We subjected the Honor X7a to our rigorous SBMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in terms of range, charging and efficiency. In these test results, we’ll analyze how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key Specifications:
- Battery Capacity: 6000mAh
- 22.5W charger (included)
- 6.74-inch, 720 x 1600, 90Hz LCD display
- MediaTek Helio G37 (12nm)
- ROM / RAM combination tested: 128GB + 4GB
Pros
- Exceptional autonomy
- Extremely low idle power consumption
- Excellent battery life in almost all use cases (calls, video and music streaming, gaming)
- Excellent autonomy on the move
- Very low residual power consumption of the charger when the device is fully charged and still connected
- Low overall discharge currents
Versus
- Inaccurate battery gauge, with a discrepancy between the remaining charge and the actual capacity left
- The device automatically turns off after 60 seconds when the display shows 1% battery remaining
- Longer than average reload time
- Long delay (40 minutes) between full charge shown on screen and actual full charge
The Honor X7a kicks off the year by taking first place in our battery ranking, thanks to its outstanding battery life performance, measuring 3 days and 14 hours with moderate use, the best we’ve tested so far.
The overall battery performance of the Honor X7a surpassed the Oppo Reno 6 5G, which has remained at the top of the global battery chart since September thanks to its overall balanced performance.
The X7a’s 6000mAh battery tested the limits of battery life and surpassed that of the previous powerful battery, the Vivo Y72 5G, which managed to bring slightly less battery life with a 5000mAh battery.
In addition to strong performance in a mixed use scenario, the Honor X7a was also the best in some use cases such as gaming, calling, video and music streaming. And finally, even when traveling and tested outdoors, the Honor X7a’s ability to handle its power was excellent. Regarding the discharge efficiency, the device drew very low discharge currents, which means it is well optimized.
Despite its staying power, the user experience of the device has been undermined by an inaccurate battery gauge. When the phone showed 20% charge remaining on the screen, the real capacity was measured at close to 16%. When the device showed 1% charge on the screen, it would automatically shut off after one minute.
While charging the device, the small 22.5W power adapter struggled to fill the large 6000mAh battery. A 5-minute charge provided just 4 hours of battery life. Also, the charging efficiency, as well as the power adapter efficiency, was poor.
However, the Honor X7a’s unprecedented runtime performance in our tests shows that battery life, regardless of battery size, will continue to be a key focus for smartphone makers this year.
Trial summary
Learn about SBMARK battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, SBMARK engineers conduct a series of objective tests over a one-week period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introduction and how we test articles for more details on our smartphone’s battery protocol.)
The following section compiles the key elements of our extensive testing and analysis performed in the SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
Battery | Battery charger | wireless | Screen | Processor | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0mAh | 0W (not included) |
– | x | ||
Samsung Galaxy A23 5G | 5000mAh | 25W (not included) |
– | PLS LCD 1080 x 2408 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G |
Oppo A77 5G | 5000mAh | 33W (not included) |
– | LCDs 720×1612 |
MediaTek Size 810 |
How the Autonomy score is composed
The Battery Life Score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Home/Office, On the Go, and Calibrated Use Cases. Each subscore includes results from a full range of tests to measure range in all kinds of real-life scenarios.
128 hours
Light use
Active: 2h30/day
86 hours
Moderate use
Active: 4h/day
52 hours
Intensive use
Active: 7h/day
A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a series of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, streaming video, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16 hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep”. The robot repeats this series of actions every day until the device runs out.
In movement
140
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
Using a smartphone on the go has a negative impact on range due to additional “hidden” demands, such as continuous signaling associated with cellular network selection. SBMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a series of precisely defined activities following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device
Calibrated
172
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and to ours bots repeatedly perform actions related to a specific use case (like gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting with an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have used at least 5% battery power.
Reload
104
Realme GTNeo 3
Realme GTNeo 3
How the recharge score is composed
Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where range is at its lowest, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The SBMARK Battery Charging Score consists of two subscores, (1) Full Charge and (2) Fast Boost.
Charge complete
89
Black Shark 5Pro
Black Shark 5Pro
The full charge tests evaluate the reliability of the battery charge indicator; measure how long and how much energy it takes for the battery to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the user interface, and to an actual full charge.
The charging curves, in wired and wireless mode (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the energy consumption in watts during the charging phases towards full capacity.
The time to full charge graph breaks down the time required to reach 80%, 100% and full charge.
Quick push
122
Realme GTNeo 3
Realme GTNeo 3
With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), the Quick Boost tests measure how much charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The graph here compares the average range gain with a 5-minute quick charge.
Efficiency
139
Oppo Reno6 5G
Oppo Reno6 5G
How the efficiency score is composed
The SBMARK Energy Efficiency Score consists of two subscores, charge rate and discharge rate, which combine both data obtained during a typical robot-based usage scenario, calibrated testing and charge rating, taking into consideration battery capacity of the device. SBMARK calculates the product’s annual energy consumption, shown in the graph below, which is representative of overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.
To load
104
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
The secondary charge score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, relating to the amount of energy required to recharge the battery compared to the energy the battery can supply; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the remaining consumption when the phone is fully charged and still connected to the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The graph below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.
Discharge
160
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
The sub-discharge score evaluates how quickly a battery discharges during a test, which is independent of battery capacity. It is the ratio between the capacity of a battery and its autonomy. A small capacity battery may have the same run time as a large capacity battery, indicating that the device is well optimized, with a low discharge rate.
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