Honor is preparing to shake up the premium tablet market with a new model branded "Yongle" that could redefine mobile performance. According to information revealed by leaker Digital Chat Station, this tablet would feature the very latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, positioning Honor among the first manufacturers to harness the power of Qualcomm's latest flagship chip.
A Game-Changing Fifth-Generation Chip
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, officially announced in September 2025, represents a major technological leap. Manufactured using 3nm by TSMC, this chip integrates eight third-generation Oryon CPU cores: two Prime cores clocked at 4.6 GHz and six Performance cores reaching 3.62 GHz. The gains announced by Qualcomm are impressive: +20% in single-core and +17% in multi-core compared to the original Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the Adreno HPM GPU promises a 23% improvement in graphics performance, or even 25% in ray tracing.
This phenomenal power comes at a cost: each chip would cost approximately $280 to the manufacturer, a figure that will inevitably impact the final price of the tablet.
The Likely Successor to the MagicPad 3
Although Honor has not yet officially confirmed the commercial name of "Yongle", all indications point to a successor to the MagicPad 3. The current tablet, launched last July, features a 13.3-inch IPS LCD screen with a 165 Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and a 12,450 mAh battery with 66W fast charging, all within an ultra-thin 5.79 mm chassis weighing 595 grams.
The new model is expected to retain compatibility with a leather keyboard and an active stylus, confirming its premium positioning and its aim to replace the MagicPad 3 rather than the gaming-oriented Pad GT2 Pro. Digital Chat Station also mentions that Honor plans to relaunch its line of small tablets, which has been on hold since last December, suggesting a more ambitious product strategy for 2026.
The RAM Crisis Weighs on Prices
The announcement of this new tablet comes amid a tense economic climate for the technology industry. The RAM prices have skyrocketed , with spectacular increases affecting both DDR5 and LPDDR5X. In January 2026, the spot price of 256GB DDR5 modules in China exceeded $5,700, a dizzying rise that could represent up to 30% of the total cost of a smartphone or tablet.
LPDDR6, the new generation of memory, is still unavailable and is expected to be limited to ultra-premium models in 2026 due to its prohibitive price. Honor would have opted for LPDDR5X for its "Yongle", a more reasonable choice but one that is also subject to market inflationary pressure.
Limited Availability Outside China
Like its predecessors, this new Honor tablet will likely remain almost impossible to find in the United States and in some Western markets. Honor tablets are generally only available through third-party resellers like eBay, with major American retailers like Amazon or Verizon not offering them officially.
This limited distribution strategy deprives the American market of interesting alternatives. Currently, demanding users only have access to the OnePlus Pad 3 equipped with the fourth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite, making the upcoming Honor tablet an even more powerful potential competitor – at least on paper.
A price expected to be over $900
The question of price remains crucial. The MagicPad 3 is currently sold for around $800. With the combination of the high cost of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and the surge in RAM prices, Honor will likely have to increase its pricing by at least $100, bringing the estimated price of the new model to over $900.
This increase could slow adoption, especially in a context where consumers are already facing widespread price hikes across all electronics. It remains to be seen if the performance gains will justify this investment for professional users and creatives seeking an alternative to iPad Pros or high-end Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets.
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