Huawei launched the Honor 5X, a successor to the previous Honor 4X smartphone. The device is targeted towards youngsters, Huawei said, with features added to enhance the lifestyle of the younger generation. We played with the phone for a while and here are a few things you should know about the Honor 5X.
Specifications:
The Honor 5X sports a good set of specifications on paper which are crucial in markets like India. Their tagline of “No Nonsense” has the motto to provide necessary specification required and ignoring any kind of gimmicks, apparently. Have a look at the specs list.
Display: 5.5-inch, 1920x1080
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 616
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB on-board, expandable up to 128GB via microSD card
Camera: 13MP Primary camera, 5MP Secondary camera
Battery: 3,000 mAh
Display:
The Honor 5X sports an IPS LCD panel with Full HD resolution. The screen looked bright and sharp, thanks to its pixel density of 401 PPI. The display panel had great viewing angles and was quite bright when toggled to full brightness. The phone has a Dynamic Contrast ratio feature that should enhance outdoor visibility.
Camera:
Turn the phone around and there lies a 13MP Sony sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and single LED flash. We clicked a bunch of pictures with the primary camera and they turned out good enough. The front camera has a 5MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and a 22mm wide angle lens. The Phone’s camera is incorporated with Huawei’s SmartImage 3.0 image processing technology and we’ll be determining the quality once we review the phone.
The left side of the phone consists of two slots. One slot for your micro-SIM card and the other slot houses the microSD card and an additional slot for a nano-SIM card. Huawei calls it the 3-slot design to hold Dual-SIM cards and a microSD card. The microSD card can be expanded up to 128 GB. The Honor 5X supports 4G on both the SIM card slots.
The right side of the phone has the volume rockers and the power button below it. The buttons had an average tactile feedback, which didn’t require much pressure. The position of the keys are perfect and are easy to reach with one hand. The buttons are well textured, providing proper grip while pressing the buttons.
Fingerprint sensor:
The fingerprint sensor is conveniently placed at the back below the camera module. Setting up the fingerprint recognition took a minimum of 6 taps to configure. However, unlocking the device required a slight pressure since just a touch wasn’t enough for the sensor. The fingerprint sensor can be used for clicking pictures, scrolling around the notifications and some more hidden tricks. Your fingerprints are safe with double encryption technique applied to the fingerprints.
Battery:
The Honor 5X has a 3,000 mAH battery that the company claims would last for a day of use, something we would want to test out. It has Huawei’s Smart Power 3.0 battery saving mode to make the phone last longer through a single charge. The battery is non-removable.
Design:
With a 5.5-inch display, the Honor 5X has a slightly bigger form factor. Thanks to Huawei to keep the bezels on this phone minimal, helping you reach the corner of the screens very easily. The phone has an aluminium alloy casing and sports a metallic brushed-aluminium surface on the back. There are two plastic panels on the top and bottom of the phone at the back, in order to enclose the antennas.
Interface:
The Honor 5X comes ships with Android Lollipop version 5.1 with Huawei’s Emotion UI 3.1 on top of it. The UI felt pretty snappy with the device we had. The camera app opens up quickly while switching through apps was fast but we experienced lags while scrolling through the Settings menu and Gallery app.
The bottom of the phone houses a micro-USB connector in between, with two slots drilled for the speaker grill. We did not get a chance to test the sound of the speakers. On the top, it has the 3.5 mm headphone jack and apparently packs a built-in amplifier to superior audio quality.
There’s nothing on the local price yet, and we are looking forward to reviewing the device.