Introducing its new warrior to the smartphone battlefield, Huawei recently announced the launch of the Honor 5X smartphone in India. The company claims the phone offers a desired combination of good looks, great camera, and a powerful engine - all at an affordable price, but does it get through the real world tests that come its way and make it to our recommendation list? Read on to know.
The first thing to notice about the Honor 5X is that it is slimmer and lighter than its predecessor 4X. At 158g including the battery, and the slightly rounded edges make the phone a light and comfortable hold despite the 5.5-inch display size. The phone is unibody and what adds to its appeal is the metallic rear that also houses a fingerprint sensor. The lock/power and volume control buttons are to the right of the phone, while The SIM and memory card trays sit neat on the left of the device.
The phone comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p display that offers comfortable viewing with narrow side bezels. Completing the entertainment experience is the loud speaker at the bottom, which might be mistaken for a stereo speaker.
the Honor 5X runs customised EMUI 3.1 on top of Android Lollipop 5.1.1 and it is here that the big-brand imitation springs into action. The customised Android skin quite subtly borrows elements from Apple’s iOS with an overall neat icon designing, swiping up and down actions for search and shortcuts, etc. Although there are some similarities, we nonetheless find the interface eye-pleasing and smoother to operate.
While it is true that budget smartphones tend to miss out on certain important elements in a bid to add on to the affordability factor, there are some manufacturers which are still aiming to squeeze in maximum features with a pocket friendly tag. After inserting 4G capabilities in affordable smartphones, the next thing manufacturers are targeting is the level of security that could be offered with these devices.
The Honor 5X scores a hit in that aspect with its rear fingerprint sensor. The sensor has been positioned right below the rear camera- a design similar to the LeEco Le 1s- and lets you store up to 5 different fingerprint IDs, allowing for maximum flexibility as well as security. Honor claims that the Fingerprint Identification 2.0 technology is accurate and fast with 0.5-second unlocking time and we can’t agree more. The unlocking time is indeed fast and during our review period, we did not have to struggle to get the sensor read the impression accurately. Other than simply unlocking the device, the rear sensor can also be used to open a certain app, for speed dialing, or simply to snooze the alarm.
At its core is a 1.2 GHz + 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8939 (octa-core) chipset coupled with with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16 GB of internal storage out of which about 10 GB is at user disposal. It also supports a microSD card of up to 128 GB. Infrastructure of this nature ensured there were no lags, app crashes, or device heating issues.
In terms of camera composition, the Honor 5X is an improvement from its predecessor only in terms of added software features (good food, beauty, slo-mo, time-lapse, etc.) and not in terms of increased resolution. The front snapper is still at 5 megapixel while the rear is 13 megapixel with flash. The camera works fine in natural light or brightly illuminated set ups, while in low-lit areas, the results are not satisfactory.
Verdict
Priced at Rs 12,999, the Honor 5X falls in the affordable segment and competes with the likes of the recently launched LeEco Le 1s (Rs 10,999), Motorola Moto G Turbo edition (Rs 12,499), and InFocus M680 (Rs 10,999).
Adding to the pros of Honor 5X is the long lasting 3000mAh battery that easily survives a day of average use but competing Moto G Turbo that comes with a TurboPower charger offering 6 hours of power on a 15-minute charge. The Honor 5x, however, is neck-and-neck with the LeEco 1s on many fronts.
Altogether, the Honor 5X has on platter good looks, a smoother processor, a neat interface and added security through the fingerprint sensor. The phone makes to our recommendation list, but we suggest you to take a look at other options available from the competition, which offer similar features at this price point.
Our Rating: 3/5