Honor 8X Long-Term Review (Part 4 - EMUI 9 for 8X)

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The Honor X series still uses EMUI as its operating system and not the rebranded Magic UI 2.0; a next generation AI-powered system, with stylish interface, AI capabilities and evolving smart assistance already found running on the Honor Magic 2 plus Honor View 20

EMUI 9 on the Honor 8X is exactly similar to other Honor devices running EMUI 9 like the Honor Play with the immediate noticeable changes being “Digital balance” in Settings. Others such as HiTouch (visual shopping) are hidden behind menus and isn’t that obvious

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Home screen

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X App drawer

There’s a search bar at the top to search for apps only if you have selected drawer as your home screen style. Swiping down on the top of the screen brings out the notification panel where activated switches having an azure blue highlight to their respective icons

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Notification panel

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Notification settings

Notifications can be dismissed by swiping it all the way either to the left or right. Swiping it half-way either side gives you the option to delay it (mute) or access its notifications settings. There’s also a drop-down where you can expand the notification for more gist

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Notification icons

The status bar area to the left of the notch houses up to 4 notification icons besides the carrier name, mobile signal strength and data connection. A dot appears on the upper-right of the app icon to signify new notifications or unread messages changeable via settings

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Status bar settings

There are 4 system navigation style to choose from with the most intuitive being gestures. Gestures such as swiping inwards from the left or right edges to return to the previous screen makes it way easier than reaching all the way to the top in hitting the back button

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X System navigation

Honor-8X-Long-Term-Review-Part-4---EMUI-9-for-8X Gestures explained

Take note that quick switching to the previously used app isn’t available when the gesture navigation style is selected. You’ll have to revert back to the sweet old three-key navigation style and double tap on the recent button in order to perform the quick switching

UPDATES

Software update on the Honor 8X is frequent and the latest major update bring EMUI 9 along with Android 9 Pie. Meanwhile, Android security patch is on the February ‘19 level in-line with the 90 days update cycle for Android Enterprise Recommended devices

---> Honor 8X Long-Term Review (Part 5 - Performance, Battery, Camera, Improvements)
<--- Honor 8X Long-Term Review (Part 3 - EMUI Explained)