HONOR Pad 9 Review – Large and Affordable

The HONOR Pad 9 is one of the latest unveiling from HONOR along with HONOR Magic6 Pro, their latest flagship lineup in 2024. Just a week ago we also release our first impression, so click here to check it out along with the unboxing.

With that out of the way, this is our review that cover what’s the rest that the HONOR Pad 9 has to offer for the consumers today.

Build & Design

Being an affordable tablet, the HONOR Pad 9 still holds as a premium with the material used. This time around the tablet is covered in an aluminum chassis, with a matte touch feel to it. There is an advantage for using the material chosen, and that is HONOR can integrate the WiFi antenna towards all the sides of the metal frame, creating a better and strong wireless connection towards the router. Further looking at the back you can spot a rear camera with deco style to it, looking like a little bright eyes covered in glass that still shows a mix of class and style. The overall looks and holding it is practically balanced and symmetrical.

The HONOR Pad 9 is weighted at 555 grams and thickness at 6.96mm in size, not heavy in terms of weight and size in the tablet segment, I would term it as comfortable and easy held on. Now the HONOR Pad 9 is available is two colors, Cyan Lake and Space Grey along with the sleek same looks.

Display & Audio

Although the HONOR Pad 9 is a sizeable slate tablet, it features a vibrant 12.1 inch 120hz 2.5K display that can reach a brightness of up to 500nits, making it suitable for use indoors and outdoors. Additionally, the screen includes Dynamic Dimming technology which imitates the natural light cycle to encourage ciliary muscle activity, as well as a Circadian night display that changes the screen to warmer tones for improved sleep quality. Based on our experience, this screen is versatile and can be easily used in any location, despite being an LCD panel, it accurately displays colors with smooth touch and motion. The HONOR Pad 9 has dual TÜV Rheinland Certifications for Low Blue Light and Flicker Free along with Widevine L1 certification for DRM based streaming apps like Netflix.

When it comes to the audio, the HONOR Pad 9, has 4 pair of speakers, which gave a total of 8 speaker with the tuning support from HONOR Histen Stereo which gave you several pre-sets to choose from, but from the automatic mode itself, the soundstage is really wide and strong, will balanced bass and treble that can be enjoyed even in a larger size room, there is also no distortion when volume set to maximum and this is definitely one of the appreciated part of the upgrade from the previous HONOR Pad.

Performance, Software, Benchmarks

The HONOR Pad 9 runs on the highly acclaimed Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SOC, equipped with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. There is also an LTE version available as an option. WiFi 6 also enables faster download and upload speeds when paired with a compatible WiFi 6 router. That being said, the internal hardware combination is ideal for various tasks like work, gaming, editing, and social media usage. Additionally, the 8300 mAh battery capacity ensures a minimum of 14 hours of usage, incorporating a mix of work and leisure applications. If you require additional memory, the HONOR RAM Turbo feature enables you to increase your memory capacity by an additional 8GB of Virtual Memory, resulting in faster and smoother switching between apps and games.

We tested playing Genshin Impact on it, and setting it between low and medium can provide a smooth 60FPS experience. This is perfect for quickly gaming before or after work.

Here is also some of the images captured with the HONOR Pad 9 rear and front camera, the rear is on 13MP while the front is on 8MP, both which supports wide angle and portrait mode, specifically on the rear camera video recording, it can supports up to 4K at 30FPS.

Fueled by HONOR MagicOS 7.2 and supported by Android 13, the OS and UI mix offers numerous smooth features and extensive device connectivity, akin to Magic6 Pro smartphones and Magicbook Series, enhancing HONOR’s ecosystem by linking phones and tablets through HONOR Share and HONOR Connect. This allows for seamless collaboration, such as easy transfers and cross-device notifications, requiring minimal setup as long as you are logged into the same HONOR account. It also includes PC Collaboration, enabling the HONOR Magicbook to connect with the HONOR Pad 9 so that the tablet can serve as a secondary screen for the laptop. HONOR Docs, another included application, functions as an Office Suite for editing and converting documents to PDF. All the standard Android 13 enhancements and features, including split screen, are present, along with the latest security updates.

Moving on to the Benchmarks, the SD6 Gen 1 processor provides benefits mainly for multicore processing and features a fairly mid tier Adreno GPU. This allows for smooth performance in most tasks, and as long as you’re not pushing it too hard, it should handle your everyday tasks without any problems. Many phones and tablets have successfully utilized this combination.

Accessories Available

The HONOR Pad 9 has 2 main accessories you can purchase, which is the Bluetooth Keyboard and the HONOR Choice Pencil (Stylus). We have both of it with us during the review and both of it are worth RM698. Both of the accessories are solely and completely compatible with the HONOR Pad 9 with good comfortable typing and key travel, and also serves as a magnetic cover. The HONOR Choice Pencil features Ultra-low Latency connection, 4096 level pressure sensing and a button beside the stylus that can activate more features such as the eraser mode. You can also open the notes app and lets you write just by tapping the screen with the HONOR CHOICE Pencil when the screen is off.

Technical Specifications

Verdict, Price & Conclusion

The HONOR Pad 9 functions as a sleek tablet and also a fantastic partner when linked to other HONOR gadgets, like the HONOR Smartphones and HONOR Laptop, establishing a cohesive system under the brand. The tablet’s standalone capabilities are impressive as well, thanks to its energy-efficient processor that can handle gaming and multitasking effortlessly. With a price of RM1499, we confidently suggest getting this well-designed tablet if you’re looking for an affordable option that meets all your needs.

The HONOR Pad 9 will be released across the country starting on the 28th of March, and you will receive the HONOR Bluetooth Keyboard and the HONOR Choice Pencil for free as part of the promotion.

For more information, Click here to find out more.