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Honor 5X goes official: Huawei's sub-brand blends affordability with stylish metal design

By Victor Hristov

Updated: Apr 14, 2016, 6:50 AM

16comments

Android honor

Affordable metal phones with a fingerprint scanner are starting to be a thing: Huawei-owned Honor brand just launched the new Honor 5X, a 5.5-inch phone with killer looks and a fingerprint scanner on the back.

Affordable, metal and with a fingerprint scanner

The Honor 5X will initially be available in China only, and while you will be able to import it via re-sellers, you will be getting the Chinese versions (with all its quirks) and you'll have to pay a slight premium on top of the official price.

What is this new Honor 5X all about? Let's take a quick look at the official specs:

Platform: Android 5.1 with EMUI

Dimensions: 151.3 x 76.3 x 7.9mm

Weight: 158g

Display: 5.5-inch with a resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels

System chip: Snapdragon 615

RAM: 3GB/2GB

Cameras: 13-megapixel rear with f/2.0 lens, 5MP front

Internal storage: 16GB

Battery: 3000mAh

The Honor 5X comes with the standard for Huawei (and Honor phones) EMUI custom skin that is a traditionally a smooth-running UI with questionable visual style that you may or may not like. What's notable is that this is an affordable phone that comes with a fingerprint scanner, a novelty at such a low price, and it's a fast fingerprint scanner at that. Just tap on the area below the camera to instantly unlock the phone.

For all else, the Honor 5X is a mid-range phone as is made evident by the Snapdragon 615 system chip under the hood. It's an octa-core SoC with four Cortex A53s running at up to 1.5GHz and four more running at 1.2GHz.

It's also notable that the device curves slightly at the back for a more comfortable grip.

Price and release date

The Huawei Honor 5X goes on pre-order right away today, while it will be up on sale on November 3rd in China. Do keep in mind that this is a phone that will officially be sold only in China initially, so the MSRP listed below applies only for that market, while if the phone ever arrives to Western markets it's likely to feature an inflated price due to various taxes.

$157 (999¥) for 2GB RAM model
$220 (1399¥) for 3GB RAM model

source: Honor (translated)

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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.