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Huawei Honor 5X review

7.3/10 AVG.
RATING
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Huawei Honor 5X
Huawei Honor 5X
Huawei Honor 5X
Huawei Honor 5X
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7.3/10
Informr score
The Huawei Honor 5X currently has an Informr score of 7.3 out of 10. This score is based on our evaluation of 26 sources including reviews from users and the web's most trusted critics.

What's good

  • Price
  • Metal chassis
  • 1080p display
  • Great battery life
  • Dual SIM or dual microSD support
  • Fingerprint sensor

What's bad

  • EMUI interface is love or hate
  • Occasional lag and performance hiccups
  • Pre-installed bloatware
  • A bit of case creaking and bending

With its latest release, the Honor 5X, Huawei is hoping to make a splash in the mid-tier market. Respectable specs, a clean metal chassis design and a price that is sure to grab your attention puts the handset in prime position to challenge the big names in the market.

But does everything translate to a good user experience? We’ve dug through the best reviews on the Internet to bring you the scoop on this device. Let’s dive in!

While not exactly a buzz phrase any more, metal chassis add an undeniable bit of sophistication to the mobile experience. Huawei opts for a smooth, brushed metal look with just a peek of plastic at the top and bottom to avoid interfering with signals. You’ll also find a fingerprint sensor on back nestled right below the camera.

Overall, though the phone is far from small, reviews noted it was comfortable to hold and felt great in the hand. TechRadar stated, “It looks like a premium, quality phone as soon as you pick it up. It feels like it has that weight you expect when you pick up a high-end phone.”

If you’re worried about durability on a budget-friendly handset, you’ll find Gorilla Glass around front and after using it for a week, The Guardian notes that it “feels like it could take a knock or two without issue.”

Heading to the front of the Honor 5x, you’re greeted with a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display. Reviews for the screen were largely positive. Tom’s Guide stated that the screen “proved to be a good partner for my Netflix binges and casual gaming.” Alphr chimed in, calling it “perfectly pleasant, with colours popping nicely off the screen.”

Everyone was also quick to note how bright the screen is. Android Central says, “it's bright enough to use outside even without the brightness-boosting daylight mode, and vibrant enough without looking weirdly oversaturated.”

Unfortunately, a lack of screen treatment had reviewers ranting about fingerprints and smudges. But that’s the only real downsides mentioned about the display.

Powering the phone, you’ll find an octa-core Snapdragon 616 CPU. This is where many reviews felt that the budget roots of the phone begin to show. Performance reviews were firmly average on the device. Though that might be influenced by the software--a point we’ll cover later in the summary.

Android Central noted, “It's not horribly slow, but there are noticeable moments of animation slowdown.” NDTV put it through its paces and reported, “smooth functioning through the user interface, decent performance with games and heavily encoded videos, and minimal heating issues.”

To keep apps moving along snappy and provide quick loading times, Huawei opted for 2GB of RAM. This is more than enough for most day-to-day usage and might even work for power users or gamers.

16GB of internal storage is just enough for a full set of apps and a couple games or movies. If you’re looking to add more storage space, microSD support allows for easy expansion up to an additional 128GB.

Keeping the handset chugging along is a 3000mAh battery with 2 amp charging. While it doesn’t support rapid or wireless charging like many flagships, reviews noted that battery life was great for all-day use. Charges in most reviews completed in a couple hours, so it should be easy to top off your charge throughout the day if needed.

Android Central pushed their 5X to the limits and found a single charge “easily good for an entire day of heavy use, with up to 5 hours of screen-on time depending on what you're doing.”

Hoping to snap a few pictures with your phone? The 13MP rear camera with flash and 5MP front-facing camera with beauty modes for selfies both received decent reviews. Low-light images and HDR features all received high marks.

Gotta Be Mobile was the most critical, stating, “Compared to most in this price range, it again exceeded expectations, but not by much. Colors were decent, auto-focus and the actual shutter speed were slower than we’d like, but it gets the job done.”

Next the camera, you’ll find a fingerprint scanner. Reviews of the scanner are positive. With most noting quick response times, comfortable placement and high accuracy. Gotta Be Mobile compares it to some of the best scanners available, declaring, “Some are amazingly fast like the Nexus 6p or Galaxy Note 5, while others could use some work like the LG V10. Huawei sits somewhere right in the middle, if not near the top.”

If there was one item that stood out in all reviews against the handset, it would be the software Huawei chose for the interface. They’re EMUI 3 launcher running Android 5.1 received little love from reviewers.

Using an iOS-like approach, the EMUI interface ditches the app drawer in favor of placing all of your shortcuts on the home screen. Add in some cartoonish design choices and a bit of lag and you have what The Guardian refers to as “a mixed bag.”

Fortunately, if EMUI 3 isn’t to your liking, fixing that is as simple as loading up your favorite launcher on Google Play.

In all, the handset received great reviews. By combining an excellent price with solid specs and performance, Huawei might make a dent in the market with this one.

Tom’s Guide summed up the feeling of other reviews well, saying, “Among [similarly priced] phones, though, the Honor 5X provides excellent performance in a stylish package, making it the budget phone to beat.”


Android
Operating system
Operating system
Android
1.5 GHz
Processor
Processor
1.5 GHz
5.5"
Screen Size
Screen Size
5.5"
13+ MP
Camera
Camera
13+ MP
3000 mAh
Battery


What the Critics Are Saying...


Gadgets 360
Gadgets 360

The Honor 5X is a straightforward mid-range smartphone that has the right combination of features and specs to keep you happy.

