Honor released two new budget smartphones in its popular X series at a product launch in the ancient Chinese city of Xi’an on Sept. 5. The popular brand under Huawei released the new Honor 8X and 8X Max equipped with amazing features, priced all below $300.

 

Honor 8X: 6.5-inch pearl screen with super storage

The Honor 8X sports a 6.5 inch full HD+ screen and feels like a 5.5 inch phone in hand with its narrow body. Instead of a typical notch design, Honor introduced the “pearl screen” where the top notch has been condensed to the size of a black pearl. Packed inside the pearl are the front-facing camera, two sensors, and the earpiece. With a thin 4.25mm bottom bezel, Honor 8X boasts an impressive 91 percent screen-to-body ratio considering its size.

Blue Honor 8X phoneThe phone is made with a metal frame and a 2.5D glass back. Honor used 15 layers of “aurora glass” to create a dual-patterned reflective look, giving off a high-end and design-conscious vibe. The phone comes in four gorgeous colors of black, blue, purple and red.

In terms of specifications, it uses the Kirin 710 chipset launched this July with the introduction of Nova 3i. The chip features four Cortex-A73 big cores and four Cortex-A53 processors along with ARM’s MaliG 51 GPU, boosting its CPU performance and GPU performance by 68% and 130% respectively from the previous model.

The new budget smartphone comes in three different configuration combinations: 4GB + 64GB, 6GB + 64GB, and 6GB + 126GB. The phone also offers three card slots which includes dual sim card slots and a MicroSD card slot that allows additional storage of up to 400GB.

All smartphones being released recently are stressing their artificial intelligence (AI) features, and the Honor 8X was no exception. The new budget flagship touts numerous AI modes for specific usage scenarios that enhances call quality, data connectivity, and more. Its AI elevator feature allows the phone to connect to the 4G network within 4 seconds of stepping off the elevator, while its AI bullet train mode guarantees continuous connectivity with no signal drops for up to five hours straight.

AI functions have also been incorporated in its cameras. The 8X powers a 20MP + 2MP dual-lens camera at the back and a 16MP camera at the front. The rear camera recognized over 500 scenarios from 22 broad categories, while the front camera recognizes 8 different selfie scenarios. Both cameras offer automatic regional enhancement, enabling users to take the perfect shot even under low-light or back light conditions.

Two new impressive camera functions include AIS super night scene that allows for 6 seconds of hand-held smartphone photography that produces a DSLR-quality photo and “super slo-mo” that captures a video that has been slowed down 16 times to 480 fps.

The three configurations are priced at 1399 yuan ($204) , 1599 yuan and 1899 yuan respectively with sales officially starting on Sept. 11.

SEE ALSO: Honor Launches New Flagship Honor Play with GPU Turbo Priced at $313

Honor 8X Max: 7.12-inch portable home theatre

The Honor 8X Max has an impressive screen size of 7.12 inches, quite worthy of its name. Like the Honor 8X, the Max utilizes the new pearl screen design with an all-around bezel thickness of 2.28mm, achieving a screen-to-body ratio of 90.05%. Its 3D curved sides and thin width makes it feel like a 6.3-inch phone when held in hand.

The Max is branded as a portable home theatre featuring impressive audio technologies that matched its screen size. It is equipped with dual smart PA that can broadcast as loudly as 80dB and provides a 360-degree Dolby Atoms surround sound experience.

Honor 8X Max is not only great for watching videos, but for reading as well. The screen offers day mode as well as evening mode with adjustable lighting that goes as low as 2nits. For e-book readers, the 8X Max also offers e-ink display resembling that of Amazon’s Kindle. The large-screened phone is also low blue light certified by TÜV Rheinland, offering eye protection for long hours of reading or watching, especially for the those with very sensitive eyes.

The design and overall look of the Max is very similar to its smaller-sized sibling, Honor 8X. It comes in the same shades of blue, red and black but is not available in purple.

Its 5000mAh battery promises 20 hours of video watching and 12 hours of gaming, enough to last a heavy-user for at least a day, and regular users for two to three days. It can even act as a power bank and reverse charge other devices via an OTG cable.

The Honor 8X Max is powered by Snapdragon 660 or 636 depending on the storage configurations. The sale of the phone starts today with the 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM edition priced at 1499 yuan ($219), and the 6GB and 126GB version priced at 1799 yuan.

Other products released at the event include Honor Band 4 and its running version, priced at 199 yuan and 99 yuan respectively. These fourth generation wearable devices from Honor will go on sale starting Sept. 20.