Honor Pad 9 review

Design and build quality

The Honor Pad 9 is a pretty big device, sporting a rather large 12.1-inch 16:10 display. It measures 278.2 x 180.1 x 7 mm and tips the scale at 555 grams. That's a pretty reasonable weight in our books, though the onboard battery isn't particularly large for a tablet at 8,300 mAh. So, there's that.

The Honor Pad 9 might not be a premium product, but it still offers a premium-looking build quality. The main body of the tablet appears to be a single piece of aluminum, though we can't be sure whether the design is truly unibody or whether the transition between the frame and the back is just very well hidden. Regardless, it's all made of aluminum, which looks and feels premium. It is, however, a major fingerprint magnet.

Speaking of the display, it has rather aggressively rounded corners to match the curvature of the outer frame of the tablet. The bezels are rather large. You get a screen-to-body ratio of around 84.7%. This has left enough room to house the selfie camera without interrupting the screen.

There is an anti-glare coating on the display, which works decently but is not amazing in practice.

While the Honor Pad 9 is definitely large, we wouldn't call it unwieldy. At just 7mm, it is quite thin, and a chamfer runs all around the body, improving handling. If you hold it vertically, the controls are bunched up in the top right corner of the device.

The power button and volume rockers are nice and clicky, and we would describe their positioning as pretty comfortable. The tablet has no fingerprint reader; it is just facial recognition for biometric security.

The Pad 9 is clearly meant to be used in a horizontal orientation, as indicated by the positions of the selfie and main cameras. In this orientation, you also get two microphones pointing up from the device, which should help them pick up voices nicely.

We also like how the eight speakers are situated on the tablet. If you have it standing horizontally, you get two large grills on either side and a total of four smaller openings on the bottom side - two on the left and two on the right. We can only imagine that each is a set of woofers and tweeters.

You can get the Honor Pad 9 in Gray, Blue or White. Our Gray unit looks rather unassuming and blends in well into any environment. That being said, the particular design of the rear camera island still offers a little flair.

The front of the tablet is covered by one large piece of glass. Unfortunately, we aren't sure exactly what kind of scratch and shatter resistance we can expect. As mentioned, the front has an anti-glare coating, which works reasonably well, though the surface is still very much glossy and not matte. As such, it is also a major fingerprint magnet.

Speaking of durability, there is no official ingress protection rating on the Honor Pad 9.

Smart Bluetooth Keyboard

As we mentioned, we also have the optional Bluetooth keyboard in for review. Honor calls it the "Smart Bluetooth Keyboard," and it is not some sort of generic item, but rather, it is tailor-fitted for the Honor Pad 9.

It has a large snap-on style back plate with a cutout for the main camera. The back side has sort of a flare-out bottom part, which, in tandem with a magnet right above the top row of keys, is how the tablet gets slanted at an angle.

Mind you, it is not a particularly aggressive angle, and you can't adjust it. We would say that it is designed to be comfortable for a short person, like a child, rather than an adult. Hence, we found the angle pretty uncomfortable to use.

There is another glaring issue with the keyboard, which may or may not be a dealbreaker for you. It is a separate device that only interfaces with the tablet via Bluetooth. There is no other connection between the two. They do not share battery life, and you must charge the keyboard independently through its USB Type-C port.

On a slightly positive note, that means that you get a distinct, dedicated power key for the keyboard, so you never have to wonder and worry about whether it is draining its battery. There is no obvious pairing button, though we imagine that there is a way to enter pairing mode through a keyboard combination.

In normal operation, the Honor Pad 9 just automatically picks up the keyboard once you snap it in place and turn on its Bluetooth. There is a small status LED above the keys on the inside of the accessory, and that covers all of the auxiliary controls.

As for the actual keyboard part itself, we actually have very few complaints. The keys are well-positioned and offer decent spacing. There is a surprising amount of key travel, and key-to-key consistency feels good. There is a satisfying click at the end of each press. The keyboard's base is surprisingly sturdy and provides decent support for the keystrokes.