Honor X6b Review: Style Meets Budget

August 29, 2024, 11:05 AM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- August 29, 2024, 11:05 AM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- August 29, 2024, 11:22 AM

Honor X6b

Honor started its journey as a sub-brand of Huawei. But after its split as an independent brand, the company has slowly produced smartphones from budgets to flagships. Recently, Honor launched the X6b on 13th June 2024 as a successor to last year’s X7a and the X6 before that. As an ultra-budget smartphone, the X6b has much to offer. Let’s take a detailed look.

Key Specifications of Honor X6b

Design and Build Quality

The X6b is a plastic device all around with a glass front. The frosted and refracting back redirects light to the camera housing which gives the X6b a unique look. The dimensions of the smartphone come in at 163.6 mm by 75.3 mm by 8.4 mm. The weight is around 192 g which puts it on the heavier side for a plastic build device.

There’s a glass-like layer on the back of the panel which isn’t rated by Honor. However, the device holds SGS 5 stars rating against drops so you can be assured of its rugged capabilities.

The front features a usual water drop notch style display which is a common sight in budget smartphones. The sizeable bottom chin and the thick bezel all around are unfortunately what you’ll be getting for the ultra-budget price.

On the bright side, the X6b comes with a headphone jack and a shared micro SDXC storage. There’s also a secondary noise cancellation mic which is a pleasant surprise. The left side features the volume rockers and the power button which also doubles as the fingerprint scanner.

The Display

The display on the Honor X6b is a 6.56-inch TFT LCD panel with a 90 Hz refresh rate. To be honest, LCDs are becoming less and less common even in budget smartphones. On top of that, Honor went with the TFT technology instead of the more common IPS one.

The resolution of the panel comes in at 720 by 1612 pixels with around 269 ppi density. The screen-to-body ratio comes in at 83.9% at 20:9 aspect ratio.

One of the highlights of the display is its 780 nits of peak brightness. We didn’t notice any issues while using it outdoors or even under direct sunlight. The viewing angles were okay and the panel lived up to its high refresh rate claims.

Overall, it’s a decent panel for its price. It could’ve been better but what you’re getting isn’t bad either.

The Camera

The camera housing on the X6b might be a bit misleading at first glance. There’s a total of 4 cutouts on the back. However, there are only two sensors and the others are an LED flash and a ring-like design that doesn’t do anything.

The main camera is a 50 MP, f/1.8 sensor with PDAF. The secondary camera is a 2 MP, f/2.4 depth sensor. The front camera is a 5 MP, f/2.2 wide-angle shooter.

In terms of performance, the X6b was able to take decent shots in well-lit environments. The portrait shots also stood out as it was able to clearly separate the background and the subject each time. The color reproduction was neutral with realistic contrast and dynamic range.

However, the camera struggled in darker environments and at night. The included night mode helps to bring out the details but the softness and grains are ever apparent in each shot.

The front camera can take decent selfies, but it's nothing to boast about.

The X6b can video record at up to 1080P at 30 fps. However, the lack of stabilization features results in choppy footage.

Processor and Performance

The processor on the X6b is Mediatek Helio G85 based on a 12 Nm architecture. The octa-core processor has a chip design of 2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 with Mali-G52 MC2 GPU.

In terms of day-to-day use, the G85 is a more than capable processor. It can easily handle tasks like browsing the web, social media, or watching YouTube. However, gaming is where it struggles quite a bit. We played PUBG at a max setting of HD/High settings. Even then, the gyro delay and the frame drops were pretty apparent. Highly optimized games like COD and Asphalt 9 also stuttered at times.

The X6b features 6 GB of RAM which is also becoming obsolete even in budget Androids. Thankfully, the device can utilize an additional 6 GB of virtual RAM from the internal storage.

The X6b isn’t really made for gaming so you’re better off playing 2D offline games in it.

Benchmark

Antutu 10: 267195

GeekBench 6: 418 (single core); 1310 (multi-core)

Software

Honor X6b is running on Magic OS 8 based on Android 14. Magic OS 8 has its fair share of bloatware and MIUI-like layout. The OS might feel a bit too heavy for Android purists but if you’re coming from a Xiaomi or Honor, the OS 8 won’t really feel out of place.

Battery and Charge Time

The battery on the Honor X6b is around 5200 mAh. The device supports 35W wired fast charging which can take the device from 0 to 31% in 20 minutes. In moderate use, the device can easily last one and a half days. But even with heavy use, you’re looking at at least a day's worth from a single charge.

Pros and Cons of Honor X6b

Pros

- Attractive design
- Headphone jack and micro SDXC support
- Great battery life
- Secondary noise cancellation mic
- Bright display

Cons

- Mediocre camera performance
- Average processor.

Official Price of Honor X6b in Bangladesh

The Honor X6b is available in a 6/128 GB configuration. The current price is 14,999 BDT.

Verdict

The Honor X6b doesn’t really bring anything mentionable over the X6 or even the X7a. On the contrary, the performance falters quite a bit in gaming or multitasking. The TFT display is also becoming out of date and out of place even in the budget segment. The camera performance also won’t blow you away.

The only two things where the X6b excels are the design and the battery life. In essence, the Honor X6b is best suited for those looking for a daily driver that’ll be sufficient for day-to-day tasks, nothing more.