Quirky, sleek and highly affordable, the Honor 5X is the brand's best value handset to date — but it's not quite a compromise-free experience.
Huawei's Honor brand has always been about targeting really interesting hardware, with laser precision, at a disruptive price point. The , for instance, was unique in delivering metal construction and biometric security for around £250 at launch. Now the wants to take the core of that experience and give it an even lower price tag.
Announced for Europe today, and on sale immediately for £189.99, the 5X is perhaps the best value Honor phone yet (let's just forget about the , mmkay). But can hit such a competitive price point without cutting corners? We'll take a closer look after the break.
The Honor 5X measures in at what's increasingly becoming the sweet spot for smartphones — with a 5.5-inch display, it's big without being unmanageable. And the slight curve to the back of the chassis makes it a comfortable fit in the hand. The 5X's metal rear also accounts for one of its major selling points. In contrast to the plastic rectangles you'd normally find populating the sub-£200 space, the 5X looks like a classy piece of tech. It's the same basic design as the Honor 7, or if you want to venture further back, Huawei's own Mate 7.
A little ostentatious, but not too flashy.
But unlike those models, the Honor 5X's metal parts have a glossier finish with a brushed pattern, which looks and feels a lot like an . And like the M9, it doesn't feel quite as high-end as exposed brushed aluminum. (In fact, going by touch alone, it's entirely possible to mistake the metal back for plastic.)
- Current OS version: Android 5.1
- Current security: January 2016 ()