Honor Pad 8, the multitasking Android tablet

In September, during the IFA in Berlin, Honor announced its new 12-inch tablet, the Pad 8. For 299.99 euros, the tablet comes with a large 12-inch screen and solid specifications. Android tablets are less and less numerous on the market, so the Honor Pad 8 has something refreshing.

If Honor usually offers a wide range of different colors on its smartphones, the Honor Pad 8 is only available in blue. The hue is more specifically slate blue, with a matte finish that attracts fingerprints quite easily. The Honor logo is discreetly inlaid on the rear side, with the camera in the upper right corner (in landscape mode).

Picture: Honor.

Quality construction

The corners of the tablet are carefully rounded. Held in portrait mode, the USB-C socket and two speakers are on the bottom, two other speakers are at the top of the screen, and the volume and power buttons are on the right edge. The design is neat and ergonomic.

The Honor Pad 8 has a comfortable grip for a 12-inch tablet. It’s only 6.9mm thick and weighs 520g, while its 278.54mm by 174.06mm footprint is rather small. It fits easily in a backpack.

Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNET.

The screen actually measures 11.97 inches from corner to corner, and it sits between bezels designed to allow for a comfortable grip. The occupancy rate of the front face by the screen is approximately 84%. The 2000 x 1200 pixel IPS panel produces crisp, elegant rendering with superb video and chiseled text.

You can even adjust the color temperature, while the Eye Comfort mode helps reduce blue light. The latter can be activated manually or programmed to activate and deactivate at specific times. You can adjust the blue light filter level according to your preference. There’s also an e-book mode, which switches the screen to grayscale. Reading e-books on the big screen with two pages displayed was a pleasure.

Convenient multi-window mode

The Honor Pad 8 runs Android 12, with the Honor Magic UI 6.1 overlay. A number of third-party applications are pre-installed (streaming, sales, social networks, etc.). They can be deleted if not needed, freeing up some internal storage. Honor provides 128 GB, of which 112 GB remains free on first boot. There’s no way to expand storage via a MicroSD card, so you’ll need to be sure 128GB is enough for your purposes.

Screenshot: Sandra Vogel/ZDNET.

Honor’s multi-window mode, which is part of the manufacturer’s overlay, is available on the Pad 8. The tablet can display up to four windows at the same time, mixing a split screen and floating windows. To summon the multi-window app switcher, you need to swipe up from one of the side edges, then select one of your favorite apps. I found it very convenient to be able to have a working document and a web page side by side.

Honor also allows you to display all the applications stored in a folder to save space on the home screen while having easy access to all your favorite software. Just do a long press on an app, select “Magnify” and you’re done. To return to normal-sized folders, press and hold an app, then select “Minimize”.

Cut for video and multimedia

The Honor Pad 8 is designed for video calls, games and media playback. It therefore logically incorporates eight speakers (four treble and four bass). I was impressed with the sound quality: there is no distortion, even at full power, and there is plenty of bass. Rock and classical music in particular sound great, as does TV. Nothing to report either on the side of video calls. Everything is crisp and clear.

The 5 MP front camera is perfect for video calls. The rear camera is also a 5MP model, which doesn’t offer much to look forward to, although Honor does offer a few useful shooting modes, including document scanning and time lapse mode. Digital zoom creates noticeably grainy images. In short, the photographic component is quite basic, but adequate.

Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNET.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset and its 4 GB of RAM reach a score of 375 (single core) and 1533 (multi core) on Geekbench. In real-world use, I never felt like I was pushing the Honor Pad 8 to its limits, but gamers would still be better off looking elsewhere.

The 7,250 mAh battery allowed the Honor Pad 8 to last 16 hours and 46 minutes in the PC Mark for Android Work 3.0 battery life test. It only lost 29% of its charge when playing YouTube videos for three hours. A very respectable score.

It’s a different story when it comes to charging though. With a 22.5W charger, rejuvenating a device takes a terribly long time. I started a 10% charge and after 105 minutes it was up to 94% but still not fully charged.

Conclusion

Android tablets aren’t as common as they used to be, and the choices are limited. The Honor Pad 8 offers a large screen, good speakers and long battery life for an attractive price.

As long as you don’t need a MicroSD storage card and a fast charging system, this is a worthwhile tablet.

Honor Pad 8 – Best prices:

Advantages :

• a large screen with good resolution;
• thin and comfortable to hold;
• great speakers;
• good autonomy.

Weak points :

• basic photo modules;
• very slow battery charging;
• no MicroSD card slot.

Features

• Operating system : Android 12 + Magic UI 6.1
• Chip: Qualcomm Snapdragon 680
• Memory : 4 GB, 6 GB
• Storage : 128 GB
• MicroSD card slot: Nope
• Screen : 12-inch, 2000 x 1200 (5:3, 194ppi) IPS LCD
• Cameras: 5 MP front, 5 MP rear
• Wireless : WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
• Bluetooth: 5.1
• Ports: USB-C (USB OTG)
• Audio: 8 speakers, 1 microphone
• Sensors: accelerometer, brightness
• Battery capacity: 7250mAh
• Charger: 22.5W
• Dimensions: 278.54mm x 174.06mm x 6.9mm
• Weight : 520g
• Color : blue
• In the box : tablet, quick guide, charger, type-C data cable
• Price : €299.99

Alternatives to consider

Source: ZDNet.com