HONOR X8a First Impressions: Is it a DSLR-like smartphone?

HONOR smartphones never fail to bring something new to the table. When X9a was launched, it claimed to be the most durable phone ever, even going as far as having it dropped, smashed, and run over by a car. Now, with X8a, HONOR organized a yacht party to demonstrate that it’s worthy of its claim as a “DSLR-like smartphone”.

Here are our first impressions of HONOR X8a so far:

Unboxing and Design

The box comes with the HONOR X8a unit, an adaptor, a type C charging cable, a clear phone case, a sim ejector pin, and a manual.

I received the Cyan Lake version and I must say, I like its glittery design. Moving it from different angles and watching how it shines whenever a light source hits it is entertaining. Four lenses are at the back, with the words “100MP Ultra Camera”, highlighting its main feature. These lenses include a main rear camera, a macro camera, and two wide cameras.

Like new HONOR phones, it has one speaker and doesn’t come with an audio jack.

Photography Check

Comparing its camera quality to a DSLR is a bold move from HONOR. Upon checking it and taking multiple photos, here are my thoughts.

HONOR X8a has lots of camera modes, such as:

Aperture: Blurs the background to emphasize subjects within 2 meters
Night Photography: Best used at night and in dark areas
Portrait Photography: Comes with 10 beauty levels that you can adjust
Photo: Rear camera uses 100MP and the front camera uses 16MP
Pro Mode: Allows you to manually adjust the ISO, shutter speed, and exposure
Super Macro: For macro photography, with a 4 cm optimal shooting distance
Stickers: Allows you to put stickers on your photos
High-Res: For high-definition, DSLR-like photography

I tried doing some indoor photography with fake flowers using the HONOR X8a 100MP rear camera and I like how it turned out. These did not go through any kind of filter or editing so I can say that their colors came out well.

These are photos taken from its 16MP front camera. The first one smoothens my face’s imperfections after putting the beauty level at 5. The second one is natural. What you want to take depends on your preference.

I took this at night time to check its lighting in this kind of setting. It can be better, but it’s not bad, considering it captured the homey vibes of the cafe.

From these photos, I can commend HONOR X8a’s camera quality. It can take good photos for sure. My favorite thing about it is its color calibration technology that copies the photo’s real-life colors.

But is it DLSR-like quality? As someone who owns one, I still like the flexibility of adjusting my lens. I believe it really brings a difference. However, for the purpose of convenience, it will do for your everyday camera use.

HONOR X8a’s Availability

HONOR X8a comes in three colors: Midnight Black, Titanium Silver, and Cyan Lake. Phones with good camera quality usually don’t come cheap, but HONOR X8a is only ₱10,990! For the price, it’s quite worth it.

If you pre-order it from March 14 to 24, it comes with free HONOR earbuds worth ₱1,590. Get yours at HONOR’s Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok shops.