- Ali Pardiwala, Gadgets 360
finder.com.au
finder.com.au

The GR5 2017 is a good example of the kind of phone we're seeing with regularity in the mid-range space. It's not especially a bargain at its price point, but it's equally not overpriced for what's on offer. Huawei is bringing out a lot of phones when you look at its output over the last six months,...

- Alex Kidman, finder.com.au
Wired
Wired

THE HONOR 5X isn’t a phone you will fall instantly in love with. But a combination of mid-range looks and solid performance ultimately make this budget phone hard to resist. Additions like an aluminum body, a super-smart fingerprint sensor, and a solid camera distinguish this $200 phone from t...

- Maurizio Pesce, Wired
Mobile Syrup
Mobile Syrup

The Huawei GR5 is a classic case of a pretty exterior that is a heavy mixed bag on the inside. The EMUI overlay strips too much out of Android, leading me to ponder what this phone might have been like if Huawei had opted to make the experience a little more stock.

- Ted Kritsonis, Mobile Syrup
GSM Dome
GSM Dome

We get a midranger disguised as a premium phone, that does a series of things in excellent fashion: selfies, display quality and battery life. It’s meant as a smartphone for the young and teens, but too bad for the acoustics and video capture, that would made it fit for media consumption and c...

- Alexandru Stănescu, GSM Dome


Prices (Where to Buy)




Common Questions


We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the Huawei Honor 5X user manual here.


Huawei backs up the Honor 5X with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.


If your Honor 5X has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact Huawei support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find Huawei's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.




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Quick view

Screen Size
5.5"

The Huawei Honor 5X's screen size is 5.5 inches with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution.

Processor
1.5 GHz

There is a Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 Octa core 1.5 GHz processor (CPU).

OS

The phone runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop (Update Available: 6.0 Marshmallow) operating system (OS).

Camera
13+ MP

You can take photos with the phone's onboard 13+ MP camera.

There is also a secondary front facing camera with 5+ megapixels resolution.

Storage
16 GB

Internal memory is 16 GB. An external, MicroSD, MicroSDHC, microSDXC (up to 128 GB) expansion slot is available for increased storage capacity.

Battery
3000mAh

The phone is powered by a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion), 3000 mAh battery. Huawei's performance ratings are 1780 minutes, 600 minutes Wi-Fi surfing.

Honor 5X Specs

Overview
Release Date January 31, 2016
Regions Available USA, Canada, United Kingdom
Operating System Android 5.1 Lollipop (Update Available: 6.0 Marshmallow)

Compare Android Smartphones

Processor Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 Octa core 1.5 GHz
Internal Storage 16 GB
RAM 2 GB
Hearing Aid Compatible No
TTY/TDD No
Noise Cancellation Yes
SAR Head: 0.69 W/kg
Body: 1.29 W/kg
Manufacturer Warranty 1 Year
Accessories Included AC Charger, Manual
Cellular
Networks
GPRS, EDGE, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE
Mobile / Cellular Data
4G/LTE
Push-to-talk (PTT) No
Wi-Fi Calling Unknown
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Unknown
SIM card size
Nano-SIM
Dual SIM Yes
Connectivity
USB Micro-USB 2.0
USB OTG Support No
GPS Type A-GPS
Infrared No
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth Profiles A2DP, AVRCP, OPP/FTP, HFP, HSP
Bluetooth Audio Codecs SBC
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Mobile Hotspot Yes
Memory Expansion Slot Yes
Expansion Slot Info MicroSD, MicroSDHC, microSDXC (up to 128 GB)
NFC No
Data Tethering Compatibility Yes
Camera
Main Camera
Resolution / Aperture
13+ Megapixels
Zoom
Yes
Flash
Yes (Dual LED)
Additional Rear Camera Info
Auto focus, Effects, Geotagging, Multi-shot, Panorama, Self-timer, Slow motion recording, HDR, Voice activation
Video Recording Formats
3GP / 3GPP, H.264 / AVC, MPEG-4
Video Recording Parameters
Front Camera
Resolution / Aperture
5+ Megapixels
Additional Front Camera Info
No
Video Recording Parameters
Display / Screen
Type Color
Technology LCD (IPS)
Colors 16.7 million
Resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels
Pixel Density 401 pixels
Size 5.5 inches
Secondary Display No
Sensors Ambient Light, Proximity, Motion / Accelerometer, Digital Compass
Multi-Touch Yes
Fingerprint-Resistant Coating No
Additional Display Features Capacitive touch screen, Glove touch
Power & Battery
Battery Type Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)
Battery Capacity 3000 mAh
Removable Battery No
Wireless Charging No
Fast Charging No
Video Playback Time Up to 556 minutes
Internet Use (Wi-Fi) Up to 600 minutes
Internet Use (Cellular) Unknown
Talk Time Up to 1780 minutes
Standby Time Up to 30.8 days
Mixed Usage
Physical Characteristics
Design Type Bar
Material Aluminium
Colors White, Gold, Gray
Dimensions [H x W x D] 15.1 x 7.6 x 0.8 cm (5.9 x 3 x 0.3 in)
Weight 158 grams
Water Resistant / Waterproof Unknown
Rugged design No
IP Rating No
Headset Jack 3.5mm
External Speakers Yes
Input / Navigation
Sleep / Wake Key Yes
Home Key No
Input / Keyboard Type Touchscreen
Navigation Type Touchscreen
External Volume Control Yes
Fingerprint Sensor No
More
Additional Information Other Names (AKA): Huawei GR5

Additional Sensors
- Fingerprint Scanner
Related Links Quick Start Guide (PDF)
Manual (PDF)
Huawei Honor 5X Reviews
Where to buy Huawei Honor 5X
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