Honor 8X vs Honor Play Specs Comparison, which phone performs better?

Arguably, the Honor 8X and Honor Play are two of the most powerful smartphones in the under PHP 16K price tag. Interestingly, both came from the same brand.

Honor 8X vs Honor Play Specs Comparison, which phone performs better?

Honor 8X or Play?

But, which one is the right Honor for you? Is it the Honor 8X or Honor Play?

Let's find out!

Quick analysis

Honor 8X metal and glass construction

Build/Design - These two devices are well crafted smartphones for less. The Honor 8X features a beautiful metal and glass construction which is rare for a sub PHP 13K devices. Its 2.5D curved glass at the back and in front is simply stunning for me. It even has an unspecified version of Gorilla Glass in front.

Honor Play unibody metal body

On the other hand, the Honor Play boasts a sturdy metal unibody frame and a 2.5D curved glass screen.

The major difference between the two is the size of the screen. Both has a notched 19:5:9 screen, but the Honor 8X has the bigger 6.5-inch IPS screen with whopping 91 percent of screen-to-body ratio and extra slim 4.2 mm chin. Currently, it is the phone with the slimmest bezels for the price.

The Honor Play also has a 6.3-inch screen. It is just smaller than the display of the Honor 8X. It also has 83 percent of screen-to-body ratio.

The Honor 8X is considered as small for a phone with large 6.5-inch screen. It measures at just 160.4 x 76.6 x 7.8 mm. The Honor Play measures at 157.9 x 74.3 x 7.5 mm. The weight of the phones are identical at 175 g and 176 g, respectively.

Big screen on a small body, 8X

Display - The Honor 8X has the better screen to my eyes even if it has the slightly lesser 396 ppi on its 6.5-inch screen versus the 409 ppi of Honor Play's 6.3-inch display. Why? The screen real estate of the 8X is amazing. The screen-to-body ratio is superb, the notch is smaller, and the chin is slimmer.

Screen of Honor Play

But, if you need a smaller and denser screen, go for the Honor Play. Both has good color reproduction and average screen brightness.

Kirin 970 on a budget!

Specs - The Honor Play is the speedier phone here. It is one of the few with a flagship processor at a mid-range price tag. It runs with the Kirin 970 SoC with Mali G72 MP12 GPU found on the likes of the P20 Pro and Mate 10 Pro. Insane for a phone with PHP 15,990 price tag.

It is also paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The Honor 8X has the bigger 128GB ROM though. It should be great for those who likes to store a lot of files, and movies.

The Honor 8X also has a capable 2.2GHz 64-bit Kirin 710 octa-core processor with Mali-G51 MP4 GPU. It is one of the best chip under PHP 13K.

Both has GPU Turbo tech for better gaming experience. Both also has 3,750mAh of battery capacity.

Dual cam!

Camera - The Honor 8X has the bigger 20MP f/1.8 and 2MP camera sensors w/ PDAF, contrast focus, Master AI, and LED flash at the back. The Honor Play has a slightly lesser 16MP f/2.2 and 2MP f/2.4 dual-camera with PDAF, CAF, and dual tone LED flash.

Both can shoot very good photos for me. On point and shoot, I prefer the cameras of the Honor Play even if it has the smaller 16MP sensor. Why? Its Kirin 970 chip has the better image processor.

But for lowlight, I'll go with the Honor 8X since it has AI-assisted night mode with handheld long exposure up to 6 seconds.

For selfies, it is a tie for me. Both has a 16MP sensor that can shoot high-quality selfies. They even have an intelligent HDR feature for against the light shots.

Both has the power of AI for scene detection and better face beauty.

For our Honor 8X camera samples, click here. For Honor Play, check this link.

Honor 8X advantages - Premium metal and glass design, larger screen with slimmer bezels, 128GB storage, handheld night mode, lower price tag
Honor Play advantages - Sturdier all metal build, faster Kirin 970 SoC, better GPU for gaming, USB Type-C port