Time for another round of mid-range faceoffs!

After making a statement with the Honor Play, Honor is looking to make another dent in the mid-range marketplace with their Honor 8X. The Honor 8X may be the newest mid-range kid in town, but the company’s latest offering has the chops to punch above its class, going against more expensive rivals in the mid-range segment. One such rival is the OPPO F9, and despite being considerably more, the Honor 8X manages to put up a decent fight against the newest selfie expert.

Here’s a quick recap of the spec sheet:

Honor 8X specs

OPPO F9 Specs

• MediaTek octa-core Helio P60 processor
• ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
• 6GB RAM
• 6.3-inch 19:9 aspect ratio Full HD+ LTPS IPS display,  2280 x 1080 resolution
• 64GB of expandable storage
• 16-megapixel f/1.8 and 2-megapixel rear cameras PDAF with LED flash
• 25-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture, SONY IMX576, AI beautification
• Dual SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, fingerprint sensor
• 3500mAh battery with VOOC quick charging
• Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.2 UI

Display

While both use Full HD+ IPS displays, they have their respective advantages: the Honor 8X has a larger display at 6.5 inches, along with the option to hide the notch. The F9, on the other hand, may have a smaller display, but that translates to a higher pixel per inch ratio. In addition, the F9 has a smaller notch.

In actual use, the Honor 8X has another advantage as its IPS panel is brighter than the F9’s panel.

 

Build

The Honor 8X has an advantage as it uses an aluminum and glass build compared to the F9’s all-acrylic build. In spite of differences with the build, both look stunning in person: the F9 comes in a variety of gradient colors that makes them stand out, while the Honor 8X’s two-toned design gives it the right amount of subtlety.

 

Battery

The Honor 8X has a slight edge over the F9 with its bigger 3750mAh battery (compared to the F9’s 3400mAh battery). OPPO’s VOOC solution juices up the battery faster than the Honor 8X’s quick charging, but that’s because the F9 has a smaller battery capacity.

In spite of the differences in battery capacity, both the F9 and Honor 8X can last at least a day with moderate use.

Cameras

On paper, the Honor 8X has superior rear cameras with a 20-megapixel f/1.8 primary snapper compared to the F9’s 16-megapixel f/1.8 unit. Both phones have a 2-megapixel depth sensor and AI tricks, which should help the F9 and Honor 8X in processing photos better.

Price

With the F9 priced at Php 17,990, we expect the Honor 8X to have a competitive price. Rumors point to a sub-Php 13k price for the Honor 8X, but its best to wait for Honor’s official announcement.

But if the rumored price is true, then the Honor 8X might be a better deal since the trade-off is minimal compared to the F9.