This $500 Android tablet beat my iPad Pro in almost every way – and it's not a Samsung

While Apple is pretty consistent with iPads, Android tablets can be as varied as the brands that sell them. This makes the prospect of an Android tablet enticing, especially when you want high customization options and a low price. However, I’d not yet found an Android tablet capable of everything I needed in a single device — until I tested the Honor Pad V9. 

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Many of us are familiar with the marketing pitch that a tablet can go from work to play; this couldn’t be truer than with the Honor Pad V9, which features robust work and entertainment features and a battery life to back it up. 

The best features of the Honor Pad V9 aren’t intrinsic Android features; they’re Honor features powered by Android-based MagicOS 9.0. These include formula recognition and handwriting beautification in Honor Notes, AI Voiceprint Noise Reduction and Intelligent Speaker Recognition, and various eye protection features like an AI Defocus Comfort Display that adjusts on-screen content to reduce eye strain.

Some of the personalization features include a Magic Lock Screen that lets you design your theme, colors, and images and explore different aesthetics and a 3D Avatar that you can create to your image that “hangs out” on your lock screen interacting with different wallpapers and animations. 

The Honor Pad V9 has a MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Elite processor that shines in work and gaming. In my testing, this tablet has proven capable of handling floating windows, split-screen applications, and image and video editing. It also transitions smoothly to handling graphic-demanding games. 

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Honor’s answer to Apple’s Game Mode is the Game Manager. When you open a game, you can access the Game Manager by swiping right from the top left of your screen. This toolbar gives you device information, like the battery life, time, current frame rate (up to 60fps), and CPU and RAM usage. 

It also lets you adjust brightness, quickly clean up memory, set your tablet to Do Not Disturb, apply Mistouch Prevention, Game Booster, or Game Filters, record your screen, and many more. The Game Manager menu also has a customizable list of shortcuts to apps on the left side. 

I’ve used this tablet to write my ZDNET articles and message my coworkers this week, and it still has enough battery life to stream media or read, which is more than I can say for my iPad 10th Generation or iPad mini. Even before using this tablet for work, I’d sporadically use it for entertainment and then leave it on my desk for a day or two and find myself shocked to see it was still on, with battery life to spare. 

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For example, I tested how long I could use the Honor Pad V9 after it gave me a 20% low-battery reminder. I could read on the Kindle app for about an hour and then stream a Netflix show for 93 minutes before the tablet finally died. I barely look at my iPhone 14 Pro Max after the 20% warning, and it dies. 

This strong battery life is possible thanks to the tablet’s 10,1000mAh battery, a big difference from the 2024 iPad Pro’s 8,160mAh battery — a tablet that’s almost twice the price. 

The IMAX-Enhanced audio ensures that the Honor Pad V9’s six speakers deliver an audio experience unequaled by other tablets. The tablet supports DTS:X technology and spatial audio, which, combined with the powerful speaker array, ensures that you feel like you’re surrounded by sound. 

I was so shocked at the quality of this tablet’s audio output that, at one point, I found myself looking around for a sound that it turned out had been produced by the Honor Pad V9 itself. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Honor Pad V9 is so superior to other tablets in its price range that it’s hard to narrow the list of top-performing features into a single review. Going from an iPad Mini that goes everywhere with me to the Honor Pad V9 had me doing even more on my tablet than before. Thanks to the tablet’s eye protection features, I’ve found myself reaching for my tablet to stream shows rather than watching TV and even using it for reading instead of my Kindle (though not often). 

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In addition, the tablet uses AI to prioritize voice and reduce noise during video calls, so I was able to use the 8MP front-facing camera for press briefings and work meetings. The near 4K-resolution display (2800×1840 pixels) is so crisp that most available media doesn’t do it justice. With its impressive speaker array, the audio output makes for an immersive experience uncommon in entertainment tablets. 

If you’re not looking to edit feature-length movies or run very demanding tasks on your tablet, I can certainly recommend forgoing a power-user tablet like the iPad Pro in favor of the Honor Pad V9.