Honor Pad 9 review: A terrific budget Android tablet with a big caveat

Android tablets have come a long way in the last two years, and there are plenty of decent choices if you want a budget option that excels at the basics. I used Xiaomi's Pad 6 for the better part of a year, and its large 11-inch screen served as the ideal dashboard for monitoring smart home devices in my house.

So when Honor said it was launching a budget tablet with an even larger 12.1-inch screen, I was interested. The Pad 9 doesn't look like a budget tablet at a first glance; it has a metallic chassis and a thin profile that belies its price tag, and the IPS panel gets plenty bright.

The hardware isn't the best you'll find in this segment, but I didn't see any issues in daily use, and the Pad 9 is particularly well-suited as an entertainment device. So if you need a good budget Android tablet, here's why the Pad 9 may just be the ideal option.

Honor Pad 9: Pricing and release date

Honor launched the Pad 9 globally on December 21, 2023, and the tablet is available in select regions. It is selling for £249 ($311) in the U.K. for the 8GB/256GB version, which is £50 less than its usual retail price.

The Pad 9 is available for ₹24,999 ($300) on Amazon India, and you get the 8GB/256GB variant as standard. What makes the Pad 9 a particularly good choice in India is that it comes with the Bluetooth keyboard bundled with the package, which is an optional extra that costs £100 ($124) in the U.K.

Honor Pad 9: What I like

Honor knew what it was doing with the design of the Pad 9, and the tablet's aluminum chassis gives it a premium look. The thin 7mm profile also makes a difference in this regard, and you don't get the feeling that you're using a budget tablet.

The metallic grey color option looks good, and while the tablet is on the heavier side at 555g — mostly down to the metallic chassis — it has good weight distribution, and it doesn't feel heavy. By contrast, my iPad Pro 12.9 is noticeably heavier at 682g. The back doesn't get smudged, and there's enough room to hold the tablet with ease.

On that note, the Pad 9 has uniform bezels around the screen, with the camera located on the longer edge, ideally positioned when you need to make video calls. The screen is the star of the show here, and the 12.1-inch IPS LCD display has good color vibrancy. The panel has an anti-glare coating that makes it ideal for watching movies and TV shows, and I didn't notice any issues with brightness levels.

The Pad 9 has a resolution of 2560 x 1600, and again, that's decent enough in daily use. What I like the most about the panel is that it has 120Hz refresh rate; this gives the Pad 9 a distinct edge over the likes of Samsung's Galaxy Tab A9+. Colors and contrast levels are good in general, and there are no issues with the panel while streaming content or playing games.

Image 1 of 4

Onboard sound is pretty good too, and that's down to the eight drivers located around the tablet. It is more than adequate if you're just streaming the occasional video on YouTube, but I'd suggest using earbuds if you're watching a movie.

With Honor offering 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as standard, there's more than enough memory for multitasking, and you're not likely to run out of storage. Honor did a good job optimizing the hardware, and the tablet has plenty of fluidity while navigating the interface and scrolling in Chrome — I didn't see any problems in this particular area.

There's a lot to like on the battery front as well, with the Pad 9 featuring a 8300mAh battery that lasts up to eight hours of use consisting of video playback and web browsing. Honor bundles a 35W charger in the box, and it takes the Pad 9 just under two hours to fully charge the battery. That's on par with the best Android tablets, and considering the battery life on offer, you won't need to plug it in before the end of the day.

While the Pad 9 is geared toward entertainment, it has a few productivity features that come in handy. Launching multi-window mode is about as easy as it gets, and you get the option to have three windows active on the screen at once. MagicOS needs a polish, but on the whole, there are customized software extras that make a difference in daily use.

Image 1 of 3

Oh, and talking about productivity, Honor's bundled keyboard is terrific; it connects via Bluetooth, and the keys have good travel. It's not as good as the Magic Keyboard, but then again, it doesn't cost anywhere as much. The case that includes the keyboard has decent protection as well.

Honor Pad 9: What I don't like

The hardware is the clearest indicator that the Pad 9 is aimed at the budget segment. The tablet is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, and it doesn't have the requisite power to run demanding games. Sure, it is adequate for mundane tasks that include browsing the web and playing casual games, but it has its limitations when it comes to heavy workloads.

The tablet misses out on Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, a 3.5mm jack, and MicroSD slot. Of course, most phones don't have a 3.5mm jack or MicroSD slot either, but it's just easier to add these features into a tablet, where there's considerably more real estate. On that note, you don't get a fingerprint sensor either.

But the biggest issue is the software; as of April 2024, the Pad 9 still runs Magic OS 7.2 based on Android 13, and that just isn't good enough. Most brands do a good job delivering timely updates to their phones, but tablets are still a distinct afterthought, and that needs to change.

On the subject of change, Honor says it will deliver just one platform update to the Pad 9 along with three years of security updates; that means the only update rolling out to the Pad 9 is Android 14, which it should have launched with.

Honor Pad 9: The competition

I like Xiaomi's Pad 6, and it also has a large screen and a metallic chassis that's built to last. It is significantly faster in daily use, has a larger battery, and has better onboard audio. That said, coming in at £399, the Pad 6 is noticeably costlier than the Pad 9. The cost differential isn't as high in India — where the Pad 6 costs ₹26,999 — but you don't get a keyboard in the box.

Honor Pad 9: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You need an Android tablet to stream content
• You want a large screen that gets bright
• You want a tablet with great battery life
• You need good onboard sound

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You need a tablet for gaming
• You want biometric authentication
• You want great onboard sound
• You need long-term updates

On the whole, the Pad 9 brings a lot to the table. You get a larger screen than most budget tablets, and the panel itself has good colors and adequate brightness levels. I understand why budget tablets use LCD panels in lieu of AMOLED, and to Honor's credit, the brand did a good job with the screen. The pixel density isn't the best you'll find, but it holds up incredibly well for streaming content.

The battery life is also among the best of any budget tablet, and you get a charger in the box. I like the productivity features in MagicOS, but the UI is in need of a fresh coat of paint, and Honor needs to do better with updates — the Pad 9 is still on Android 13 in Q2 2024. And the fact that it will only get one platform update will be a deal-breaker to many.

The hardware isn't designed for gaming either; the Pad 9 does a good job in casual titles, but it struggles in demanding games. That said, there are no issues with entertainment, and the tablet is one of the best around if you're interested in a budget option that lets you stream your Netflix library.

Ultimately, that's the biggest differentiator for the Pad 9. The tablet manages to deliver a better design, battery life, and larger screen than its rivals, and that makes it a decent choice in this category — in spite of the update situation — particularly considering it costs £249.