14 DAY TRIAL // Huawei is no longer just another Chinese device manufacturer, and living proof comes in the form of the company's most recent premium devices that it has launched to compete against more famous manufacturers, such as Samsung and even Apple.
| DESIGN | HARDWARE | CONCLUSIONS |
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And we're not the ones saying it because sales figures pretty much speak for themselves. Data provided by research firm Gartner in May puts Huawei in the third place when it comes to smartphone sales with 28.8 million sold units, after Samsung and Apple with 81 and 51 million sold phones, respectively.
Huawei has undoubtedly become the manufacturer of devices that excel in terms of hardware and design, so when we heard about the Honor X2 7.0-inch tablet, we were quite eager to try it out. Available for around $375 at GearBest, the Honor (also known as MediaPad) X2 promises to bring very good quality for the money, without neglecting the user experience, hardware, and reliability that everyone is expecting today.
We've received a gold version of the Honor X2, which looks quite exquisite at first glance but also feels great in hand thanks to features that bring it closer to the smartphone market than to the tablet industry. Read on to find out what exactly the Honor X2 is all about when you get to use it for more than a day.
DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY
When looking at the Huawei Honor X2 for the first time, you almost can’t believe that it’s made by a Chinese company. But truth be told, Huawei has improved so much lately that it really deserves the premium manufacturer moniker, and the Honor X2 is living proof in this regard.
The tablet comes with a 7-inch screen and is protected by a metallic case that not only looks excellent in gold but is also durable and can withstand hits and shocks that would otherwise damage the device if plastic were used. Furthermore, this metallic finish gives it a really grippy feel, so you can securely hold it in hand without any risk of dropping it.
The X2 is super slim and is just 7.18 mm thin, which is impressive, to say the least, for a tablet of this size. It’s almost as thin as an iPhone, which, for a manufacturer coming from China, is quite an achievement.
“Not the typical Chinese tablet.”
The tablet measures 18.30 x 10.30 x 0.70 cm / 7.2 x 4.06 x 0.28 inches and weighs in only 249 grams, so it’s feather-light, and the chances are that you’re going to forget about it when carrying it around in a briefcase.
Everything on the X2 is where you’d expect it to be, including the volume and the lock buttons, the headphone jack, and available ports - the tablet can be recharged with a micro USB charger but also comes with dual-SIM support, as well as a microSD card slot, and they’re all conveniently placed on its sides.
The front side of the tablet features the typical parts, including a front-facing camera and a LED notification light, as is the case with the majority of Android phones, while the rear side houses the other camera, a Flash, as well as a speaker in the lower part of the device.
Overall, the Huawei Honor X2 looks good, and the metallic finish is what makes it feel exquisite, especially when holding it hand. It has pretty good grip, and since it’s super light, you can always carry it around with no effort at all.
HARDWARE
| Display | 7-inch 1920 x 1200 FHD IPS LTPS touch display 10-point capacitive touch screen 323ppi 450 nits |
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| CPU | 2.0 GHz Kirin930 64 bit octa-core CPU, 4 x 2.0 GHz+4 x 1.5 GHz |
| GPU | Mali-T628+ i3 co-processor |
| RAM | 2GB/3GB |
| Storage | 16GB/32GB + microSD card support |
| Camera | 13-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera 5-megapixel front-facing camera |
| Sensors | GPS Ambient Light Sensor Accelerometer Proximity sensor Gyroscope Compass |
| Battery | 5000 mAh lithium polymer |
| Connectivity | microUSB Dual-SIM support |
| OS | Android 5.0 with Huawei EMOUI |
#CPU, GPU, storage
Hardware is where the MediaPad X2 excels, and the spec sheet pretty much speaks for itself. And it all starts with CPU, GPU, and RAM.
Huawei has equipped the device with a 2.0 GHz Kirin930 64 bit octa-core CPU (4 cores are running at 2.0 GHz while the other 4 at 1.5 GHz), while the GPU unit is Mali T628. The available RAM on our test unit was 3 GB, but a 2 GB version is also available at a lower price in some specific markets.
In terms of performance, this mix is impressive. Everything within the OS, including here apps such as browsers, email clients, and messengers, runs smoothly, and there’s no slowdown if you don’t launch any more demanding title. When playing games, it all depends on its requirements, but during our test, we discovered no title that couldn’t run on the X2.
Due to the high processing power of the CPU, there are times when the tablet feels a little bit hot, but otherwise, it remains cold as ice all the time. It makes sense to heat up every once in a while when using it for gaming or similarly demanding tasks, but it cools down as fast as it gets hot.
For storage, the Huawei MediaPad X2 comes in two versions, with 16 GB or 32 GB, but both models also include microSD card support to add a maximum of 128 GB of extra storage.
#Display, touch, and Android
First of all, the display. The X2 comes with a 7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels that supports up to 10 points and that is protected with Gorilla Glass 3 to make sure that no scratches or hits damage it.
The quality of the display is impressive, and you’ll notice that from the second you see the lock screen, as it offers vivid colors, excellent contrast, and adjustable brightness thanks to a dedicated ambient light sensor that’s integrated into the front fascia. Huawei rates the display at 450 nits, which is kind of average, but sunlight readability is generally good, although we found ourselves using the X2 outside on very rare occasions.
Touch response is excellent, and it’s very clear that Huawei made no compromises here, with the X2 coming with the same display tech available on the company’s flagship phones.
