HONOR X7c Review

The HONOR X7c has arrived in the Philippines and Honor, being known for their “ultra tough” devices, what have they cooked up this time around for the X7c?

You might’ve seen videos of this phone taking a dip, going down a water slide, or even getting blasted with high-pressure water, and it would still work like a charm.

Apparently, aside from having a tougher build, being able to withstand water submersion is also a key highlight here. But just how durable and “all-angle water resistant” this bad boy really is?

Let’s find out in our review of the newest budget phone from Honor, the X7c.

Design & Construction

At first glance, the HONOR X7c shows off a familiar design language. That’s because it retains the camera layout found on the HONOR X8b with that square camera array on the left.

There are only two cameras in here despite the camera island design looking like it has four.

The back is made of a polycarbonate material and comes with a matte finish that kind of mimics a faux leather look. That said, it won’t be much of a fingerprint magnet, at least in this Forest Green colorway. Taking a closer look, you will also notice some plaid-like pattern with HONOR branding on top.

On the sides, it sports a flat, color-matched frame that is likely made of a plastic material as well.

The power button and the volume rocker are found on the right; the SIM tray is on the left; there’s the second microphone and an IR blaster up top; and at the bottom are the speaker grill, the USB-C port, another mic, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

For biometrics security, the phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor accompanied by face recognition.

HONOR X7c’s ‘all-angle water resistance’

Now, let’s talk about its headliner feature, the so-called “all-angle water resistance”, but oh boy do I have some news for you.

While Honor is all-in with flashy marketing around this key feature, looking at the fine print tells us exactly how resistant this phone actually is to water.

Sit tight and bear with me as we go a bit technical on this one. First of all, the phone gets an IP64 rating which basically offers ingress protection against dust-tight particles and take note, splashes of water.

Honor’s exact words are “all-angle water resistance”, right? While that is technically true, you really shouldn’t be dunking this phone underwater nor blasting it with high-pressure water (just like what they did in one of their marketing materials).

You see, the second numeral in IP64 rating (the number 4) indeed describes protection only against splashing water according to the IEC, the one who developed such IP ratings.

Source: International Electrotechnical Commission

A device must have at least an IPX7 rating, so that a prolonged submersion underwater won’t cause any harmful effects.

Honor did say on its official webpage that the X7c can survive immersion in water at 0.25 meters for up to three minutes or at 0.5 meters for up to one minute. But that’s a significantly lower number as compared to a true IPX7 device that can survive immersion underwater at about one meter for up to 30 minutes.

If you ask us, a more fitting term should’ve been splash resistant as we’d normally describe a device with an IPX4 (and below).

In short, yes, the X7c can survive immersion in water even a drop in the pool, but only for a brief amount of time. So, be warned, you don’t want it to become out of warranty due to water damage.

Don’t get me wrong, having an added layer of protection is always a plus, especially in the budget segment.

We should also not forget the five-star drop resistance certification from SGS, Switzerland, indicating that the X7c should be more resilient to impacts.

The splash resistance it offers will surely be helpful for our motorcycle riders for example. If they caught themselves in a sudden rain and they’re using the X7c as a navigation device, the phone should be able to withstand some raindrops easily.

I must say that despite all the protection this phone gets, do be careful in handling your stuff, not just this one but to all electronics that you may have. They’re still fragile products at the end of the day.

Display & Multimedia

Flip over to the front, we have a 6.77-inch TFT LCD panel running at a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The screen resolution is capped at HD+ or exactly 1610 by 720 pixels, which is acceptable at its price point.

Now, since the X7c is well-marketed as a water-resistant phone, it’s quite intriguing that Honor did not mention any wet touch prevention tech for its display.

I don’t want to test it myself but looking at the video demos made by Honor, the X7c is still fairly usable even if there’s some water droplets on screen.

On the subject of display quality, it is okay for casual viewing, but if you’re used to higher screen resolutions, you’ll definitely notice the difference.

The phone’s Widevine level is only L3 which means watching DRM-related content such as Netflix will only output SD quality at 480p. This makes sense because its screen only has an HD+ resolution.

Viewing angles are decent, and the bezels are what you’d expect in a budget phone. And it offers dual stereo speakers which output satisfactory audio quality. The overall sound profile can get muffled at times leaning more towards highs, a bit of mids, and very little lows (or bass).

