Entry-grade Honor Pad X9 packs a sharp screen
11.5in slate is all about entertainment
Honor is aiming to make a dent at the affordable end of the tablet spectrum with its latest big-screen slate. At 11.5in, the Honor Pad X9 is a sizeable tab that doesn’t skimp on the pixel count, and makes room inside for a substantial set of of speakers, which could make it quite the entertainer.
At 2000×1200 you’re getting a better-than-Full HD resolution, and the 120Hz refresh rate should guarantee smooth scrolling. It’ll manage 400 nits peak brightness, and should cover 100% of the sRGB colour space. The high 86% screen-to-body ratio is also impressive for a budget slate.
The whole thing is only 6.9mm thick and weighs just 495g, so won’t give you arm ache after binge-watching an entire Netflix series in one sitting.
According to Honor the six speakers deliver more volume, deeper bass and full-range stereo compared to rival budget slates. Two fire downwards and four fire out at the sides, bouncing off surfaces using Honor’s Histen audio processing for a more immersive listen.
It takes styling tips from the recently revealed Honor 90 smartphone, with a dual-ring camera bump and neatly rounded corners. The body is built from aluminium, with a matte finish that should keep fingerprint marks at bay.
Inside there’s a generous 128GB of on-board storage. Power comes courtesy of a Snapdragon 685 CPU, paired to 4GB of RAM.
It’s running Android 13, with Honor’s MagicOS 7.1 on top for slicker split-screen multitasking. There’s also Honor Connect on board, which lets you view notifications and transfer files from other Honor gear, and it supports Google Kids Space for parent-approved entertainment and education.
The Honor Pad X9 will be available to buy directly from the Honor website from the 10th of July for £180, with retailers including Amazon, Very, Currys and Argos set to follow from the 19th. Anyone snapping one up before the end of July from the HiHonor site will also bag a free pair of Honor Earbuds X5.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
