Honor 8A Pro Review: Budget Smartphone Analysis

The Honor 8A Pro was a value-oriented smartphone offering a large display and clean software experience in a lightweight design, though now discontinued.

Introduction

Released in April 2019, the Honor 8A Pro was positioned as an affordable entry in the competitive budget smartphone segment. Running Android 9 Pie with Huawei's EMUI 9 skin, it aimed to deliver essential features without breaking the bank. While it has since been discontinued, it served as a capable device for basic tasks and media consumption.

Design & Display

The Honor 8A Pro featured a compact and lightweight design, weighing just 150 grams with an 8mm thickness. It was available in several color options, including Black, Blue, Gold, and Red. The front was dominated by a 6.09-inch IPS LCD display with a 720x1560 pixel HD+ resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. This resulted in a screen-to-body ratio of approximately 79.2%, with minimal bezels for its time, offering an immersive viewing experience for its price point.

Performance & Hardware

Under the hood, the device was powered by the MediaTek Helio P35 chipset, built on a 12nm process. It was configured with either 2GB or 3GB of LPDDR4X RAM and offered 32GB or 64GB of eMMC 5.1 storage, expandable via a microSDXC card slot. This hardware combination was sufficient for everyday apps, light gaming, and multitasking, though it would struggle with more demanding applications by today's standards.

Camera

The photography setup was simple and functional. On the rear, a single 13MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture and PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus) handled imaging duties, capable of recording 1080p video at 30fps. For selfies and video calls, an 8MP front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture was housed in a small waterdrop-style notch.

Battery & Charging

A non-removable 3020 mAh Li-Polymer battery kept the phone running. Given the efficient Helio P35 processor and HD+ display, the device could typically last a full day on a single charge with moderate use. Charging was handled via an older Micro-USB 2.0 port, not the modern USB-C standard.

Software & Features

The phone launched with Android 9.0 Pie out of the box, overlaid with Huawei's EMUI 9.0 user interface. This provided a feature-rich experience with various customization options. It included standard connectivity options like dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS. A notable feature for a budget phone was the inclusion of a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack and an FM radio.

Pros & Cons

• Pros: Lightweight and compact design; Large, bezel-lite display; Includes a headphone jack and FM radio; Clean software experience with EMUI.
• Cons: Uses an older Micro-USB port; Discontinued and no longer receiving software updates; Modest performance by modern standards; HD-only display resolution.

Tags: Honor, Android, smartphone, budget phone, specs, camera, performance

A detailed look at the Honor 8A Pro, a discontinued budget Android phone with a 6.09-inch display and Helio P35 chipset.