However, the glossy back on the Honor 8X is extremely prone to smudges and even scratches. Putting a case on this phone — fortunately a soft TPU one is bundled in the box — is the only way to safeguard the beautiful design.
The Honor 8X has a vertically stacked pair of rear cameras with individual bumps rather than a module encasing both. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The Honor and “AI Camera” logos are aligned in landscape mode to emphasise that the Honor 8X was designed to show off its camera capabilities.
The power and volume buttons are located on the right of the device and are decently large. The left of the phone only houses the SIM tray. This tray can take two Nano SIM cards as well as a microSD card at the same time.
Then, you get a Micro-USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, the loudspeaker, and the primary microphone on the bottom. A USB Type-C port would have been preferable, but Honor India says cost constraints led it to choose between a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, so it went with the latter. On top is the secondary microphone that helps in cancelling out external noise during calls.
The build quality is decent, however, we noticed a couple of scratches on the glass back panel within a few hours of regular usage. Considering there is no reinforced glass for protection at the back, a case is definitely recommended.
One aspect of the Honor 8X that is not very pleasant is the size of the earpiece. In an attempt to make the notch as small as possible, Honor has compromised with a tiny earpiece that makes listening to calls frustrating. A slight shift of the phone against your ear can completely block sound during calls.