Then, it’s the software that contributes to the generally positive experience that you get with this small tablet. The X2 is powered by Android 5.0 Lollipop but is customized with Huawei’s very own Emotion UI 3.0, which has received a few updates in the meantime.
If you’ve never used EMUI before, this is Huawei’s very own Android version that integrates not only an improved look for the operating system but also additional tools that could come in very handy at some point. But if you’re the kind of user who prefers a raw Android experience, you might consider this bloatware and look into ways to remove it. The best way to deal with this is to install a custom ROM, but this involves additional tweaking, and you need to unlock the bootloader first.
EMUI was designed not only to be eye candy but also to provide additional functionality, but when coming from the traditional Android to the MediaPad X2, you might find it a bit more difficult to work with. But it’s all just a matter of time, and if you give it a chance, you could end up liking EMUI more than the stock Android. Have a look at the photo gallery to see the UI of the X2, but keep in mind that this is more or less just a restyled version of Android with some extra Huawei tools.
The performance of EMUI is similar to stock Android, and it’s hard to spot a difference without benchmarks. And we’re not going to run any because, as always, we focus on the typical experience of an average user who just wants the device for common activities such as browsing, video playback, and light gaming.
#Battery life
Let us say from the very beginning that there’s no way you’re going to be disappointed with the battery life of the Huawei MediaPad X2.
First of all, the official specs. The device comes with a 5,000 mAh lithium-polymer battery, which, according to Huawei, should provide you with 24 days of standby time and 3.5 hours of charging time.
In terms of standby time, we couldn’t measure how long it takes for the battery to drain completely, but if you leave it in standby mode during the night, you barely lose 1 percent of battery life until dawn. As far as the recharging process goes, it indeed takes up to 4 hours, but this is only because the device comes with a pretty big battery, and no dedicated fast charge feature is being offered.
“Two days of battery life, easily.”
As for the typical usage, the Huawei MediaPad X2 went from 100 percent to 0 percent in approximately 3 days with mixed activities, including watching YouTube videos, sending emails, and browsing the web. Gaming dramatically reduces battery life, and so does calling, if you use it with a SIM or two - dual-SIM support is being provided, and this can lead to 1 day of battery life.
Overall, if you want to use it as a tablet and mostly on Wi-Fi, then the results are impressive. If you wish to unleash its full potential and also use a SIM card for on-the-go Internet access, but also play games and watch movies continuously, you might need to recharge it daily.
#Other features
The hardware section is not done yet, as the X2 also comes with plenty of other features that you can read about below and that you’re going to find super helpful at certain times, or even more often, depending on how you plan to use the tablet.
There are two cameras available on the X2, and they both provide good quality, although we find it a bit difficult to shoot photos with a tablet. But if you’re the kind of user who travels a lot and wants to take some pics every now and then, the 13-megapixel BSI (back-illuminated sensor) rear-facing camera should come in handy in the majority of lighting conditions while the 5-megapixel front-facing unit is good enough for video calls and conferencing.
And since we’re talking about cameras, the 13-megapixel unit’s BSI is there to compensate for the amount of light coming inside the sensor and thus provide you with better pics regardless of the conditions. Of course, this is clearly an overstatement because the X2 is not by any means supposed to provide super high photo quality, but it takes decent shots in good lighting conditions.
There’s also video support, including 1080p full HD video recording and video playback, as well as support for the majority of formats, including MPEG-4, 3GP, 3G2, RM, RMVB, ASF, FLAC, APE, MOV.
For movie aficionados, the X2 comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, but also with DTS sound technology that should offer good quality when not using a headset. And truth be told, we’ve found the audio quality to be above the average, but still not iPad-like, for instance. It is somewhere close to the iPad, but improvements in this regard are still needed.
The X2 come with several built-in sensors, including the aforementioned ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyroscope, compass, and GPS.
And last but not least, in addition to Bluetooth 4.0 and a dual-antenna Wi-Fi, the device also features dual-SIM support covering most of the bands, but also offering LTE Cat6 and HSDPA+ speeds (300 Mbps DL / 50 Mbps UL and 42 Mbps DL / 5.76 Mbps UL, respectively).
THE BOTTOM LINE
Overall, the Huawei Honor X2 is one of the best choices in the 7 to 8-inch tablets. It has a pretty premium look, excellent hardware, and impressive battery life that easily tackles the demands of those looking for such a device.
In most of the cases, customers of small tablets want one to watch movies, listen to music, or perform simple tasks such as browsing the web or sending emails while on the go. A 7-inch tablet comes to the rescue when a phablet or a bigger phone is not around and certainly appeals to those who still want to stick with a 4-inch phone, such as the iPhone SE.
The Huawei Honor X2 is one of these tablets, and given its feature lineup, it’s one of the most compelling products on this side of the market.
It’s hard to find a major drawback, especially given how much you have to pay for it, and the only complaint that people might have concerns software. There are users who aren’t necessarily the biggest fans of Huawei EMUI and would always go for the raw Android experience, but with some research, anyone can actually install custom ROMs on the X2 and make their own customizations.
In the end, if you’re looking for a super light tablet that doesn’t disappoint in terms of looks, display quality, battery life, and is also reasonably priced, the Huawei Honor X2 is worth a look. And this is why Huawei is becoming one of the top device manufacturers in China and getting closer to Apple and Samsung worldwide.
