Dennis Gaviola

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764147968honor x7c front.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The HONOR X7c is an affordable water-resistant phone. <em>Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA - The HONOR X7c is probably the best budget phone for people who like to take their gadgets to the great outdoors—it’s rugged, water-resistant, and has a massive battery that can outlast even flagship phones. It may also just be the phone people need amid all the natural disasters that have been happening. </p><p>For a long time now, water resistance has been a feature limited to flagship phones and premium midrange devices. Only phones costing around P35,000 or more were water-resistant. This is because keeping a smartphone’s sensitive electronics unaffected by splashes, dunks and even prolonged submersion in water was costly, and thus phone manufacturers tended to keep this feature to their most expensive phones. </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764244388honor x7c water.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The HONOR X7c is an affordable water-resistant phone. <em>Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>HONOR, however, had a different idea. It thought that rugged, water-resistant phones should also be accessible to the masses. Thus the X7c–a sub-P10k smartphone with an IP64 water and dust resistance rating. This is a good thing because here in the Philippines, surviving water exposure seems to have become an essential feature lately with all the typhoons and floods that have been hitting us.</p><p>From mid-October to mid-November, the Philippines endured a series of destructive storms. We had barely recovered from one severe tropical storm before another even stronger typhoon came barreling down the country. A phone like this would really come in handy in your disaster toolkit. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/11/16/handy-tech-gadgets-to-have-during-natural-disasters-1618" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Handy tech gadgets to have during natural disasters</strong></a></div><p>Our review unit came in the ‘forest green’ colorway, which looked like it came straight out of a military knapsack. I liked it–nothing screams toughness quite like looking like an army-issued tool, which would be at home in the wilderness.  </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764393167honor x7c outdoor.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">The HONOR X7c can be a good phone for people who spend a lot of time outdoors in all weather conditions. <em>Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>But first the specs: It has a 6.77-inch IPS screen with a 720 x 1610 pixel resolution. HONOR did not specify the peak brightness for the screen, but other tech websites said it goes up to 850 nits. Nothing fancy, as you would expect at this price point, but at least it already has a 120Hz refresh rate which means animations and scrolling are kept smooth.  Powering this phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 685, with 8GB of RAM (expandable to 16GB) and 256GB of storage.</p><p>Aside from the usual volume controls and power button on the right side, and the USB-C data and charging port at the bottom, it also has a standard audio jack, which is something you don’t see as often these days.</p><p>While the main camera bump makes it look like this phone has four shooters at the back, it really only has two cameras– a 108-megapixel main camera with an f/1.75 aperture and a 2MP depth camera with a f/2.4 aperture. Up front is an 8MP selfie shooter. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30fps. </p><p>These are all decent specs for a device costing less than P10,000. But a standout spec is the massive battery which is bigger than even some flagship gaming phones. Although the X7c battery’s typical value of 6,000 mAh may cause some confusion with its rated value of 5,900 mAh, it’s mentioning that HONOR’s flagship phone this year, which is the Magic6 Pro, only has a 5,500 mAh battery. If you’re out in the mountains or dealing with a brownout lasting several hours, you will be glad to have a phone with this much battery capacity.  </p><p>Like other devices in this price range, the phone is limited to LTE–no 5G. This is not really a deal breaker as LTE is great for the most part, and consumers who will be buying this phone are not likely to be heavy 5G users. Still, 5G would have been a big plus for a phone like this.</p><div><strong>SAMPLE SHOTS</strong></div><div><strong><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764538190sample shot wide 1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></strong></div><div><strong><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764551068sample shot oble.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></strong></div><div><strong><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764565107sample shot zoom 2x.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></strong></div><div><strong><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764577608sample selfie 1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></strong></div><div><strong><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733764588987sample shot macro.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Photos are what you would expect from a device in this price range. Nothing spectacular, but they do get the job done. I wouldn’t recommend shooting video either while walking, running or biking as the phone’s cameras are not stabilized.</p><p>It would have been nice if HONOR could bring the camera performance of its excellent mid-range phones to its more budget offerings, but then again, if photography and videography are your main reasons for buying a phone, then that is what you should buy and you better save up for it. The X7c is targeting a different type of user.  </p><p>I’ve tested this phone under a light rain, soaked it in a tub, and put it under a running faucet and it still worked. The screen sometimes gets activated by the water, but once you take it out of the flow, it works just fine.  </p><p>It is also drop-resistant. While the phone’s tempered glass front may not sound as fancy as Gorilla Glass, HONOR boasts that the device has obtained the Swiss SGS Premium Performance Certification for drop and crush resistance. This means the Swiss branch of SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance), says it meets high standards of quality and performance, exceeding the basic requirements for surviving drops. </p><p>All in all, this is a very good deal for a phone costing just P8,649. HONOR even has an upcoming 12.12 sale where the price drops down to just P7,079. </p><p>The HONOR X7c is <a href="https://s.shopee.ph/8AIzR38g2C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">available on Shopee</a>.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F1nCAfdXh4Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div>

<p>The HONOR X7c is probably the best budget phone for people who like to take their gadgets to the great outdoors—it’s rugged, water-resistant, and has a massive battery.</p>

The HONOR X7c is probably the best budget phone for people who like to take their gadgets to the great outdoors—it’s rugged, water-resistant, and has a massive battery.

REVIEW: HONOR X7c is a phone built for storms, great outdoors

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REVIEW: HONOR X7c is a phone built for storms, great outdoors

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 10, 2024 09:00 AM PHT

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Updated Apr 23, 2025 08:08 PM PHT

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