Honor Pad 9 review

Introduction

Unintuitively, the Honor Pad 9 (a.k.a. the Tablet 9 in China) is has a large 12.1-inch screen. It covers all the basics with an eight-speaker audio setup and even stylus support, all for a fairly reasonable price of £299.99 or £349.99 with the optional Bluetooth keyboard attachment.

Honor Pad 9 specs at a glance:

• Body: 278.2x180.1x6.9mm, 555g; Glass front, aluminum frame, aluminum back; Stylus support.
• Display: 12.10" IPS LCD, 1B colors, 120Hz, 500 nits (typ), 1600x2560px resolution, 14.4:9 aspect ratio, 249ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM6450 Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55); Adreno 710.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; microSDXC (cellular model only).
• OS/Software: Android 13, Magic OS 7.2.
• Rear camera: 13 MP, f/2.0, (wide), AF.
• Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 8300mAh; 35W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.1.
• Misc: Accelerometer; stereo speakers (8 speakers).

The Pad 9 does not stray past the basics. There is no expandable storage, no 3.5mm audio jack, no support for positioning, and no NFC or a radio receiver. The camera setup is also fairly basic, with a 13MP snapper on the back and an 8MP one on the front.

Then again, with the recent surge in "value-driving" devices in the tablet space, we have to assume that market research likely indicates that few users are looking for truly premium tablets, so the Honor Pad 9 might be well positioned in the midrange.

Unboxing the Honor Pad 9

The Honor Pad 9 ships in a basic two-piece cardboard box. There is no plastic in the package, which is always appreciated from an ecological standpoint.

The box cover has a large, to-scale image on the front of the tablet itself, along with the proud proclamation that it supports "the Google App and Google Chrome".

There is plenty of space inside the box, and quite a few compartments for different accessories. Our unit only came with an Honor SuperCharge charger and a basic USB Type-A to Type-C cable. You don't get the keyboard or the stylus in the main box.

We also got the optional Bluetooth keyboard in for review as well. It comes in an equally basic flip-up cardboard box with no plastics in sight. However, there is some foam to keep the keyboard from banging up against itself (in the case part).

Unfortunately, we don't have the optional Honor Choice Pencil stylus to review at this time.