Camera

For optics, the X7c features a dual rear setup highlighted by a 108-megapixel main shooter and accompanied by the crowd-favorite: a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Like we always say, higher megapixel count does not equate to better image quality and that kinda holds true for the X7c.

In well-lit conditions, the phone can capture decent images with fairly adequate color reproduction and good clarity. Dynamic range is alright, but it tends to darken shadows a bit too much in certain scenarios.

At night, it gets the job done, but expect photos with less favorable colors, limited dynamic range, and softer image quality.

As for videos, recording is capped at 1080p and 30 fps for both front and rear cameras. Video quality is okay as well but there’s no optical nor electronic image stabilization here. So, a steady hand or a tripod is a must to capture stable footage.

In the camera department, you may have to set your expectations low. But considering the X7c is a budget phone, its camera performance won’t be so much of an issue.

OS, UI, & Apps

On the software side of things, the HONOR X7c runs on Android 14 out of the box skinned with MagicOS 8.0 on top.

There’s no mention of how long it gets software support but it’s usually up to two major OS upgrades and two years of security patches.

What we like about this Android skin is there’s less bloatware to be had. The UI is good but since it’s a budget phone, you can see some typical cutbacks here and there.

One example would be the lack of blur effect on the control center and other UI panels. But that just me nitpicking. If you’ve ever used an Honor or a Huawei phone running EMUI before, you’ll definitely feel right at home.

Performance & Benchmarks

Let’s move on to performance. The HONOR X7c is powered by the Snapdragon 685 chipset. It’s kinda dated but again, this is a budget phone.

Our unit comes with 8GB of RAM which can be extended up to 16GB via virtual RAM. Storage-wise, it comes with 256GB and is expandable using the hybrid microSD card slot.

At this price point, the HONOR X7c’s performance is acceptable. It can handle your day-to-day tasks with ease, and scrolling and navigating through social media is not bad.

For gaming, you can expect it to output stable frame rates for low-demanding titles such as Mobile Legends.

When it comes to more graphically intensive titles, however, it certainly struggles with obvious frame drops from time to time.

To be fair, this phone is not meant for gaming, although casual games will run just fine. Of course, we ran our benchmark tests on the X7c which you can see right here below:

Connectivity & Battery Life

Perhaps another key selling point of the HONOR X7c is its battery life.

The phone managed to last 25 hours and 54 minutes in our PCMark battery life test which was an absolutely impressive result.

This is largely thanks to its massive 6000mAh battery, but I think the phone’s HD+ LCD screen might’ve also played a significant role in achieving that long-lasting battery life.

If you need to recharge, the phone gets 35W of fast charging. And connectivity-wise, the HONOR X7c is capped at 4G LTE and comes with all the essentials, including NFC.

Price & Verdict

The HONOR X7c is a budget-friendly smartphone that surely offers a unique blend of durability and decent performance, priced at just PHP 8,999USD 153INR 13,000EUR 146CNY 1,117.

Its IP64 rating and rugged design make it a reliable choice for those who are often outdoors and may encounter sudden downpours.

While the X7c might not be a powerhouse in terms of raw processing and camera performance, it delivers a solid user experience, thanks to its clean software and long-lasting battery life.

One major downside for me is its display, especially considering that other brands have already released budget phones with Full HD+ and even AMOLED screens.

But for the most part, the HONOR X7c is definitely a step up from the usual budget offerings out there in the sub-10K peso price range.

So, that about wraps up our review of the HONOR X7c. Will you ever consider buying a smartphone with solid build quality such as the X7c? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

HONOR X7c specs:
6.77-inch HD+ TFT LCD
1610 x 720 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate
850-nit peak brightness
Qualcomm Snapdragon 685
6GB, 8GB RAM (+8GB extended memory)
128GB, 256GB storage
Dual rear cameras:
– 108MP f/1.75 main
– 2MP f/2.4 depth
8MP f/2.0 selfie shooter (hole punch notch)
Dual SIM
4G LTE
Wi-Fi 5, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS
USB Type-C
3.5mm audio jack
NFC
Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
IP64 dust and splash resistance
Dual stereo speakers, 300% high-volume mode
MagicOS 8.0 (Android 14)
6000mAh Li-po battery
35W charging (wired)
166.9 x 76.8 x 8.24 mm | 8.09 mm (Midnight Black)
196g | 194g (Midnight Black)
Midnight Black, Forest Green, Moonlight White (colorways)