Design
The aluminium unibody casing that protects the HONOR Pad 8 is 7.9 millimetres thin, well-made, and comes in just one colour – Blue Hour, with a matte finish. This gives the case a premium appearance. The 12-inch tablet weighs 520 grammes, which makes it feel refreshingly light in hand. The power button and the volume rocker have a solid pressure point, are securely mounted to the metal chassis, and do not wiggle. The Pad 8 delivers a superb balance of user-friendliness and slim design thanks to a display-surface ratio of 87 percent.
With a screen bezel that is just over 7 mm wide all around, the tablet may be held in one hand without causing incorrect inputs to be made on display. In order to conserve space, the selfie camera is likewise placed in the bezel, easily obstructing the user’s field of vision. When held by its two short sides, Pad 8 can be slightly twisted under torsional force and dented in the middle. However, given the huge display diagonal, the HONOR Pad 8’s stability is actually rather good and more than adequate for daily use.
Specifications
The HONOR Pad 8 comes with 6 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. With support for DTS:X Ultra, the HONOR tablet’s eight total speakers deliver excellent surround sound. The absence of a 3.5 mm connector necessitates the usage of a USB-C connection with USB 2.0 speed that can connect OTG-capable devices via cable. The tablet can play streams in HD quality because it supports DRM Widevine L1.
Android 12 and Magic UI 6.1 from HONOR are both running on the Pad 8. Although, it is not yet known that long security updates and system upgrades would be provided for the Pad 8, just like other gadgets from HONOR. The 12-inch tablet’s screen size is utilised by Magic UI 6.1’s multi-window mode and cross-screen working features.
Performance
The Snapdragon 680, which features 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, is included in the HONOR Pad 8. The graphics processing is handled by the Adreno 610 included in the SoC. The HONOR Pad 8’s eight-core processor aids in achieving a respectable system speed but does not transform the tablet into a speed demon. In normal use, the operation is primarily seamless; however, there are occasionally brief stutters. Depending on the app, a number of open apps could strain the HONOR. The smooth operation of games is typically the result of graphics detail tradeoffs.
When browsing the web, the HONOR Pad feels snappy since sites load and are presented rapidly. The tablet’s strong performance is also attested by the browser benchmarks, which rank it between Lenovo’s Tab P11 and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7. Due to the UFS 2.2 storage’s high sequential read performance, apps load fairly quickly.
Multi-Screen Function
Up to four programmes can be run simultaneously on the HONOR tablet in multi-window mode, and they can be moved about and resized as well as positioned next to or above one another. Additionally, you can drag photos from the photo app to the email app to send them as attachments, and you may move images, text, and documents between active apps. The multi-windows mode works beautifully with a variety of apps, including YouTube, Chrome, Google Photos, and HONOR’s own note-taking tool, Memo.
However, not all apps support multi-windows mode. For cross-screen use, users can also connect the Pad 8 and an HONOR smartphone. Drag and drop functions allow the users to move pictures and movies from the smartphone to the tablet because the smartphone and tablet screens are mirror images of each other. Only HONOR smartphones running Magic UI 3.0 or later, though, are compatible.
Battery & Sound
With a 7250 mAh battery, the Honor Pad 8 has a lower battery than many of its competitors, but it still performs admirably in terms of battery life. Video playback takes over 14 hours, while simulated web browsing lasts just over 12 hours. The Honor now shares a running time with the Apple iPad 2022.
The Honor Pad 8’s DTS:X Ultra-compatible audio system is one of its best features. Eight sound membranes in all are evenly distributed along the tablet’s two short sides. Behind each of the four speaker apertures are a pair of woofers. The speaker system produces loud, well-balanced sounds. Even bass tones are present in the sound mix, unlike many other smartphone and tablet speakers.
Connectivity & Communication
The HONOR Pad 8 has limited communication capabilities. HONOR does not provide a mobile option for its tablet, even though the mobile network menu item can be found in the Android settings. A GPS module and NFC are also absent. Only Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 5 are now available as connectivity modules. The HONOR Pad 8 successfully delivers good and consistent Wi-Fi transmission speeds in both the send and receive directions. This is within the range of what Wi-Fi 5 can handle at speeds of about 350 MB/s.
Cameras
The main camera and selfie camera each of the HONOR Pad 8 have a resolution of just 5 MP. Both cameras can capture videos at a maximum resolution of 1080p at 30 frames per second. The solitary microphone performs its function admirably. The selfie camera’s pictures and videos are of modest quality. Photos lack sharpness and are consistently a little washed out. On the other hand, the combined colour reproduction of the two cameras is fairly vibrant and accurate.
The primary camera, however, struggles to capture details in low-light images. The document mode is a unique feature of the camera software; however, it falls short of expectations. The document mode automatically crops pages that have been photographed, but it is unable to display text pages clearly, nor does it have the ability to make PDF files.
Features
The HONOR Pad 8’s IPS screen reacts to inputs swiftly and accurately. A tablet this small must support active pen input. On Pad 8, only capacitive pen input is available, which performs much less precisely. Additionally, HONOR doesn’t offer a keyboard cover or a compatible pen for its tablet. Users who are used to mobile devices with refresh rates of more than 60 Hz will notice the difference in the HONOR Pad 8 right away. Our review sample feels far less fluid than competitors like the Xiaomi Pad 5 with its 120 Hz screen, and this is apparent in the lag effect that happens, for example, when scrolling through menus and websites.
The tablet lacks a fingerprint sensor or system; therefore, the sole biometric authentication option is the selfie camera’s 2D face recognition. While it consistently works in excellent illumination, this login method is not very secure.
Is It Worth It?
The HONOR Pad 8 is priced at $300 and is available on HONOR’s official website. It is also available worldwide in all the offline stores of HONOR.
With the Pad 8, HONOR has made a strong tablet debut. There are presently no cheaper options in this size format. The Pad 8 also excels because of its thin, premium design, long-lasting battery, surround sound from 8 speakers, and DRM Widevine L1 for HD content streaming. HONOR’s 12-inch tablet is the best option if you’re searching for a mid-range Android device that is as large and affordable as feasible at the same time.
