to deliver 3 hours of video playback. Like the more expensive Honor X9 sibling, it runs on MagicUI 4.2 based on Android 11.
Honor X7
The Honor X7 is the most affordable of the series with a price tag of RM699. In terms of design, the X7 looks like it came from the Honor 50 family, and it gets a more powerful processor than the Honor 50 Lite. Upfront, the device gets a 6.74″ LCD display which pushes a lower HD+ resolution of 1600×720 pixels, but it still does a respectable 90Hz refresh rate. While it is cheaper in price, it still runs on a Snapdragon 680 chip that’s mated to 4GB of RAM and has 128GB of storage.
For taking pictures, the rear gets a quad-camera setup featuring a 48MP main camera on the top-most bump. Meanwhile, the secondary bump houses the 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera, depth, and macro shooters. The front of the X7 gets a tiny notch that houses an 8MP selfie camera.
The X7 still gets a generous 5,000mAh battery which supports 22.5W SuperCharge via USB-C. Similar to the other X-series devices, it runs on MagicUI 4.2 based on Android 11.
Overall, Honor seems to be making a comeback in the mid-range scene and it hopes to regain back the glory days of the Honor 6X, Honor 7X, and Honor 8X. The mid-range segment has gotten super competitive, especially in the sub-RM1,000 price range. Honor has to compete with the likes of the Redmi Note 11 series which feature AMOLED screens as well as the Realme 9 lineup. Meanwhile, Samsung is also catching up with a rather decent large screen and big battery budget smartphone lineup this year with the Galaxy A13 and A23.
