Quietly, without ceremony, Honor has placed a new entry-level phone on its Azerbaijani website, the Honor X8e 4G, a near twin of a model it released months earlier. In a market where budget buyers weigh every dollar against rival devices, it arrives with a striking 108-megapixel camera and a long-lasting battery, yet holds back in processing power and video capability. Its real story is one of trade-offs: what a manufacturer chooses to keep, what it trims, and how it prices a familiar product for a cautious public.
Honor X8e 4G Quietly Launches with 108MP Camera, 7,700mAh Battery and IP69K Rating
A 108MP camera on a chip that caps video at 1080p
Mark
So what actually is this phone? A new model, or a repeat?
Mimi
Mostly a repeat. It's nearly identical to the X7e Plus from August: same 6.87-inch screen, same 8.3mm thickness, same 218g. The battery is the main change, 7,700mAh against 8,100mAh.
Mark
Why lead with the 108MP camera, then?
Mimi
Because it's unusual at this price. But the Snapdragon 685 limits video to 1080p, so the number promises more than the whole package delivers.
Luke
And we haven't seen any photo results. 108MP is a sensor spec, not a quality verdict.
Mark
How does the price look?
Mimi
AZN 820 at some retailers, AZN 688 at another. The Galaxy A08 4G is AZN 590. The cheaper Honor listing is about 17% higher, with 256GB of storage instead of 128GB.
Luke
Those are local listings in Azerbaijan, spotted before any formal launch. I wouldn't assume they carry over to other markets. The $480 conversion also sits oddly beside those local prices, so I'd treat it with caution.
Mark
The smaller battery with the same body is odd.
Mimi
GSMArena floats the idea of a regulatory cap, as in Europe.
Luke
That's a guess. Nothing in the reporting confirms it, and Honor hasn't explained the difference.
Mark
And the toughness claims?
Luke
The ratings and the 6-year design life are Honor's claims. The SGS impact rating is third-party, but the longevity figure is a design target, not a measured result.
Der Puls
- A listing appeared on Honor's Azerbaijan site with no announcement, catching the market off guard.
- Local prices of AZN 820 and AZN 688 put the phone close to Samsung's Galaxy A08, sparking comparison.
- An aging Snapdragon 685 chip caps video at 1080p, a bottleneck against a 108MP camera.
- The battery shrinks from 8,100mAh to 7,700mAh, with speculation that regulations drove the change.
- Full pricing for other regions remains unknown, leaving the phone's global positioning still unsettled.
Quietly, without ceremony, Honor has placed a new entry-level phone on its Azerbaijani website, the Honor X8e 4G, a near twin of a model it released months earlier. In a market where budget buyers weigh every dollar against rival devices, it arrives with a striking 108-megapixel camera and a long-lasting battery, yet holds back in processing power and video capability. Its real story is one of trade-offs: what a manufacturer chooses to keep, what it trims, and how it prices a familiar product for a cautious public.
The Honor X8e 4G surfaced first on Honor's Azerbaijan website, with no announcement to introduce it. It is an entry-level phone, and local retailers price it at AZN 820, or about AZN 688 at another shop. A Samsung Galaxy A08 4G sells for AZN 590 for a 6/128GB model, so the Honor costs roughly 17% more but offers twice the storage, at 256GB.
The 108MP main camera is the eye-catching feature for this price class, but the Snapdragon 685 chipset, an older 6nm design, holds it back and limits video to 1080p. The phone is nearly identical to the Honor X7e Plus launched in August. It shares the same 6.87-inch, 120Hz LCD and the same thickness and weight, and it differs mainly in battery capacity: 7,700mAh here against 8,100mAh there. GSMArena suggested the smaller cell might reflect regulatory limits, though Honor has not confirmed this.
Durability is the other pitch. The X8e carries IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings, a wide temperature range and an SGS impact rating, and it is designed to run for at least six years. It comes in Sunrise Orange, Desert Gold and Velvet Black. For now, pricing exists only in Azerbaijan, so how Honor will position the phone against rivals elsewhere remains to be seen.
The listing turned up on the Honor Azerbaijan website, with no announcement attached: a phone called the Honor X8e 4G, an entry-level model that appears to have slipped out under the radar. Local retailers have it at AZN 820, which the source converts to $480. Another retailer lists it at AZN 688. For comparison, a Samsung Galaxy A08 4G sells for AZN 590.
The cheaper Honor price works out to about 17% above the Galaxy. There's a wrinkle in that comparison, though. The Honor figures are for a 6/256GB configuration, while the Galaxy price is for 6/128GB, so the Honor buyer gets twice the storage for the extra money.
The headline spec is the 108MP main camera, an unusual sensor for this price class. But the chipset holds it back. The phone runs a Snapdragon 685, a 6nm part with Cortex-A73 and A53 CPU cores and an Adreno 610 GPU, and it caps video recording at 1080p. GSMArena calls the chip an all-time classic that belongs in a museum. It offers 4G only, with dual nano-SIM. Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2 (with LDAC, aptX HD and LHDC 5.0) and NFC are also on board, and the phone ships with MagicOS 10, based on Android 16.
The screen is a 6.87-inch LCD at 720 x 1,592 pixels. It appears to be the same panel used in the Honor X7e Plus 4G, which launched in August. It runs at 120Hz, reaches a peak brightness of 1,020 nits and has a 5MP selfie camera in a punch hole.
The two phones are nearly identical, and the main difference is the battery. The X8e carries 7,700mAh with 45W Honor SuperCharge, while the X7e Plus has a slightly larger 8,100mAh cell. Both measure 8.3mm thick and weigh 218g. That led GSMArena to suggest the smaller capacity might be an artificial cap to meet regulations, as often happens in Europe. That is speculation, not something Honor has said.
Durability is the other selling point. The X8e is rated IP68 for dust and submersion, IP69 for high-pressure water jets and IP69K, which adds high-temperature jets. Honor says it can last a full day in a high-humidity, salt-rich environment and tolerate temperatures from -30°C to +50°C. The display registers touch in the rain, and there is a dedicated underwater photo mode. SGS gave it a 5-star impact resistance rating, with tests from 2.5m heights, and the phone is designed to keep running for at least 6 years.
It comes in three colors: Sunrise Orange, Desert Gold and Velvet Black. The tip came from a reader, TheRedGoober. For now, the only pricing comes from Azerbaijan, so how Honor positions the phone against rivals like the Galaxy A08 elsewhere is still to be seen.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The X8e and X7e Plus are nearly identical, and the smaller battery might be an artificial cap to comply with regulations.— GSMArena (speculation)
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